Here's Why Yankees Re-Signing Aaron Judge Would Be Great News For Red Sox
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Aaron Judge certainly is going to break the bank whenever he decides to sign a new deal.
Whether with the New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants, or anyone else -- maybe even the Boston Red Sox, although extremely unlikely -- Judge is due for a massive contract.
The 30-year-old had a season for the ages in 2022 and took home his first American League Most Valuable Player award after smashing an AL record 62 home runs, driving in a league-leading 131 RBIs, and slashing an insane .311/.425/.686. On top of leading the league in home runs and runs batted in, he also led the American League in walks with 111, runs scored with 133, on-base percentage at .425, slugging percentage at .686, OPS at 1.111, and total bases with 391.
There have been rumors surrounding Judge since before the 2022 season even began and now there are plenty more. The hulking outfielder recently met with the Giants, but that may be bad news for Red Sox fans.
Although facing Judge 19 games per year isn't what anyone particularly wants to do, if the Yankees were to re-sign the big man it would help out Boston in the long run as they attempt to re-sign All-Star shortstop Xander Bogaerts.
Bogaerts is a free agent and the Yankees reportedly have at least reached out to his camp and kicked the tires on a signing, but that would be unlikely if the Yankees were to take on a potentially massive contract with Judge, according to the New York Post's Jon Heyman.
"A Judge signing likely would mean the Yankees would drop their current dalliances with superstar shortstops Carlos Correa, Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts, and presumably Dansby Swanson," Heyman said. "If so, they would go with a rookie — either Oswald Peraza or Anthony Volpe (interestingly, it doesn’t sound as if it will be Isiah Kiner-Falefa in any case)."
The Red Sox already are in a tight bidding war with the four-time All-Star with former Boston president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and the Philadelphia Phillies so if Judge were to sign elsewhere and give the Yankees more room to spend, it would be bad news for the Red Sox.
As of right now, no deal has been agreed to, but Red Sox fans certainly should be keeping an eye on the Judge sweepstakes because it very well could impact whether or not Bogaerts is back in Boston in 2023.
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