SAN DIEGO — Aaron Judge has issued his ruling: Court remains in session in the Bronx.
Judge is staying with the New York Yankees on a $360 million, nine-year contract, according to a person familiar with baseball’s biggest free agent deal ever.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity because the AL MVP’s contract had not been publicly announced.
Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman declined to confirm the agreement. But he said he was “optimistic that we’re in a good place,” and he credited owner Hal Steinbrenner for the team’s position while making reference to Hal’s late father, George.
“I’ve been here a long time,” said Cashman, who has been the Yankees’ GM since 1998, “and I know how George Steinbrenner did business and how he went about doing business, in recruiting free agents and retaining free agents, and he was intimately involved. And I saw a lot of that in this process, too.”
Cashman said he didn’t get any sleep Tuesday night. He texted with Judge, and Hal Steinbrenner and Manager Aaron Boone spoke with the slugger on the phone.
“I wanted to talk to him and make sure he knew, certainly, how I felt about him, but how we felt about him, too,” Boone said.
Judge, who hit an American League-record 62 homers last season, will earn $40 million per year, the highest average annual payout for a position player. The contract trails only Mike Trout’s $426.5 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels and Mookie Betts’ $365 million pact with the Los Angeles Dodgers for biggest in baseball history. Trout and Betts were already under contract when they signed those deals.
The Yankees made a long-term offer to Judge before last season that was worth $213.5 million over seven years from 2023-29. But the outfielder turned it down in the hours before opening day in April.
The 6-foot-7 Judge bet on himself – and won.
Judge surpassed Roger Maris’ AL home run mark while powering New York to an AL East title. He also tied for the major league lead with 131 RBI and just missed a Triple Crown with a .311 batting average.
New York was swept by Houston in the AL Championship Series, but Judge became the first AL MVP for the Yankees since Alex Rodriguez in 2007.
“He’s an amazing player and an amazing person that certainly has the respect of everyone in that room,” Boone said, “and guys look to him, look up to him.”
By rejecting the Yankees’ preseason offer, Judge gained $146.5 million and an extra two guaranteed seasons. The Northern California native also visited with the San Francisco Giants last month, and there likely were more teams monitoring the market for the slugger who turns 31 in April.
There was an erroneous Twitter report Tuesday that had Judge was nearing a deal with the Giants, and Boone said it was “a long, rough day in a lot of ways.”
“Kind of that pit in my stomach all day,” Boone said at baseball’s winter meetings in San Diego.
Judge’s decision will have a domino effect on several teams and free agents. His status held up at least some of New York’s offseason plans – given the size of the contract – but Cashman made it clear his team would wait patiently while Judge contemplated his options.
In the end, that approach worked.
“The hope is that (Hal Steinbrenner) is the Mariano Rivera of these negotiations and was able to close something out, put us in a great position,” Cashman said. “But I can’t officially say that’s happened just yet.”
CUBS: Chicago added Jameson Taillon to its rotation, agreeing to a four-year contract with the right-hander that is worth roughly $68 million.
Taillon, 31, is coming off a solid season with the New York Yankees, going 14-5 with a 3.91 ERA. He matched his career high with 32 starts and worked 177 1/3 innings, his best total since he logged 191 innings in 2018.
METS: Jose Quintana agreed to a $26 million, two-year contract, adding another veteran arm to the team’s rotation.
A person familiar with the negotiations confirmed the move to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal was pending a physical.
New York has been rebuilding its pitching staff following a playoff loss to San Diego in the wild-card round. Three members of its rotation became free agents, and the Mets also had several openings in their bullpen.
Ace right-hander Justin Verlander agreed to an $86.7 million, two-year contract with New York on Monday.
Quintana played for Pittsburgh and St. Louis last season, going 6-7 with a 2.93 ERA in 32 starts. The left-hander was terrific after he was traded to the Cardinals in August, posting a 2.01 ERA in 12 appearances for the NL Central champions.
Quintana also worked 51/3 scoreless innings for St. Louis in his lone playoff start, but the Cardinals were eliminated by Philadelphia.
CARDINALS: St. Louis reached a deal with veteran free agent catcher Willson Contreras, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The contract is valued at $87.5 million over five years – the largest free-agent deal by the franchise for a player who was not previously a Cardinal.
Contreras hit .243 with a .349 on-base percentage and a .466 slugging percentage this past season for the Cubs. He hit 22 home runs and drove home 55 RBI in 113 games. Contreras started 72 games at catcher and 39 at designated hitter.
Contreras received a qualifying offer from the Cubs, so signing him will cost the Cardinals their second-highest pick in the 2023 draft, and they will have $500,000 lopped off their international scouting budget.
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