ESPN: Aaron Judge Contract Projected to Be 8-Year, $320M Deal by MLB Front Offices

MLB executives believe outfielder Aaron Judge is in line to sign one of the biggest contracts in baseball history in free agency.

According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, MLB front-office officials polled at the MLB GM meetings believe Judge's deal will fall somewhere in the range of $320 million for eight years.

Passan noted that the belief is the contract could be even bigger if the Los Angeles Dodgers or San Francisco Giants make a serious run to attempt to sign him away from the New York Yankees.

While Judge figures to have plenty of suitors vying for his services on the heels of a historic 2022 season, Passan suggested there are several factors that make the Yankees the favorites to retain him.

Among them are the fact that he has played his entire career in pinstripes and that the Yankees are the richest franchise in baseball. Also, Passan noted the Yankees desperately need outfield help, and there isn't much of it on the free-agent market aside from Judge.

There is no question Judge is worthy of being one of the highest-paid players of all time, especially after nearly taking the American League Triple Crown last season.

Judge finished second in the AL in batting average at .311, but the 6'7" slugger led the league in home runs (62), RBI (131), runs (133), walks (111), on-base percentage (.425) and slugging percentage (.686).

He stole a career-high 16 bases and played excellent defense in right and center field, rounding out one of the greatest seasons in baseball history.

Judge's 62 home runs set a new single-season AL record, surpassing the previous record of 61 set by Roger Maris as a member of the Yankees in 1961.

With Judge leading the way, the Yankees won the AL East and made it to the American League Championship Series where they got swept by the eventual World Series champion Houston Astros.

If the Yanks are to have any hope of contending for a championship again in 2023, they'll likely need to re-sign Judge.

New York has some supremely talented hitters coming up through the pipeline, including Anthony Volpe, Jasson Dominguez, Oswald Peraza and Oswaldo Cabrera, but they all need additional seasoning before being key parts of a World Series winner.

Judge's return would give them the lineup centerpiece they need, but it may not be a guarantee given the potential risk that comes along with such a big contract.

Since Judge is already 30, an eight-year contract would take him to 38 years old, and it is fair to wonder if he will be worth $40 million annually by that point.

Also, Judge has a history of injuries, missing significant time in 2018, 2019 and 2020, before playing in 148 games in 2021 and a career-high 157 games last season.

If Judge does sign for $320 million over eight years, his average annual salary of $40 million will be second only to New York Mets pitcher Max Scherzer's $43.333 million, although Scherzer's deal is only for three years.

In terms of total money, $320 million would be the ninth-highest amount of total money ever in an MLB contract.

There is no question Judge has earned it, and it seems obvious that the Yankees would want to retain the face of their franchise at almost any cost. However, the fact that Judge is testing free agency means high-spending teams in his home state of California could be threats to poach him from the Big Apple.