Yankees Should Pursue Jacob deGrom over Aaron Judge in Free Agency amid MLB Rumors

If the New York Yankees want to maximize their potential for the 2023 season, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if they decided to pursue Jacob deGrom over Aaron Judge in free agency.

Per Andy Martino of SNY, the Yankees have requested deGrom's medical information as part of their offseason due diligence.

Martino made it clear the Bronx Bombers are prioritizing re-signing Judge, but they would also like to add depth to their pitching staff.

Judge is going to be the top priority for New York for a number of reasons. He's coming off a historic 2022 season that saw him hit an American League-record 62 homers and win the AL MVP.

The Yankees drafted Judge in 2013, and he developed into the biggest star in the sport wearing their uniform. He's a former AL Rookie of the Year winner, four-time All-Star and has finished in the top four in AL MVP voting three times, including his win in 2022.

This is a franchise that's not in the habit of losing homegrown superstars, but he is also a fascinating test case because he's one of the most unique players in Major League Baseball right now.

He is a 6'7", 282-pound brick wall of a baseball player who is going to turn 31 in April.

In his ranking of the top 50 free agents this offseason, The Athletic's Keith Law noted the history of players who are Judge's size playing into their 30s is not an illustrious group.

"Only three players that height have even had 100 AB in a season at 31 or older—Frank Howard, Richie Sexson, and Tony Clark—and the three accounted for just six seasons worth 1 WAR or more, four from Howard and one each from the other two. All were effectively done by age 35, with Sexson done after age 31," Law wrote.

The report noted Judge is a better athlete than any of those players, but the injury risk for players that size also increases as you get older.

Judge has been durable over the past two seasons, appearing in 305 out of a possible 324 regular-season games. It was a different story from 2018-20, though, when he missed a total of 142 games due to injuries.

The counterargument from Yankees fans is deGrom isn't exactly a picture of health. It's a valid concern for any team pursuing the 34-year-old. He has only appeared in 26 games over the past two seasons for the New York Mets.

This is absolutely worth thinking about, but then you also need to consider what the contracts for both players are likely going to be.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told reporters in April that Judge rejected a seven-year, $213.5 million contract offer before the season started. The deal would have been added to a $17 million offer for 2022 to avoid arbitration, bringing the total value to $230.5 million over eight years.

Ben Clemens of FanGraphs predicted Judge will sign a nine-year, $315 million ($35 million per season) contract this offseason. A deal of that length would take him through his age-39 season.

Judge is going to have his share of suitors, with MLB Network's Jon Morosi posting a video of the four-time All-Star arriving in San Francisco where he's expected to meet with Giants officials this week:

In the same article, Clemens predicted a three-year, $141 million contract for deGrom. A $47 million average annual salary would surpass Max Scherzer's deal with the Mets ($43.3 million) as the most in MLB.

From a performance standpoint, you would never have known anything was wrong with deGrom after he made his 2022 debut on Aug. 2. The right-hander had a 3.08 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 102 strikeouts and 40 hits allowed in 64.1 innings.

Per BaseballSavant.com, the four-time All-Star was in the 90th percentile or better in strikeout percentage, walk percentage, whiff percentage, chase rate, hard-hit percentage, xBA, xOBP and xERA.

Signing him would add him to a rotation that already features Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes and Luis Severino. It's hard to pick a better quartet of starters in MLB if deGrom ends up in the Bronx.

If Judge goes, the biggest issue is what happens to the Yankees offense. This is the main problem facing the team this offseason, even if they re-sign him. Bringing back Anthony Rizzo was an OK move, but he's 33 and has stopped hitting for average to sell out for power.

There were four regulars who finished the season with the team that had a below-average OPS+ last season: Jose Trevino, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Josh Donaldson, Aaron Hicks.

Gleyber Torres, who had the third-highest OPS+ on the team among qualified regulars (114), has been linked to the Seattle Mariners in trade talks if the Yankees want to make a move.

Some reinforcements are on their way from the minors. Shortstop Anthony Volpe, their top prospect, should get the call at some point in 2023 after finishing the season in Triple-A.

Oswald Peraza finished last season in the big leagues. The 22-year-old showed promise in a small sample size with an .833 OPS in 18 games.

There's no easy answer for what the Yankees should do to improve their World Series odds in 2023, unless they are willing to blow past the luxury tax and potentially add one of the top shortstops along with one of Judge or deGrom.

In deciding between Judge or deGrom, though, the safer bet is always the short-term deal that might cost a little more per season.

Yankees fans will get their disappointment out of the way if Judge decides to go elsewhere. It wouldn't be the end of the world if they let him walk and replace him with a two-time National League Cy Young winner who looked great at the end of last season.