Yankees Exec Had 'Feeling' Aaron Judge Would Leave NY amid Giants, Padres Rumors

The New York Yankees were reportedly preparing for Aaron Judge to leave for the San Francisco Giants or San Diego Padres before a nine-year, $360 million deal came together at the last minute.

One Yankee executive told Buster Olney of ESPN that he had a "feeling" Judge would bolt to the West Coast amid interest from the Padres and Giants.

The Yankees' most serious competitor in the race was San Francisco. Olney reported the Giants' offer came in at somewhere between $320 million and $360 million. There was even a brief period when seemingly credible but ultimately erroneous reports of Judge leaving for San Francisco made the rounds on social media.

The Padres reportedly made it clear they were willing to outbid the Yankees, but nothing "formal was presented to the league offices."

In the end, the Yankees' negotiations with Judge came down to one question: Did he want to be a Yankee? Olney reported Hal Steinbrenner asked Judge that exact question during a phone conversation Dec. 6. When the reigning AL MVP indicated he wanted to stay in New York, Steinbrenner gave the OK to increase the team's offer from $320 million to $360 million.

"Hal Steinbrenner has been the tip of the spear with this one," general manager Brian Cashman told reporters a few hours later. "Our organization has tried to stay connected in every way possible—Hal Steinbrenner directly with Aaron Judge, as well—to make sure that there was going to be no stone unturned and there was no effort missed in our discussions."

Judge is coming off one of the greatest power-hitting seasons in MLB history—and the greatest since the steroid era. His 62 home runs in 2022 are the most in American League history and the most by a player who has not fallen under a cloud of steroid suspicion.