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Logan Webb, Brandon Crawford Open Up About Giants' Recruitment of Aaron Judge
February 5, 2023
The San Francisco Giants heavily recruited New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge this winter before he re-signed with the Pinstripes on a nine-year, $360 million deal.
Giants stars Logan Webb and Brandon Crawford were among those who met with Judge while he was in San Francisco, attempting to convince him to make the move out West. Once they found out Judge was staying in the Bronx, Webb said he and the Giants were pretty disappointed, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Giants offered Judge a contract in the neighborhood of $360 million, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported in December. While Judge grew up a Giants fan living in California, the Yankees matched that offer and the star slugger ultimately decided to honor his commitment to the franchise that drafted him.
San Francisco would have received a major boost with the addition of Judge, and its chances of winning another World Series would have been greatly improved. Now that he's staying with the Yankees, New York York is hoping their new captain can lead it to its first championship since 2009.
Judge has spent his entire career with the Yankees, which selected him in the 2013 draft. He has gone on to win the American League Rookie of the Year award in 2017, three Silver Slugger awards, four All-Star Game selections and an MVP award.
The 30-year-old put together the best season of his career in 2022, slashing .311/.425/.686 with 62 home runs, 131 RBI and 16 stolen bases in 157 games en route to winning the AL MVP award. His 62 home runs broke Roger Maris' AL home run record.
While Judge has received numerous individual honors, his ultimate goal is to help the Yankees win a World Series title. They team has come close to reaching baseball's biggest stage on several occasions during Judge's tenure, but they've come up just short each time.