The New York Yankees have a major upcoming contract situation to address with power-hitting outfielder Aaron Judge, and general manager Brian Cashman offered his latest.
During his seventh big league run, Judge most notably broke the American League home run record. On Oct. 4 against the Texas Rangers, the right-handed slugger topped former Yankee Roger Maris' previously set record, by connecting on his 62nd homer this season.
"There's a pot of gold there," Cashman said, per Sports Illustrated's Mike McDaniel. "It's yet to be determined what the gold -- how much it weighs -- but it's a pot of gold, no doubt about it. So good for him. It was already a big pot and, obviously, it'll be bigger."
Judge's upcoming period in the free agent market will likely serve as one of the most highly-anticipated in some time. Fresh off an all-time season for the 30-year-old, Judge couldn't ask for a better campaign to hit free agency. The dollar amount remains the primary question. Considering Judge is still relatively young and in the midst of his prime years, the 6-foot-7 right outfielder should garner some record-high contract numbers from outsiders -- if not from the Yankees.
"He put himself in an amazing position to have a lot of choices," Cashman said. "And clearly, obviously, we'd like to win the day on that discussion, and that's obviously for another day. But we said that before the season. We said it many times during the season. If you need to hear it again, I'll say it again. Yeah, of course we'd love to have Aaron Judge back as a New York Yankee, but that's all for another day."
The Yankees will embark on their fifth October run with Judge, previously filling short in two AL Championship Series to the Houston Astros, two division series and most recently, a wild card elimination from the Boston Red Sox last year.
Judge and the Yankees will begin their best-of-five AL Division Series matchup against the Cleveland Guardians starting Tuesday.
