The ball Aaron Judge hit to give him the American League home run record will go to auction.
But Judge won’t be placing a bid.
The free agent slugger hit his 62nd home run on Oct. 4 with the New York Yankees at Globe Life Field against the Texas Rangers for Judge to hold the record for most homers in the AL in a single season. The fan who caught the ball, 35-year-old Cory Youmans, held on to it throughout the game and did not return it to Judge despite some negotiations and a $3 million offer.
The ball now will go to auction in hopes of fetching more than the $3 million Youmans turned down, but Judge won’t be one of the people casting a bid for a pretty good (and hilarious) reason.
“Oh, no. I haven’t signed my free agent deal yet, so I think that’s a little out of my price range right now.,” Judge told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch.
Judge, who won the AL MVP, turned down the Yankees’ seven-year, $213.5 million contract offer prior to the start of the 2023 Major League Baseball season. It certainly was a risk worth taking, as Judge certainly has earned himself quite the pay bump. But will he remain in pinstripes? Well, that remains to be seen.
Home run No. 62 is set to hit the auction block on Nov. 29.
