Aaron Judge Admits He Was ‘Upset’ Initial Yankees Offer Was Made Public

The price tag on Aaron Judge reportedly is over $300 million, which has the Yankees in a bidding war with other Major League Baseball clubs.

New York had offered the 30-year-old a contract before the 2022 season, but Judge declined the seven-year, $213.5 offer. The seven-year outfielder went on to break Roger Maris’ American League home run record and win the AL MVP. Judge was named Time magazine’s Athlete of the Year for that effort, and Sean Gregory published a feature on the slugger Tuesday.

The piece detailed Judge’s life living in Linden, Calif. as a biracial American and his seven years in the Bronx. The four-time All-Star opened up about free agency, and he revealed an unknown detail on general manager Brian Cashman’s contract offer.

“We kind of said, ‘Hey, let’s keep this between us.’ I was a little upset that the numbers came out,” Judge told Time magazine. “I understand it’s a negotiation tactic. Put pressure on me. Turn the fans against me, turn the media on me. That part of it I didn’t like.”

The media blitz is only magnified in New York, but the Yankees reportedly did not know Judge was upset over how public the negotiations were, according to SNY’s Andy Martino. The Bronx Bombers reportedly also were unaware of a high school prediction Judge made on his desire to play for the San Francisco Giants. When you add in the Yankees have no idea if the free agent outfield will attend the winter meetings, it’s not the best look for Cashman and co.

It appeared the Yankees were going to lose Judge to the Giants on Tuesday afternoon, but nothing has transpired as of early Tuesday evening.