Aaron Judge has his choice of which team he wants to sign with, but one Major League Baseball executive threw some doubt on one popular destination.
The American League MVP’s services will not be cheap. Judge rejected a seven-year, $213.5 million extension before the 2022 season back in April, and the Yankees reportedly offered the 30-year-old an eight-year deal worth $300 million.
New York has been the safe choice among analysts as Judge’s team in 2023. But the four-time All-Star has visited his hometown Giants, which has served to fire up speculation Judge might sign with San Francisco — the MVP grew up in Linden, Calif., just two hours away from San Francisco.
However, while predicting where the top free agents will sign, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman spoke with one league executive to forecast Judge’s future.
“He’s going to leave the greatest market to go across country to a team where it’s hard to hit homers? Come on,” the MLB executive told Heyman on Thursday.
It’s not a bad argument against Judge signing with the Giants. The slugger broke Roger Maris’ American League home run record this past season, and it’s possible Judge doesn’t reach those kinds of feats in the Bay Area, though all-time home run leader Barry Bonds could be thrown in as a counterargument.
MLB free agency has been slow to kick off, but things likely will start to heat up once the winter meetings start in San Diego this Sunday.
