New York Yankees Preparing Contract Offer to Aaron Judge

The New York Yankees are expected to make a contract offer to Aaron Judge, ESPN.com reports.

Judge can become a free agent after the season and would like to remain a Yankee for the remainder of his career or at least he has stated that several times. The problem for the Yankees will be two-fold. First, Judge will be 30 years of age later this month. That’s not ancient but not exactly an age where teams like to give substantial multi-year contracts. Second, while Judge did play 148 games last season, that was the most he played in since he reached 155 games in his first full season in the majors in 2017.

There is also the matter that Judge is expected not to be vaccinated from COVID-19. While everyone has the right to do what they believe in as far as medical treatment is concerned, he won’t be allowed to play in Canada this season if he is indeed unvaccinated. That means he will be forced to miss 10 games versus the division rival Toronto Blue Jays. If that were to happen, quite a few Yankees fans may not forgive Judge should they miss the playoffs or a division title by a game or two.

General manager Brian Cashman will have to decide what the fan revolt might be if the Yankees were to lose Judge to free agency. Especially after a winter in which the Yankees, despite having one of the highest payrolls in MLB, have been criticized by their fan base for not spending on any of the big-name free agents this offseason.

The Yankees at +600 are still considered one of the favorites to represent the American League in the World Series. You can find the odds for each team to make it to the World Series at the FanDuel Sportsbook.