Let’s start with this: Few people know what Aaron Judge wants.
Maybe his agent. Probably his parents. Most likely his wife. There is not another handful.
Members of the Yankees’ front office are not in that select group. Some of the people who know Judge the best — his now-former teammates — are not sure what to expect. DJ LeMahieu said he would be “shocked” if Judge does not return to The Bronx. Anthony Rizzo “hope[s]” Judge will be back and believes he should be baseball’s highest-paid player. Several have said they have no idea.
The Yankees can tempt Judge with fame, legacy and loyalty. A team such as the Giants — or, more precisely, a team that is the Giants — may offer a more joyful situation and present a different type of loyalty: to his family, who live in Northern California and would love a shorter commute to see him play.
Does Judge want to play in the biggest market in baseball, which commands the global attention that has propelled him into a rare larger-than-life MLB player?
Does Judge want the comforts outside the limelight and with a smaller, happier fan base that will never turn on him?
We will find out soon enough because Judge is officially a free agent. Judge — along with Andrew Benintendi, Zack Britton, Matt Carpenter, Miguel Castro, Aroldis Chapman, Marwin Gonzalez, Chad Green and Jameson Taillon — hit the market once the World Series finished up Saturday night.
Thus began a five-day window in which the Yankees and no one else (technically, at least) can negotiate a contract with Judge. The Mets took advantage of the exclusive window by locking up Edwin Diaz on Sunday with a record $102 million deal. The Yankees following suit would be shocking: Judge has made it clear he will ensure each team can bid on his services.
By all reports, the Yankees’ chief competition is the club Judge grew up rooting for, though teams such as the Dodgers and Mets could lurk.
There are plenty of considerations that will go into Judge’s decision — does he want to break Mike Trout’s position-player record of $35.5 million per season? Is he willing to take a shorter deal that would enable him to outpace the $43.3 million Max Scherzer earns per season? But the preference that might be most fascinating is whether Judge prioritizes pressure or peace.
The Yankees can (and probably will) top any offer the superstar receives, but they cannot promise him unchecked adoration. The bottom-line, what-have-you-done-for-me-lately nature of New York fans was laid bare in October, when some ignored a 61-year-old record he broke and booed the homegrown and best Yankees player after two games in the ALDS.
One-hundred sixty-two games and a new American League home run mark were wiped away by seven strikeouts.
“It would suck for him to leave,” Isiah Kiner-Falefa said after the Yankees were knocked out of the ALCS by the Astros. “But at the same time, I don’t know the details with [his] family and where he grew up. And he got booed here — after 62 home runs.”
What is normal in New York — praising the good and condemning the bad — is not normal elsewhere. A young Judge cheered for his Giants, a franchise that honored Ryan Vogelsong (48-49, 3.93 ERA in seven San Francisco seasons) on its Wall of Fame. Barry Bonds, ostracized in just about every other corner of the baseball world, is a god at what is now called Oracle Park. Brandon Crawford endured one of the worst seasons in baseball in 2019, and loyal supporters left the Bay Area-born shortstop alone. Giants fans take care of their own.
Judge and his family know this. The Yankees players who watched Joey Gallo get hissed out of town and Aaron Hicks get jeered into the dugout know how toxic life in this spotlight can be.
“After 62 home runs and to get booed, I don’t think that they understand the greatness. What we saw might never, ever happen again,” said Kiner-Falefa, who was asked whether the fans’ behavior could influence Judge’s decision. “It could affect how maybe his family felt about things. But I wasn’t in the stands, so I don’t know.”
Few do. Judge, eternally upbeat in public, shrugged off the boos in the moment and said, “I’ve got to play better.” During the postseason, on-field excellence was his only course to avoid the fans’ wrath. He now has a much clearer path.
If Judge truly does not mind the pressure, he would be back in pinstripes, which can offer him an unparalleled platform in a sport in which regionalism allows stars to be buried in smaller markets. Derek Jeter would not be Derek Jeter© if he played in another market. A star born in New York is a star that burns bright and long. Awaiting Judge could be a legacy of conquering the world’s biggest stage, which he likely would do with a “C” on his jersey and an eventual spot in Monument Park. Awaiting him, then, could be immortality.
Does he want to continue in this proving ground and swing for baseball’s highest ceiling? Or is he comfortable with a ceiling that only home can offer?
“If it’s my money to spend,” Kiner-Falefa said, “he’d be back for sure.”
The Judge negotiations are about more than money, though. It is difficult to envision the Yankees getting outbid, but it is not hard to see why Judge would walk anyway.
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🏈 VACCARO: The Jets proved they belong once again
⚾ SHERMAN: Edwin Diaz’s record contract is worth the risk for Mets
🏒 BROOKS: Rangers already on the clock to find identity
Forget the QB. The Jets are good
There has been an understandable amount of focus (and often panic) on Zach Wilson, who rarely has played like the franchise quarterback the Jets hope he can become.
The 2022 Jets might not need a franchise quarterback.
Wilson was fine Sunday — 18-of-25 passing for 154 yards and a touchdown — and that’s all the Jets needed him to be to take down the powerhouse Bills, 20-17, at MetLife Stadium.
Wilson’s biggest pass went for a first down to Denzel Mims on a third-and-5 late in the fourth quarter, which burned more time off the clock and led to the go-ahead field goal. The short pass to a crossing Mims was not extraordinary, but it was the type of accurate, 12-yard completion NFL quarterbacks have to deliver. The Jets’ run game, defense and special teams delivered the rest.
The hookup with Mims represented Wilson’s only throw on the game-winning drive. The Jets leaned heavily on their running game, and Michael Carter and James Robinson ripped off four straight runs of at least 7 yards to bring the Jets down the field. The Jets finished with 174 yards rushing, which helped keep Josh Allen off the field.
When he was on the field, Allen was picked off twice by a Jets defense that seemed to confuse him. The do-everything quarterback still ran for 86 yards and bullied his way to first downs at times, but Allen can bulldoze every team. The excellent Jets pass rush sacked him five times and hit him several times more.
The special teams — and coaching staff — came through, too, with a fake punt run early in the third quarter that would have mattered more if Wilson was not strip-sacked later in the drive.
It is far too early to say the Jets have a quarterback, but the Jets appear to have a team.
The Kyrie-less Nets are 2-0
We are not going to argue here the Nets are better, on the court, without Kyrie Irving. Irving, even with defensive limitations, is a perennial All-Star with surreal skills. The Nets opening 2-6 with Irving and ripping off two wins since his suspension has more to do with the opponents than with the Nets’ roster.
But isn’t it at least interesting how inspired the Nets have played in wins in Washington (by 42!) and Charlotte?
In the pair of games without Irving, the Nets have averaged 27.5 assists. In the eight games Irving has played, the Nets averaged 24.6. The Nets are running their offense more through Kevin Durant — which can never be a bad thing. Cam Thomas has dusted off his uniform, and the Nets have won his combined 61 minutes by 49 points. Yuta Watanabe has looked like a legitimate find.
Irving’s brush with antisemitism and Ben Simmons’ bothersome knee have turned the Nets into Kevin and the Kids, which is working.
“We rallied around each other,” Durant said after the Nets completed a comeback against the Hornets. “It was a tough week for us, and it’s always good to just get back to the game.”
This is not quite last season — when a celebratory Bruce Brown declared after James Harden was traded that “Everybody likes everybody” — but it certainly is curious that the Nets have thrived in a few games without Irving. They visit Luka Doncic and the Mavericks (5-3) on Monday night.
There is no telling where the Irving saga goes next, so the team’s ability to navigate these games could be telling.
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