Not only did Aaron Judge break records with his ability in the American League, but his humongous paycheck from the Yankees is also breaking records in the MLB. In the last season of the MLB championship, Judge emerged as the best performer not only for the Yankees but in the entire league. After hitting record-breaking 62 home runs in the American League, the slugger was named AL MVP.
Also, as a result of his stellar performance in the season, Judge begged for one of the most lucrative deals in the recent history of MLB. The New York Yankees signed Aaron Judge for nine years for a total of $360 million. With this massive deal with the Yankees, the slugger has now also passed Mike Trout in terms of AAV.
Aaron Judge Surpasses Mike Trout\’s Yearly Salary!
In March 2019, in what was one of the most expensive deals in the MLB, Los Angeles Angeles signed Mike Trout for 12 years, paying him 426.5 million dollars. The deal made headlines as the biggest overall deal in professional sports at that time.
Later on in the year, when Gerrit Cole agreed to a nine-year, $324 million contract with the Yankees, he passed Trout\’s $35.5 million in earnings. Max Scherzer\’s three-year, $130 million deal with the Mets, which had an AAV of $43.3 million, completely outstripped both of them in the previous summer. However, in this conversation, such a brief agreement should not really be counted.
However, to join the Yankees again last Wednesday, Aaron Judge accepted a nine-year, $360 million contract. With the current agreement, Aaron\’s AAV increased to $40, placing him third in history and moving Trout to sixth. Judge\’s contract, which is for $360 million, is the third-biggest in baseball history and the richest free-agent agreement. Only Mookie Betts\’s 12-year, $365 million agreement inked in 2020 and Trout\’s 2019 extension are ahead of him.
Earlier this year, Judge turned down a deal from the Yankees. That deal would have paid him $213.5 million over the course of seven seasons. He accepted an opportunity to gain greater value for his skills by going into free agency since he was aware of their potential.
The reason behind Aaron Judge bagging such a huge contract is a little more than just his last season\’s performance. Ever since he entered free agency, a sort of bidding war started among the teams to hire the slugger. The Giants and the Yankees went all the way to acquire him. The tussle between two of the biggest MLB franchise has resulted in a huge contract for Aaron Judge.
With an annual salary of over $40 million, Judge will surpass all other position players in the league. Though not nearly as much as the top earners in the league, the overall deal is still fairly large.
Also Read Once Again, It’s Yankees Vs. Giants? But This Time It Is Not For Aaron Judge!