Aaron Judge, the 2022 AL-MVP, ditched San Francisco Giants last moment to join the New York Yankees in this off-season.
Aaron Judge ruled this year’s off-season by forcing the teams to rally behind him with the best possible contract offer. But why the home run record-holder slugger had to enter the free agency in the first place? It’s simple, the New York Yankees were unwilling to offer just another slugger a hefty contract. However, Judge took that personally, had a breakthrough year in 2022, and took charge of the contract negotiations.
He entered the elite list of baseball legends and made it impossible for the Yankees to turn him down. And even though his heart belonged to New York, per what he says, he gave the Yanks’ front office a hard time. The slugger roamed around America from city to city throughout the off-season and held contract negotiations with multiple high-end teams, including San Francisco Giants. Yet, the tables turned last moment, and Aaron stayed in New York. However, the Giants did not take that well.
Giants Speaks Out On Losing Aaron Judge In Free Agency Ahead Of Opening Day Clash
The New York Yankees will clash with San Francisco Giants on the 2023 MLB season opening day at the iconic Yankees stadium in the Bronx. Undoubtedly, it will be a bittersweet moment for the Giants, who will face Aaron Judge, the one they nearly acquired in the off-season. While Judge and the Yankees have moved on, the Giants are still sulking. Pitcher Logan Webb and Alex Cobb addressed the matter and said it “sucked” to lose out Judge in free agency. On top of that, it hurt the Giants’ fan base even more as there was a lot of anticipation around it, and the deal looked almost confirmed. But they fail to understand what went wrong at the last moment.
However, the Giants’ president of baseball operations, Farhan Zaidi, had a somewhat different take. He said facing Aaron Judge on opening day after the whole free agency fiasco should only motivate the team further. Whatever happened was not right, but it’s in the past, and the team should solely focus on the upcoming season. Regardless, the Giants’ fans are not buying it and remain upset with Judge’s ultimate decision. They feel betrayed by the slugger and even accused him of using the negotiations as leverage to pressure the Yankees into increasing his contract value. Overall, no one would ever get to know what happened behind closed doors. But the Giants have every right to believe any conspiracy theories.
“I’m a Yankee,” Roars Judge Ahead Of Clash With The Giants
Meanwhile, Aaron Judge is least bothered with the outside noise and is focused on playing his first game as the captain of the New York Yankees. Upon facing the Giants, who nearly stole him away in the off-season, right on the opening day, Judge said someone in the MLB office was messing with him as they pitted him against the Giants on the first day of the season.
However, Aaron Judge also admitted that he would have run into them eventually at some point in the season. Hence, he is not focusing much on the opposition and instead concentrates on his personal gameplay. He addressed the media on Tuesday on his last spring training game and signed off by asserting that he is a Yankee and will always be.
