Giants latest offer to Aaron Judge is around $360 million

Dec 6, 2022 - 7:35 PM

The Aaron Judge sweepstakes are nearing an end, or so it at least appears. And right now it seems that it’s still a two-team race between the only teams he’s been linked to, and the only teams who have publicly shown an interest in him (despite all 30 teams obviously wanting him to suit up for them). By all accounts, it’s coming down to the team he’s spent his entire career playing for, the New York Yankees, and the team he spent his entire childhood rooting for, the San Francisco Giants.

And for the first time, we have some details of a contract offer from the Giants. According to Jon Heyman of the NY Post, the Giants current offer to Judge is in the neighborhood of $360 million, though the number of years is unknown.

The last time we heard news of a Yankees offer to Judge, it was in the ballpark of $300 million, but that came with the report that they’d be willing to go higher if the Giants offer topped theirs. It was obvious that it would and, indeed, it did.

Update: According to insider Mike Rodriguez, the Yankees latest offer is for $340 million, with both teams offering nine years.

At this price point, it seems pretty safe to say that the Giants are not going to lose out on Judge due to having a bad offer. If he re-signs with the Yankees — or signs somewhere else — it will almost surely because he simply wants to play there.

There’s also the chance of a last minute mystery team emerging, as usually happens. It feels unlikely in the case of Judge, who seems to be torn between two teams he’s attached to, but it’s worth noting that the San Diego Padres just offered Trea Turner a contract north of $340 million, before the middle infielder chose an 11-year, $300 million deal from the Philadelphia Phillies. The Padres will now have pivoted, and I’m guessing they’ve made a phone call to Judge’s agent essentially saying, “hey, we would like to write a really big check, please call back if interested.”

Most insiders are still predicting that Judge will sign this week, with many believing it will happen today or tomorrow. At this point it seems like there’s not too much left to be done. And not to fill you with reasons to later get disappointed, but the narrative is certainly shifting towards the Bay Area.

Only time will tell. And unlike the money the Giants are offering Judge, it doesn’t seem like much time remains.