The Aaron Judge saga is finally over. He is coming back to The Bronx to likely be a lifetime Yankee as he stays for nine years and $360 million. His average of $40 million a season marks the most money per year for a position player in the history of baseball. After belting 62 home runs and becoming the all-time AL Home Run single-season leader, Judge was bound for the record books with his new contract.
To discuss Judge’s contract, Justin Verlander to the Mets, Jacob deGrom to the Rangers and everything else going on in MLB free agency, we bring you a new episode of “The Show” podcast with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman, live from the Winter Meetings in San Diego.
“The Show” Podcast with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman:
- JUDGE BACK TO YANKS: Nine years, $360 million is fair for the season and career he has had with the Yankees. There is no position player as good as he is. The Padres came out of nowhere and were in the running for around $400 million for Judge, but the star outfielder wanted to stay with the Yankees. Credit to Hal Steinbrenner for putting up the money and the Yankees for getting this done. Where will the Yankees go next in free agency?
- DeGROM & VERLANDER: $185 million was a no-brainer for Jacob deGrom to sign with the Rangers. Good replacement by the Mets signing Justin Verlander. Mets now have six Cy Young awards atop the rotation in Verlander and Max Scherzer. Steve Cohen is going to go deep into the luxury tax to put together the best team possible. Mets will probably go sign another starting pitcher.
- TREA TURNER/NL EAST: Turner gets an 11-year, $300 million deal. He took less money to sign with the Phillies vs. getting $42 million more to go the Padres. NL East is going to be very competitive.
- CONTRERAS/NIMMO: Joel hates the Willson Contreras contract with the Cardinals. Will the Mets bring back Brandon Nimmo or is he going to sign elsewhere? What deals do they like? What do they hate?
SUBSCRIBE BELOW:
New episodes of “The Show” with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman will be released every Tuesday afternoon through the entire MLB season. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google, Amazon or wherever you get podcasts above.
