Aaron Judge (Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images)
After turning down a contract offer from the New York Yankees, Aaron Judge has increased his asking price with his play. Here are five teams that could be a threat in free agency.
The countdown was on for the New York Yankees to offer a deal to star outfielder before the start of the season. If they could not reach a deal, negotiations would not restart until the end of the 2022 season. The Yankees reportedly offered a $230 million contract extension, which was turned down by Judge, who was reportedly looking for an annual salary of $36 million.
While there were some fans who thought that Judge was insane to turn down that money, the gamble has paid off for Judge, who has increased his asking price due to his tremendous play over a month into the season. That could make re-signing Judge that much more difficult, because there are going to be teams that try to outbid them.
Here are five teams that the Yankees should be afraid of if Judge were to hit unrestricted free agency.
Aaron Judge rumors: San Francisco Giants
We start off with a team that has recently been linked to Judge through a report.
MLB Network’s Jon Heyman said in his latest article for the New York Post that the San Francisco Giants are viewed as a “potential landing spot” for Judge. Heyman notes that Judge is from Linden, Claif. and grew up cheering for the Giants. Not only that, but Heyman points out that the Giants were in the market for a star outfielder, and that was Bryce Harper, but lost out to the Philadelphia Phillies.
The NL West is solidified as the toughest division in all of MLB. Just look what happened last year, as the Giants held the best record in baseball with 107 wins, while the Dodgers had to play in the Wild Card round with 106 wins!
The Dodgers are going to be contenders for the World Series from here on out, as they are not afraid to spend millions upon millions of dollars to bring in the top players in the league. The Giants will have to do the same if they want to consistently contend for the division title. Bringing Judge could help them in doing so.