Dodgers Rumors: Insider Believes LA Has Already Made an Offer to Aaron Judge
There are a lot of things we don't know about how this offseason will play out, but two things we do know is that the Dodgers are in the market for an outfielder and reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge is available. It makes sense that L.A. would at least kick the tires on the superstar slugger.
According to Ramon Carmona, the Dodgers have already made Judge an offer — and he rejected it.
Translated, this tweet says:
A source informs me that the Dodgers, knowing that Judge Aaron Judge dreams of playing in California, offered him $214 million this week, he and his agent turned it down, Judge is meeting with the San Francisco Giants to hear their offer, the Yankees continue waiting for him.
A dollar amount without a number of years is only half the information we need to evaluate an offer, but $214 million was probably a five- or six-year offer. Five years would put it at just under $43 million AAV, while six years would be just under $36 million. A five-year offer in that range would be in keeping with L.A.'s rumored preference of a shorter-term, higher-dollar deal.
It's not surprising that Judge turned down this deal, if the report is accurate. While he might not get $43 million per year, he will certainly receive offers well above $214 million in overall value. Judge will be 31 in April, so this is likely his only shot at a big free-agent deal, so it makes sense he'd look for the most guaranteed dollars rather than the highest AAV, which is why the Dodgers have always seemed like a longshot in this race.