Dodgers Will Have Plenty of NL West Competition for Aaron Judge

An anonymous source says the Giants are determined to sign potential Dodgers free agent target Aaron Judge no matter the cost.

According to several reports over the past few days, the Dodgers are likely to pursue Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge in free agency this offseason. Judge, who set the American League record this season with 62 home runs, is set to become a free agent after spending his first seven seasons in the Bronx.

While the Dodgers make plenty of sense given their history of having boatloads of money and liking really good players, one other NL West team might make even more sense: the Giants, who have money coming off the books, a big need in the outfield, and geographic ties to Judge, who grew up about 100 miles from Oracle Park.

According to a report by Randy Miller on NJ.com, not only are the Giants interested in Judge, they're determined to sign the slugger.

The Giants have targeted Judge and are prepared to spend whatever it takes, a person with knowledge of the Giants’ thinking told NJ Advance Media after meeting with members of the franchise’s ownership group. The person, who isn’t authorized to speak on behalf of the team, was granted anonymity.

“Judge is at the top of the Giants list and they won’t be underbid,” the person said. “If they miss out, it won’t be because of money.”

You might think the person requested anonymity because he or she was embarrassed about the blatant misuse of the word "underbid," but that would be nitpicking. Realistically, the "not authorized to speak on behalf of the team" thing holds water, because the last thing you want to do when you're preparing to enter a bidding war with your biggest rival is to publicly declare, "No matter how much the Dodgers offer, we'll pay more!"

It's not surprising the Giants are interested in Judge, and now that the extent of their interest is out in public, it should add more intrigue to the free-agent chase.