Judge Avoids Arbitration, But Long-Term Future With Yankees Remains Uncertain

Judge and the Yankees agreed on a $19 million deal for the 2022 season, but made no progress on any sort of long-term deal.

NEW YORK — Aaron Judge and the Yankees suffered a frustrating loss to the Astros on Friday night, but both parties left Yankee Stadium that evening with a reason to celebrate.

Earlier in the afternoon, Judge and the Yankees settled on a contract for the 2022 season, avoiding an arbitration hearing just moments before it was scheduled to begin.

"Now we can get back to focusing on baseball games and trying to bring a championship back here to New York,” Judge said after the 3-1 loss to Houston. “I’m glad we were able to get through that process. It took a little longer than expected, but thankfully we’re past it. Time to focus on winning some games.”

Judge was dressed up and ready to go for the hearing, a meeting scheduled to take place on a Zoom call at noon. That's when talks about a settlement ramped up, leading to a deal worth $19 million with a pair of lucrative incentives. Judge initially asked for $21 million while New York countered with a $17 million offer.

“I’m pleased getting that news today,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before Friday’s game. “I was excited about it. I spoke to him briefly on the phone a couple of hours ago. I’m excited that that’s behind us and we can leave that portion of the show alone.”

With the organization and their superstar outfielder meeting halfway to avoid arbitration, it begs the question of why this couldn't have been accomplished earlier this spring

Judge admitted that he at times wondered why this wasn't taken care of previously, but he said he never asked for a specific reason for the drawn out process, understanding this is a business and both sides were doing their own work, running their own numbers. 

On Opening Day, Judge turned down a $213.5 million contract extension, a massive offer that would've locked him in with the Yankees for much of the next decade. He's made it crystal clear recently that his dream is to stay in pinstripes, but he didn't believe that New York's proposed deal accounted for the value he brings to this franchise.

So far, betting on himself has been one of the best decisions he's ever made. The slugger is on a historic home run pace, leading the league with 27 long balls while producing MVP-caliber numbers and playing stellar center field. Across 69 games, Judge is hitting .299/.374/.648 with 58 runs scored and 53 runs batted in.

Asked if Friday's settlement gave him any confidence that a long-term deal will be reached before he hits free agency this winter, Judge thought for a split second and briefly cracked a smile.

"No," he said. "We got this one done. I was happy about that."

Aaron Judge is asked if avoiding arbitration gives him more confidence that a big deal could get done with the Yankees this offseason:

"No. We got this one done and I was happy about that" pic.twitter.com/HSmfxn43kp

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) June 25, 2022

Judge has clarified in the past that he doesn't want to negotiate an extension during the season, preferring to focus on his own performance, and that of his team, between the lines. He's also explained that he wouldn't mind testing free agency.

Evidently that sentiment still hasn't changed.

"That's for when the season's done," Judge said regarding extension talks.

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