Aaron Judge has decided he likes pinstripes, while the New York Yankees finally backed up the Brinks truck and gave him a 9 year, $360 Million deal that's roughly 70% MORE than their first offer. Yankees fans should send the San Francisco Giants a thank you card for this early gift every Christmas. That’s an insane amount of money and a long contract, and an offer the Giants made first. Aaron Judge is currently 30 years old and he will be 39 when the contract is done.
Some people have issues with the length of some of these contracts because of how old the player will be when they end, and I understand that. What we're seeing with teams like the Yankees, Phillies, Padres, Dodgers, Mets, Astros to an extent, and hell the Rangers are the big teams going for it, willing to spend a huge amount of money and commit to the years these players are seeking as well.
The beautiful thing about the teams I listed off are they aren’t concerned about the years or how old the said player or players will be 5-10 years from now. They are getting these guys essentially for the next 3-5 years to go and try and win a championship. That’s the game these days. You have to sign players to 9-13 year contracts to land them, but you are ultimately hoping a championship comes in the first 3-5 years of that deal.
The Astros have done it, the Dodgers have done it, and the Mets are so far over the luxury tax right now if they stopped spending today, which I doubt they will because they have an owner that wants to win, they would have to pay $34 million. And with the addition of Trey Turner the Phillies will owe $1.06 billion just to 6 current players alone, and all of them except Turner are at least 30 years old.
Money in the game of baseball is out of control, and I love it. Some organizations want to win, and will pay whatever it is to give their team the best chance at winning a championship. Yet some organizations (ahem, White Sox) sit on their hands and hope for bounce back years. I think going out and spending the money works out more times than hoping for a rebound year. GO SPEND MONEY!
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