During the winter of 2022-23, when Yankees fans were captivated by the San Francisco Giants and their own anxiety about Aaron Judge’s free agency, two other MLB teams were quietly making moves for the slugger.
The San Diego Padres were the real reason Judge flew to California for the Winter Meetings. When the Yankees mentioned that they were blissfully unaware of his travel intentions, it appeared that the Giants had them cooked. Instead, the Padres had flown Judge to town for a last-ditch financial overload. Finally, as we all know, he died.
Is there another semi-secret bidder? According to Kristie Ackert of the Tampa Bay Times, the Yankees’ division rival Rays made a genuine effort, offering Judge ten years and $300 million in total before the hysteria erupted. When taxation is taken into account, there is a slight advantage for Floridians.
The Tampa Bay Rays have extended an offer to Yankees skipper Aaron Judge; complete financial details are available.
How close did Judge come to rejecting the Yankees and the captaincy for a $10 million lesser AAV? Despite their heroic efforts, the Rays will most likely finish fourth here. “Tried” is doing some heavy lifting here, but this offer is clearly far more substantial than anything rumoured for Freddie Freeman.
According to Judge, as quoted in Ackert’s column, he entered free agency expecting overtures from the California teams he eventually heard from, but he wasn’t as focused on the Rays — at least not until they made their “respectful” offer.
Every year, the Rays do more with less, irritating the Yankees while rotating through a seemingly endless roster of on-base monsters and power arms. They are unlikely to be a free agency destination unless they move to a brighter, more effervescent stadium (and possibly suffer an ownership change). After all, what is the richest contract in franchise free agent history? Zach Eflin’s three-year, $40 million contract is already rumoured to be up in Year 2.
The Rays deserve credit for spotting a generational talent and trying to defy trends, but the Yankees were likely more scared by the other overtures they faced here.
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