NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Yankees have re-signed slugger Aaron Judge, The Athletic reported on Wednesday, ending an extended period of rampant speculation over where one of Major League Baseball’s most sought-after free agents would land.
The report, which cited an unnamed MLB source, said Judge has agreed a nine-year, $360 million deal to remain with the only club he has ever picked up a bat for after he rejected the Yankees’ offer of an extension worth $230.5 million in April.
The 30-year-old American League Most Valuable Player vaulted into the pantheon of baseball greats when he broke Roger Maris’s AL single-season home run record this year, smashing 62 homers in the regular season.
The six-foot seven-inch Judge was named an MLB All-Star for the fourth time in 2022 and was considered the hottest commodity in free agency, with the San Francisco Giants earlier offering him a deal worth $360 million, according to the New York Post.
He finished the 2022 regular season with an AL-best 131 RBIs and came up just short in the hunt for an elusive triple crown with a .311 batting average. He was also error-free on the defensive side.
The World Series title remained elusive, however, as the eventual champion Houston Astros swept the Yankees in the penultimate round of the MLB post-season.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York and Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Ken Ferris)
