NEW YORK — In what is becoming a truly historic season, Aaron Judge has joined Hall of Famers Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Jimmie Foxx, Ralph Kiner and Ken Griffey Jr. as the only non-steroids-tainted players to at least twice hit 50 or more homers in a season. And barring a catastrophic injury, will likely break Roger Maris’ American League record of 61 that has stood since 1961.
And shortly after the season, Judge, who bet on himself this year and has already won, has a very good chance of winning his first Most Valuable Player award, especially if the voters decide he was much more valuable to the Yankees winning their division than Shohei Ohtani was to the Angels finishing fourth. And then Judge will embark on the hunt for the one dumb owner willing to blow the Yankees out of the water with a contract that will pay him the same industry high $36 million annual average salary as Mike Trout, for 8-10 more years at age 31.
To be perfectly frank, I’m not sure if there’s a team out there willing and able to pay Judge the seven-years/$213 million he already turned down from the Yankees back in April that, with a $30.5 annual average value, would have made him the highest paid position player in Yankee history. But for the sake of argument, let’s examine the most logical teams in terms of both money and the need for a genuine star.
