What transpired Friday in the prelude to a potential parting of the ways between the Yankees and Aaron Judge was the classic case of dumb and even dumber.
For Hal Steinbrenner to offer a seven-year $213 million ($30.5 AAV) extension to the 30-year Judge, who’s had only two fully healthy seasons with the Yankees and missed 156 games due to injuries since 2017, would more than qualify him for winning the One Dumb Owner distinction for this off-season.
But for Judge to reject that offer and gamble on having an MVP season in ‘22 to force the Yankees into giving him Mike Trout money was even dumber. And make no mistake, this negotiation from the start was all about Mike Trout — who himself has played only 90 games in the first three years of his $430 million extension — and his $36M AAV. As Judge continued to maintain to the Yankees, he honestly believes he is as good or better player than Trout and intends to be paid accordingly. Only problem with that assessment is that Trout currently has three MVP awards to Judge’s none.
