New York Yankees fans celebrate free agent Aaron Judge winning the Hank Aaron Award for best offensive player in American League

Aaron Judge's historic-breaking season for the New York Yankees has won him the Hank Aaron Award for the American League. The award recognizes a player in each league that has had the most outstanding offensive performance.

Aaron Judge was the obvious choice for the award. Nobody in the league had a better season offensively than he did. He was the league leader in home runs and RBIs, just missing out on the Triple Crown Award as he finished the season with the fifth-highest batting average.

He had 16 more home runs than Kyle Schwarber, who finished second in the home run race. It was a year of utter dominance at the plate for Aaron Judge.

New York Yankees fans are giving their praise to Judge on Twitter. He played his heart out this year in New York, oftentimes being the team's only source of offense.

New York Yankees fans are eager for the team to re-sign Judge. They'll be devastated if they see him in another team's uniform next season. He was the team's heart and soul this year.

Losing Aaron Judge would be a killer for the Yankees. The team had a ton of stretches where they struggled at the plate. Losing their best offensive player wouldn't help that matter.

If the New York Yankees want Aaron Judge back, it's going to cost them

Aaron Judge had already turned down a massive offer from the Yankees before the 2022 season. New York offered him a seven-year, $213.5 million contract extension. It would have been one of the biggest contracts in MLB history.

Judge will be searching for a long-term contract as he isn't getting any younger. He hasn't shown any signs of slowing down, but as each year passes, it will be harder for him to land something long-term.

The Yankees will have to make him an offer that he cannot refuse. If they don't, there are a number of teams in the league who won't hesitate to throw big-time money at the superstar. Teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants have been rumored to go after Judge this offseason.

It will be interesting to see where Judge ends up with the Yankees or moves on and starts fresh elsewhere.

About the author

Jared "Bloomy" Bloom is a journalist covering Major League Baseball at Sportskeeda and a former college baseball pitcher from Illinois, who just graduated with a Master's degree in Sport Psychology.

A writer with over 3 years of experience, Jared is consistently more concerned with quality than quantity, thoroughly checking multiple sources of information, and prides himself in being knowledgeable not just about MLB, but the game of baseball in general. He loves breaking down plays and game-changing moments, as well as looking closer into players' statistics.

Jared is a die-hard Chicago White Sox fan, and one of his earliest memories is seeing his great-grandfather, a huge Sox fan, in his rocking chair watching a game. Jared started playing from the age of 5 with his grandfather coaching him early on.

Jared loved Tim Lincecum for his quirky delivery and looked up to him as a role model when playing. His current favorite is Phillies star Bryce Harper, an exciting player who doesn't let injuries hold him back. Jared's favorite sports moment is Mark Buehrle's opening day between-the-legs glove flip to first base in 2010.

When he is not watching or writing about baseball, Jared can be found racing BMX at his local Rockford BMX track or coaching his local youth travel baseball team.

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