Jon Morosi: "I truly believe Aaron Judge signs at the end of the winter meetings”

Baseball fans will have to wait a few weeks to see where prized free agent slugger Aaron Judge signs, according to MLB Insider Jon Morosi. Judge broke the American League record with 62 home runs this season for the New York Yankees and was named the AL Most Valuable Player on Nov. 17th.

Judge is the cream of this offseason's free agent crop, with a number of teams believed to be interested in acquiring his services going forward. Among those teams are the Yankees, with whom Judge has spent his entire seven-year MLB career, as well as the crosstown New York Mets.

Jon Morosi — "I truly believe Aaron Judge signs at the end of the winter meetings." - @GloverDarius

Aaron Judge, who turned down the Yankees’ seven-year, $213.5MM extension offer back in Spring Training, went on to the biggest season of his major league career in 2022. He became just the third AL player to top the 60-home run mark, joining former Yankee greats Babe Ruth (60) and Roger Maris (61). In addition to that mammoth feat, Judge also nearly won the AL Triple Crown this past season, leading the league with 131 RBI and finishing second with a .311 batting average.

Aaron Judge to command massive contract

Most expect Aaron Judge's next contract to be in the neighborhood, or perhaps even surpass the largest current contracts in MLB history. Among those are outfielder Mike Trout's 10-year, $360-million extension with the Anaheim Angels, Bryce Harper's 13-year, $330-million free-agent contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, and Max Scherzer's three-year, $130 deal with the New York Mets.

While Scherzer's contract is the shortest, it is currently the highest Average Annual Value (AAV) of any deal in league history at just over $43 million per season. Trout's pact has an AAV of $36 million, and Harper comes in at just over $25 million AAV.

Brian Cashman Says Yankees Made Aaron Judge New Contract Offer: 'We're on the Clock' - @TheReal_KDubb

Major League Baseball Trade Rumors writer Steve Adams predicts Judge will ink a contract with someone in the range of eight years, $332 million, which would come out to an AAV of $41.5 million per season.

Adam Wells of Bleacher Report reported on Nov. 18th that the Yankees have made a new contract offer to Judge.

Wells quoted Yankees general manager Brian Cashman as saying, "It's in real time, so we're on the clock. We're certainly not going to mess around."

However, Cashman did not discuss details of the team's latest overture to Judge.