It’s no surprise that the Yankees’ top priority in the free agent market this winter is to retain the face of the organization, Aaron Judge. The great outfielder finally tastes autonomy and, after a season in which he broke the home run record in the American, he is entitled to get a good contract.
And while the Giants appear to be strong contenders as well, the Yankees have every intention of getting along with Judge for the long haul. After all, it’s not the money that’s missing in the Bronx and #99 is enough popular in town.
That said, even though the Yankees’ #1 priority is getting Judge home (which team owner Hal Steinbrenner made clear to the principal), Steinbrenner also claims the Bronx Bombers haven’t intend to stop at him.
In fact, Steinbrenner told Judge that he not only wants to sign him, but also wants to build a big club around him. We want to give him every reason to stay, basically.
Already yesterday, the Yankees took a step in the right direction by agreeing with Anthony Rizzo (who is also a good friend of Judge) for the next two years. The first cushion is something the Yankees won’t have to worry about for the next two years.
However, even if Rizzo is a good piece, the Yankees still have a long way to go to regain their place among the elite in the American. Some things must change internally as I wrote recently, but external reinforcement would not be too much.
And obviously, that’s what the Yankees seem to want to do. According to what is circulating, they are testing the waters about the big free agents, those who would have inquired in particular about Brandon Nimmo, Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa and Trea Turner.
Will the Yankees give themselves the means of their ambitions by getting one of these players in addition to keeping Judge? Clearly, it would inject some talent into a group that ran out of steam at the end of the season last year.
However, it will eventually be necessary for the Yankees to move from words to deeds. In the last few years, they were supposedly in the race for big names, but more often than not, it ended up going off the rails.
It is for this reason that at this time, one can wonder if the shortstop players are not only contingency plans in the event that Judge were to leave.
But clearly, according to what Hal Steinbrenner is saying loud and clear, the Yankees are hungry and they want to bring big talent to town this winter. Judge is the #1 priority, but getting reinforcements around him is a good way to show him that he belongs in the Bronx.
It’s up to the Yankees to pull out the checkbook and attract people to the Big Apple, then.
