Aaron Judge Oct 4, 2022; Arlington, Texas, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) rounds the bases after hitting home run number sixty-two to break the American League home run record in the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

An MLB insider made a big free agency prediction about Aaron Judge on Saturday.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports and The Athletic believes the slugger will get a ninth year in his contract.

Rosenthal tweeted his latest on Judge, and the report’s headline tells it all. It wrote, “Aaron Judge’s contract likely to be for nine years, sources say.”

Rosenthal reported, “The way the free-agent market for Aaron Judge is developing, it appears increasingly likely the winning bid will be for nine guaranteed years, sources involved in the negotiations say.”

So, it looks like the team who will give Judge that added year of commitment will ultimately land the 2022 AL MVP. A nine-year deal would take it up until 2032, when Judge would be 39 years old. That’s a long, long commitment. But a player of Judge’s caliber doesn’t come around every so often. So teams will have to ask if they want to make that choice or not. But if Rosenthal is right, and he’s among the most credible there is, someone is going to give Judge what he wants.

Earlier this week, an update was reported that the New York Yankees made a big-money offer to keep the slugger in The Bronx.

Other potential suitors for the superstar outfielder this offseason have included the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers.

[Ken Rosenthal]

About Chris Novak

Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022