A day after the MLB world was introduced to “Arson Judge” and it appeared that Aaron Judge might sign with the San Francisco Giants, the slugger decided to remain with the New York Yankees, signing a whopping nine-year, $360 million contract.
The signing concluded a wild contract situation for the superstar baseball player, who turned down an offer from the Yankees before the season and bet on himself to get a better one based on his play. And boy, did he do that, essentially earning himself an extra $140 million thanks to a 2022 season in which he led Major League Baseball in home runs (62), RBIs (131), and runs (133).
AARON JUDGE IS STAYING! pic.twitter.com/iWPADxKa44
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) December 7, 2022
Judge even reportedly turned down a better offer from the San Diego Padres to remain with the Yankees, showing that while he wanted to get paid, there was a little more to it than just money.
Not in the mind of ESPN’s Buster Olney, apparently, whose framing of the signing as a “total surrender” by the Yankees caught the attention of the MLB world.
Sources Confirmed: Judge to the Yankees, $360m, nine years. Total surrender by the Yankees. The bet in himself yields huge money
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 7, 2022
Referring to the signing as a “surrender” is certainly one way to put it. Were the Yankees supposed to lowball Judge because he should be thankful to remain a member of their organization? Was it gross of Judge to ask for so much money from a baseball franchise valued at $6 billion? If the Yankees let Judge sign with the Giants, does he think their fans would just be cool with that because it was too much money?
The only way that framing would work would be if you’re on the side of team owners, who would prefer to horde all the money for themselves and not pay it to the players who put butts in their stadium seats. And plenty of people took Olney to task over the sentiment.
https://twitter.com/barry/status/1600489855527575552
"Total surrender by the Yankees"? What exactly did the Yankees "surrender" to by signing one of the best players on the planet for less than a competitor was willing to pay? What was the alternative to "surrendering," standing firm on a lowball offer and watching him sign in SF? https://t.co/4ahn270WBt
— Liz Roscher (@lizroscher) December 7, 2022
Zero agenda with "total surrender," I'm sure, when Aaron Judge turned down higher offers to remain with the #Yankees. https://t.co/vy650Svsa8
— Adam Silverstein (@SilversteinAdam) December 7, 2022
"Total surrender" lol, did Rick Nielsen write this tweet? https://t.co/OFJLth1sak
— Nick Parco (@nick_parco) December 7, 2022
