Yankees: Aaron Judge’s autograph about to get pricy

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 14: Aaron Judge
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 14: Aaron Judge

Yankees rookie Aaron Judge may be slumping at the plate but it hasn’t stopped him from signing an exclusive autograph deal with Fanatics.

Since the Yankees returned from the All-Star break on July 14, Aaron Judge has seen his batting average drop 30 points to .289.

Prior to Sunday night’s backbreaking loss to the Red Sox, Judge was batting .161 with 43 strikeouts in his last 27 contests. To make matters worse, 17 of those Ks have been of the caught looking variety.

One night later against New York’s team, the Mets (I’m kidding), Judge found the seats in the sixth inning of the Yanks’ eventual 4-2 win. Of course, he did strike out two more times but why bother focusing on the negative.

Even still, Judge’s 36 dingers lead the entire American League, which is one reason as to why the baby-faced 25-year-old just inked a multi-year agreement with Fanatics Authentic to become the sole distributor of all Aaron Judge signed memorabilia and collectibles.

Though financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, online sports retailer Fanatics joins Rawlings and Under Armor on Judge’s growing list of endorsement deals.

Other notable athletes who have signed with Fanatics within past few months include NL Rookie of the Year favorite Cody Bellinger, his teammate Corey Seager, World Series champs Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo and NFL superstars Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers.

For those wondering how much Judge’s John Hancock will set you back, here’s what Fanatics already has up for sale:

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  • Multiple 8-by-10-inch photos: $350
  • A signed Yankees hat: $400
  • A signed batting helmet is $500
  • A signed bat: $600
  • A signed replica jersey is $650

Suffice to say, you better start saving your shekels.

Reports recently surfaced that Judge was quick to link up with a distributor for all things autographed after he became irritated that some of his game-worn jerseys were put up for auction without his consent.

However, Judge insisted to ESPN.com that this decision came after much deliberation.

"“We’ve been really selective on what deals we wanted to do, but after the All-Star break it seemed the right time to do this one,” said Judge."

Per an agreement Steiner Sports has with the Yankees, Steiner can indeed place some of Judge’s jerseys up for bid, though, Judge’s hat, shoes and batting gloves are his own personal property. Fanatics has no claim to any authentic game-worn merchandise.

Next: Dillon Tate realizing his potential

As you might have heard, Steiner recently fetched an incredible $160,644 for the jersey Judge wore during his professional debut last season. That’s a whole lot of Bitcoin if you ask me.

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