Yankees News: Aaron Judge update, Don Mattingly Hall of Fame, Masahiro Tanaka tweet

The Winter Meetings are underway and moves could be made at any moment now. The New York Yankees are among the main focuses, as expected, especially after there’s been an update on Aaron Judge’s contract situation in free agency.

How far is the team willing to go in the negotiations? Are fans concerned about the price, or do they just want Judge back regardless of cost because his departure will likely signal some sort of re-tool/rebuild?

At the moment, it seems to be a firm two-horse race between the Yankees and San Francisco Giants, whom Judge met with Thanksgiving weekend. Per reports, those meetings went well and a formal offer is expected during this week’s Winter Meetings.

The Yankees, also per reports, have presented Judge with an eight-year, $300 million offer, which would make him the highest-paid position player (on an AAV basis) in history. He’s apparently looking for more, which makes fans wonder a few things.

First of all, if that offer isn’t “enough” for Judge, does he want to return to the Yankees? Secondly Judge reportedly asked for more than $300 million before the start of the 2022 season … so have the Yankees been playing from behind this entire time? That was before he put up an historic season. Why would he expect anything less?

Yankees news roundup as Winter Meetings begin in San Diego

• According to Ken Rosenthal, Judge is expected to receive a nine-year contract in free agency, which now complicates the Yankees’ pursuit. It’s evident they’ve always wanted to go below that number, given their seven-year offer before 2022 and their eight-year offer last month.
• If the Yankees re-sign Judge, there’s belief they’ll have room to make a couple more upgrades this year or next, but that much has been unclear. If he leaves, the situation becomes much more difficult, as the Yankees might be faced with rushing to reset for 2023 and return to World Series contention in 2024.
• Don Mattingly did not get elected to the Hall of Fame by the Contemporary Era committee. Only Fred McGriff did. Good for him. But sad times for Yankees fans.
• The Yankees are reportedly more focused on Carlos Rodon than Justin Verlander, per Jon Heyman. Would be cool, probably won’t happen.
• Masahiro Tanaka got Yankees fans excited by tweeting appreciation for those on social media who send him well wishes. The Yankees need another starter! Just sayin’ …

News from around Major League Baseball

• The Athletics are reportedly close to trading catcher Sean Murphy, who the Yankees were linked to last year.
• The Red Sox reportedly still haven’t made a “competitive” offer to Xander Bogaerts. This is getting hilarious now.
• Outfielder Bryan Reynolds has requested a trade from the Pittsburgh Pirates with contract extension talks at an impasse. He was a reported Yankees’ target last offseason. Maybe a revisit?
• Jacob deGrom signed a five-year, $185 million contract with the Texas Rangers over the weekend and the Mets weren’t given a chance to match. Wild stuff.

Stay tuned for more updates in the coming hours, as we’re expecting many dominos to fall between now and Wednesday evening.

Latest rumors hint Yankees must make one more sacrifice to bring Aaron Judge back

According to Ken Rosenthal, the New York Yankees' eight-year offer for Aaron Judge was reportedly one year short of securing his services.