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It’s been more than a year and a half since Aaron Judge ended his free agency and rejoined the New York Yankees on a nine-year pact worth $360 million. At the time, the Yankees were believed to be competing alongside the San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres to secure Judge’s services. As it turns out, there was one other team with real interest in Judge — an unlikely one in that: the Tampa Bay Rays.
“It was a very respectful (offer), and I appreciated that they reached out and that they thought enough of me to do that,” Judge said. “And I respect their team. I respect what they have built here. They have a good club, and their team is tough.
“But it was so hard to think about (playing for them), because I’ve spent my whole career game-planning against them and trying to beat them.”
Per Ackert, the Rays were “believed to have been willing to talk about a contract of about 10 years and $300 million.” While that’s a massive amount by Rays standards, it was a distant fourth among known offers. The Padres reportedly offered Judge more than $400 million, according to The Athletic, and the Giants put $360 million put on the table.
Judge, 32, lives in the Tampa Bay area, making it possible that he may have wanted to hang around throughout the season. Instead, he chose to return to the Yankees, with whom he’s since hit .286/.415/.643 (189 OPS+) with 69 home runs in 197 games.
The Rays, it should be noted, made a similar pursuit of now-Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman during his extended free agency. Reports had the Rays’ offer to Freeman topping out around $140 million.