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A16 SPORTS
Thursday 22 december 2022
Judge appointed Yankees captain after reaching longterm deal
By RONALD BLUM Rivera as Yankees lifers.
AP Baseball Writer “Just getting this chance to
NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron build this relationship with
Judge stood for photo af- everybody, that’s what I’m
ter photo as if at a wed- all about.”
ding. And in a way it was: Judge was at his parents’
He had gotten hitched to home in California when
the New York Yankees for the deal fell into place
the rest of his baseball life. early Dec. 7. With San
Judge posed with his wife, Francisco and San Diego
parents, Yankees manage- also pursuing Judge, Stein-
ment, agents and even brenner interrupted a va-
Derek Jeter and Willie Ran- cation, pulling over on a
dolph, and discussed his highway between Milan
$360 million, nine-year con- and the French border to
tract and owner Hal Stein- speak with Judge at about
brenner’s decision to ap- 3 a.m. PST.
point him the team’s 16th “He shot me a message
captain the first since Jeter earlier about, ‘What’s the
retired. holdup? What’s it going to
“It’s family. The fans are take to get this to the finish
family,” Judge said, think- line?’ So we hopped on a
ing about joining Lou Geh- New York Yankees’ captain Aaron Judge, center, poses for a picture with former Yankees quick call,” Judge said.
captains Derek Jeter, right, and Willie Randolph during a news conference at Yankee Stadium,
rig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022, in New York. Steinbrenner increased
Mantle, Jeter and Mariano Associated Press New York’s offer from an
eight-year deal to a nine-
year agreement.
Just before Opening Day,
Judge had turned down
the Yankees’ offer of $213.5
million over seven years
through 2029. Steinbrenner
called Judge on Oct.
24 the day after Houston
eliminated the Yankees to
jumpstart talks, and invited
the outfielder to his home
in Tampa, Florida.
“One of the conversations
we had two weeks ago, I
actually said to him, ‘As far
as I’m concerned, you are
not a free agent, you are
a Yankee, and we need
to do everything we can
to ensure that remains the
same,’” Steinbrenner said.
Judge had not been
aware of rumors that he
was headed to the Giants:
“I was actually on a plane,
so I really kind of missed all
the stuff going on about
where I would go.”
Judge, the reigning Ameri-
can League MVP after set-
ting an AL record with 62
homers. gets $40 million
annually, a full no-trade
provision and a hotel suite
on road trips.
“I get a chance to con-
tinue something the Yan-
kees are so big on, which is
legacy,” Judge said. “I get
a chance to continue my
legacy here in pinstripes,
the best city in the world,
the best baseball city, in
front of the best fans.”q
