What Giants’ odds are of landing Judge if Yankees star exits originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Aaron Judge sweepstakes are about to get underway.
After the Houston Astros swept the New York Yankees in the 2022 ALCS, the clock began ticking as to what the 30-year-old plans to do this MLB offseason.
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Despite talks between the two parties, Judge turned down a $213.5 million contract offer in June, so it appears the Yankees slugger will test the open market.
PointsBet has put together the odds of which team will secure Judge's signature, and the top three teams are in the NL, with the Giants having the best chances to sign the outfielder at +200, excluding the Yankees.
Behind San Francisco are the New York Mets (+275) and Los Angeles Dodgers (+300). Seeing San Francisco's eternal rival signing Judge, as Los Angeles is reportedly a serious player for the outfielder, would be a nightmare for Giants fans.
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Although the team's president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi isn't known for the big splashy free agent signings, the push to land Judge could be a move from ownership.
In September, ESPN MLB senior writer Buster Olney stated on KNBR's "Murph & Mac" that if the Giants were to be players in the Judge sweepstakes, the decision would come from above Zaidi.
"My instinct is, is that if this move happens, it's gonna be at the ownership level," Olney said. "... If you look at the way that Farhan does deals, that's not something he's going to do.
"It would have to be ownership basically saying, 'Look, we need a face of the franchise. We need a power hitter. We need a guy that fans are going to rally around and be excited by the way they were with Barry Bonds when they signed him back in the day.'"
Although ownership might be leading the charge for Judge, the Yankees star is a player that Zaidi likes, considering the slugger is his AL MVP over Los Angeles Angels two-way player Shohei Ohtani for the Giants president.
