So… much better to just bypass those productive years in the early 30s and go directly to age 38?
Here’s the thing. I’m probably more opposed to long term deals than you, and certainly more opposed than most GMs. But even then, most would agree with you about not giving Judge 8-10 years.
But it only takes one crazy GM to make the offer…
Some GM will see that Dave Winfield had a .867 OPS at age 40 and that Judge can do the same. There are now 30 teams that can count on having the DH for Judge's "golden years." Is it crazy to give Judge 300 million for 9 or 10 years if he leads you to a couple of championships? It could be a sound investment.
It's funny to hear Yankees fans try to convince themselves that Judge isn't going to cost 300 m. The Red Sox have to be all over Judge in the off-season--they shouldn't pursue Bogaerts until the Judge pursuit is over. Judge is a perfect fit for the Red Sox. I'm not sure if the Red Sox would be willing to shell out the money, probably not, but he would solve many of their problems going forward.
Even if we didn't have Story to take over SS, next year, I'd have Judge ahead of Bogey on the must try to sign first list.
We need to upgrade the OF, and with Kike going to free agency, and JBJ & Verdugo largely still question marks, Judge should be the #1 priority.
I do find it hard to imagine us not signing Betts, then going LNL on Judge.
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It's not like I hate JBJ or Verdugo, but I'm not counting on them as being a big enough plus to make a significant difference. The might. They could, but personally, I'm not counting on them. I'm fine with going into next year with Duran and Verdugo in LF and LF only, and I'd b e fine with JBJ in C F or RF, if the 3rd OF was a big plus.
I guess I'm just tired of mediocre OF6's from left to right, every year. When you are getting weak offense from 1B, the OF needs to take up some slack.
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