Yankees 'will offer Aaron Judge a $300MILLION contract' to keep the slugger in New York

The New York Yankees are pulling out all the stops to keep Aaron Judge, with reports of an offer of $300m on the table for the slugger and suggestions they could go even higher.

It was a record setting 2022 season for Judge with the Yankees, where he hit an American League record of 62 home runs and eclipsed the tally of Roger Maris.

But that year was his final season on his Yankees contract and the 30-year-old Judge is now in free agency. He had rejected a seven-year, $213m 

Aaron Judge is a free agent after a record setting year with the New York Yankees

The 30-year-old slugger set a new American League record with 62 home runs in 2022

He was recently spotted in San Francisco and the Giants are interested in bringing the slugger back to California, where he was born. The Dodgers have also been linked with a move for Judge.

And according to ESPN on Wednesday, the Yankees will make an offer in the region of $300m to open talks and bringing him back to the roster is a priority.

Last week, Judge was filmed arriving in San Francisco before Thanksgiving weekend and is believed to have held constructive talks with the Giants. 

'Visiting some family and friends, that’s about it,' Judge said when he was asked what his plans were in California.

Asked in late October if he wanted to stay a Yankee, Judge said: 'I've been clear on that since I first wore the pinstripes.

'Now I'm a free agent, and we'll see what happens.'

Anthony Rizzo, who just wrapped up a two-year deal to re-sign with the Yankees, want Judge to stay in New York,

Judge was filmed in San Francisco last week amid reports he was having talks with the Giants

'Obviously I want to be his teammate,' Rizzo said. 'We've become good friends on the field and off the field. We've really enjoyed playing with each other.

'But at the end of all of this, a friendship here or a friendship somewhere else, it's still a friendship. It doesn't mean you have to be on the same team to be friends.

'So wherever he's at, I try to respect his privacy and his space and then let him come up with the decision on his own.'