Aaron Judge stays with the Yankees: New York fans celebrate slugger's new $360million deal

Government buildings remained open and schools continued holding classes in the New York area following Aaron Judge's reported nine-year, $360 million deal with the Yankees, but Wednesday still had the feeling of a holiday for the Bombers faithful.

'There should be a party outside of the stadium this morning,' wrote on Twitter user, inviting the scores of celebrating Yankees fans to the Bronx for an impromptu gathering.

Judge likely wouldn't be able to attend, given that he made the decision to re-sign with the Yankees at the Winter Meetings in San Diego on Tuesday night, according to ESPN. The reigning American League MVP was weighing offers from his hometown San Francisco Giants, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Padres, but reportedly opted to stay in New York after the team upped its offer to $360 million over nine years. DailyMail.com has reached out to the Yankees for confirmation. 

To some, the length and the sheer cost of the contract is a concern.

'Paying a 40-year-old $40 million per year at the end of this contract,' wrote one fan on Twitter. 'Better win a championship or two in between to make it worth it.'

The Yankees have had success with Judge, who hit 62 home runs in 2022 to break Roger Maris' club and American League record of 61 that stood for 61 years. But the postseason has been an issue for New York, which has reached the playoffs in seven of the last eight seasons, while failing to reach the World Series.

Despite that troubling recent history, Yankees fans belted out a collective sigh of relief Wednesday morning one day after a since-retracted New York Post report claimed Judge was joining the Giants.

Instead of wallowing in self-pity, Yankees fans instead had their 'Dewey Defeats Truman' moment on Twitter, ridiculing Post reporter Jon Heyman's premature reporting from Tuesday the same way President Harry Truman was pictured laughing at headlines mistakenly claiming he lost the 1948 election to Thomas E. Dewey.

Naturally, several Yankees fans reposted erroneous tweets, claiming that Judge was 'headed to the Bay.' And since Heyman mistyped 'Aaron Judge' as 'Arson Judge' in his original tweet, the latter was trending on Twitter Wednesday morning.

'If Yankees marketing isn't making a million Arson Judge jerseys right now they're not doing their job,' tweeted Boardroom's Russell Steinberg.

Some fans pointed out that Judge made a smart move, given the differing dimensions of San Francisco's Oracle Park.

Whereas Yankee Stadium has more hitter-friendly dimensions (318 feet to left field, 408 to center, 314 to right), Oracle (339 feet to left, 404 to center, and 309 to right) is a much more difficult place to hit home runs, given its larger outfield and higher right-field wall.

Many fans called for Judge to be named the team's first captain since retired shortstop Derek Jeter.

'#AllRise and salute the #Yankees for getting the Aaron Judge deal done,' wrote News 12's Kevin Maher. 'Now make him captain too.'

And of course, the '#AllRise' hashtag was easy to find on social media in a reference to the right-handed slugger's last name.

Judge turned down an eight-year, $230 million deal before his MVP season in 2022, which now looks like a very smart decision on his part.