tremonthustler1
aka bx_representer
At least this kid continues to RAKE
I Want To Believe... But I Can't: The Official 2023 New York Yankees Off-season Thread
- Thread starter tremonthustler1
- Start date
At least this kid continues to RAKE
Ron Mexico
Superstar
VegetasHairline
Veteran
Aaron Judge’s free agency: How a small inner circle and a 3 a.m. phone call kept him a Yankee
A dozen people close to the negotiations detailed the final, frantic hours leading to Judge’s $360 million contract with the Yankees.
theathletic.com
At about 2 a.m on Dec. 7, a weary Aaron Judge completed his second flight in a 24-hour span, with a third coming up just a few hours later. He had traveled from Tampa to San Diego to Stockton, Calif., 20 minutes from his home in Linden. And upon landing in Stockton, a career-altering text message appeared on his phone.
While on vacation in Italy, New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner had composed a long message to the American League MVP, asking if they could talk. Steinbrenner, knowing Judge was closing in on his free-agent decision, wanted to make his intentions absolutely clear.
Judge was with his wife, Samantha, and miniature dachshund, Penny. He and Samantha were dropping the dog off at Judge’s parents at Linden, then leaving on a 7 a.m. flight from Sacramento to Maui. So much was happening, both with his travels and at the winter meetings in San Diego. Before calling Steinbrenner, Judge wanted to formulate a game plan. He phoned his agents, Page Odle and Dave Matranga of PSI Sports Management. The moment of truth in Judge’s suspenseful, month-long spin through free agency had arrived.
A dozen people close to the negotiations, some of whom were granted anonymity to speak candidly, detailed the final, frantic hours leading to Judge’s nine-year, $360 million free-agent contract with the Yankees. Judge, who turns 31 next month, received the highest average annual value ever for a position player. His conversation with Steinbrenner sealed the deal, but the historic outcome justified his faith in agents who initially appealed to him because they acted more like friends, like family.
Judge has known Odle and Matranga for more than a decade, going back to when he was a freshman at Fresno State. PSI, which represents approximately 100 players in the majors and minors, isn’t as big or well-known as some agencies. But Judge resisted overtures from the outside and stuck with his group after he became a first-round draft pick in 2013, American League Rookie of the Year in ’17 and the single-season AL home-run champion in ’22.
Odle and Matranga helped Judge map out what he would tell Steinbrenner. The Yankees in recent days had acted as if they would not budge from an eight-year, $320 million offer. The communication from Steinbrenner caught the agents off-guard. It already had been a long, hectic day, not only because of the two flights, but also an inaccurate report of Judge possibly joining the San Francisco Giants and a last-minute meeting with a new and eager suitor, the San Diego Padres.
How eager?
“They made a significant offer that kind of blew everybody else out of the water,” Judge said.
The offer, Odle said, was for more than $400 million. Two other sources briefed on the matter said it was in the range of $415 million, over a term that would have been at least 12 years. Judge was taken aback. The Padres’ proposed guarantee was nearly $100 million higher than the Yankees’.
Odle, in his initial conversations with Judge about free agency, had predicted the slugger’s market would soar past $400 million. The agents told teams as much, and Matranga said club officials reacted as if he and Odle were “asinine” and “crazy.” The Yankees, after Judge rejected their seven-year, $213.5 million offer in the spring of 2022, indicated they did not want to pay him like Mike Trout. Now Judge was poised to exceed the 10-year, $360 million extension Trout signed in March 2019, if not from the Yankees, then either the Padres or possibly the Giants.
Steinbrenner had woken up that morning in Milan feeling uneasy. It wasn’t the competition that troubled him; he expected other teams to be involved in the bidding. No, Steinbrenner was uncomfortable about a conversation he had with Judge the night before, concerned he did not fully express his understanding of the player’s desires. At the urging of Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, Steinbrenner had taken a more prominent role in the negotiations than usual, and met twice with Judge at his home in Tampa earlier in the offseason. At approximately 9 a.m. Milan time, midnight in California, Steinbrenner sent his text. Judge, in the middle of his travels, did not respond for about three hours.
Odle and Matranga, who had been dealing only with Cashman, told Judge that he was the one who should call Steinbrenner, given his rapport with the owner. Judge agreed but had to prepare, just as he would for a game. The agents advised him to be upfront and honest, tell Steinbrenner exactly where things stood.
“It just came down to the relationship I have with Hal,” Judge said, “being able to call him up on the phone and say, ‘Hey, this is where I’m at. This is me just talking man to man to you. I’m showing you my cards, everything that is on the table. This is where we’re at. This is where I want to be at. Can we get this done?’”
While on vacation in Italy, New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner had composed a long message to the American League MVP, asking if they could talk. Steinbrenner, knowing Judge was closing in on his free-agent decision, wanted to make his intentions absolutely clear.
Judge was with his wife, Samantha, and miniature dachshund, Penny. He and Samantha were dropping the dog off at Judge’s parents at Linden, then leaving on a 7 a.m. flight from Sacramento to Maui. So much was happening, both with his travels and at the winter meetings in San Diego. Before calling Steinbrenner, Judge wanted to formulate a game plan. He phoned his agents, Page Odle and Dave Matranga of PSI Sports Management. The moment of truth in Judge’s suspenseful, month-long spin through free agency had arrived.
A dozen people close to the negotiations, some of whom were granted anonymity to speak candidly, detailed the final, frantic hours leading to Judge’s nine-year, $360 million free-agent contract with the Yankees. Judge, who turns 31 next month, received the highest average annual value ever for a position player. His conversation with Steinbrenner sealed the deal, but the historic outcome justified his faith in agents who initially appealed to him because they acted more like friends, like family.
Judge has known Odle and Matranga for more than a decade, going back to when he was a freshman at Fresno State. PSI, which represents approximately 100 players in the majors and minors, isn’t as big or well-known as some agencies. But Judge resisted overtures from the outside and stuck with his group after he became a first-round draft pick in 2013, American League Rookie of the Year in ’17 and the single-season AL home-run champion in ’22.
Odle and Matranga helped Judge map out what he would tell Steinbrenner. The Yankees in recent days had acted as if they would not budge from an eight-year, $320 million offer. The communication from Steinbrenner caught the agents off-guard. It already had been a long, hectic day, not only because of the two flights, but also an inaccurate report of Judge possibly joining the San Francisco Giants and a last-minute meeting with a new and eager suitor, the San Diego Padres.
How eager?
“They made a significant offer that kind of blew everybody else out of the water,” Judge said.
The offer, Odle said, was for more than $400 million. Two other sources briefed on the matter said it was in the range of $415 million, over a term that would have been at least 12 years. Judge was taken aback. The Padres’ proposed guarantee was nearly $100 million higher than the Yankees’.
Odle, in his initial conversations with Judge about free agency, had predicted the slugger’s market would soar past $400 million. The agents told teams as much, and Matranga said club officials reacted as if he and Odle were “asinine” and “crazy.” The Yankees, after Judge rejected their seven-year, $213.5 million offer in the spring of 2022, indicated they did not want to pay him like Mike Trout. Now Judge was poised to exceed the 10-year, $360 million extension Trout signed in March 2019, if not from the Yankees, then either the Padres or possibly the Giants.
Steinbrenner had woken up that morning in Milan feeling uneasy. It wasn’t the competition that troubled him; he expected other teams to be involved in the bidding. No, Steinbrenner was uncomfortable about a conversation he had with Judge the night before, concerned he did not fully express his understanding of the player’s desires. At the urging of Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, Steinbrenner had taken a more prominent role in the negotiations than usual, and met twice with Judge at his home in Tampa earlier in the offseason. At approximately 9 a.m. Milan time, midnight in California, Steinbrenner sent his text. Judge, in the middle of his travels, did not respond for about three hours.
Odle and Matranga, who had been dealing only with Cashman, told Judge that he was the one who should call Steinbrenner, given his rapport with the owner. Judge agreed but had to prepare, just as he would for a game. The agents advised him to be upfront and honest, tell Steinbrenner exactly where things stood.
“It just came down to the relationship I have with Hal,” Judge said, “being able to call him up on the phone and say, ‘Hey, this is where I’m at. This is me just talking man to man to you. I’m showing you my cards, everything that is on the table. This is where we’re at. This is where I want to be at. Can we get this done?’”
VegetasHairline
Veteran
Aaron Judge’s free agency: How a small inner circle and a 3 a.m. phone call kept him a Yankee
A dozen people close to the negotiations detailed the final, frantic hours leading to Judge’s $360 million contract with the Yankees.
theathletic.com
People kept telling Judge: Change agents. Go with a bigger group. PSI is not appropriate for a player of his stature.
“Friends come at you and say, ‘You should be with somebody else. I heard this and this about your agency. I can get you this over here,’” Judge said. “A lot of people who approached me, I don’t think they knew what type of person I was or what I valued. They were kind of barking up the wrong tree.”
The roots of the relationship between Judge and his agents formed nearly a decade before he was born, at Oral Roberts University in the 1980s. Odle, 59, played on the baseball team with Mike Batesole, Judge’s future coach at Fresno State. To this day, the two remain close friends.
Batesole first told Odle about Judge when the budding slugger was a senior at Linden High. The agent reached out to Judge’s parents, Patty and Wayne, but they did not respond. There was no need. Rather than sign with the A’s, who selected him in the 31st round of the 2010 draft, Judge headed to Fresno.
Odle, who lives about 3 1/2 hours south in Ventura, would stay with Batesole when he visited the area. He represented former Fresno State players, but Judge, at first, did not even know he was an agent. Odle was just a guy who would show up at the Fresno field. The players occasionally would see him eating lunch with Batesole in the dugout as they arrived for practice.
Matranga, 46, also became part of the circle, though in a different way. A former infielder at Pepperdine, Matranga tortured Batesole’s teams at Cal-State Northridge before the coach moved on to Fresno. “Every time I looked up,” said Batesole, who retired after 27 years as a collegiate head coach last December, “that SOB was on second base.”
The Astros selected Matranga in the sixth round of the 1998 draft. Matranga hit a home run in his first major-league plate appearance, in 2003, but his career in the majors lasted only seven games. Upon retiring in 2010, Matranga went to work for Odle, his agent the previous nine years.
Odle, who started his agency in 1992, first met Judge the summer before the youngster’s freshman year at Fresno State; Matranga’s introduction was toward the end of that season. Over time, the relationships grew. Toward the end of Judge’s sophomore year, prior to his departure for the Cape Cod League, he and his parents sat down at their home in Linden with Odle, Matranga and the agency’s athletic trainer, David York.
Some agencies, most notably the Scott Boras Corporation, are run by a single individual. Odle is president of PSI and Matranga vice-president, but the two work practically in tandem, taking virtually every meeting and phone call together. Jeremy Shields, the agency’s director of operations, is instrumental behind the scenes, analyzing the market.
Judge committed to the agency entering his junior year, his last at Fresno. The following June, the Yankees chose him at No. 32 with the compensation pick they received for losing Nick Swisher as a free agent.
“They didn’t make any promises to me that they couldn’t keep, promises about off-the-field stuff,” Judge said of the PSI agents. “They said, ‘We just want to help you, be there and support you, help you get to the big leagues. If that’s being available at 3 o’clock in the morning for a phone call, if that’s us flying around the country to help you out, be there for you, we’re here to do that.’
“That kind of sold me. They approached it more as being a part of my family than anything. For me being a pretty private guy with a small circle, that is always high on my list.”
Batesole, naturally, approved of Judge’s decision. As close as the former college coach is with Odle, he said he never approached a player to recommend an agent, explaining, “it’s none of my business.” Players, however, sometimes would solicit Batesole’s advice. He would tell them only one thing mattered when picking a representative. Not money. Trust.
Some of Batesole’s players chose Odle. Others did not. But to those who asked, Batesole made his feelings clear:
“There’s nobody on this planet, including my family, that I trust more than Page.”
“Friends come at you and say, ‘You should be with somebody else. I heard this and this about your agency. I can get you this over here,’” Judge said. “A lot of people who approached me, I don’t think they knew what type of person I was or what I valued. They were kind of barking up the wrong tree.”
The roots of the relationship between Judge and his agents formed nearly a decade before he was born, at Oral Roberts University in the 1980s. Odle, 59, played on the baseball team with Mike Batesole, Judge’s future coach at Fresno State. To this day, the two remain close friends.
Batesole first told Odle about Judge when the budding slugger was a senior at Linden High. The agent reached out to Judge’s parents, Patty and Wayne, but they did not respond. There was no need. Rather than sign with the A’s, who selected him in the 31st round of the 2010 draft, Judge headed to Fresno.
Odle, who lives about 3 1/2 hours south in Ventura, would stay with Batesole when he visited the area. He represented former Fresno State players, but Judge, at first, did not even know he was an agent. Odle was just a guy who would show up at the Fresno field. The players occasionally would see him eating lunch with Batesole in the dugout as they arrived for practice.
Matranga, 46, also became part of the circle, though in a different way. A former infielder at Pepperdine, Matranga tortured Batesole’s teams at Cal-State Northridge before the coach moved on to Fresno. “Every time I looked up,” said Batesole, who retired after 27 years as a collegiate head coach last December, “that SOB was on second base.”
The Astros selected Matranga in the sixth round of the 1998 draft. Matranga hit a home run in his first major-league plate appearance, in 2003, but his career in the majors lasted only seven games. Upon retiring in 2010, Matranga went to work for Odle, his agent the previous nine years.
Odle, who started his agency in 1992, first met Judge the summer before the youngster’s freshman year at Fresno State; Matranga’s introduction was toward the end of that season. Over time, the relationships grew. Toward the end of Judge’s sophomore year, prior to his departure for the Cape Cod League, he and his parents sat down at their home in Linden with Odle, Matranga and the agency’s athletic trainer, David York.
Some agencies, most notably the Scott Boras Corporation, are run by a single individual. Odle is president of PSI and Matranga vice-president, but the two work practically in tandem, taking virtually every meeting and phone call together. Jeremy Shields, the agency’s director of operations, is instrumental behind the scenes, analyzing the market.
Judge committed to the agency entering his junior year, his last at Fresno. The following June, the Yankees chose him at No. 32 with the compensation pick they received for losing Nick Swisher as a free agent.
“They didn’t make any promises to me that they couldn’t keep, promises about off-the-field stuff,” Judge said of the PSI agents. “They said, ‘We just want to help you, be there and support you, help you get to the big leagues. If that’s being available at 3 o’clock in the morning for a phone call, if that’s us flying around the country to help you out, be there for you, we’re here to do that.’
“That kind of sold me. They approached it more as being a part of my family than anything. For me being a pretty private guy with a small circle, that is always high on my list.”
Batesole, naturally, approved of Judge’s decision. As close as the former college coach is with Odle, he said he never approached a player to recommend an agent, explaining, “it’s none of my business.” Players, however, sometimes would solicit Batesole’s advice. He would tell them only one thing mattered when picking a representative. Not money. Trust.
Some of Batesole’s players chose Odle. Others did not. But to those who asked, Batesole made his feelings clear:
“There’s nobody on this planet, including my family, that I trust more than Page.”
VegetasHairline
Veteran
Aaron Judge’s free agency: How a small inner circle and a 3 a.m. phone call kept him a Yankee
A dozen people close to the negotiations detailed the final, frantic hours leading to Judge’s $360 million contract with the Yankees.
theathletic.com
Players routinely change agencies, creating heated recruiting battles. The Major League Baseball Players Association prohibits agents from making loans and gifts to players and using other improper inducements as recruiting tools. The union’s regulations, however, are difficult to enforce. Each representation agreement lasts a maximum of one year. Client-stealing is rampant.
PSI’s past clients include former shortstop Jack Wilson and pitchers James Shields and Doug Fister. Its current players include Miami Marlins left-hander Trevor Rogers, Seattle Mariners second baseman Kolten Wong and Mariners outfielder Kole Calhoun.
Trout and Francisco Lindor are among the superstars represented by smaller agencies. Most, however, align with larger groups such as the Boras Corporation, Excel Sports Management, Wasserman Baseball and CAA. Judge did not specifically name which agencies recruited him over the years. But he described the process as “intense.”
Last season, as Judge hit his record-breaking 62 home runs while approaching free agency, he said the pressure was relentless.
“Yeah. Oh yeah. Throughout the whole year,” Judge said. “After games, before games, text messages, calls. I don’t know how they got my number. It was annoying stuff.
“They (PSI) were with me from the beginning. They were there when nobody else was. It kind of ticked me off more than anything that agencies started hopping on me. After you hit 62 home runs and you’re an All-Star a couple of years, yeah, it’s easy to represent a guy like that. But represent a guy who’s hitting .250 in High A (as Judge did initially in 2014), that’s where you earn your money for me, my respect and my love. They were with me through all the dog days.”
Odle and Matranga were aware of other agencies’ interest in Judge, but saw him repeatedly demonstrate loyalty in his other relationships, with teammates, friends, family members. Judge also was shrewd enough to detect when other agencies were trying to create an angle with him, or even outright lying. And he would tell Odle and Matranga when it happened.
“In this business, you can’t ever let your guard down,” Odle said. “I do have to tell you: Aaron Judge never once wavered in his commitment to us.”
Matranga said if PSI had been preoccupied with losing Judge, it would have prevented the agency from doing its best work, damaged its relationship with him. Besides, there was no basis for such concern. “He’s never given us a reason or me a reason to not trust him,” Matranga said. “So why would I question him?”
Judge, likewise, saw no reason to question Odle and Matranga, saying they were capable of handling any situation, and that one of his goals is to help their agency become bigger. Cashman described the agents as “good people, honest and straight, communicative.” Giants officials found it refreshing that Judge, with so much at stake, stuck with his original representatives.
Yet, as Judge’s free-agent tour began, the dynamic with his agents evolved into something different than before. Judge did most of the talking during meetings with clubs. Odle and Matranga filled in the gaps, asked additional questions. Such was their faith in Judge, they thought it the perfect strategy to put him front and center.
Judge presents himself so well, Matranga said, “you want him to speak as much as possible.”
“So the way we laid it out going into it was, ‘You’re the star of the show here. We’re here to support you. This is the chance for you to give them a little peek behind the curtain as to who Aaron Judge really is.’”
PSI’s past clients include former shortstop Jack Wilson and pitchers James Shields and Doug Fister. Its current players include Miami Marlins left-hander Trevor Rogers, Seattle Mariners second baseman Kolten Wong and Mariners outfielder Kole Calhoun.
Trout and Francisco Lindor are among the superstars represented by smaller agencies. Most, however, align with larger groups such as the Boras Corporation, Excel Sports Management, Wasserman Baseball and CAA. Judge did not specifically name which agencies recruited him over the years. But he described the process as “intense.”
Last season, as Judge hit his record-breaking 62 home runs while approaching free agency, he said the pressure was relentless.
“Yeah. Oh yeah. Throughout the whole year,” Judge said. “After games, before games, text messages, calls. I don’t know how they got my number. It was annoying stuff.
“They (PSI) were with me from the beginning. They were there when nobody else was. It kind of ticked me off more than anything that agencies started hopping on me. After you hit 62 home runs and you’re an All-Star a couple of years, yeah, it’s easy to represent a guy like that. But represent a guy who’s hitting .250 in High A (as Judge did initially in 2014), that’s where you earn your money for me, my respect and my love. They were with me through all the dog days.”
Odle and Matranga were aware of other agencies’ interest in Judge, but saw him repeatedly demonstrate loyalty in his other relationships, with teammates, friends, family members. Judge also was shrewd enough to detect when other agencies were trying to create an angle with him, or even outright lying. And he would tell Odle and Matranga when it happened.
“In this business, you can’t ever let your guard down,” Odle said. “I do have to tell you: Aaron Judge never once wavered in his commitment to us.”
Matranga said if PSI had been preoccupied with losing Judge, it would have prevented the agency from doing its best work, damaged its relationship with him. Besides, there was no basis for such concern. “He’s never given us a reason or me a reason to not trust him,” Matranga said. “So why would I question him?”
Judge, likewise, saw no reason to question Odle and Matranga, saying they were capable of handling any situation, and that one of his goals is to help their agency become bigger. Cashman described the agents as “good people, honest and straight, communicative.” Giants officials found it refreshing that Judge, with so much at stake, stuck with his original representatives.
Yet, as Judge’s free-agent tour began, the dynamic with his agents evolved into something different than before. Judge did most of the talking during meetings with clubs. Odle and Matranga filled in the gaps, asked additional questions. Such was their faith in Judge, they thought it the perfect strategy to put him front and center.
Judge presents himself so well, Matranga said, “you want him to speak as much as possible.”
“So the way we laid it out going into it was, ‘You’re the star of the show here. We’re here to support you. This is the chance for you to give them a little peek behind the curtain as to who Aaron Judge really is.’”
VegetasHairline
Veteran
Aaron Judge’s free agency: How a small inner circle and a 3 a.m. phone call kept him a Yankee
A dozen people close to the negotiations detailed the final, frantic hours leading to Judge’s $360 million contract with the Yankees.
theathletic.com
The acceleration of Judge’s end game began on Dec. 5, when Trea Turner ignited the winter meetings by rejecting the Padres in favor of an 11-year, $300 million contract with the Phillies. That night, Judge attended the Monday Night Football game in Tampa, chatting up Tom Brady. He originally planned to fly home to Northern California the next day, then head to Maui with Samantha the following morning to celebrate the one-year anniversary of their wedding in Hawaii.
The Padres had other ideas.
After losing Turner, they pivoted to Judge, believing it was a longshot but worth a try, considering Judge was one of the game’s biggest stars. Odle and Matranga initially did not know what to make of the Padres’ sudden interest, but quickly ascertained San Diego was serious and conveyed that to Judge. The agents also told the Padres that for the talks to move forward, a face-to-face meeting between Judge and team officials was necessary. Yes, even with the Judges on their way to Maui.
The Padres paid for a private jet; there are no direct flights from Tampa to San Diego. The Judge contingent — Aaron, Samantha and Penny, the miniature dachshund — arrived in the late afternoon. Judge requested his agents bring him an order from In-N-Out Burger. The group then headed straight for Petco Park, not far from where the winter meetings were taking place.
The parties met secretly for about three hours at Petco, while a PSI assistant watched over Penny at the agency’s hotel. Judge toured the Padres’ clubhouse, their weight room, their batting cages. He asked questions. Samantha also spoke. The Padres’ contingent, which included owner Peter Seidler, general manager A.J. Preller, assistant GM Josh Stein and manager Bob Melvin, was thoroughly impressed.
Some of the Padres’ people left the meeting convinced Judge was leaving New York, and that his decision would come down to San Diego or San Francisco.
Preller wasn’t so sure.
“I thought the meeting went well,” Preller said. “But that evening, he flew out.”
The Padres do not believe Judge used them. His camp kept their visit confidential, and it only became public after he agreed with the Yankees. Preller, though, felt somewhat like a car salesman watching a shopper walk out of his showroom without completing a deal. If Judge truly wanted to join the Padres, wouldn’t he have stayed?
Perhaps, but Judge was telling the truth: He needed to get back to Northern California, the starting point for his vacation. Odle and Matranga tried to find him an alternate flight from San Diego to Maui in first class; Judge, at 6-foot-7 and 282 pounds, is too big to fly coach. No such flight was available, however, preventing Judge from staying another night.
So, the Judges kept their private flight to Stockton, only to see it hit a snag. The meeting with the Padres lasted so long, the pilots timed out. Odle and Matranga engaged in a mad scramble to find another plane. They finally located a small one, barely big enough to fit Judge, that would fly from Van Nuys to San Diego, then take the Judges to Stockton.
At around 9 p.m. PT, before leaving San Diego, Judge spoke with Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who was at the winter meetings and had just returned from dinner with several of the team’s scouts. The mood at the dinner was somber. The uncertainty over Judge had everyone on edge. At the end of the meal, Boone asked the scouts if he should reach out to Judge. Without hesitation, the scouts said yes.
The two connected. Boone asked Judge where he was with his decision, reaffirmed to Judge how he and the Yankees felt about him. He ended the conversation by saying, “Whatever you do, Aaron, don’t do anything without calling Hal.”
Little did Boone know, Steinbrenner would be the one contacting Judge.
At that point, Judge said, the Yankees were “not close” with their offer. Odle and Matranga, unaware Steinbrenner was about to re-enter the picture, were planning to resume conversations with the Padres and Giants the next day.
One Giants person said he was cautiously optimistic about his team’s chances, emphasizing the word cautiously. A number of officials with the Giants and Padres, however, remained skeptical Judge would change teams. And sure enough, before boarding his flight to Stockton, Judge told his agents he had reached a conclusion: He wanted to stay in New York. He had unfinished business with the Yankees, who have not won a World Series since 2009.
A few hours later, Steinbrenner sent his fateful text. Their discussion took place at about 3 a.m. PT. Steinbrenner agreed to give Judge a ninth guaranteed year at $40 million. Then, after the two agreed to terms, Steinbrenner went one step further. He said he wanted to make Judge the Yankees’ captain.
It was over. Judge had taken less money to stay with the Yankees. Later, he would joke with Odle and Matranga, “we probably could have gotten this done in two phone calls” — meaning, just him and Steinbrenner. But he knew his agents played a larger role, guiding him to free agency rather than pushing him to sign an early extension, then helping him play out the process on the open market.
“Most of all, they were just a good sounding board,” Judge said. “I would say, ‘Here are some pros and cons I got on this. What did you think of that? What will this team look like in five years?’”
They talked. They strategized. They achieved maximum leverage.
“It came down to what I really wanted to do,” Judge said. “We made the right decision.”
The Padres had other ideas.
After losing Turner, they pivoted to Judge, believing it was a longshot but worth a try, considering Judge was one of the game’s biggest stars. Odle and Matranga initially did not know what to make of the Padres’ sudden interest, but quickly ascertained San Diego was serious and conveyed that to Judge. The agents also told the Padres that for the talks to move forward, a face-to-face meeting between Judge and team officials was necessary. Yes, even with the Judges on their way to Maui.
The Padres paid for a private jet; there are no direct flights from Tampa to San Diego. The Judge contingent — Aaron, Samantha and Penny, the miniature dachshund — arrived in the late afternoon. Judge requested his agents bring him an order from In-N-Out Burger. The group then headed straight for Petco Park, not far from where the winter meetings were taking place.
The parties met secretly for about three hours at Petco, while a PSI assistant watched over Penny at the agency’s hotel. Judge toured the Padres’ clubhouse, their weight room, their batting cages. He asked questions. Samantha also spoke. The Padres’ contingent, which included owner Peter Seidler, general manager A.J. Preller, assistant GM Josh Stein and manager Bob Melvin, was thoroughly impressed.
Some of the Padres’ people left the meeting convinced Judge was leaving New York, and that his decision would come down to San Diego or San Francisco.
Preller wasn’t so sure.
“I thought the meeting went well,” Preller said. “But that evening, he flew out.”
The Padres do not believe Judge used them. His camp kept their visit confidential, and it only became public after he agreed with the Yankees. Preller, though, felt somewhat like a car salesman watching a shopper walk out of his showroom without completing a deal. If Judge truly wanted to join the Padres, wouldn’t he have stayed?
Perhaps, but Judge was telling the truth: He needed to get back to Northern California, the starting point for his vacation. Odle and Matranga tried to find him an alternate flight from San Diego to Maui in first class; Judge, at 6-foot-7 and 282 pounds, is too big to fly coach. No such flight was available, however, preventing Judge from staying another night.
So, the Judges kept their private flight to Stockton, only to see it hit a snag. The meeting with the Padres lasted so long, the pilots timed out. Odle and Matranga engaged in a mad scramble to find another plane. They finally located a small one, barely big enough to fit Judge, that would fly from Van Nuys to San Diego, then take the Judges to Stockton.
At around 9 p.m. PT, before leaving San Diego, Judge spoke with Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who was at the winter meetings and had just returned from dinner with several of the team’s scouts. The mood at the dinner was somber. The uncertainty over Judge had everyone on edge. At the end of the meal, Boone asked the scouts if he should reach out to Judge. Without hesitation, the scouts said yes.
The two connected. Boone asked Judge where he was with his decision, reaffirmed to Judge how he and the Yankees felt about him. He ended the conversation by saying, “Whatever you do, Aaron, don’t do anything without calling Hal.”
Little did Boone know, Steinbrenner would be the one contacting Judge.
At that point, Judge said, the Yankees were “not close” with their offer. Odle and Matranga, unaware Steinbrenner was about to re-enter the picture, were planning to resume conversations with the Padres and Giants the next day.
One Giants person said he was cautiously optimistic about his team’s chances, emphasizing the word cautiously. A number of officials with the Giants and Padres, however, remained skeptical Judge would change teams. And sure enough, before boarding his flight to Stockton, Judge told his agents he had reached a conclusion: He wanted to stay in New York. He had unfinished business with the Yankees, who have not won a World Series since 2009.
A few hours later, Steinbrenner sent his fateful text. Their discussion took place at about 3 a.m. PT. Steinbrenner agreed to give Judge a ninth guaranteed year at $40 million. Then, after the two agreed to terms, Steinbrenner went one step further. He said he wanted to make Judge the Yankees’ captain.
It was over. Judge had taken less money to stay with the Yankees. Later, he would joke with Odle and Matranga, “we probably could have gotten this done in two phone calls” — meaning, just him and Steinbrenner. But he knew his agents played a larger role, guiding him to free agency rather than pushing him to sign an early extension, then helping him play out the process on the open market.
“Most of all, they were just a good sounding board,” Judge said. “I would say, ‘Here are some pros and cons I got on this. What did you think of that? What will this team look like in five years?’”
They talked. They strategized. They achieved maximum leverage.
“It came down to what I really wanted to do,” Judge said. “We made the right decision.”
They’re gonna keep this kid down in the minors until he’s doing that on breaking balls.
But the talent is there. He’s probably a future DH. Can he move in the field?
tremonthustler1
aka bx_representer
He plays a really good CF.
tremonthustler1
aka bx_representer
Once he masters crushing the breaking pitches, it’s over.
tremonthustler1
aka bx_representer
Bader out 6 weeks 
BTW @VegetasHairline I was going to share that article about Judge the other day, but it was really long.
And honestly it was filled with a bunch of fluff bullshyt about how much Judge trusts his agents because they were with him for many years when he was a nobody.
That article could have been a few sentences long.
Judge stayed with the Yankees because he felt he had unfinished business and Hal called him and said he wanted to make him Team Captain.
There. Saved everyone 10 fukkin minutes.
And honestly it was filled with a bunch of fluff bullshyt about how much Judge trusts his agents because they were with him for many years when he was a nobody.
That article could have been a few sentences long.
Judge stayed with the Yankees because he felt he had unfinished business and Hal called him and said he wanted to make him Team Captain.
There. Saved everyone 10 fukkin minutes.
You can't take too much from Spring Training.
But given his performance last year and his early at-bats this Spring, I have serious doubts as to whether Josh Donaldson is still the starting 3B at the end of the season.
I wonder if he will even make it to the break.
But given his performance last year and his early at-bats this Spring, I have serious doubts as to whether Josh Donaldson is still the starting 3B at the end of the season.
I wonder if he will even make it to the break.
tremonthustler1
aka bx_representer
jflores
Pro
Volpe and Jasson been really good this spring.....................as long as Rondon isn't Pavano should be fine.
Cashman, signs or trades for nothing but injury prone guys
Rodon will be the next pavano, i never trusted giving him a contract off 2 good years only on garbage teams and he never pitches a lot of innings, Montas we now know was hurt before we traded for him, great due diligence there cashman
khanle hurt, effros hurt, bader hurt
Rodon will be the next pavano, i never trusted giving him a contract off 2 good years only on garbage teams and he never pitches a lot of innings, Montas we now know was hurt before we traded for him, great due diligence there cashman
khanle hurt, effros hurt, bader hurt
