With the exception of Carlos Correa’s situation, the winter saga has certainly been the signing of outfielder Aaron Judge (or rather Arson Judge).
After Jon Heyman sent him to the San Francisco Giants (it’s worth remembering his monumental blunder), the Judge finally returned home to the New York Yankees.
Giants fans were surely heartbroken when the pact was made official, but the team’s president of baseball operations, Farhan Zaidi, wasn’t necessarily one of them.
The latter was not counting on the chances of seeing Judge put on the orange and black uniform as many claimed.
I don’t know if it’s a protection mechanism, but I never really believed that he was going to sign. I think like many things, you want to control your emotions. Baseball is so unpredictable, both with free agents and with trades. So you don’t really believe anything is done until it’s done.
Although he apparently wasn’t convinced he could get his hands on Judge, the Giants’ top management went all out to make it possible, making him a very competitive offer.
Ultimately, the outfielder opted to return to the Bronx Bombers on terms of a nine-year, $360 million contract that also made him the team’s first captain since Derek Jeter.
And that, Zaidi understands perfectly.
