Aaron Judge had more leverage than any other player in New York Yankees history, and proved himself as a "really good poker player" before inking his mammoth new $360million (£294.8m) contract. That's the opinion of ESPN's baseball expert Buster Olney.
Judge has agreed a nine-year contract with the Yankees to return to New York after being courted by the San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants. The 30-year-old became a free agent at the end of last season, and the American League Most Valuable Player instantly became one of the most highly sought-after players in MLB history.
And Olney believes that Judge's performances last season effectively gave him the ability to request whatever he wanted, such is his immense talent. Judge broke the American League home run record by smashing 62 dingers last season.
Speaking to Get Up!, Olney said: "Aaron Judge had more leverage than any player in the history of that franchise. More than Babe Ruth, more than Joe DiMaggio, more than Reggie Jackson, more than Derek Jeter.
"He turned down $213m (£173m) from the Yankees in the spring, bet on himself, and the final numbers, $360m, which means over the course of six-seven months, the Yankees increased their offer by about 70 percent.
"Aaron Judge goes back to New York, the team he drafted him, presumably moving forward there'll be a conversation about whether he'll be the next captain. He'd be the first Yankee captain since Derek Jeter, the Yankees had to keep him. They made him a huge offer that keeps him away from the San Francisco Giants."
The Giants believed they had got their man as late as Tuesday night, when reports falsely claimed he had agreed a deal to sign for his home state team. And Olney gave an insight into the talks he had with the two other teams.
"Well, [The Giants'] offer was right in the range of what the Yankees offered, and the threat was real. That's clear from the Yankees reaction to this. They were fearful that Judge would go back to his home state of California. Aaron Judge is a great team-mate. A great clubhouse leader, widely respected. The Yankees drafted him in 2013.
"And yet when they went through this process, they didn't really know what he wanted. When they negotiated with him in the spring, his response to that offer wasn't a counter with an offer, it was simply a "no". When they went through this, they had to ask, what does he really want? And it turns out Aaron Judge is a really good poker player."
