Aaron Judge, Yankees reach 9-year deal worth $360M US: report

Aaron Judge has issued his ruling: Court remains in session in the Bronx.

Judge is staying with the New York Yankees on a $360 million US, nine-year contract, according to a person familiar with the deal.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity because the AL MVP's deal had not been announced.

Judge was offered a long-term deal by New York before last season that was worth $213.5 million over seven years from 2023-29. But he turned it down in the hours before opening day in April.

The six-foot-seven Judge bet on himself — and won.

Judge set an American League record with 62 homers in 2022, powering the Yankees to the AL East title. He also tied for the major league lead with 131 RBIs and just missed a Triple Crown with a .311 batting average.

New York was swept by Houston in the AL Championship Series, but Judge became the first AL MVP for the Yankees since Alex Rodriguez in 2007.

Judge's decision will have a domino effect on several teams and free agents. His status held up at least some of New York's off-season plans, but general manager Brian Cashman made it clear his team would wait patiently to see what Judge wanted to do.

In the end, the patient approach worked.

"So we'll wait, we'll wait for this process to play out," Cashman said Monday at baseball's winter meetings in San Diego. "And that means staying active in the conversations and negotiations."

Judge, 30, was selected by New York in the first round of the 2013 amateur draft and made his big league debut in 2016, homering in his first at-bat.

A year later, he was one of baseball's breakout stars. He hit .284 with 52 homers and 114 RBIs in 2017, winning the AL Rookie of the Year award. The four-time all-star has 220 homers and 497 RBIs in seven big league seasons.

"A guy of his stature and his greatness hopefully spends his entire career into Monument Park and into the Hall of Fame as a Yankee," New York manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday.

The average annual value of Judge's deal trails only New York Mets pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, at $43.3 million. Verlander's deal was reached Monday and hasn't been announced, but a person familiar with it told the AP he would earn $86.7 million over two years.

Bogaerts to Padres for 11 years, $280M

The San Diego Padres and Xander Bogaerts agreed to a blockbuster $280 million, 11-year contract Wednesday night, adding the all-star slugger to an already deep lineup.

A person familiar with the negotiations confirmed the contract to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because it was pending a physical.

The Padres already had Fernando Tatis Jr. at shortstop, but he missed the entire season because of injuries and an 80-game suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.

"From our standpoint, you want to explore and make sure we're looking at every possible opportunity to get better," general manager A.J. Preller said before the Bogaerts deal surfaced. "We've got a real desire to win and do it for a long time."

The 30-year-old Bogaerts was one of the headliners in a stellar group of free-agent shortstops that also included Turner, Carlos Correa and Dansby Swanson.

Closer Jansen headed to Red Sox

Veteran closer Kenley Jansen agreed to a $32 million, two-year deal with the Boston Red Sox, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the agreement was pending a physical.

The 35-year-old Jansen went 5-2 with a 3.38 ERA in 64 innings for Atlanta this year. The three-time all-star led the National League with 41 saves.

The right-hander spent the previous 12 seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, winning a World Series title in 2020.

Jansen has a 2.46 career ERA. His 391 career saves are the second-most among active players (behind Craig Kimbrel's 394) and eighth all time.