ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA – Aaron Judge is simply going to “wear a beautiful suit” and “introduce himself and sit down” as the three-member tribunal discusses whether the New York Yankees should pay their All-Star field player $ 21 million in salary. believes it is worth this season.
The meeting will take place on Friday, sources told ESPN’s Buster Olney.
“I look forward to it,” Judge said the Tuesday afternoon before the Yankees game against Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field, although he did not confirm the day. “There have been people in my agency, previous players who have been through this process have said they hate it. And then other people who did it said it was really good to hear about it. [yourself]”
The last Yankees player to go to arbitration was relief at Dellin Betances in 2017, the referee’s record-breaking newcomer of the year. The referee decided in favor of the club and Betances was open-minded about his hostility in the listening room.
“[Betances] just didn’t like the way the process went. … He gave this organization a lot, the numbers he put out for quite a few years, even though he wasn’t closer, he did a lot of special things and maybe thought he should get a reward for it, but it doesn’t happen, “Judge said.” It’s probably hard, but for me it’s easy and simple. I love this team, I love this organization and everything, but it has a business side that I don’t like sometimes, I think many people don’t like it, I think the team doesn’t like it. [either] which you have to go through and then move on. “
Manager Aaron Boone praised Judge’s handling of the process, which has not affected his popularity or performance. Earlier on Tuesday, MLB announced the first All-Star voting results and Judge led all players with 1,512,368 votes. Judge may be the first Yankee to take the lead in voting for the star game since Alex Rodriguez in 2008.
Judge’s 25 home runs this season are the most in the main tournaments, becoming the third player in franchise history to hit at least 25 home runs in the first 62 games of the Yankees season, joining Babe Ruth (28 in 1928 and 26 in 1930) and Mickey Mantle (27 in 1956). .
“Whatever happens there, I know what Aaron’s focus is and what he wants to achieve, and I don’t expect anything to stop him,” Boone said. “He’s obviously a great player, but a guy who is also very good at his neck if he can handle everything that comes his way through the star, being one of the faces of the game, and being a Yankee in New York. Things that happen or inevitably happen, in this case, contract situations and arbitration and everything else, he is fully equipped to deal with these matters and not to influence what he does between the lines.
At the start of the season, Judge had expressed his disappointment that a long-term contract had not been signed with the Yankees, a club with which he has repeatedly said he wants to spend the rest of his high league career. The judge himself set a deadline for the opening day to agree on an extension that would have prevented him from gaining access to the agency. But he and the Yankees could not reach an agreement, CEO Brian Cashman said the team had offered a seven-year $ 213.5 million extension, which, along with the $ 17 million he offered in arbitration this season, would have made the whole package. worth just over $ 230 million.
Judge declined to address Cashman’s rare move to publicly expose the terms of the Yankees’ offer, describing it as the business side of baseball, which he repeated on Tuesday. Sources told ESPN that Cashman was publishing specific figures that did not fit well in the Yankees clubhouse.
The parties will hold a hearing by videoconference, unless an agreement is reached, which cannot be completely ruled out, despite the fact that Judge said that he would not be negotiating an extension of the contract during the season. The Yankees set a precedent in 2019 when thrower Luis Severino agreed to a four-year, $ 40 million extension just before the arbitration hearing.
Regarding whether the upcoming trial was in his mind or confused, Judge said his focus was on winning the games.
“We are too best a team. I think it has been,” he said. “Being with these men and what we’ve been doing over the last few months has made it pretty easy to focus on playing baseball. I can get bogged down in contracts or arbitration, but it’s not necessary. That’s what I have agents for.”
AROLDIS CHAPMAN UPDATE
The Yankees’ closest Aroldis Chapman, who has been on the list of those injured with left Achilles tendonitis since May 24, hit the smaller league in Tampa earlier on Tuesday. The injury seems to have prevented him this season, especially during the last five matches, where he scored 14.73 ERA after giving up more than 3⅔ rounds in six earned races.
Clay Holmes is amazed to take on a closer role, failing to play 29 consecutive relief games (31⅓ rounds) from April 9 to June 18, surpassing Mariano River’s 28-game stretch in the franchise’s longest goal-free series. history.
Asked if he believed he had lost his role to Holmes, Chapman said it was not his focus.
“I don’t see it that way. I’ve passed a point in my career where I would fight for a role, for a closer role, I’ve already done it,” Chapman said. “When I got to the Premier League, they gave me a chance to shut down and I took advantage of it. Almost the same thing happens [Holmes]. I’m trying to come back healthy, [to] help the team in any role. He’s doing a great job right now and he deserves the role he has. “
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