“It’s not personal, Sonny. It’s strictly business.”
— Michael Corleone
TAMPA — Aaron Judge smiled at one question after another about his current contractual situation with the Yankees. This is his public posture. He smiles a lot.
He defused. Judge is not one to go public with personal animus.
He sidestepped all controversy potholes. Judge is Jeter-esque in this way. He has a growing brand. He is not going to muddy it with a war of words with his employer. So he smiles. He defuses. He sidesteps.
“Like I said, I understand it is a business,” Judge said. He actually used that term — “business” — four times in a six-minute conversation with The Post.
It most certainly is a business. Big business. Judge and the Yankees couldn’t agree on a one-year contract by the Tuesday deadline for arbitration-eligible players. The $4 million gap between what he asked for if this goes to a hearing ($21 million) and what the Yankees countered at ($17 million) is life-changing for pretty much everyone on the planet.
Now, to avoid a hearing, the franchise and the franchise player will have to work out a multiyear extension in the two weeks before Judge’s established Opening Day deadline — unless the Yankees change their policy of file and trial for anything but a multiyear deal. An extension is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and you can assume if the Yankees and Judge cannot figure out an acceptable middle ground between $17 million and $21 million to avoid all the potential discomfort ahead, this all only gets tougher.
So, of course it is personal. Maybe not as personal as it was for Michael Corleone in “The Godfather.” Because by the time he had “settled all family business,” he had exacted the ultimate revenge against each of his enemies.
Still this is Judge’s livelihood. He is due to be a free agent after the season, so this is about where he will be playing the next phase of his career. And for how much. This is about how he values himself and how the Yankees value him. And the fact he was the lone Yankee of the 12 arbitration eligibles who began Tuesday without a contract and ended the same way speaks loudly to how far the two sides are apart in agreeing to that value. That’s personal; to learn more fully that your bosses do not financially value you as you think you should be valued.
And if a deal is not done by Opening Day, do you think that will do anything but worsen the relationship? How about if they get to what in this lockout-disrupted year will be in-season hearings. The last time the Yankees and a player went to an arbitration hearing was 2017 with Dellin Betances. It was extremely contentious. And, yes, Judge, a rookie that year, remembers. You can dress it up, but teams go negative in hearings to try to win the case and save money.
“I think both sides want to avoid getting into that situation, having to go into that room and have to fight each other a little bit and bring out the boxing gloves,” Judge said.
That will not be easy. Judge said the sides only spoke about a one-year deal Tuesday and that he was updated throughout by his agent, Page Odle.
The coming fight is easy to anticipate. The Yankees love Judge. Think he is a great player. Hal Steinbrenner wants to extend him. But Judge has had a divergent career as a Yankee. In the two years, he was healthy, Judge finished second and fourth for the AL MVP. He has appeared in 63 percent of games in the other three years. He will turn 30 on April 26. The Yanks would have to surmise Judge is even more likely to miss time with injuries in his 30s than 20s. Plus, there is nearly no precedent to rely upon on how a player Judge’s size will age. So they will not want to go much beyond 35 or 36 in an extension.
Judge will believe he is among the best players in the game and should be rewarded in that way, which historically is to pay a player into his late 30s — or even their early 40s. At top dollar. In arbitration, there is a category of “special qualities of leadership and public appeal” that a player could cite to try to make his case. But, generally, arbitration comes down to cold stats.
However, for a long-term contract, Judge is going to point out how the Yankees monetize him, from the “Judge’s Chamber” to building advertising on YES around him — and more. His representatives will note that Judge has proven he can handle playing in New York and being a Yankee. Joey Gallo, who might be the second best free-agent outfielder next offseason, hasn’t yet shown that, for example. So do the Yankees really want to risk finding a replacement?
Conversely, can the Yankees walk away like they did from Robinson Cano over dollar differences, theorizing that history just shows he probably has played his best five years already?
For now, the Yankees are remaining publicly silent. GM Brian Cashman did not return a text asking for comment. Judge said he was not insulted by anything from Tuesday and remains hopeful of reaching a long-term deal and being “a Yankee for life.” So it all could be posturing and these two sides might negotiate tough, but find a way to each other before April 7.
But, if not, it most definitely is going to get more personal.