Linden’s Aaron Judge wins American League MVP award
Nov 17, 2022, 4:45 PM | Updated: 4:47 pm
(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
All Rise for the MVP.
Free agent outfielder Aaron Judge has been crowned as the American League‘s Most Valuable Player after a monstrous 2022 season that will surely go down as one of the best in baseball history.
Judge, who has played for the New York Yankees since the 2016 season, is currently a free agent after setting a new American League record with 62 home runs. The 30-year-old hit .311 and drove in 131 runs while also leading all of Major League Baseball in runs (133), on-base percentage (.425), slugging percentage (.686), OPS (1.111), and total bases (391).
All Rise for the MVP!
Aaron Judge is the 2022 AL Most Valuable Player! pic.twitter.com/CdbMQBOEgz
— MLB (@MLB) November 18, 2022
The Linden native is looking for a long-term deal that will pay him in the neighborhood of $300 million, and the Yankees will have competition in retaining the All-Star from Judge’s childhood team–the San Francisco Giants.
San Francisco is said to be in the mix for Judge as they hope to bring a star into the fold for 2023 and beyond.
“Judge is at the top of the Giants list and they won’t be underbid,” a league source told NJ Media’s Randy Miller back on October 25th. “If they miss out, it won’t be because of money.”
Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner spoke about Judge this week, stating that he wants to keep the homegrown talent in pinstripes for the rest of his career.
“I’ve absolutely conveyed that I want him to be a Yankee for the rest of his life,” Steinbrenner said at the MLB owner’s meetings in New York on Tuesday. “No doubt about that. He knows that.”
The four-time All-Star and Rookie of the Year award winner grew up just 47 miles away from Sacramento in Linden, where he was a three-sport standout at Linden High School in baseball, basketball, and football. After being heavily recruited to college football as a tight end, Judge chose the route of baseball and attended California State University, Fresno from 2010 through 2013.
Now, Judge will decide on where he will call home for the remainder of his career.
Buckle up for what could be an explosive bidding war between the East coast and West coast as the Yankees and Giants will vie for Judge’s commitment during this holiday season.
