Aaron Judge officially is a free agent, and that's a 'different' feeling for Yankees manager Aaron Boone
Yankees' Aaron Judge high fives with manager Aaron Boone after their 7-2 win against the Seattle Mariners in an MLB baseball game at Yankee Stadium on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Aaron Judge officially became a totally free free agent at 5 p.m. on Thursday. That’s the time when he and his agent were allowed to talk money with clubs other than the Yankees.
Aaron Boone, Judge’s most recent manager, said on Thursday night that it feels different now that Judge is free to leave the Yankees.
“Yeah, I guess so,” Boone said at the 20th anniversary Joe Torre Safe at Home dinner in Manhattan. “I still haven’t allowed myself to [think about] the reality of him not being with us. But you ask the question like that, certainly you know nothing’s guaranteed. I don’t like to think about that, but yeah, it is a little different.”
Boone may not want to think about a 2023 roster without Judge, but he knows Brian Cashman has to in case Judge signs elsewhere. “The organization has to be agile and you’ve got to be able to maneuver,” Boone said. “Hopefully we get the resolution we want.”
Boone said he has not spoken to Judge since the Yankees’ season ended. “I have not,” he said. “A couple of text messages over the last couple weeks, but I haven’t spoken to him. We’re in free-agent mode now. Hopefully it ends with him back in pinstripes. We’ll see how it goes.”
Boone said he doesn’t think the booing Judge experienced at Yankee Stadium in the postseason will be a factor in his free-agent decision. “No,” he said. “No.”
Anthony Rizzo also is a free agent after opting out of his contract. Boone would like the first baseman back, too.
“Those are really important key players, central figures on our team,” he said. “We understand that. But that’s the nature of the offseason.”
Mattingly hopeful. Former Yankees captain Don Mattingly was one of the attendees. Earlier this week, he was named as one of eight candidates on the Hall of Fame Contemporary Baseball Era Committee ballot.
“Obviously, it feels good to get an opportunity,” Mattingly said. “It’s an honor that somebody still thinks you’re [worthy] to be on that ballot. It would be the greatest time of all for a player. Somebody told me and I was like, ‘Oh, OK.’ ”
With 75% needed for election to Cooperstown, Mattingly peaked at 28.2% in his first year on the BBWAA ballot in 2001. “To be honest, as those years keep going on, you’re not on there, it’s kind of like you hated seeing that day come,” he said. “You knew the trend and you knew you weren’t going anywhere.”
The other candidates are Albert Belle, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Fred McGriff, Dale Murphy, Rafael Palmeiro and Curt Schilling. The Era ballot will be voted on by a 16-member committee and 75% is needed to get in. The results will be announced on Dec. 4.
Mattingly, who did not return as the Marlins’ manager after the season in a mutual decision, said he’d like to manage again.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
