Aaron Judge's plan with Yankees as free agency approaches is anyone's guess

Cast a skeptical eye on much of the early speculation taking place regarding Aaron Judge and his impending free agency.

There will be — and already has been in the hours since the Yankees were swept into the offseason by the Astros in the American League Championship Series — plenty of guesswork.

Which is all it is — guesswork.

Many of those whom the ultra-polite Judge encounters and smiles at on a daily basis — and he smiles at just about everyone — come away from such exchanges feeling as if they’ve gained a unique insight into what makes the outfielder tick.

The reality is very few truly know because, like the player he’s often compared to, Derek Jeter, Judge is fiercely protective of his privacy and equally fierce in trying to stay off the back pages, at least in terms of words spoken to the media.

But as the Yankees embark on an offseason journey to try to re-sign arguably the most important free agent they’ve ever had, a good jumping-off point in looking at the landscape is this: Judge loves being a Yankee and loves most of what it entails, including the unrelenting spotlight and expectations that come with wearing the pinstripes.

But he also doesn’t always love the organization.

A recent example of that came on Opening Day, when the Yankees took the unusual step of publicizing the $213.5 million extension offer that Judge turned down. General manager Brian Cashman said the announcement was made with the idea of being transparent in how serious the franchise is in extending Judge and also because the figure would have gotten out anyway.

That undoubtedly was true; terms of the contract offer predictably were leaked hours before Cashman’s Opening Day news conference.

Judge, in addressing his contract situation throughout spring training, had said multiple times that he and his representation had no desire to have negotiations play out in public.

After the figure was released and Judge got off to a slow start before embarking on the chase that resulted in an American League-record 62 home runs, he received some boos from fans at the Stadium and heard plenty about the $213.5 million he had turned down.

Judge and Jeter comparisons at times are lazy, not to mention inaccurate, but the pair are similar in ways other than protecting their privacy. Both, for example, forget little.

Loving being a Yankee and loving the Yankees’ organization and how it operates are distinctly different things. What remains to be seen is how much of an influence the latter will have on the former, if any.

What can be said with near- certainty is that there is little chance that Judge will give the Yankees a hometown discount of any kind. And though there has been zero indication that he won’t embrace free agency, reaching a quick deal with the Yankees, one for a lot of years and a lot of money, can’t be ruled out.

A wild card that should be paid attention to: If negotiations bog down or turn outright ugly, leaks springing from the organization that suddenly paint Judge in a less-favorable light are sure to follow.

As for the outfielder, he left little for tea-leaf reading after the Yankees’ four-game sweep at the hands of the Astros.

When asked if he had thought about what’s next, Judge said: “Not at all, not yet. I’ve got plenty of time to figure that out.”

As for the upcoming process, no, he said he hadn’t thought much about that, either.

“That’s all going to run through my agent,” Judge said. “I haven’t even haven’t thought about the next step yet. But like I said, we’ve got time to figure it out. I’ve never been in this spot before, so I really don’t have an answer for you.”

Is his goal still to remain a Yankee?

“Yeah, I’ve been clear about that since I first wore the pinstripes,” said Judge, who has talked about hoping to be a Yankee “for life” since his AL Rookie of the Year season in 2017. “But we couldn’t get something done before spring training and I’m a free agent and we’ll see what happens.”

Judge’s teammates hope he’s back in the Bronx.

“He’s a big part of this team,” said Nestor Cortes, who had said Saturday that “if he’s back here next year, he’s our captain.”

Cortes added: “He’s a big part of the organization, the organization that drafted him. He’s been here for a long time. He carries a lot of weight around here. He’s a superstar. That’s a decision he has to make, and the ballclub has to make, but hopefully he’s back next year and he’s a New York Yankee.

“I mean there’s always that question, no doubt. But I think all the stuff he’s done here, the great things he’s done here, should be taken into consideration.”