Yankees News: All-Star Unfazed By Looming Free Agency After Contract Talks Fizzled Out

Aaron Judge hoped to sign a new long-term contract with the New York Yankees before opening day. Unfortunately, the numbers on the offered deal were not ideal for him.

On Friday, just hours before the team's 2022 season opener, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman confirmed that Judge turned down an extension offer of more than $230 million for the next eight seasons, NBC Sports reported.

Hence, all the three-time All-Star can do now is play out the current MLB season and see what happens next. However, it should be noted that the Yankees can still pull off something before the sixth day after the World Series. After that, the 29-year-old right fielder will be free to negotiate with any MLB team.

The Yankees defeated the Red Sox 6-5 in extra innings in their first game of the season. DJ LeMahieu hit the game-tying home run.

In a post-game news conference, Judge said he was "disappointed" that contract negotiations failed to materialize with the Yankees, the team where he wants to spend the rest of his career.

"I'm just disappointed because I have been vocal about wanting to be a Yankee for life," Judge was quoted as saying by ABC News. "I want to bring a championship back to New York. I want to do it for the fans here. This is home for me. And I'm not getting that done right now. It stinks, but I got a job to do on the field. I got to shift my focus to that now and play some ball."

The Yankees offered an eight-year contract worth $230.5 million to $234.5 million, but the All-Star’s camp had something else in mind.

Judge’s representatives wanted a nine-year deal over the average annual value of Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout‘s contract, which totals $319.6 million, an anonymous source familiar with the negotiations told NBC Sports. International Business Times could not independently verify this information.

Unless the numbers add up, there is a huge chance that the 2017 AL Rookie of the Year may end up moving to a new team.

Judge seems pretty aware of that but made it clear that he was not afraid of his impending predicament.

“I’m not afraid of searching for a job,” Judge stated in a report from USA Today. “I know no matter what, I’m playing here with the Yankees for this whole year.”

However, Judge did not close the door on an extension deal with the Yankees. He knows that he will be talking to 30 teams after this MLB season – including his current one.