Hey if we could pry Bernie Williams away, then… wait, what? Oh.
Judge is going to be looking for a much bigger deal, imo, than the extension that we could get X to sign. And we wouldn’t be getting this year’s numbers from Judge in his mid to late 30s.
I’d argue that Judge may be the kind of hitter with the
best chance of retaining productivity in his mid- to late-thirties. The plate discipline and bat speed are elite. The contact rate has dramatically improved the last two years. His above-average right field defense won’t last his whole career, but his body seems less likely to break down.
I agree he almost certainly stays with the Yankees. But I disagree with the Sox saving money for the sake of saving money. Besides Devers, Soto and maybe Correa*, I don’t think there’s another pre-FA position player in MLB that’s worth >$250M. Judge would fill a position of need, and he’d be a fine LF/DH when the time comes.
The Sox should not shy away from mega-deals. We have a fleet of young, cheap players on their way up — more than we can reasonably carry on the 40-man. Either we use the money they save us under the luxury cap to pay superstars, keeping more of our prospects, or we spread that money around on shorter, smaller deals, taking up more 40-man spots and thus losing more of our prospects. (What’s not an option to me is having a $150M payroll.)
If MLB adopts the international draft on July 25, then the penalties for exceeding the luxury cap are far lessened, as I understand it. We’ll know more then. Devers is priority one, but if I had to choose right now between an 8/$190M contract for Bogaerts or say, a 10/$270M one for Judge, I’d choose the latter.