New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was stunned to learn of the report that he, or his fiery alter ego, had reached a deal with the Giants in free agency last offseason.
Before the 2022 AL MVP agreed to a nine-year, $360 million contract with New York on Dec. 7, there was a false report from the New York Post's Jon Heyman on Twitter that "Arson Judge" as Heyman's typo read, appeared "headed to the Giants."
Nearly six months after Judge spurned the Giants, the Yankees star joined Mookie Betts on the latest episode of the Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder's "On Base" podcast, where he discussed the false report that he was headed to San Francisco.
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"I think my name changed a little bit ... yeah, Arson Judge. I haven't seen his stats yet with the Giants," Judge joked.
Judge was taken aback by the news and immediately received a few text messages from friends, family and Yankees personnel who likely were concerned about what was being reported.
"I was on a flight, my agent texts me, 'Stuff's going down in San Diego right now.' I'm like, 'What are you talking about?' I guess this happened at the winter meetings," Judge recalled. "But it was funny, that kind of blew up a little bit, I started getting a couple text messages from family and friends. People with the Yankees, kind of, 'What's going on?'"
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Judge had waited his entire career to experience free agency, and just two days before he agreed to a deal with the Yankees, his decision (at least for six minutes) was made for him.
"Yeah the one time I get to choose I didn't get to choose," Judge joked.
Judge might not have ended up in San Francisco, but his alter ego, "Arson," will forever be remembered in Giants franchise history. For better or for worse.