New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge referenced how his wife, Samantha Bracksiek, was involved in negotiating the nine-year/$360 million contract that he signed back in 2022.
While on the Kasa De Club podcast, Judge talked about the story regarding how his big contract came about.
"It's funny. I was in California. Sam [wife] and I were headed to Hawaii to celebrate our [wedding] anniversary. We had a flight at 8 a.m., so two o'clock in the morning, three o'clock, we're just staying up... We're going back and forth about different offers from different teams. What do you want to do? And I'm telling her, 'I want to stay in New York. I don't want to go anywhere else.'"
"The conversations with New York really weren't going anywhere. She was like, 'Call Hal [Steinbrenner], just call him up. Tell him how you're feeling. Tell him what you think.'"
He pointed out that the Yankees owner was on vacation at the time, but was willing to hop on a call to hear out his best player.
"So we call him and I'm just kind of laying it out there, like 'Hey I don't want to go anywhere. This is where I want to be if you can just add one more year to the deal. I'm set. I'm not looking for anything more, I just want one more year. I want to play this game for a long time."
Steinbrenner's response was nice and simple, "And he's like, 'that's it?' and I'm like, 'yeah'... and he's like, 'alright, sounds good.'"
Then, the news got even better as Judge recalled what was said next.
"And then all of sudden he's like, 'oh by the way, we're also going to make you the next Yankees captain.'"
Being named the Yankees captain is a high honor, as the last one was Derek Jeter, who had the role from 2003-2014.
"I didn't hear a whisper of it, not a word leading up to it. It's pretty surreal. For me, I never played the game to be that... to be the next captain. I just play to play. I play for my city, I play for the fans, I play for my family, I play for my teammates."
Judge has certainly not disappointed in his ninth MLB season, as he has a .304 batting average, while being ranked first in the following categories, home runs (32), RBI's (83), and OPS (1.085).
