Around the Empire: Yankees news - 12/8/22

FanGraphs | Jay Jaffe: Good news, everyone, Aaron Judge is still a Yankee. The biggest offseason saga came to an end on Wednesday with the reports that the two sides had come to an agreement on a nine-year, $360 million deal. The Yankees won out in tough negotiations against the Giants and Padres as they gave their star slugger a record-setting deal. San Diego reportedly really broke the bank with a $400 million offer on a 10-year contract, but Judge elected to stay in the Bronx.

New York Post | Dan Martin: While the Yankees won the battle in the end, the way they got there was a journey. In some ways, Judge and his team held their cards close to their chest, but it was also widely known that other teams were pushing hard, making sure that the Yankees too had to leave no stone unturned.

SB Nation | James Dator: Now that we’ve gotten the serious discussions of Judge out of the way, let’s talk about whether or not Aaron is now the highest paid judge of all time. Here is a very scientific deep dive into that question, involving luminaries from Judy to Reinhold.

FanGraphs | Esteban Rivera: Believe it or not, there is Yankees news that’s not Judge-related. As you may remember, on Tuesday, before the Judge stuff started to kick off, the Yankees brought reliever Tommy Kahnle back on a two-year deal. This article, by this Esteban Rivera fellow, is a good look at what Kahnle can bring to the table out of the bullpen.

Also, the Winter Meetings ended with the annual Rule 5 Draft. Check out Madison’s post from last night to see which former Yankees minor leaguers will be reporting to other organizations in the spring.

Update

Okay, real last news item: Xander Bogaerts is no longer the Yankees’ problem.

The former Red Sox slugger opted out of his extension back in November and has now signed a monster contract with the Padres. After Judge and Trea Turner spurned them, the Dads found a man to take their money, and they could do a lot worse than Bogaerts.