Aaron Judge has said he was looking forward to the upcoming three-person arbitration panel debate with the New York Yankees.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Judge said Tuesday afternoon ahead of the game against the Tampa Bay Rays. “It’s all business.”
The Yankees will decide whether they should pay Judge $21 million for this season or $17 million.
Even though it is set during the season, the three-person panel will consider what Judge has done so far this season.
That is bad news for Judge, who has been spectacular in leading the majors in homers at 25. Earlier on Tuesday, the MLB announced the first results of the All-Star ballot, and Judge was the vote leader with a total of 1,512,368 votes.
Aaron Judge said that the arbitration hearing was “all business”. He also said that the timing was awkward because it had to be done during the regular season.
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Judge said before the game against the Tampa Bay Rays that it was tough for him. The outfielder said he did not like it.
Preparing for hearing
Manager Aaron Boone earlier praised how Judge can handle the situation without having any issues with his performance.
“Whatever happens there, I know what Aaron’s focus is and what he wants to accomplish and I don’t expect anything to get in the way of that,” Boone said.
Boone said that Aaron Judge was a great player.
“This is obviously a great player, but a guy that’s just really good from the neck up, too, as far as handling whatever comes his way through stardom, through being one of the faces of the game, to being a New York Yankee. Things that happen or inevitably come up, in this case, contract situations and arbitration and all that, he’s fully equipped to handle those things and not affect what he does between the lines.”
Although the Yankees are the place where Judge intends to end his career, the club has not given a contract extension to Judge, who has expressed his frustration because of it.
Judge looking forward to arbitration hearing
The hearing will be done via a video conference, so the outfielder will not be in the room.
Judge will watch the hearing and if there is no agreement, which cannot be completely ruled out despite what Judge said, he will not discuss any possibility of a contract extension with the team.
“That’s the plan,” Judge said. “I’ve had people in my agency, past players, [who] said they hated it and others said it was good to hear what they said about me. I’m looking forward to it.”
Asked whether he will make an agreement with the Yankees before the hearing, Judge said, “I’ve got no answer for that yet.”
Despite the lack of a contract extension and his arbitration hearing, Judge insisted the situation would not his play on the field.
“I’m motivated by what this team is doing, the special talent and opportunity we have ahead of us. I block the business out,” he said.
