The Yankees made the move they needed to make and secured the services of Aaron Judge for the next nine years. Things were tough for a while as it seemed that the Giants might swoop in and bring the Bay Area native back, and the Padres made things super interesting by offering him $400 million, but ultimately, owner Hal Steinbrenner made a long-distance call from Italy and said all the right things to convince Judge to stay in pinstripes for $360 million.

With that, Aaron Judge is a Yankee still and the rest of the offseason becomes a lot easier for GM Brian Cashman and his team. Replacing Judge’s production and presence would not have been an easy task and luckily it’s not one that anyone has to think about. This was a move that absolutely had to be made, and we’re all thankful that it was done. What a wonderful early Christmas present for Yankees fans. 

Andrew and Kunj fire up the ol’ podcast-mobile to share thoughts and stories of relief and near-heartbreak (thanks, Jon Heyman) on the Yankees bringing back the face of their franchise. They also discuss the return of old friend Tommy Kahnle, and the departures of Jameson Taillon and Miguel Castro.

Lastly, the co-hosts end the show with handing out some obvious Yankee- and Manfred-of-the-Week awards but not before discussing some of the rumors swirling around about how the Yankees don’t seem ready to call it an offseason just yet. The team has been linked to Carlos Rodón, Andrew Benintendi, Brandon Nimmo, and Bryan Reynolds, while some of it may just be rumors there seems to be real smoke in some places.*

*Note: This podcast was recorded before news broke of the Red Sox signing Masataka Yoshida.

Until next time: Aaron Judge is a Yankee. Remember that!

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