Aaron Judge: Examining New York Yankees Captain's new worth after $360M contract

The New York Yankees had one clear goal heading into the 2022 offseason: re-signing superstar Aaron Judge. After weeks of negotiations and outside pressure from teams such as the San Francisco Giants, the two sides agreed to keep the reigning American League MVP in the Bronx.

Aaron Judge signed a historic contract with the Yankees on Wednesday, December 7, 2022, making him the highest-paid position player in history. The outfielder agreed to a nine-year, $360 million contract with the club, with an annual salary of $40 million.

"In the year 2022, Aaron Judge broke a historic HR record, won MVP, signed a $360M deal with the Yankees, and was named their 16th Captain. Like that’s something you’d see in movies." - @Majorleaguemadd

The 2022 season was one to remember for Judge. He took a major gamble on himself, turning down a seven-year, $213.5 million contract extension from the Yankees at the beginning of the season. He instead bet he could land a more lucrative deal in the offseason, which he did, $146.5 million more to be precise. The new extension also saw Judge's personal net worth grow from $10 million to an estimated $50 million.

Judge will remain under contract until 2031, making him an unrestricted free agent again when he turns 40 years old, so he will likely remain with the Yankees for the entirety of his MLB career.

Entering the 2023 season, Judge will have the highest annual salary of any position player, sitting behind only Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer for the league lead.

"Judge $40M AAV is the 3rd highest in baseball, and highest among any offensive player. Max Scherzer ($43M) and Justin Verlander ($43M) are tied for the highest. After adding Tommy Kahnle’s two-year deal and Judge’s $40M AAV, the Yankees payroll is around a projected $251M 2023." - Major Sport Alert

Aside from Judge, the Yankees also landed pitchers Carlos Rodon and Tommy Kahnle in free agency, while also extending Anthony Rizzo to a two-year contract.

A look at Aaron Judge's historic 2022 season

En route to his first career MVP award, Judge surpassed Roger Maris for the New York Yankees franchise and the American League's single-season home run record by crushing a career-high 62 long balls.

"Aaron Judge's 62 home runs during the 2022 regular season came against 56 different pitchers." - Codify

The slugger also set new career highs in RBIs (131), walks (111), runs (133), and even games played (157), as well as in OBP (.425), slugging percentage (.686), and total bases (391).