You can practically hear the sigh of relief coming from New York right now, both from the Yankees themselves and perhaps even more so from their fans.
For against what like pretty good odds, Aaron Judge is coming back.
There were indeed signs aplenty throughout 2022 that the 30-year-old outfielder could actually leave the Bronx this winter. The most recent came just on Tuesday when the Yankees got a brief, yet system-jolting scare from a report that Judge was headed to the San Francisco Giants.
But as Jon Morosi of MLB.com and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic were first to report, the American League MVP is sticking with the Yankees on a nine-year, $360 million contract.