Two offseasons ago, New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner was on vacation in Italy and made a now-infamous phone call in the middle of the night. Team star and reigning MVP Aaron Judge was on the cusp of signing with the San Francisco Giants; in fact, it had already been falsely reported earlier that day.
Steinbrenner’s call to his star was clear: Tell me what keeps you a Yankee, and we’ll make it happen. Nine years and $360 million later, Aaron Judge was the Yankee captain. A “Yankee for life” as he had put it before.
Well, there’s a new Hal Steinbrenner in town in the form of New York Mets owner Steve Cohen.