NEW YORK — Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees avoided an arbitration hearing Friday by agreeing to a $19 million, one-year contract, a deal that leaves the slugger on track to become a free agent after the World Series.
Unable to agree to a long-term deal in talks that ended on opening day, the sides split the difference between the proposed arbitration figures they exchanged on March 22: $21 million by Judge and $17 million by the Yankees.
Judge can make an additional $500,000 in award bonuses: $250,000 for MVP and $250,000 for World Series MVP.