Aaron Judge Named 16th Yankees Captain

December 21, 2022. A podium at Yankee Stadium, Derek Jeter and Willie Randolph standing off to the side, and Hal Steinbrenner introducing Aaron Judge as the 16th captain in New York Yankees history. The day before, the Yankees had finalized his nine-year, $360 million contract. The day of, they handed him the "C." Two separate headlines, technically. In practice, one enormous exhale for a franchise that had spent all of 2022 wondering if its best player was about to leave.

He didn't leave. He got the money, the title, and a spot on a list that includes Gehrig, Munson, and Jeter. Let's get into how that actually happened, because the timeline is messier -- and better -- than the highlight reel suggests.

Turning Down $213.5 Million to Get $360 Million

Start back in April, because you can't understand December without it. The Yankees offered Judge seven years and $213.5 million before Opening Day, with a deadline of the season's first pitch. Judge said no. GM Brian Cashman then told reporters the exact number, which Judge wasn't thrilled about ("We kind of said, 'Hey, let's keep this between us,'" he said later). The full story of that bet -- the 62 home runs, the unanimous-adjacent MVP, all of it -- lives over in the 2022 MVP season writeup. This one picks up where that story ends.

Judge bet on himself and cashed the biggest check of his life. That's the short version. The long version has a plot twist.

The Giants Almost Won

Here's the part that gets glossed over now: the Yankees didn't have this locked up. San Francisco flew Judge home to the Bay Area over Thanksgiving for a real recruiting visit -- Judge grew up in Linden, California, and idolized Giants shortstop Rich Aurilia as a kid, wearing No. 35 because Aurilia did -- and reportedly put an offer on the table in the same $360 million neighborhood. On December 6, 2022, Jon Heyman (then with the New York Post) reported Judge was signing with the Giants. He wasn't. Heyman had to walk it back within minutes, and Yankees fans got a very unpleasant preview of a world without their captain-to-be. (Every fan base has that one reporter who jumps the gun. That week, it was Heyman's turn.)

One day later, on December 7, 2022, Judge and the Yankees agreed to terms on nine years and $360 million, pending a physical. Almost two weeks after that -- December 20, a Tuesday -- the contract became official. The next day, Steinbrenner made it a two-part ceremony.

The Contract Itself

Forty million dollars a year, flat. No deferred money, no opt-outs, fully guaranteed through 2031. At the time, that $40 million AAV was the highest ever paid to a position player, edging past Mike Trout's $35.54 million. The total $360 million made it the third-largest contract in baseball history behind Trout's $426.5 million extension and Mookie Betts's $365 million extension -- but neither of those players hit free agency to get theirs. Judge did. As a straight free-agent deal, $360 million was the biggest number anyone had ever signed for.

He turned down $213.5 million in April. He signed for $360 million in December. That gap is $146.5 million (a genuinely freakin' absurd number to leave on the table for eight months), and Judge earned every dollar of it in between.

Sixteenth in Line

The captaincy is where this stops being a business story and starts being a Yankees story. Judge became the 16th captain in franchise history, and the first since Jeter retired in 2014 -- eight years without anybody wearing the title. Steinbrenner called him during the contract negotiations, according to Judge, and told him Thurman Munson had been his favorite player growing up: "Thurman Munson was my favorite player, and I'd like to make you captain, like he was." Judge said afterward that the captaincy call left him more speechless than the nine-year offer did. Read that again. A guy who'd just been offered $360 million said the TITLE was the part that got him.

At the podium, Judge rattled off the list himself: "Look back at the list of, you know, Thurman Munson, Lou Gehrig, Ron Guidry, Willie Randolph, Derek Jeter, Don Mattingly. That's a pretty good list right there. Not only great baseball players, but great ambassadors of the game and great ambassadors of the New York Yankees." He's the seventh captain named during the Steinbrenner family's ownership, following Munson, Graig Nettles, Willie Randolph, Ron Guidry, Don Mattingly, and Jeter -- and the sixteenth overall, a lineage that stretches back to Clark Griffith in 1903 and includes a five-day stint for Babe Ruth in 1922 that ended when Ban Johnson stripped it from him for throwing dust in an umpire's face. (Yankees captaincy history has range.)

The comparison to Jeter was never going to be fair to anybody, and Judge didn't pretend otherwise. "I'm gonna continue to try to be the same leader I've been the last six years and lead by example," he said -- not by giving speeches. That's basically the Gehrig model, not the Ruth model, and it's probably the safer one to inherit.

What the "C" Actually Changed

Not much, honestly, and that's sort of the point. Judge had already been the Yankees' de facto leader for years before anyone made it official (nobody needed a press conference to tell them who ran that clubhouse) -- the captaincy just put a name on what everyone already knew. What it did change was the symbolism: a franchise that treats the title like a retired number had decided, formally, that its post-Jeter era belonged to Judge. He'd broken Roger Maris's record two and a half months earlier in the 62nd home run game. Now he had the contract and the letter to match the résumé.

Sixteen captains in a franchise history that stretches back to 1903. Judge is the one wearing it now.

Frequently Asked Questions

When was Aaron Judge officially named Yankees captain?

Judge was named the 16th captain in Yankees history on December 21, 2022, at a press conference at Yankee Stadium. Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner made the announcement one day after Judge's nine-year, $360 million contract was officially finalized. Derek Jeter, the previous captain, attended in person.

What are the terms of Aaron Judge's Yankees contract?

Judge signed a nine-year, $360 million contract running through the 2031 season, paying a flat $40 million per year with no deferred money and no opt-outs -- 100% fully guaranteed. The deal was agreed to in principle on December 7, 2022, and officially finalized on December 20, 2022. At the time, the $40 million AAV was the highest ever for a position player, and the $360 million total was the largest free-agent contract in MLB history, trailing only Mike Trout's and Mookie Betts's team-extension deals in total value.

Who was the Yankees captain before Aaron Judge?

Derek Jeter, who held the title from 2003 until his retirement after the 2014 season. The Yankees left the captaincy vacant for eight years before naming Judge -- the first captain of the post-Jeter era and the 16th in franchise history overall, a lineage that starts with Clark Griffith in 1903 and includes Lou Gehrig, Thurman Munson, and Don Mattingly among others.

Did the Yankees almost lose Aaron Judge to the Giants in free agency?

It got closer than most fans remember. San Francisco flew Judge to the Bay Area over Thanksgiving 2022 for a recruiting visit and put together a competitive offer in the same financial neighborhood as the Yankees' eventual deal. On December 6, 2022, a report even surfaced that Judge was signing with the Giants -- it turned out to be premature and was retracted within minutes. The next day, Judge and the Yankees agreed to terms instead.