Ahead of Friday’s series opener, superstar Aaron Judge spoke on a variety of topics with Mookie Betts’ new Bleacher Report show, “On Base,” including his “stressful” free-agent experience, his least favorite pitcher to face, and even his favorite Taylor Swift song.
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With a rumor surfacing during the Winter Meetings that Judge was close to a deal with San Francisco, it appeared briefly in December that Judge might actually depart the Yankees to sign with the Giants.
Dealing with the Giants would have put Judge in the NL West, where he would have faced the Dodgers frequently. Meetings with Betts are far less regular than they otherwise would be since Judge has moved back to New York. This weekend, when the Dodgers host the Yankees for a three-game series at Dodger Stadium, the two will engage in one of those uncommon encounters.
“When I had heard you were going to the Giants, my heart kind of sank a little bit,” Betts said.
“You didn’t want to see me?” Judge interjected.
“I want to see you, but I don’t want to see you in right field [for the Giants],” Betts said. [I was thinking], the Giants, it’s already a rivalry, and now they’re going to be so good, what you were going to add to that team, so I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’”
Judge shed some light on his mindset throughout the free-agent process, noting that he always wanted to return to New York but owed it to himself and his family to at least test the waters.
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“I think I’d kick myself down the road if I just didn’t go through the process, just check out the process, see what other teams had to offer,” Judge told Betts. “I got to meet a lot of great coaches, a lot of great front offices, other players with other teams, and just kind of see how they ran things, what their mindset was.
