AL East Rival Shockingly Made Huge Offer to Yankees' Aaron Judge in Free Agency

Surprise, surprise; Wouldn't this have been something?

While there was certainly plenty of drama surrounding the free agency saga of New York Yankees superstar outfielder Aaron Judge in the 2022-2023 offseason, the team that almost pulled him away from the Bronx was believed to be the San Francisco Giants.

However, another club was in the running in the form of an AL East rival and even made a pretty serious offer.

According to former Yankees beat reporter and current Tampa Bay Times writer Kristie Ackert, the Tampa Bay Rays offered Judge a 10-year, $300 million deal before he ultimately chose to return to New York.

"The Rays, that surprised me," Judge told Ackert. "And just because it was a divisional rival, and I've spent my whole career trying to game-plan against them. ... It was a very respectful (offer), and I appreciated that they reached out and that they thought enough of me to do that," Judge said. "And I respect their team. I respect what they have built here. They have a good club, and their team is tough.

"But it was so hard to think about (playing for them), because I've spent my whole career game-planning against them and trying to beat them."

Judge, 32, took the opposite approach in contrast of NBA superstar Kevin Durant, who joined the western conference rival Golden State Warriors in free agency shortly after his Oklahoma City Thunder team blew a 3-1 playoff series lead to them back in 2016.

Judge couldn't see himself going to an AL East rival despite the respectable, and shocking offer that the Rays, who are a small market team, presented to him during his free agency period.

In the end, Judge, the face of the franchise, wound up signing a nine-year, $360 million deal with the Yankees and then was officially named captain.

He is currently the front-runner to win the AL MVP Award for the second time in the last three seasons, and his decision to stay with the Yankees has clearly worked out for both sides so far.