Ken Rosenthal<\/a>.<\/p>\nEven though the Yankees made other moves earlier in the offseason, most notably re-signing Anthony Rizzo, retaining Judge was always going to be their top priority.<\/p>\n
There are still several flaws on the Yankees roster that need to be addressed before the start of next season. They ranked in the bottom half of Major League Baseball in weighted on-base average at shortstop and left field in 2022.<\/p>\n
Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit .261\/.314\/.327 as New York’s primary starting shortstop last season.<\/p>\n
Signing Correa would be a massive upgrade at the position for the Bronx Bombers. The two-time All-Star has a .279\/.357\/.479 slash line in 888 career games.<\/p>\n
It’s interesting Olney would throw out the Yankees as a potential landing spot for Correa. Many players on their team, including Judge, were very critical of the Houston Astros and their players in the wake of the cheating scandal during the 2017 season.<\/p>\n
“I just don’t think it holds any value with me. You cheated and you didn’t earn it,” Judge told reporters in February 2020. “It wasn’t earned the way of playing the game right and fighting to the end The biggest thing about competition is laying it all out on the line, and whoever’s the better player, better person, comes out on top. And to know that another team had an advantage\u2014nothing that you can really guard against\u2014I just don ‘t feel like that’s earned.”<\/p>\n
Rosenthal reported earlier this week the Los Angeles Dodgers won’t pursue Correa, despite having a need at shortstop after losing Trea Turner, “in part out of concern that a sizable portion of their fanbase would not welcome the move.”<\/p>\n
The 2017 Astros defeated the Yankees in the American League Championship Series and Dodgers in the World Series.<\/p>\n
In the wake of Judge re-signing with the Yankees, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle <\/i>reported the “consensus” around MLB is the Giants were favorites to sign Correa.<\/p>\n
Jon Heyman<\/a> of the New York Post <\/i>and MLB Network reported the Giants had an offer to Judge believed to be around $360 million.<\/p>\nIf the Giants were willing to offer Judge that much money, there’s no reason they can’t shift it to Correa. There’s an argument he would be a better fit than Judge because he’s two years younger (28) and plays a more important defensive position.<\/p>\n
The Giants have already fallen far behind the Dodgers and San Diego Padres in the NL West. They need to do something big to regain relevance in their own division and become a playoff container in 2023.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n