He has the money for it, but 2022 American League MVP Aaron Judge isn’t interested in bidding for the historic No. 62 home run ball.
In an Oct. 4 game against the Texas Rangers, Judge clubbed his 62nd home run of the season — breaking the single-season American League record that was set by Yankees legend Roger Maris back in 1961
The ball was caught by 35-year-old fan Cory Youmans, who recently rejected a $3 million offer for it. Rather than take the fancy payday, Youmans decided to put it up for sale at auction.
Judge could obviously outbid just about anybody for the baseball. But when asked about the possibility, the 30-year-old made it clear that he won’t join the bidding for the special memorabilia, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch.
“Oh, no,” Judge said. “I haven’t signed my free agent deal yet, so I think that’s a little out of my price range right now.”
Judge is the biggest name on the 2022 MLB free agent market. He wisely turned down a lucrative extension worth more than $200 million from the Pinstripes before the start of the season, and he’s widely expected to land a deal worth $300 million-plus on the open market.
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The Yankees’ franchise star batted .311 with 62 homers, 131 RBI and an OPS of 1.111. He became the first Yankee player to win MVP honors since Alex Rodriguez, who captured the award in 2005 and 2007.
Judge also became the first player since 2001 to hit the milestone 60-home run mark. Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa were the last players to do it, having finished the year with 73 (a single-season MLB record) and 64, respectively.
