“Steven Cohen Can Pay You $300 Million”- Alex ‘A-Rod’ Rodriguez Believes Aaron Judge Deserves a Huge Offer From New York Yankees; Rejects Their Recent Offer to the Star

Alex ‘A-Rod’ Rodriguez may have retired from baseball in 2016, but the game refuses to quit him. Having recently started a broadcast show with sportscaster Michael Kay on ESPN, A-Rod came up with an interesting explanation for Aaron Judge and his extension with the New York Yankees.

With an explanation of the free agency system active in the sport, A-Rod explained it to his viewers in the simplest way possible to help them understand. And judging from the response, most understood fairly well.

MLB has a fairly straightforward way of looking at players as they enter the league. The first free agency stop is usually after 6 years of completed service time, at which point players can choose to switch teams and rake in the moolah if they are performing at their best.

However, the alternative, if you really believe in a player, is to instill that faith in him by getting him to sign an extension before he gets into the weeds of free agency.

Alex ‘A-Rod Rodriguez explains MLB Free Agency

Using a chart to do the explanation, A-Rod walked across the stage to go into year six. Said A-Rod, “The agent has tremendous power once you get to year 6 like Aaron Judge.”

However, that is not to say that the team is never at an advantage. Rodriguez explained that “the early years, you have tremendous leverage if you’re the team because you don’t have the pay the player big until arbitration years 1, 2, and 3.“

This effectively means that the team holds the power dynamic in years 1,2 and 3; however, it gradually shifts towards the players in years 4,5, and 6 when they draw to arbitration eligibility.

Speaking again from the perspective of a team, Rodriguez gave some more context. “If you’re committed to a player playing with your organization, this is where you wanna live,” he said, pointing to a chart in years 1,2, and 3 of the player’s service time.

This could mean that you get the player’s contract ironed out very early, and potentially retain their services for a long time too; however, you risk an injury or the player not panning out.

As Michael Kay points out, from the point of view of the organization, it simply becomes a ‘sunken cost’. But A-Rod explained that the model was predicated on that exact risk-and-reward play. Said A-Rod, “That’s built into the model. That’s why you get an 80% or 70% discount,” speaking about the early stages of an athlete’s career.

Read More: New York Yankees Star Aaron Judge Stopped From Playing on Important Day Despite His Desire to Step on the Field

A-Rod gives his perspective on Aaron Judge’s situation

As per the latest reports, while no agreement was reached between the two, the latest offer from the Yankees was $213 million over 7 years to renew Aaron Judge’s contract. However, Judge rejected the offer and chose to go the season without an assured extension on his hands.

And Michael Kay seems quite foxed by his choice. Said Kay, “When you look at the Yankees’ offer, it would have made him the 2nd highest paid outfield player in the history of baseball, only Mike Trout would have had more,” he added, “if you were Aaron Judge would you have turned that down?“

Taking a moment to think, A-Rod hesitated, then said, “I probably would have.”

And Rodriguez explained his choice, too. It’s a simple matter of what Judge can offer any team. Said A-Rod, “If you’re Aaron Judge you’re one year away, that’s basically six months your risk for reward is there because you know that if you play out your year, and you have a big year, the guy across the street, you know Steven Cohen can pay you $300 million.“

Thinking aloud as to what it might have taken to confirm Judge, Rodriguez had some thoughts, too. “I think what he wanted was Rendon money or Lindor money; which is $34.5 million to $35 million over 8 years. In my opinion, that would’ve gotten it done,” he added.

Read More: New York Mets Owner Steve Cohen Wouldn’t Steal Aaron Judge From New York Yankees – Here’s Why

But what do you think? Is Judge risking more if he has a fallow year? Or are the Yankees more at sea if Judge over-performs this season? Which do you think is more likely to happen?