Aaron Judge reportedly may already have nine-year offer from club

It appears either the New York Yankees or San Francisco Giants may be close to meeting the asking price for free-agent slugger Aaron Judge. 

“I still believe there’s a chance Aaron Judge signs this week ... from what I can tell, piecing things together here, Aaron Judge’s market is certainly above $300 million now, and potentially from two different teams, the Yankees and Giants," MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reported Monday afternoon, per Bridget Hyland of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. "It appears to me, and this is not yet confirmed, but there are those in the industry who believe that he already has in hand that nine-year offer we’ve been talking about for a while. That his market is already over that line of $300 million-plus and nine years." 

It was reported last Wednesday that the Yankees offered a deal "in the neighborhood of eight years and $300 million" to the reigning American League Most Valuable Player. Judge previously rejected New York's seven-year, $213.5 million contract extension before the 2022 season. Former New York Mets general manager Steve Phillips later made it known he thought the Yankees would have to "go to the ninth year" to prevent the native of Linden, California, from signing with the Giants, the team he supported while growing up. 

Ahead of the weekend, it was noted that Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner appears to be leading the franchise's charge to re-sign Judge. Meanwhile, Hyland wrote that Andy Martino of SNY reported Sunday night that Judge had positive discussions with both Steinbrenner and the Giants and could announce his decision during this week's winter meetings in San Diego. 

It's been thought that the Los Angeles Dodgers could emerge as a so-called "mystery team" in the Judge saga, but Mark Feinsand of the league's website hinted that isn't the case as of the first Monday of December: