How Yankees' Gerrit Cole reacted to Aaron Judge-Giants report

New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole apparently found little humor in the report that indicated All-Star slugger Aaron Judge was signing with the San Francisco Giants in free agency.

"I tried to turn off the noise, but that was quite loud," Cole recently said while speaking with reporters at spring training, per Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. "So I was sweating it for a little bit there." 

On Dec. 6, MLB insider Jon Heyman famously tweeted that "Arson Judge appears headed to" the Giants. Some immediately laughed at the typo, but the overall story was quite serious for the Yankees considering the reigning American League Most Valuable Player had repeatedly been linked with the Giants in rumors. Judge grew up a San Francisco fan as a native of Linden, California. 

Cole also had some inside information. Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford, Cole's brother-in-law, had told the right-hander that Judge's meeting with San Francisco "went well." 

Long before Heyman's Twitter error, it had been reported in the fall that a "toxic" fan culture and an alleged "souring relationship between the Yankees and their fans" could drive Judge away from the Bronx following the 2022 season. Judge then told Time magazine he thought Yankees general manager Brian Cashman informing media members ahead of Opening Day that the 30-year-old had rejected New York's seven-year, $213.5 million contract extension offer was an attempt to "turn the fans against me." 

Cole was able to celebrate in the end. Heyman got it wrong, and Judge ultimately returned to the Yankees via a nine-year, $360 million agreement.