Aaron Judge turned down a last-minute overture from the San Diego Padres, but his reason for doing so certainly was not down to the money.
The Padres were willing to offer Judge over $400 million over 14 years to beat both the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The 14-year deal likely would have been blocked by Major League Baseball as an attempt to circumvent the luxury tax, though things never got to that point.
No formal offer was made as Judge told the Padres he did not want to surrender his legacy to take more money, and he ultimately re-signed with the Yankees for $360 million.
If anything, this demonstrates just how determined the Padres were to land a top free agent. It was not even the first time they lost out to a player despite being the highest bidder. They ended up signing Xander Bogaerts to an 11-year megadeal, so they got what they wanted in the end.
