Anthony Rizzo wasn’t exactly recruiting his friend Aaron Judge, but his attempts to keep the slugger with the Yankees were dogged.
Literally.
“I did send him a couple of pictures of our dogs together — because we both have dachshunds — saying, ‘We can’t break them up!’” Rizzo said on “The Book of Joe” podcast this week.
Rizzo, who inked a two-year, $34 million deal in the early days of free agency to stay in The Bronx, refrained from giving his pal the hard sell. Instead, he just wanted Judge to make the right decision.
“It was really, ‘What’s going to make you happy? Is it going to be A, B, C or D? Is that here, there or somewhere else?’” Rizzo said. “And just kind of being more of a friend throughout the process than being a teammate.”
Weeks after Rizzo decided to stick around, Judge did the same, inking a record nine-year, $360 million deal that keeps him in pinstripes. The deal was officially announced on Wednesday, the same day Judge was named the 16th captain in Yankees history after a season in which he hit 62 home runs and threatened the triple crown.
Anthony Rizzo kept in contact with his pal Aaron Judge during both their free agency turns. Getty ImagesDespite his friend-first approach, the first baseman didn’t have any inside knowledge of Judge’s process — just like fans, media and front offices across the major leagues, Rizzo had some anxiety about the AL home run record-holder’s final decision.
“Thinking in that zero hour when everything hit the fan, I was a little bit worried like everyone else,” Rizzo recalled. “But also, saying, ‘You have to do what makes you happy and what’s going to be what’s ultimately best for you.’”
It was a conversation the two players had weeks before, when Rizzo was mulling his free agency future. The lefty tied a career high with 32 home runs in 2022, hit well at Yankee Stadium and remains a top defensive option at first, meaning he would have likely had options elsewhere in the league.
“I had some conversations with Judge, [to] see what he was thinking, obviously,” Rizzo said. “[Wife] Emily and I, we decided our top priority was to stay in New York and if that was an option early we would jump on it as long as everything fit right and it did and we’re pumped.”
