Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
Judge is even more of a borderline case here because of his age. He’s the same age as Harper and Machado, yet isn’t set to hit free agency until the 2022 season is done (his age-30 campaign). That alone may prevent him for getting $330-plus million, but his potential production could sure make it an interesting debate.
Injuries limited him to 27 homers in 498 plate appearances last year. If he stepped into the batter’s box closer to the 678 times he did as a rookie, though, he could’ve had a shot at another season of 40-plus homers. The 2019 campaign will be crucial for Judge because it’s his platform year before heading through the arbitration process.
If he can stay healthy and put up more monster numbers, one has to imagine he’ll break some kind of record for a first-time arbitration-eligible player. That’s especially the case since he’s not a one-dimensional slugger — he’s been worth at least 5.0 fWAR each of the last two seasons with a wRC+ of at least 140, along with 23 total Defensive Runs Saved as a right fielder during this time.
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