Atlanta Braves: Here is how Aaron Judge’s new deal compares to current Braves contracts

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 23: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees looks on before game four of the American League Championship Series against the Houston Astros at Yankee Stadium on October 23, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 23: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees looks on before game four of the American League Championship Series against the Houston Astros at Yankee Stadium on October 23, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

I know this is going to come as a shock to all of you, but the Atlanta Braves didn’t sign Aaron Judge and we sincerely hope you didn’t bet money on that happening. Earlier this morning, the reports were that Judge and the Yankees came to terms on a nine year, $360 million deal to keep him in the Bronx.

It has long been known that Judge was going to get a crazy amount of money this offseason and he got just that. The Giants were willing to throw that kind of money at him, too, and he had no shortage of suitors this offseason.

How does Aaron Judge’s deal compare to the Braves’ contracts

Just to get a sense of the scale of his deal, lets take a look at how his deal compares to the Braves’ current payroll. Just to get this out of the way, no…this is not meant to be a pure apples to oranges comparison of actual value and yes, it does matter players ages, team control, and how the money is spaced out over time. This is just for funsies and to give some sense of 1) just how much money Judge just got guaranteed and 2) how fortunate the Braves have been to ink the deals they have with their young core.

One Aaron Judge deal is worth nearly two current 2023 Braves payrolls

Again, yes…we know, Judge’s money is spaced over nine years, but that is still a lot of money. The best projections we currently have for the Braves’ 2023 payroll (not the luxury tax number) currents sits at a bit over $192 million. Judge is getting nearly double that guaranteed to him over the next nine years.

One Aaron Judge deal would get you 3.6 Ronald Acunas

Back in 2019, Ronald Acuna Jr. signed one of the more team-friendly extensions you will see (other than Ozzie Albies’ deal anyways) when the Braves extended him for eight years and $100 million. The Yankees got an extra year on Judge’s deal, but thanks partially to the fact that none of Judge’s years involve any amount of team control, they are paying 3.6 times what the Braves did to keep Ronnie in the fold.

One Aaron Judge is worth 18 Charlie Mortons….kinda

This one made me laugh just because of the idea of having 18 Charlie Mortons on a team’s roster. The Braves have Morton signed for $20 million for 2023 and because that is a nice, round number…we are able to math it out that Judge’s deal with buy 18 Charlie Mortons for 2023 when it comes to total dollars. One note: all of these Mortons would have club options so there is plenty of extra “value” here.

The Braves would get roughly 10.3 Ozzie Albies for one Aaron Judge

You guys get the point by now, but it is worth highlighting just how ridiculous the value was when the Braves’ extended Ozzie with a seven year, $35 million deal back in 2019.  He is only making $7 million in 2023 and THE DEAL HAS TWO CLUB OPTIONS. Looking solely at total dollars here and conveniently ignoring team control, etc….Aaron Judge will make roughly 10.3 times what Ozzie will over the lifetime of their deals.

Aaron Judge is making a lot of money

This, again, was just for fun, but Aaron Judge’s deal is pretty historic. Assuming everything goes through and there are no issues with his physical, Judge would be receiving the highest deal for a free agent in baseball history. Judge was coming off one of the best seasons we have had in recent memory, but it is still wild that several teams were willing and able to get the bidding to that point. The history of long-term, high AAV deals is not great, so we will have to see how the Yankees did a few years down the road.

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