The Home Run King has officially endorsed the idea of the Giants adding slugger Aaron Judge this winter.
Barry Bonds, in an interview with Barry M. Bloom of Sportico, raved about Judge and his pursuit of the all-time single-season home run record. Judge has hit 60 blasts this season, one off Roger Maris’ American League record and 13 away from Bonds’ 2001 total.
“Go for it,” Bonds told Sportico. “The way he swings he might as well hit one a day and get past me. I don’t care. Why not?”
Judge will have no shortage of suitors when he hits free agency this winter. He turned down the Yankees’ seven-year, $213.5 extension offer to bet on himself — a wager that could exponentially pay off.
It’ll be tough to pry the Fresno native away from the Bronx. According to odds released this week by betonline.ag, the Giants have the seventh-best chance at signing Judge. Others industrywide view San Francisco as a more serious destination.
The Giants don’t have a big-name star and have stumbled back from its 107-win campaign in part because they don’t have enough everyday players. Judge certainly would help on both fronts.
“I hope he signs here,” Bonds told Sportico. “Can it happen? I don’t know. It depends on what the Yankee payroll is. But we would love to have him, I’ll tell you that.”
Judge, 30, currently owns the AL Triple Crown. One prominent pundit called his remarkable season “the greatest single-season performance by any hitter in the history of baseball.”
“We in the Bay Area — he’s a Bay Area boy — we hope they don’t sign him, and we can get him,” Bonds said. “I would. He’s that good.”