The Giants put on a full-court press for Aaron Judge’s trip to San Francisco – including putting him in touch with the current face of sports and championships in the Bay Area.
During Judge’s two-day free-agent visit with the Giants this week, they connected the AL MVP with Steph Curry’s camp, NBC Sports Bay Area reported on Wednesday, hoping the two icons in their respective sports could catch up.
It was just part of the Giants’ pitch to Judge, a Northern California native, who also shared a Monday night dinner with his agent Page Odle, Giants team president Larry Baer, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, manager Gabe Kapler and other members of the organization, according to the report.
The visit was the first known stop on Judge’s free-agent tour, which could also include hearing from the Dodgers, among other teams.
The Yankees currently have an offer on the table for Judge, with Hal Steinbrenner having talked to him directly to reiterate his desire to keep the outfielder in pinstripes for the rest of his career. It figures to take a contract in excess of $300 million to make that happen.
Judge, who turned down the Yankees’ seven-year, $213.5 million offer before Opening Day, said last week he was excited to start the free-agent process, which appeared to kick into gear by visiting with the Giants on Monday and Tuesday at Oracle Park.
“I’m looking forward to getting the free-agent process going,’’ Judge said last week after winning the AL MVP. “I don’t know how fast or slow it’s gonna go. There’s teams that we’ve talked to. For me, if we’re going to build a winning team, if I can get my stuff out of the way, it’s always an advantage. Once I get into it, it might move fast or slow. You never really know.”
