The Yankees have never been good at reading Aaron Judge, especially when it comes to salary matters.

There is a Terminator quality to the slugger. He betrays little emotion when it comes to these matters. Oh, he says all the words the organization wants to hear when it comes to his future, notably that his desire has been to be a Yankee for life. That fits into Hal Steinbrenner’s public position, which is that he would like to make Judge a forever Yankee.

But when there was a chance to do that late in spring training, the Yankees had frustration. Judge not only rejected their seven-year, $213.5 million extension that would begin in 2023, but never to the team’s mind provided exactly what it would take to make a long-term deal.

The sides then had to determine his 2022 salary. The Yankees offered $17 million, Judge countered at $21 million. Last offseason’s lockout forced arbitration hearings to the regular season. Judge’s was the last one — June 24. At noon. Both sides were in the room readying to argue their cases before this game of chicken led to a midpoint settlement at $19 million.

[nypost.com]