With Aaron Judge Officially A Free Agent, The Yankees And Their Fans Brace For What Comes Next

Joe Torre’s 1995 arrival in the Bronx was greeted by a blaring New York Daily News headline — “Clueless Joe” — huge expectations and pressures, and untold number of George Steinbrenner tirades yet to come.

“When you go in, you know what you signed up for,” said Torre, referring to when he became the New York Yankees manager under the demanding watch of The Boss.

But while Torre’s Yankee start was dominated by intense media and public scrutiny, another pinstriped storyline played out simultaneously that winter, one that involved a star player becoming a free agent and a Steinbrenner family member opening up the team coffers to try and retain that player’s services.

Sound familiar?

Twenty-six years after pitcher David Cone went on the market and George Steinbrenner quickly lured him back to the Bronx with a three-year, $19.5 million contract in December 1995, current Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner — George’s son — and manager Aaron Boone find themselves contestants in the Aaron Judge sweepstakes.

“What a sensational year (Judge) had, and the fact that he stayed healthy,” Torre said last week during his “Safe at Home” dinner at Manhattan’s Gotham Hall. The annual event raises awareness about and seeks to put an end to domestic violence.

“Not only the home runs, but the RBI, the hits, his batting average, (Judge) had an amazing year,” added Torre. “But all of the sudden the fans have to realize, ‘Oh, it’s business.’”

Cone had been traded from the Toronto Blue Jays to the Yankees in July 1995 and finished that season a combined 18-8, while winning Game 1 of the division series against the Seattle Mariners. Cone had already won a Cy Young award (1994 with the Kansas City Royals) and a World Series ring (1992 with the Blue Jays) before he donned pinstripes.

“I remember when I first got the job in New York, David Cone was a free agent and he signed back on. That was huge,” said Torre. “He was a horse. You knew his makeup. You knew how important he was, leadership-wise for the whole pitching staff.”

Judge, 30, embodies all of those same leadership qualities and is coming off a season in which he set an American League single-season home run record with 62 blasts. He has become the face of the team during his seven seasons in pinstripes.

But that could change in a blink if Judge decides to take his talents elsewhere. Earlier this year the mammoth Yankee outfielder spurned the Yankees’ offer to remain in the Bronx — a seven-year extension at $30.5 million per year.

“I know Cash (Yankee GM Brian Cashman) and everyone, we’re into the free agent mode now,” said Boone, who was a guest at Torre’s “Safe at Home” gala. “Hopefully that’s with (Judge) back in pinstripes where he belongs. We’ll see how it goes.”

Boone said he hasn’t “allowed myself the reality of” Judge wearing another uniform besides pinstripes next year, but bluntly conceded “nothing’s guaranteed.”

“Obviously the organization has to be agile, and you’ve got to be able to maneuver,” said Boone. “Hopefully we get the resolution we want, and everyone’s happy and we move on, start building around that. But I think the organization always has to be kind of nimble, depending on what happens.”

For his part, Hal Steinbrenner recently told the YES Network’s Meredith Marakovits that he’s all in to try and keep Judge a Yankee.

“I have made it clear to (Judge) that is our wish. He means a lot to this organization,” Steinbrenner told Marakovits. “And I’ve made it clear to him we’re going to do everything we can to make that happen.”

But Hal Steinbrenner voicing his business goals and his late father going on a blitz every offseason to get big-name free agents are two very different owner strategies.

“Sometimes too much,” Torre said with a laugh, recalling George Steinbrenner’s penchant for wanting to field a galaxy of superstars. But Torre added that “no question” Steinbrenner’s spending habits had a positive effect — Torre was never at a loss for roster resources.

“(Steinbrenner) wanted to win. He got a little frustrated the first half of the first year (1996) I was there. He’d say to me when we were in first place, ‘You’re doing it with mirrors.’ Because we didn’t have the big boppers,” said Torre. “Then of course Big Daddy (Cecil Fielder) came onboard, and (Darryl) Strawberry, and that obviously changed our approach. It was driving (Steinbrenner) nuts that we were doing stuff with squeeze plays and everything. He (didn’t) want to beat you by one run, he wanted to beat you by eight or nine.”

The ‘96 Yankees, of course, won the World Series, the first of four rings for Torre as the club’s manager. Boone has yet to guide the Yankees to the Fall Classic, and going forward, he may have to do so without his big bopper.

“I don’t like to think about that,” said Boone.