The Yankees and Aaron Judge reached a settlement on a new contract for 2022 in advance of Friday's scheduled arbitration hearing.

According to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, Judge and the Yankees agreed to a $19 million deal plus incentives. If Judge wins the AL MVP this season he'll receive $250,000 and another quarter million if he wins the World Series MVP.

Judge had asked for $21 million in his final year before becoming a free agent. The Yankees countered with $17 million.

Now that this chapter in negotiations is complete, the Yankees can now look toward trying to retain the services of their team’s MVP with an extension.

Judge is set to hit free agency at the end of the season, unless the Yankees and Judge’s camp come to an agreement on an extension, something that the former Rookie of the Year says he does not want to discuss in-season.

Before Judge’s self-imposed Opening Day deadline, the Yankees offered seven years worth $213.5 million, according to GM Brian Cashman, and the $17 million from arbitration would've put the deal over $230 million. That's close to $33 million per season. Judge is asking for $36 million per season.

So far this season, Judge is arguably the American League’s MVP. In 68 games, the 30-year-old is hitting .304/.379/.658 with 53 RBI and a major league leading 27 home runs. What’s more valuable is his performance in crunch time as evidenced in last night’s 7-6 comeback against the Houston Astros.

However, this arbitration didn’t take 2022 into account, just his 2021 production. Last season, Judge hit .287/.373/.544 with 98 RBI and 39 home runs in 148 games and, more importantly, stayed healthy.

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