Anthony Rizzo left the Chicago Cubs a couple of years ago because they were never able to get an extension done together. He clearly didn’t have a preference on whether or not he stayed but he probably would have preferred to stay.
It was clearly a good decision to leave tho as he was put in a very nice situation. The Cubs made the decision to trade him to the New York Yankees which was one that clearly worked out well for Rizzo.
On Tuesday, it came out that he has chosen to make that his MLB home for the second straight free agency bid. He is there now on a multi-year deal after declining the qualifying offer that was extended to him a little bit ago. Rizzo is going to make a lot of money well into his 30s with them.
Instead of playing on this rebuilding Chicago Cubs team, he gets to play with the New York Yankees who are going to be perennial contenders in each of his seasons there. They needed a full-time first baseman in 2021 and they went out and got one. He happened to love it there.
The New York Yankees are in agreement with Anthony Rizzo on a contract.
Of course, the Yankees are far from done. Aaron Judge is the big free agent fish following a historic season in which he hit 62 home runs for the American League record. He is sure to make a lot of money. The Yankees definitely want to keep the face of their franchise.
They are known to spend good money and they have with Rizzo. Rizzo and Judge have become good friends over the last few years so this move might be a good pro for Judge staying with New York. That is surely going to be an interesting story to follow until something breaks.
Rizzo deserves this type of treatment. He is one of the greatest players that the Chicago Cubs have ever had. His time was done and he handled it with grace. Now, he is living it up with the Yankees.
If he can keep putting up seasons with 30+ home runs, 75+ RBIs, and an OPS over .800, he will bring great value and leadership to this Yankees team that is so close to being championship caliber. This is a great situation for him.
