Farhan Zaidi, Aaron Judge and the SF Giants’ worst possible wakeup call

SAN DIEGO — It was 5 a.m. Wednesday and Farhan Zaidi couldn’t sleep.

Tossing and turning, the Giants’ top baseball man heard a buzz from his nightstand. It was his phone. He knew it couldn’t be good news at that hour.

“The phone buzzing at 5 a.m. is rarely good news,” he said Wednesday afternoon, reflecting from the team suite here at the Manchester Grand Hyatt about 12 hours later. “You’re probably not going to get a ‘yes’ in a 5 a.m. text message.”

It wasn’t a yes.

Zaidi unlocked his phone and confirmed the worst: Aaron Judge, the player at the top of their wishlist, whom they dedicated hundreds of hours of manpower to courting, including a two-day in-person visit to San Francisco last month, had spurned them. Judge chose to remain with the New York Yankees, the only professional organization he has ever known.

“Obviously there’s a lot of disappointment,” Zaidi said. “To get into this when one player’s been with one organization his whole career and wants to continue there, if you make a run at that player, you know what you’re up against. … That was a pretty strong force we were up against. We were disappointed we weren’t able to overcome it, but you understand.”

Thanks in part to the Giants’ serious pursuit — and an aggressive late entry by the Padres — Judge was able to cash in on the best walk year in MLB history, an AL-record 62 home runs and the MVP award, to the tune of $360 million, or a cool $147 million more than the Yankees’ original extension offer before last season. He’ll be paid an average of $40 million over the next nine seasons, the largest figure ever earned by a position player and the largest contract ever signed by a free agent.

While Zaidi couldn’t point to one particular instance where he felt the pendulum had swung in the Giants’ favor, he doesn’t feel like they were merely used as leverage, either.

Judge visited San Francisco, something Bryce Harper never did in the Giants’ last failed pursuit of a top-dollar free agent. It was a longer process, with more meetings and meals shared together, Zaidi said. More than 30 team employees contributed to their recruiting pitch. “We connected at a different level,” he said.

“There’s a lot behind the scenes that happened that, in our view, showed a genuine interest,” Zaidi said, with nothing but kind words for Judge’s two representatives, Page Odle and David Matranga. “Anytime you’re pursuing a free agent, they don’t owe you anything. … I think there’s a perception you can buy this decision. But really you’re trying to sell the decision, you’re trying to sell yourself as an option. …

“I think they gave us an opportunity to sell ourselves, our situation, our organization. They just made the right decision for them.”

As of Wednesday evening, with many executives checking out of their rooms and on their way to the airport, the Yankees had yet to make the deal official, though general manager Brian Cashman effectively confirmed it that afternoon to New York beat reporters, calling owner Hal Steinbrenner — who reportedly upped the Yankees’ offer by a year and $40 million to match the Giants — “the Mariano Rivera of these negotiations.”

Judge has not yet commented on the deal.

The Giants continued their other business, including pursuits of top shortstop Carlos Correa, Carlos Rodón and other starters, and another outfielder. Brandon Nimmo is the only natural center fielder of the top remaining free agents. And while Zaidi said adding a premium defender continues to be “the best way for us to upgrade,” he said they could also pivot to a first baseman and use Mike Yastrzemski in center with Mitch Haniger and LaMonte Wade Jr. in the corners.

It didn’t take long after Judge’s decision for other player representatives to start reaching out, though Zaidi said they were mostly products of ongoing conversations, as the Giants continued to do their due diligence while waiting out Judge.

“I think they’re sensitive not to give off the ambulance-chaser vibe,” Zaidi said. But, he continued, “they’re not looking to give us any discounts, that’s for sure. …

“I think for us it makes sense to be a little bit measured. There’s always going to have to be a breath after this decision, one way or another. That’s kind of where we’re at. But we’re expecting to stay busy.”