Aaron Judge set an Opening Day deadline for a contract extension with the Yankees.

Even with Thursday’s first game against the Red Sox postponed until Friday (12:05 p.m. ET), it doesn’t appear the sides will reach an agreement in time.

For a team that seems perpetually in win-now mode, the Yankees are playing a dangerous game not locking up the face of the franchise.

• If the 29-year-old doesn’t sign a long-term deal, he’ll head to midseason arbitration to determine a one-year contract. 
• Judge filed for $21M, while the Yankees countered with $17M, per MLB.com.
• He received a $1.8M signing bonus as the No. 32 pick in 2013 and since signed six consecutive one-year deals, including one for $10.2M in 2021.
• He’s a three-time All-Star who finished fourth in 2021 AL MVP voting after slashing .287/.373/.544 with 39 HRs and 98 RBI.

Judge likely wants a six- or seven-year extension north of $200M, which would pass Derek Jeter’s 10-year, $189M deal from 2001 as the Bronx Bombers’ largest. 

The Yankees are never too shy to spend big: They have the third-highest payroll ($240.3M), with ace Gerrit Cole earning $36M per season, MLB’s second-highest AAV (Max Scherzer, $43.3M). 

In the midst of a 12-year title drought, New York should make Judge as comfortable as possible — as soon as possible.

Karim Benzema has been hiding in plain sight for most of his prime — which will happen when you’re playing in the shadow of Real Madrid’s all-time leading scorer, Cristiano Ronaldo. 

But the French international became the fourth player to ever score back-to-back Champions League hat-tricks in a 3-1 first-leg quarter-final victory over Chelsea, he’s leading La Liga in scoring (24), and his 11 UCL strikes are second behind Robert Lewandowski.   

With a career campaign for the Spanish giants, the 34-year-old has surely — finally — earned his own share of the spotlight.

• Benzema has scored 42 goals in his last 42 games, 13 in his last seven, and 10 in his last four.
• The next-closest scorer in La Liga this season — teammate Vinicius Jr. — is 10 goals behind him.
• Benzema’s the fourth player in UCL history to reach 80+ goals. 
• He’s now eight goals away from passing Raul (323) for second-most goals in club history.

After five seasons with hometown club Lyon, Benzema transferred to Real for $41 million in 2009 and signed a two-year extension — with an intentionally exorbitant, $1.2 billion release clause. 

Real Madrid has a 12-point lead in La Liga over rivals Barcelona and a two-goal lead over the defending UCL champs heading into the second leg.

While a European trophy would spike Benzema’s chances to win the Ballon d’Or, he deserves serious consideration regardless.

Will Zalatoris was a relative unknown in mainstream sports before the 2021 Masters, when he finished runner-up and one stroke short of Hideki Matsuyama.

The 25-year-old followed that up with a T-8 finish at the PGA Championship at Kiawah, eventually earning PGA Tour Rookie of the Year honors for the 2020-21 season.

Below is an excerpt from our interview with Zalatoris ahead of this week’s Masters.

In your first career Masters start, you held on to second place for the final three rounds. How did you keep your cool?

As a golfer, your life goal is to win a major. Every kid who pretends that they’re making a putt to win a tournament — it’s usually to win the Masters. I put myself in that situation last year and thought, “I did the hard part, I got here. Why shy away from it now?” I want to win a green jacket. Finishing second means as much as finishing 30th. I think that attitude is actually very freeing.

What about Augusta National plays to your strengths?

Everyone talks about how tough the greens are, but hitting them in the correct spots and giving yourself the most opportunities makes it so much easier. Learning where you can and can’t miss, depending on certain pin locations, favors good ball-strikers. So the fact that I am a very good ball-striker, I’m going to have better looks more often.

What’s it like being part of this huge wave of young talent on the Tour right now?

From the outside looking in, a lot of people are like, “Man, this is amazing. These guys are doing it this young.” You really have to blame Tiger [Woods] for that — seeing him come out and dominate at a young age, it really set the bar for us, especially when it comes to the Masters. We’ve seen Jordan [Spieth] play well there basically every year. Seeing someone that you’ve grown up with have success at the highest level only gives you confidence that you can do it, too.

Read the full interview here.

— Doug Greenberg