$189 Million In 2014 Plan

The $189 million dollar luxury tax threshold CAN  be done. Sure it will take some manipulating and sure it will take some creativity, all while finding every loop hole available in the new CBA, but I really truly think it can be done. The Yankees, as of July 2012, have a payroll of $209,792,900. The Yankees would need to cut and trim over $30 million to stay under the tax threshold while still keeping guys like Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson and keeping all their young guys that are arbitration eligible. 

Likely To Happen


AJ Burnett's $16.5 million contract ends at the end of the 2013 season which means we are off the hook for the money that we are paying Pittsburgh for him to dominate the NL Central. The Yankees are paying $9.5 million and $8 million next season. I think in this case the AAV would be $8.75 million but I am not entirely sure how that works with paying other teams players salaries.

Hiroki Kuroda may not be with the Yankees at the beginning of the 2013 season, let alone the 2014 season, so there is AT LEAST $10 million AAV off the books.

We already touched on extending Cano and Granderson before their current deals expire and saving around $15 million in AAV combined.

Rafael Soriano and his $11 million AAV will be gone, whether he opts out or not, by the 2014 season. Joe Girardi may need his binder for everything else but he does not need a binder to build a great bullpen on the fly so this does not worry me whatsoever.

Pedro Feliciano's $4 million AAV will be gone after the 2012 season. Thanks for nothing.

Somewhat Likely To Happen


Mariano Rivera is making an AAV of $15 million through the 2012 season. It is somewhat likely that Mo will still be around in 2014 if you listen to the way he talks. Surely he will not sign for higher then $15 million either. I think the smartest thing to do is to sign Mo to a modest contract, if possible, for the 2013 season with a option (club or player) for the 2014 season to keep the AAV down.

Ivan Nova fools the world and convinces that double digit wins in his first two seasons in the Bronx and long win streaks makes him a Super 2... which only hurts our chances.

Not Likely To Happen

Somehow convince Derek Jeter to decline his $8 million option after the 2013 season and sign a new contract with the Yankees for significantly less then the current AAV of $14 million , but more then the $8 million dollar option that he will command. Then again, with performance bonuses, the contract could go as high as $17 million so this all be a BIT premature. Then again I dont see him winning an MVP ($4 million), coming in 2nd - 6th place in MVP ($2 million), or winning a silver slugger ($1.5 million). Then again the gold glove($0.5 million), the ALCS MVP ($0.5 million) , and World Series MVP's ($0.5 million) are not exactly out of the question.

The Yankees offer Alex Rodriguez a 1 year extension worth $18 million. The $18 million eliminates three of the milestone kickers that he would get for passing Willie Mays, Hank Aaron,  Babe Ruth, and for tying and passing Barry Bonds on the home run list. That would make the $18 million guaranteed, rather then performance based, and would lower Alex's AAV from $27.5 million to $26.6 million. Is it worth 1 more year of ARod for 900K savings though?

Not Going To Happen


CC Sabathia's AAV is $23.875 million.

Mark Teixeira's AAV is $22.5 million

Guys like David Aardsma (believe it or not he has less then 6 years service time), Ramiro Pena, Darnell McDonald, Cory Wade, Francisco Cervelli, Clay Rapada (MAYBE), Ivan Nova, Michael Pineda, Jayson Nix, David Robertson, Joba Chamberlain, Boone Logan, Brett Gardner, Phil Hughes, Hiroki Kuroda, and Russell Martin are going to be arbitration eligible and more then likely command raises. Obviously this is GUARANTEED to be constantly changed but still.