Thursday, June 25, 2015

The Cole Hamels Deal That Makes Sense for New York


For much of the 2015 season I have been on the fence whether I thought the team should trade for a big name, and expensive, starting pitcher like Johnny Cueto or Cole Hamels. I have been especially adamant against Cueto simply because he is a two month rental but I have been overall indecisive about the potential acquisition of Hamels. Hamels would not come cheap and dealing with Ruben Amaro Jr. you know the Phillies would ask for Luis Severino and Aaron Judge, something I would not be willing to do, but I have also been very vocal that this is the window for New York, 2015. The team will remain pretty much the same in 2016 although key players will be a year older and a year less effective meaning that if the team is going to win before the bad contracts start coming off the books after 2016 and 2017 that this would be the year. Hamels would be expensive and wouldn’t necessarily fit in with those 2017 and 2018 but I may have found the perfect storm that brings Hamels to the Bronx and keeps the team’s top prospects.

Many teams won’t take on salary or don’t have the capabilities the take on hefty salaries but one team that does is the Yankees. Two contracts the Phillies are wanting out of are the contracts of second baseman Chase Utley and first baseman Ryan Howard and both come attached with AAV’s in excess of $25 million per season. While snooping around on Baseball Reference I noticed that Utley is potentially a free agent after this season although he has three season’s worth of vesting options for the 2016-2018 seasons. If Utley reaches 500 at bats this season his contract triggers for next season and so on for the next three seasons but it does not look likely that Utley reaches that plateau. We sit here about halfway through the season and Utley is a shade over 200 at bats which means he has an outside shot of reaching the plateau if he remains healthy… and then I read that he was placed on the 15 day DL with an ankle injury.

The ankle injury will presumably keep Utley out anywhere from two weeks to a month if all goes well which will really make reaching 500 at bats difficult this season. If the Yankees were to add on Utley and his contract to the Hamels contract the team could presumably pay lesser in terms of prospects and more in terms of dollars. Between the injuries and the Yankees ability to sit Utley multiple times a week they can find a way to keep him from reaching 500 at bats thus making him a free agent at the end of the season. This way the Yankees keep Severino and Judge, add Hamels to the rotation that already has Michael Pineda and Masahiro Tanaka, and the team can still plug in Robert Refsnyder at second base on Opening Day 2016.


This my friends is not only called getting creative, it’s called getting greedy. 

10 comments:

  1. This deal has no shot of happening and the main reason is the Penny Pincher at the top of the heap. Hal the Coupon Clipper. This is a pipe dream, but a good article to read.

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    1. It's the only move that saves Cashman's job. It may not happen ultimately but he is going to push for it as much as he can. Girardi too.

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    2. Believe me as much as I want the Elf to go and would pack his bags and drive him to the airport Hal is a gutless owner that won't make that move. I'm afraid to say that Cashman will be here until he wants to exit the building

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    3. Cashman, maybe, but I am wondering what has been said internally regarding Joe Girardi. He sure is managing like this team and any potential playoff run will decide whether he returns in 2016.

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    4. I hear you Burch but lets look at this in present day Yankee finances. Hal won't can Girardi after this year as he still has money left on his contract and Hal won't pay two managers let alone take on salary unless its a deal that expires after the season. This isn't the 3 Billion dollar machine that George ran. This is the happy meal Yankees that Hal runs

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    5. Yes and no. The Yankees tried to pinch pennies and attendance and the YES Network were down. The Yankees spent big on Tanaka, McCannm Ellsbury, etc. and ratings were still down. Yankees missed playoffs two years in a row and attendance is way down even when the team was in first place.

      I don't even think Hal, who care about nothing but the bottom line, can sit on his hands for three straight seasons without a playoff run.

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    6. To me this all stems from Cashman and his crew drafting poorly all these years. The Yankees always overvalue their players and I believe there are more overvalued payers in our farm system. I always thought Cashman got away with murder not literal and I don't want to hear about Newman and Oppenheimer as Cashman is in charge of Baseball operations and the buck stops with him. He knows every player that is being drafted and I am sure he can overrule any pick he wants to.

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    7. Do you think, and I'm really asking, that maybe he wants to be the lenient guy and not the tyrant that overrules people and tells them how to do his job? Maybe that's where he screwed up?

      He picked those people to be in those situations and they were obviously not cut out for the jobs, that much is obvious, but after being under the thumb and the rule of George Steinbrenner maybe Cashman wanted to be the new guy that gave everyone their freedom and trusted them do their job without being "that guy."

      Just a thought, could be totally off base. He's still in the wrong either way because he played the nice guy for too long but it's not as scrutinized when you're winning.

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  2. I WAS WITH YOU...until you brought in Utley.
    This can't happen. Because :
    Drew makes 5 million. Utley makes 15 million.
    Drew can field better. Utley is hurt.
    Drew....190 / 11 HR / 24 RBI.......Utley....179 / 4 HR / 25 RBI.
    By adding a useless Utley, you are adding an additional 10 million on to Hamels salary.

    And, the thought of that over paid strike out machine, Howard, is frightening.

    Offer to take on most of Hamels salary. Offer a couple of middle of the roaders. And,
    if the Phillies balk....screw 'em, and walk away.

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    1. I also did mention not playing Utley much to ensure he doesn't reach 500 plate appearances... so the strike outs and inability to hit should be a moot point. Utley would essentially replace Jose Pirela, Gregorio Petit etc. on the roster. Plus I don't necessarily want Howard or Utley, but I want Hamels. I don't want Hamels at the expense of Luis Severino or Aaron Judge though and this makes that possible.

      Any team would be willing to bring on Hamels and his entire salary in my opinion. He isn't regressing (much) yet, he isn't signed for like six more years like a Troy Tulowitzki and he isn't exactly injury prone either.

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)