Tuesday, November 22, 2016

I Want To See Your Sources Jim Bowden

The Yankees didn't sign a free agent to a Major League contract last offseason, they have cut bait with overpriced veterans and are giving promising rookies a chance to play. They have a bevy of tantalizing prospects knocking on the door and are focusing on getting below the luxury tax (likely for the star-studded 2018 class.)

All this information seems lost on Jim Bowden who recently stated he expects the Yankees to land at least one of Edwin Encarnacion and Yoenis Cespedes if not both. You can check out the exact quote here. The Yankees have supposedly checked in on each of those players, as they should have. The Yankees have money and as long as they do they should check in on top free agents. Checking in on a player does not equate legitimate interest, however. In 2011 when Carl Crawford was a free agent the Yankees had not intentions of signing him but met to psyche Boston into increasing their bid.

The Yankees and Encarnacion connection seems at least somewhat plausible, they have a hole at DH and could use a complement to Greg Bird and Tyler Austin at first base. With Encarnacion being 33 he'd also be looking for a shorter contract than Cespedes so he wouldn't necessarily block younger players. Cespedes, on the other hand, seems like an odd fit. The Yankees have no hole in the outfield at the moment. They are rumored to be interested in dealing Brett Gardner possibly for starting pitching, but the Yankees would be swapping Gardner's two years left on his deal with Cespedes having 5+ years on his new deal. That would be an odd fit considering Ellsbury is going to have to move to left field to make way for Clint Fraizer as soon as the 2017 season. The Yankees could also look to make a bad contract swap and move Ellsbury, but that is a lot of moving pieces.

The free-spending days of the Yankees are in the past and despite what analysts think. I think a reunion with Aroldis Chapman is likely but I don't envision the Yankees investing a large amount of money and years into a hitter. The Yankees prospects are too close and the 2018-2019 free agent class is too tantalizing to throw that away.

1 comment:

  1. There is a better change of Reed and myself agreeing then Hal spending that kind of money needed to sign one let alone both

    ReplyDelete

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