- Between Mark Teixeira, Carlos Beltran, Aroldis Chapman, Ivan Nova, and the money the team was paying towards Martin Prado's contract, the Yankees will free up $56.55 million.
- If you take the $150.5 million the team will pay towards player contracts next season (that number includes Sabathia's vesting option), and add around $35 million in arbitration and pre-arbitration salaries, the Yankees will have a payroll of around $185.5 million for 2017.
- The current MLB salary cap, or the amount a team can spend towards payroll before having to pay the luxury tax, is $189 million. Even if the luxury tax remains in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, chances are that cap will rise, and I can easily see it reaching $200 million. That would mean the Yankees have about $14 million to spend next year, assuming they'll try to get under the tax threshold.
So where would that leave the Yankees for 2017?
"It doesn't look good down there."
With Teixeira out at first, the Yankees have a number of options... Greg Bird, Rob Refsnyder, Chris Parmelee, Austin Romine, and Brian McCann.
With Beltran out of right field, the Yankees have just as many options... Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Rob Refsnyder, Jake Cave, and Ben Gamel.
Every other position on the diamond, including the starting rotation and bullpen, are filled. Yeah, it may not seem right, seeing as how the team is losing two of it's regular batters, but it's true. Take a look for yourself...
Catcher: Brian McCann
First Base: Greg Bird/Rob Refsnyder/Chris Parmelee/Austin Romine
Second Base: Starlin Castro
Shortstop: Didi Gregorius
Third Base: Chase Headley
Left Field: Brett Gardner
Center Field: Jacoby Ellsbury
Right Field: Aaron Judge/Aaron Hicks/Rob Refsnyder/Jack Cave/Ben Gamel
Designated Hitter: Alex Rodriguez
Starters: Masahiro Tanaka, Nathan Eovaldi, CC Sabathia, Michael Pineda, Luis Severino, Chad Green, James Kaprielian
Bullpen: Andrew Miller, Dellin Betances, Bryan Mitchell, etc. (they can easily fill the four other spots with players within the organization)
Some people may be concerned about that list of starting pitchers, but let's be honest...
Masahiro Tanaka is a strong starter at the top of the rotation, I still believe Eovaldi can be a solid middle of the rotation option, CC Sabathia has finally learned how to pitch without the velocity he had earlier in his career, Luis Severino is doing quite well in AAA, Chad Green has been killing it in Scranton, and despite his injury James Kaprielian could still be a nice contributor at the big league level next year.
Now for the even crazier part...
Okay, it's not "Gary Busey" crazy.
That all means the Yankees could actually re-sign Aroldis Chapman, keep the three-headed bullpen monster together for at least two more years, and still get under the luxury tax threshold. Assuming, of course, Chapman would sign for somewhere around his current salary of $11.325 million a year.
Or how about trading Andrew Miller, who would fetch quite a bit in a trade (either before the deadline or during the offseason) thanks to his below-market salary and being under contract for two more years? Then the Yankees could re-sign Chapman. That would leave three very capable bullpen arms in Chapman, Betances, and Mitchell. Not to mention the team would be under the cap by around $7 million going into the 2017 season.
If you want to see the finished product that I'm speaking of, here you go...
Catcher: Brian McCann
First Base: Greg Bird/Rob Refsnyder/Chris Parmelee/Austin Romine
Second Base: Starlin Castro
Shortstop: Didi Gregorius
Third Base: Chase Headley
Left Field: Brett Gardner
Center Field: Jacoby Ellsbury
Right Field: Aaron Judge/Aaron Hicks/Rob Refsnyder/Jack Cave/Ben Gamel
Starters: Masahiro Tanaka, Nathan Eovaldi, CC Sabathia, Michael Pineda, Luis Severino, Chad Green, James Kaprielian
Bullpen: Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances, Bryan Mitchell, etc. (they can easily fill the four other spots with players within the organization)
The best part... that does not include the player or players the team gets by dealing away Andrew Miller.
