No Way, Jo-ey (Votto)

The New York Yankees are one of the hotter teams in Major League Baseball right now, but as I have said in the past here on the blog, the team has the potential to be even better. The team is getting healthier by the day as we await the returns of Brandon Drury, Clint Frazier and others and the offense and pitching are finally starting to click. The team is not perfect by any means and they will likely need reinforcements at the July 31^st trade deadline in some capacity, but the Yankees have to be smart about who they add to this team nucleus. I have heard “rumors” and opinions of who the Yankees should trade and who the Yankees should try to acquire but I think the biggest head scratcher of them all was the rumor that had the Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto coming to the Bronx. No way, Jo-ey Votto, and no thank you. 

This one was an easy one, although it is apparently not as blatantly obvious to some as it is to others why the New York Yankees should not acquire Votto. First and foremost, the team spent all winter not only trying to improve but trying to improve while still getting under the luxury tax threshold. The team is well under the threshold and will have some money to spend here in July at the deadline, but the team doesn’t have Joey Votto money. Votto signed a deal with the Cincinnati Reds back in 2012 for 12-years and a whopping $251.5 million, equating to an Average Annual Value (AAV) of roughly $21 million per season. Votto has six seasons of that deal left including the team option for the 2024 season and a total of $145 million remaining (AAV of $24 million). If the Yankees paid the exuberant price in terms of prospects for Votto and acquired him the team would be well over the luxury tax threshold and would continue to not only pay .50 cents on the dollar for every free agent dollar they spent next offseason, but the team would also potentially run the risk of being affected in the MLB First Year Player Draft and the international signing period. Not worth it. 

It is especially not worth it when the team already has a viable, albeit injury prone, first baseman of the future in Greg Bird. Believe in him, don’t believe in him, call him the next Carl Pavano (minus about $40 million which is what made the Pavano signing hurt, not the injuries, but I digress), do whatever you want to do but the one thing you cannot do is give up on a first baseman with that much potential that is in his Age 25 season. And no, before anyone chimes in, you cannot trade Bird right now either. I mean, you could, but the same reasons anyone would want to trade him would be the same reasons other teams either wouldn’t want him or would low ball the Yankees for his services. I’m not willing to block him, nor am I willing to just give him away. Again, he is just 25-years old.  

Speaking of age, Votto is 34-years old and will be 35-years old by seasons end. Sure, Votto is great and that bat inside Yankee Stadium would be something that legends and movies are made of… for now. Maybe for a few seasons, but Votto is potentially signed through his age 40 season and into his age 41 season. Remember Alex Rodriguez? No thanks.

I Love Manny Machado As Much As The Next Guy But…

He just punched his ticket to a team not named the New York Yankees for the 2019 season, at least as it stands here today on this beautiful Saturday morning here on the East coast. What do I mean? Well if you jumped straight into the article and didn’t really give the title of the post much thought you missed a whole lot. To reiterate, I love Manny Machado and the thought of him being in pinstripes for the 2019 season as much as the next person, but I truly think, as it stands today anyway, that he just ended any chance of him coming to the Bronx as anything more than a visiting player with his comments this week about his free agency plans after the season.

Machado dodged many questions about his impending free agency and the possibility of coming to the New York Yankees in 2019 before the Orioles first game in the Bronx on Thursday, but he did touch on one subject in particular that I found to be pretty interesting. I guess Robert Casey, my good friend and owner of Bleeding Yankee Blue, would call this a “nugget.” Machado did not back down about his intentions for the 2019 season and where he intends to play when asked stating that he would be a starting shortstop when the 2019 campaign begins next spring. Unless you have never heard of a Sir named Didi that officially counts the New York Yankees out of the running if you ask me, but that’s only if you ask me.

Machado’s words really puzzle me though if I am being honest. Saying you will be a starting shortstop in 2019 only limits the field of teams you can sign with, does it not? Look at the top 10-15 shortstops in the game and mark their names off the list of potential suitors for Machado’s services next winter, and that includes the New York Yankees who specifically positioned themselves under the luxury tax threshold with the sole intent of going on a spending spree next winter. Maybe I am exaggerating just a tad when I say it was the “only” reason they got under the cap, the money saved, and the penalties levied by the league for various things if you spend over the cap are great reasons to get under the cap, but still. It is widely known the Yankees are very likely to spend, and spend heavily, next winter. It just doesn’t make sense to shrink your market by running your mouth.

A lot can change between now and November or December of this year, but for now you all can start drooling over the 2019 Yankees… just without Manny Machado penciled in at third base. Stay tuned.

Examining the Yankees Payroll Situation After "Arbitration Friday"

Photo credit: Pinstripe Alley

The deadline for players and teams to swap numbers and potentially come to an agreement on a contract for the 2018 season has come and gone and the New York Yankees agreed to terms with each and every one of their arbitration eligible players. I may be only speaking for myself and Dellin Betances here but I will say this anyway, thank goodness. Earlier in the week I personally wrote an article laying out how the arbitration process could make or break the Yankees offseason and their search for austerity. Let's look at how those numbers panned out and how it will or won't affect not only the Yankees attempt to get under the $197 million luxury tax threshold but also how it could affect how the organization goes about their offseason both in the trade market and on the free agent market as well.

Here are the eight Yankees arbitration eligible players with their MLB Trade Rumors arbitration prediction numbers in parenthesis and the actual number they agreed to with the team beside it in red. Let's analyze.

Adam Warren ($3.1 million) 3.315 million - +$0.215 million 

Didi Gregorius ($9 million) $8.25 million - $0.75 million "saving"

Dellin Betances ($4.4 million) $5.1 million - +0.7 million

Sonny Gray ($6.6 million) $6.5 million - $100K "savings"

Austin Romine ($1.2 million) $1.1 million - $100K "savings"

Aaron Hicks ($2.9 million) $2.85 million - $500K "savings"

Tommy Kahnle ($1.3 million) $1.3125 million - +$0.125 million

Chasen Shreve ($900K) $0.825 million - $0.075 million "savings"

Alright, so the Yankees had five players who made less than what MLB Trade Rumors predicted and three that made more than what MLBTR predicted for a total of $29.2525 million. MLB Trade Rumors predicted the Yankees spending $29.4 million which means the Yankees beat that number by $0.1475 million, I would say that is "winning." 

The Yankees didn't go over the $30 million the team had allotted for arbitration this season and now have roughly $22 million to work with this season. Now keep in mind this includes any call ups throughout the season, any additions at the July 31st trade deadline, and potentially up to $2 million in incentives for left-hander CC Sabathia leaving the Yankees very little wiggle room in the grand scheme of things. Does this leave enough room for Yu Darvish? Probably not. Does it leave enough room for Mike Moustakas on a one-year pillow contract? I mean, maybe... but it isn't likely. Does this leave enough room to, barring a Jacoby Ellsbury or David Robertson type trade to clear space, add a veteran at third base like Eduardo Nunez and maybe another lesser starting pitcher or reliever to call it an offseason? Yes, that seems the most likely option right now. 

Damn you austerity, and damn you slow offseason. DO SOMETHING!

Matt Adams the 2018 Version of Matt Holliday?

Earlier I teased a Matt Adams to the Yankees post after the former St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves first baseman was non-tendered recently and here it is. Could Matt Adams be the Yankees version of his former teammate Matt Holliday here in 2017? What about Adams becoming the 2018 version of Chris Carter in the Bronx if the budget would allow? Would it make sense for the Yankees and would Adams likely get a better free agent offer elsewhere? Let’s take a look.

Adams played 100 games for the Braves after being acquired from the Cardinals last season hitting .271 with 19 home runs. Adams bats left-handed and throws right-handed which might make him redundant on a Yankees roster that already has an oft-injured Greg Bird so I wanted to take a look at his splits to see how Adams handled left-handed pitching to see if he could be a decent compliment to Bird on the bench. The splits were not favorable for Adams who hit .180/.206/.377/.583 with just three home runs and 12 RBI in 63 plate appearances. That, in the now immortal words of former Yankees manager Joe Girardi, is not what you want.

If you’re looking for a silver lining, and when I say “you” I mean all the people who have tweeted and emailed us about the possible addition of Adams to the Yankees this offseason which prompted this extended post, Adams is almost a .300 hitter against right-handed pitching which makes me wonder if he is worth signing for the designated hitter position. The Yankees are pretty right-handed hitting heavy with the bats of Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge in the middle of the lineup and Adams may be a decent compliment and way to break up those two along with Didi Gregorius, Bird, Brett Gardner and others.

Adams wouldn’t come with a huge price tag presumably and would likely be signed on a one-year deal which at least intrigues me as the Yankees look to fill their DH position next season. Adams won’t offer much in the way of defense, although having him as the DH would allow New York to play him at first if and when something was to happen to Bird next season, but the lefty could add some pop to the lineup that Holliday was supposed to offer in 2017. If the price tag is low and the amount of years that Adams is looking for fits in with the Yankees future plans, then I am all for signing the former Cardinal and Brave. If Adams wants two years or more or if Adams wants an astronomical amount of money, then I am leaning towards a hard pass on the first baseman. What are your thoughts? 

Shohei Otani the Two-Way Player? That Scare Anyone Else?

The New York Yankees and all of Major League Baseball are simply salivating impatiently at the possibility of adding Shohei Otani to their rosters this offseason but at what cost? Don’t get me wrong I am driving the Otani fan club tour bus and I want the Yankees to do almost anything they have to in order to sign the 23-year old “Babe Ruth of Japan” but I would be lying if I said the thought of Otani potentially being a two-player player in the states didn’t scare the absolute crap out of me.

The Nippon Ham Fighters have agreed to post Otani this winter and the right-hander has selected Nez Balelo of CAA Sports to represent him so what am I so worried about? It certainly isn’t the potential $20 million posting fee nor is it the roughly $3.25 - $3.5 million in salary for six seasons of control of Otani but it is the fact that any team that signs him will potentially have to offer him the ability to not only pitch, but to hit as well in MLB. Now unless an American League team takes a huge risk and does that, the Yankees included, Otani is all but going to a National League team you would think. Now don’t get me wrong I would let him personally, and I think the Yankees will ultimately let him DH a few games a week when he isn’t pitching, but thoughts of Chein-Ming Wang rounding the bases in Interleague play and essentially destroying his heel and his career in the process are flowing fluidly through my head when I think about the possibility.

Otani has already hinted at wanting to hit at the Major League level including a quote this week from the USA Today where Otani said “there are still so many things I’m lacking, and I want to put myself in an environment where I can improve. Hopefully I can go to a club that suits my way of thinking.” Translation, I want to hit and pitch and if that’s not okay with you then let me know and I will go elsewhere. At least 15 teams will allow him to hit in some capacity with pitchers hitting for themselves in the National League so the Yankees will have to do something to set themselves apart. With international spending restrictions and such the way they are now the team cannot simply blow everyone and anyone out of the water, the team has to make promises they may not be entirely comfortable with including the possibility of having a two-way player.

Now let’s look at things and let’s look at the worst possible scenario, Otani gets hurt. The Yankees, again, would have six years of team control so losing Otani for a season would hurt, but it would not be the end of the world for either party. If Otani were hurt more seriously then the Yankees would merely be out a $20 million posting fee, which is a wash regardless, and less than $4 million in salary. The Yankees have wasted more on less. I’m not saying don’t sign Otani and promise him the world, do it 10 times out of 10, but I can’t say it doesn’t worry me just a tad.

Listen, I’m All for Getting Greedy But We Are NOT Getting Giancarlo Stanton

How is that for a little bit of irony? The guy who owns The GREEDY Pinstripes and the guy screaming up and down to “get greedy” and to sign this guy and that guy is about to make a post about how the New York Yankees are NOT going to get probably the top player available this winter via trade. Yes, it’s true and no, hell has not frozen over. I have always been greedy but that doesn’t mean I have always been levelheaded at the same time. With that in mind I am prepared to explain to you why the New York Yankees will not acquire Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton this winter, even if it means that Stanton heads to the Boston Red Sox.  

The New York Yankees set out years ago to get under the luxury tax threshold and while losing Robinson Cano to the Seattle Mariners and the domino effect of big signings that followed including the signings of Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann and Jacoby Ellsbury put that thought process on hold the plan is back and is now in full effect. This is the year that the Yankees get under and stay under the threshold for the entire 2018 season thus resetting the penalties that the team pays for every dollar they spend over the luxury tax threshold just in time to blow by the threshold again in 2019. Remember, Bryce Harper and Manny Machado lead a very strong free agent class next season that the Yankees are positioning themselves to take advantage of next season. Stanton will not win the Yankees a World Series Championship alone in 2018 and Stanton will all but keep the Yankees “financially strapped” and away from those big time free agents.  

Now I want to say that I believe Stanton is an amazing talent, an amazing selling point and attraction to the fans and that I personally, Daniel Burch the fan, would love to see Stanton in pinstripes playing alongside Aaron Judge next season. I would, but I cannot fathom the Yankees not only giving up the major prospects that it would take to acquire Stanton but I also cannot see the team being willing to pay the richest contract in Major League Baseball again just a month or two after getting out from under the last richest contract in MLB history before Stanton’s mega deal and a few other notable deals since including the Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw deals. It’s just not going to happen. Period. 

Stanton is 28-years old and is owed $295 million over the final ten seasons of his contract. No, that is not a typo. Stanton has ten years LEFT on his contract. Stanton has a full no-trade clause, something that would limit the Yankees down the road if he were to… I don’t know… not live up to the deal a la Alex Rodriguez, and would be under contract through his age 38 season. This would be a huge undertaking for a team that can usually afford to take these chances, but the team cannot here this offseason. They just can’t. The Yankees are looking to get under the $197 million tax threshold and giving Giancarlo Stanton $25 million (his AAV is much higher) just doesn’t fit the budget and is fiscally irresponsible for the team. 

Pipe dreams are nice every once in a while, but sometimes they have to remain just that, dreams. Giancarlo Stanton will not be a New York Yankees in 2018, period. Next question. 

Want to Save Money? Extend These Players Now!

The New York Yankees have made it no secret that they wish to get under the luxury tax threshold sooner rather than later. In today’s game of inflated salaries, specialists and 40 man rosters the only way a team is going to do that is if they have young and controllable players at their disposal, something the Yankees seem to be swimming in at this point and time. If you’re unfamiliar with the way the whole arbitration process and free agency goes the team basically gets the player for their first two years of service at the league minimum before the arbitration process begins. If the team and player cannot reach an agreement on a salary for that season it goes before an arbitrator, see the Dellin Betances mess from this past offseason, and the salary is agreed upon that way. We have seen many teams skip the arbitration process entirely by extending their young players early thus buying out their arbitration years and maybe a year or two of free agency thus giving the teams some certainty going forward while the player has some guarantee and security. If the Yankees want to save money and get under the luxury tax threshold they may want to look at extending one or all of these players now before they get too expensive to.  

The players that the Yankees should look at extending are clearly obvious but I will lay them out here regardless.  Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Luis Severino and even Greg Bird despite his injury history should at least be discussed when thinking about which players to extend sooner rather than later. All of these players are either at or below one full year of MLB service time yet their WAR’s suggest that the sky is the limit for each of them.  

Why extend them now? Extending players now can save the Yankees a ton of money in the long run as contracts continue to climb in terms of value. Look at recent examples like Joey Votto, Dallas Keuchel and others for an instance of teams that waited too long to extend players. The players got all the bargaining power and all the bargaining chips and signed to either huge deals or got huge amounts of money through the arbitration process. Even Dellin Betances, although I find him to be severely underpaid personally, got a $2.5 million raise this year through arbitration when he should have, again in my opinion, been extended by now. 

Sign these players to deals worth six-or-seven years to buy out their arbitration and maybe a year-or-two of free agency and roll the dice. It may be a gamble worth taking. The Yankees don’t necessarily have to do this this year either, they could try and get under the luxury tax threshold first and then sign these players but they run the risk of these players no longer being cheap and earning huge contracts. The safe bet is to sign them now in my opinion, especially before Aaron Judge attends an All-Star Game and potentially wins a Rookie of the Year and/or MVP award in 2016. 

Also, in closing, I will say that I may have over-simplified the explanation of the arbitration process and free agency. It gets more complicated than the Readers Digest version I laid out. You have Super Two status players and you can manipulate service time by keeping players down in the Minor Leagues and all that but that was more or less not the point of the post. The point of the post was extending players now before it doesn’t make sense for the players to sign these potentially team-friendly deals. Keep that in mind before spamming me with hate emails and tweets. Thanks in advance. 

How Early is Too Early to Discuss Locking Up Greg Bird and Gary Sanchez?

You know not too long ago the New York Yankees just flat out refused to negotiate with a player that was currently under contract. That probably came back to bite them in the butt more than once because it meant there would be no extensions happening whether they were deserved or not. The team finally broke this unwritten rule with Brett Gardner a couple seasons ago which means, in theory, they will do it again for others which begs the question…. When will the New York Yankees look to extend Greg Bird and Gary Sanchez and how early is too early to even be having this discussion?

Many teams take these chances on locking up their young players early and like anything else sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. The Cleveland Indians just did it with Jose Ramirez, the St. Louis Cardinals did it with Stephen Piscotty, the Texas Rangers did it with Rougned Odor, the Pittsburgh Pirates try to do it with every player they bring up including Starlin Marte and the Tampa Bay Rays made this mainstream by doing it with young players like Evan Longoria. The Yankees have yet to really jump on that bandwagon but they have two prime candidates finally that will make the team at least consider it in Gary Sanchez and Greg Bird.

Sanchez used up his rookie season in 2016 while Bird enters his second season with the club after missing the 2016 season with a shoulder injury. Neither have really done much to warrant being locked up on a long term deal, especially for a team like the New York Yankees who have a literal ton of money coming off their books after this season. The Yankees can afford to take their time for at least the 2017 season if not the 2018 season with these two before making a decision on buying out their arbitration years and a few years of free agency if possible. Now for a player like Didi Gregorius on the other hand, a young player who is set to reach free agency after the 2019 season, has done enough for this discussion to be had within the Yankees front office.

So for now the Yankees need to wait before locking up Sanchez and Bird. If anything the team needs to keep the fact that the luxury tax is calculated by the average annual value of the contract and extending them now would be significant in terms of the team getting under that threshold or not. The argument against Didi getting extended could be made for that reason as well as the team would need to spend every day of a single season under the cap, the 2018 season seems to be the target year, to reset the tax penalties. The Yankees could always extend Didi and maybe even Sanchez and Bird during the 2019 season after they sign Manny Machado and Bryce Harper while bringing home yet another World Series Championship.

Hey, a man can dream can’t he?

Rise in Average MLB Salary Lowest Since 2004

Major League Baseball players have seen their average annual salaries go up every year basically since the 2004 season when the percent dropped 2.5 percent. Major League Baseball was in the midst of cleaning up the game then and the mega contracts were becoming scarcer but now injuries were almost to blame for another drop in salary. In 2016 the average MLB salary was $3,966,020 which was up just 0.35 percent from last season’s $3,952,252.

As a whole MLB said that salaries increased from $3.58 billion to $3.69 billion through August 31^st of last season including those players who were on the disabled lists. That salary figure included 964 players on active rosters and disabled lists which was up from 933 players on the eve before September call ups in 2015.

In 2016 there were 561 different disabled list trips which led to more than 31,500 days spent on the disabled list. Both were MLB records. This led to more young players being called up at the league minimum of $507,500 which kept the overall growth down.

I find it hard to feel sorry for the players even getting paid $507,500 a year to play baseball let alone the ones getting paid multi-millions of dollars annually. I want to add that I am not one of these “they shouldn’t be getting paid millions to play a kids game” type of people or fans, I think that is obvious by my blog name and my work on the blog over the years, but at the same time…. I’d play MLB for $20 if they’d let me. You know? Sometimes your love for the game has to take over your wants, needs and greed for the green.

Yankees One of Six Teams to Pay Luxury Tax in 2016

The New York Yankees have been hit with the luxury tax threshold for the 14^th straight season, and as an FYI the luxury tax penalties have been in existence for 14 straight years now, in 2016 along with five other teams. That’s a record for Major League Baseball.

The Los Angeles Dodgers paid $31. 8 million in luxury tax penalties while the New York Yankees paid the second highest at $27.4 million. The Boston Red Sox paid $4.5 million, the Detroit Tigers paid $4 million, the San Francisco Giants paid $3.4 million and the Chicago Cubs earned their first World Series since 1908 at the expense of $2.96 million.

The Yankees have paid a total of $325 million since the luxury tax began. 

Now the Yankees Want to Cut Payroll?

The New York Yankees are officially “tapped out” after adding both Matt Holliday and Aroldis Chapman to Major League deals this winter and now the team, and the New York Mets as well, are looking for ways to cut payroll. The Yankees payroll is already over the luxury tax threshold for the 2017 season and as the team looks to get under the $197 million cap for the 2018 season the team will look to trade away some expensive veterans before making any sort of moves.

The Detroit Tigers have discussed moving former Yankees reliever Justin Wilson in a move and New York is said to be at least somewhat interested in his services but as it stands now a team like the Houston Astros or the Chicago Cubs may move in and swoop up Wilson before the Yankees can if a trade is not made or the budget is not stretched in the Bronx.

This also does not bode well, assuming this is not just posturing on the Yankees side, for the team’s search for a starting pitcher. Last season while the team did not sign a single MLB free agent in the offseason the team did acquire young and talented players in Aroldis Chapman and Starlin Castro while taking on money in both deals, something that seems nearly impossible this season if you believe the reports.

Stay tuned but it seems like the Yankees heavy lifting is all but done and we, the fans, are in for a long, long winter ahead. Stay warm!

So What’s Changed in the New CBA?

Major League Baseball, the owners, the players and the MLB Players Association have reached a tentative five-year labor contract before the deadline on Thursday and quite a bit changed from the new collective bargaining agreement to the old. This should be expected, especially when 26 years old labor peace is on the line, but in the end the deal got done. Here is what changed in the new CBA and here are some of the changes you should expect to see in 2017 and beyond.

The All Star Game will no longer determine which league and team gets home-field advantage in the World Series after 14 seasons. Thank goodness. The team with the better regular season record will be at home for Game One and potentially Game Seven starting in the 2017 World Series.

The 15-Day DL is no more. It is now known as the 10-Day DL. Minor change but I like it, especially for a team like the Yankees who like to give their players “a day.”

The luxury tax will rise from $189 million to $195 million in 2017, $197 million in 2018, $206 million in 2019, $209 million in 2020 and $210 million in 2021. Tax penalties increase from 17.5 % to 20% for first time offenders who go over the luxury tax while second offenders continue to pay 30%. Teams like the Yankees who have gone over the luxury tax at least three consecutive years will see their penalties rise from 40% to 50%. There is also a surtax of 12% for teams who are $20 - $40 million above the threshold while teams with more than $40 million in salary over the threshold will pay 42.5%.

No longer will teams who sign qualifying offer attached players have to give up a first round draft pick or their highest pick in the draft. Under the new rules a player can only be offered a qualifying offer once in his career and the team signing the player lose their third highest pick, not their highest if they are a revenue sharing team, it’s second and fifth highest picks if the team paid luxury tax in the prior season and it’s second highest pick if it doesn’t fit any of the prior criteria. More complications but all you need to know is your first round pick is now safe.  

If the player signs a deal worth more than $50 million his old team will receive a pick at the end of the first round while the team would receive a Competitive Balance Round B pick if the contract signed is under $50 million. If that team pays luxury tax the draft pick would drop to after the fourth round regardless of the contract their previous player signed. THAT HURTS.

If you are more than $40 million over the luxury tax threshold your highest selection in the next draft immediately drops 10 places. THAT ALSO HURTS.

25 and 40 man rosters are still a thing. No 26 man rosters like previously reported. September call ups are also still a thing, and I like that.

Smokeless tobacco is now banned for all new players, or players who has less than one day of major league service. Older players are grandfathered in.

The regular season got four days longer but those are scheduled off days for teams and players.

MORE STEROID TESTING.

The Thought of Edwin Encarnacion in Pinstripes & How Toronto Closed the Door

The New York Yankees, depending on the Brian McCann situation and what happens with him this winter, may or may not have an “open” slot at the DH position in 2017 and many have already begun to speculate that the team should fill that spot with Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Edwin Encarnacion. Encarnacion does not fit in with the Yankees new youth movement nor does he fit in with the team’s austerity plans presumably but if you needed one final nail in the coffin the Toronto Blue Jays organization may have just given it to you with the news that the team plans to extend both Jose Bautista and Encarnacion qualifying offers after the World Series ends this season.

The Yankees as it stands right now have the 17^th overall draft pick in the upcoming 2017 MLB Draft so you have to judge any and all potential free agent signings by that if they have draft pick compensation attached to them. Remember, and this is probably the exception and not the rule but it still happened so stay with me, the Yankees landed a potential Top 10 or even Top 5 pick last year in Blake Rutherford due to signability concerns with the 18^th overall pick and there is no reason to think that possibility doesn’t still exist for 2017 as well. Is an aging and presumably expensive Encarnacion really worth the 17^th overall pick plus whatever contract demands that come with him?

If the Yankees planned on competing for not only a playoff spot but potentially a World Series spot in 2017 then yes, you sacrifice the draft pick for the one missing piece and hope for the best. The Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians both did it this July acquiring Yankees relievers Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman and it has seemingly worked out well for both. The Yankees, though, are not at that level yet in their rebuild. They may compete for a playoff spot in 2017 but only because of the Wild Card and 2^nd Wild Card. As it stands right now this is not a team that is going to make a serious run at a World Series in 2017 so for that reason, among others including aforementioned points about the cost of Encarnacion and the fact that he does not fit in with the new youth movement in the Bronx, I cannot see the Yankees inking a deal and bringing the slugger to the team.

So if the Yankees and their fans had plans and hopes of signing Encarnacion to fill their DH and occasional first base positions the Toronto Blue Jays may have just closed the book on the whole ordeal, and that’s not exactly a bad thing.

Expect Another Quiet Offseason for New York

Last offseason the New York Yankees did the least New York Yankees thing they could have done, they signed the same amount of Major League free agents as I’ve gotten hits in Major League Baseball. Zero. The Yankees were quiet although they did make trades for Aroldis Chapman and Starlin Castro and you know what? We, as fans, could be in for an equally as long and quiet offseason this winter as well.

The New York Yankees have plans of getting under the luxury tax threshold, and FYI it is expected to go up around or above $200 million when the new collective bargaining agreement is all said and done this winter, either this season or next leaving the possibility of signing many free agents unlikely. This is especially true when you consider that Ivan Nova, yes that Ivan Nova, may be the best starting pitcher available and is already asking for $70 million across a five-year deal.

Remember the 2013 Yankees that let like 672 home runs, exaggeration but only a slight one, go in the offseason only to replace them with Chris Stewart and Kevin Youkilis? Well we may be heading towards that route again except this time the Yankees youth will take center stage. With Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and Alex Rodriguez finally coming off the books this may be the Yankees final chance to strike and get under the cap before super free agents like Manny Machado and Bryce Harper hit the open market, presumably.

As it stands right now the Yankees only have $95 million committed to players for the 2018 season and $57 million for the 2019 season not counting arbitration eligible players so this time around the possibility of getting under the cap is a real one. It’s only a real one though if the team stays off the free agent board, and I think that they will. Unfortunately. 

Yankees Said to be Interested in Asdrubal Cabrera a Year Too Late

This would be just the kind of dumb shit move that Brian Cashman would make, wouldn’t it? Excuse my language and excuse my bluntness but this rumor has me heated. The New York Yankees are reportedly interested in shortstop/second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera. Of course the team reiterated that their budget is stretched about as thin as it’s going to get so a deal could be unlikely but the interest is there nonetheless.

So let me get this straight. You want to take an older, more expensive switch-hitting version of Robert Refsnyder and sign him to say a one or two year deal on the cheap and once again block and demoralize Refsnyder himself? And for what? Average offense, average defense and a switch hitter to balance out a lineup that will continue to either strikeout or hit a home run, nothing more.

I don’t get it. I don’t. These better be just rumors and we better not be bracing ourselves for another Stephen Drew at second base next season. I can’t even right now. I’ll flip. I’ll lose it. Cashman, don’t do it. I mean it, don’t!

Dodgers to Show Restrain This Offseason Just Like the Yankees?

The New York Yankees are turning the page, reportedly anyway, on the era of George Steinbrenner as the entire organization begins to shift in an entirely new direction. No longer are the Yankees, again reportedly, going to spend heavily on the free agent market for 30-somethings buying out the last season of their primes and a few seasons of their decline. The new plan in New York is to build the farm system, work the trade market and actually show some financial restraint. We all know the Yankees spent in excess of $500 million before the 2014 season and we all know it was management driven decisions that ultimately led to those signings. It seems like Cashman is back in control in the never-ending struggle for power and austerity is on the way once again for New York. Austerity is contagious apparently because it looks like it may be coming to a Los Angeles Dodgers run household near you this offseason.

The two richest franchises in Major League Baseball and the two biggest spenders annually are going to cut back this offseason if you believe everything you read on the internet, because it must be true. Between the two teams in 2015 a little over $500 million was spent including over $300 million by the Dodgers alone including the luxury tax, both teams may finally be seeing the error of their ways. Hal Steinbrenner has expressed a desire and willingness to get the team under the $189 million luxury tax threshold, or whatever it increases to after the 2016 collective bargaining agreement is reached, at least for one season and now the Dodgers co-owner Toddy Boehly is also expressing a desire to cut payroll, Boehly wants to cut payroll by $100 million to be exact.

This is awfully convenient timing for both clubs as this year’s free agent class marks one of the deepest classes in many, many years. The idea of winning a World Series without outspending the rest of the league combined makes sense, the Kansas City Royals won a World Series in 2015 with just $116.6 million in Opening Day payroll this season, but the most important fact that these owners leave out is the fact that it took 30 years to accomplish that. 30 years of building, tearing it down and rebuilding. 30 years of drafting high only to tank the next season and draft high again. It’s not apples to apples, it is apples to oranges.

I hate austerity but I think I dislike $200 million mediocre teams and Scott Boras a little bit more… so you convinced me. I’m a patient man, build from within.