The Yankees And Exotic Sports Cars

Instead of building a killer starting rotation, one that this season could have included the likes of Patrick Corbin, Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, and CC Sabathia, the Yankees have instead built possibly the best bullpen the game has ever seen.

But this isn't a case where Brian Cashman chose not to build that incredible rotation and settled for this amazing group of relievers. I don't think Brian "missed out" on Corbin like some may say. No... I believe he and the other Yankees executives actively passed on Corbin.

Why would they do that, though?

Even if they'd signed Corbin Cashman still could have traded for James Paxton. Just think about it... Patrick Corbin, Luis Severino, James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka, and CC Sabathia. Assuming they wouldn't have wanted to spend as much money, you can take Britton and/or Ottavino out of the bullpen and the entire run prevention squad still looks very formidable.

However, this isn't the same free-spending organization that we saw 10+ years ago. Years before his famous quote saying "a team shouldn’t need a $200-plus-million dollar payroll to win championships", Hal Steinbrenner has wanted to get the team's payroll down. But unlike many Yankees fans, I don't think that's any sort of admission that Hal is putting profit above winning. 

No, I believe that Hal and company truly believe that the Yankees can win without spending through the roof.

Last season the Boston Red Sox had the highest Opening Day payroll at $235.7 million and went on to win the World Series. That's pretty good evidence that spending does indeed lead to winning. But the year before that the Houston Astros won the whole freakin' thing with an Opening Day payroll just south of $118 million. Go back another year to the champion Chicago Cubs and their Opening Day payroll of $116.65 million. The 2015 World Series champion Kansas City Royals had an Opening Day payroll of just $113.62 million. 

The point is Hal is right. Teams don't need to write huge checks in order to have the best chance to win. And that brings us back to the pitching squad this year.

If the Yankees had at least matched the Washington Nationals contract for Patrick Corbin this is what the starting rotation's 2019 Opening Day payroll would have looked like...

*I'm going by Luxury Tax salary, not actual salary.

Corbin - $23.3 million

Severino - $10 million

Paxton - $8.575 million

Tanaka - $22.14 million

Sabathia - $8 million

Those five salaries total $72.015 million. Assuming there won't be any more injuries, and no further acquisitions, the entire bullpen for Opening Day will cost a grand total of $50.18 million. That's a savings of almost $22 million. Not an insignificant amount, especially with how great this bullpen looks.

In case you want to see each reliever's salary for yourself, here you go...

Chapman - $17.2 million

Betances - $7.25 million

Britton - $13 million

Ottavino - $9 million

Green - $.6 million

Holder - $.6 million

Kahnle - $1.39 million

Cessa - $.58

Tarpley - $.56 million

I should note that with the signing of J.A. Happ the starting rotation's Opening Day payroll will be $65.715 million, which is not a huge difference from the rotation with Corbin. But keep in mind that Corbin signed for six years, while Happ is signed for just two (not counting the vesting option), so the total savings between those two pitchers is a little over $93 million. Now we're talking significant, especially when there are guys like Didi Gregorius, Dellin Betances, Aaron Judge, and Gary Sanchez left to be extended.

Speaking of extensions, when you look at the ones the team signed with Luis Severino and Aaron Hicks already it's very unfair to call the Yankees or Hal Steinbrenner himself "cheap". They are simply being smarter with the money they do spend, which is not a small chunk of change as evidenced by the projected 2019 payroll of over $225 million.

Face it, the game is changing. From infield shifts, to "the opener", to teams going with four outfielders when Aaron Judge is up to bat, the days of starters being leaned on to go six or more innings is fading away. Aaron Boone has already said that he's going to have a shorter leash with his starters since he can go to one of many good to great relievers to handle things from the fifth inning on if necessary. 

It's like if you were going to buy a Ferrari. You can either buy it from this dealership and pay X amount of money, or buy it from a different dealership and pay a little less. You would absolutely pay less because either way you end up driving a damn Ferrari. And that's just like the Yankees spending less on the rotation than the bullpen, and still ending up with a World Series caliber team.

In summary, just enjoy watching the Ferrari that is the 2019 New York Yankees and quit spewing crap about the team or Hal Steinbrenner being "cheap".

Do Not Be Worried About Stanton's Contract

Here we see Mr. Stanton looking up at his salary.

Professional athletes get a lot of flak over how much money they make. You've no doubt heard something along the lines of "it's ridiculous that so-and-so makes that much money". What those people fail to realize (or choose to ignore) is that professional sports rakes in billions of dollars, and that money is going to end up in somebody's pocket. Would you rather the owners take the majority of that money, while the guys people pay that money to see do all the work?

It's the exact opposite of the situation in college sports, where so many people are up in arms over the fact that while Ohio State University football is worth $1.5 billion the players see none of that. Well, you can say they get some of that through tuition and food per diems, but you get my point. Besides, I don't want to touch that subject with Daniel's finger. Heck, I'm probably going to regret bringing it up in the first place.

The point I wanted to make there is that pro athletes make the money, and people are pissed. But when college athletes don't get that money, people are still pissed. 

Talk about hypocrisy.

And that's not the only place where so many people lose perspective when it comes to the salaries of professional athletes. Back when Giancarlo Stanton signed that 13 year extension with the Marlins I heard so many people talk about the fact that Florida would be on the hook for $32 million in 2025 (assuming he didn't opt out, or... you know... get traded), when Giancarlo is 35 years old and has likely taken a step or two back.

On the surface that sounds like it could hurt. Even on a team like the Yankees, who have one of the highest payrolls in the league (I like not having to say they have the highest), you're talking about more than 15% of your team payroll for one player. But for a team like Miami, whose payroll is a little over $95 million, that player salary is crippling.

So what do the Yankees do if Stanton doesn't opt out, and they are on the hook for $96 million for his ages 35-37 seasons (he has a club option for another $25 million in 2028, with a $10 million buyout)? Well... nothing.

Am I being so nonchalant about this because it's not my money?

Well... sort of, yes. But the biggest reason I don't worry about that is because of inflation. In 2011 the highest paid player, Alex Rodriguez, made $32 million. The highest paid player this season, Clayton Kershaw, will make $35.5 million. That's an increase of about 11%.

So it's possible that the highest paid player in 2025 could be making over $39 million. That's why when people say Bryce Harper, and possibly Manny Machado, could make $40 million a year on their next contract, you shouldn't say they're out of their minds.

So going back to Stanton's $32 million, that means there's a chance he could be making 20% less than the highest paid player in 2025. To put that in perspective, Jason Heyward's salary of just under $28.2 million is about 20% less than Kershaw's. And that's for a guy that's been a below average hitter for the past two plus years. But you don't hear about how his contract is crippling the Chicago Cubs, are you?

Hell, back in February, Jon Heyman wrote that the Cubs have one of the best chances to sign Bryce Harper this offseason. There's all the proof you need that the Cubs will not be hampered by that Jason Heyward contract.

And neither will the Yankees when it comes to Giancarlo's deal.

I can't say with certainty whether or not I want Stanton to opt-out after the 2020 season. Chances are I will be hoping he does, because at that point he will be 30 years old and I can't imagine being okay with the Yankees signing a 30 year old to a seven year contract. But either way I'm not going to predict doom for the team based on what happens there. If the farm system is unable to produce like they are now, then I may be a bit worried. But I'm going to keep the faith.

Turning My Attention To The Trade Deadline

Remain calm! All is well!

It's been said that the Yankees will want to leave about $10 million available for possible mid-season acquisitions, which tells me two things...

1. The team would be willing to spend around $12 million before Opening Day.

2. They have their eyes on somebody that may cost up to $10 million if he were acquired at mid-season. Which means that, due to the fact that the acquiring team would only pay said player's pro-rated salary, the player to deal for currently makes about $20 million a season.

As for the first point... the Yankees are not going to spend on a pitcher.

Yu Darvish is not going to sign for less than $20 million, especially since I believe there are a handful of teams that are willing to go significantly higher than that (at this point I think it's the years that are holding things up, not so much the money).

As for other top of the rotation free agent starters, Jake Arrieta is unlikely to come cheap as I'm sure all the teams that don't get Darvish will offer Jake $20+ million a season to come their way. Alex Cobb would also be a nice get, but he will likely be offered a contract paying him just under $20 million a season... or just a bit too rich for the Yankees.

Furthermore, the Yankees are not going to sign a pitcher that would accept a deal worth just $12 million a season.

For proof, look at things one year ago. Back then the Miami Marlins signed Edinson Volquez to a two-year deal that paid him $11 million a season. That was after Volquez threw to a 5.37 ERA. Also, during the last offseason, the Atlanta Braves signed Bartolo Colon to a one-year deal that paid him $12.5 million, and that was after Bartolo's age 43 season. Volquez looked like someone the Marlins could count on to throw 190-200 innings (sadly, that didn't quite happen), while Colon could also throw around 190 innings with solid production (that also did not happen).

However, the Yankees already have enough starters to fill innings, so they don't have to sign an "Edinson Volquez" or "Bartolo Colon". Should anyone currently seen as a starter go down they have Luis Cessa and Domingo German that are already on the 40-man roster, or Chance Adams is ready for the call. Would you feel better about someone like Edinson Volquez starting instead of Cessa, German, or Adams?

Taking things further, I don't believe the Yankees will use that $12 million to sign someone to play third or second base, either. There's nobody out there that should get Cashman and Company excited enough to hold back Miguel Andujar or Gleyber Torres, or avoid playing the Tylers or Torreyes. I seriously think they will give Andujar the third base job on Opening Day, and fill second base with one of Tyler Wade or Ronald Torreyes until Gleyber Torres is promoted to the big leagues after a month or two in AAA.

Sure, I've talked about Todd Frazier returning to the Yankees, but I'm at a point in which I think "why?" Todd could give the team league-average production, and I see no reason why Andujar couldn't at least do the same. The key part of that being "at least". The Yankees aren't the only ones that are very high on Miguel, therefore I see no way they let an average player stop them from finding out just what Andujar can do for them.

"Thanks, bro!"

So onto the second point...

The Yankees may not spend the entire $10 million they set aside on a pitcher. Greg Bird could get hurt... again, making them want a first baseman. Gleyber Torres may aggravate his elbow and not be there to help the team out this season, making them want a second baseman. I could go on and on with possible position player needs. The point is that the team may want to make more than one move at mid-season, which makes holding onto that other $12 million a smart move.

With that said I will talk about infield targets later should the need arise, but since the Yankees seem keen on a starter at some point, how about we look at possible mid-season targets?

EDIT: I don't mean to step on Daniel's toes, who has brought up Trade Deadline targets. I just wanted to add a few ideas is all.

Jeff Samardzija
The Yankees have been connected to Samardzija many times over the years, so it's not "out there" to guess he would be on their radar yet again. Jeff signed a contract with the San Francisco Giants for five years at $90 million, making his pro-rated salary at the mid-point of the season a shade under $10 million. Personally, I'm not a big fan of Samardzija. I mean, he's not a bad pitcher, but if the Yankees have to depend on him to start a game in a postseason series, we're in a tough spot.

Scott Kazmir
Kazmir missed all of 2017 due to injury, but he's in the last season of a three-year deal that pays him $16 million a season, and I'm sure the Braves will look to get something for him before he becomes a free agent. He was a good to very good starter for the Oakland A's in 2014 and 2015, and before he was dealt to the Braves he was okay for the Dodgers last season. If he has a good first half of 2018 then we're likely to hear his name quite a bit in trade rumors.

Danny Duffy
I talked about Duffy earlier this offseason as somebody the Yankees could acquire now. Danny just signed a five year contract worth $65 million, which is a bargain for somebody as good as Duffy is. There should be no question about Duffy's effectiveness, as can be seen by his career ERA of 3.73. The question here is in regards to his durability. 2017 was his first season as a starter only, having been a starter and reliever the previous three years, but he did go on the disabled list twice for an oblique strain and elbow impingement in his pitching elbow. I don't anticipate the Royals selling somebody under control for three more years at below-market money, but if they will listen Brian Cashman should be calling.

Wei-Yin Chen
Let's get this out of the way... Chen was diagnosed with a partial UCL tear last year, which in many cases leads to Tommy John surgery. However, his doctor said he'd only need a PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) injection, and would be ready by Spring Training. If he is healthy by mid-season there's no doubt he will be talked about in trade rumors as he currently plays for the Miami Marlins, who seem to be shedding payroll as much as possible, and would certainly want to avoid Chen picking up his player options for $42 million over the 2019 and 2020 seasons. By the way, when he's healthy, Chen can be a good to very good pitcher, as seen by his career ERA of 3.90. And while those last couple of years would be a little expensive (there is a vesting option for 2021 based on health, too), his deal being worth $16 million a season puts him under that $10 million mark at mid-season.

In order to trade for a top starter mid-season it's not going to be cheap, especially since the Yankees are probably not going to be the only team looking. Which is why I think Cashman decided weeks ago to keep trade bullets like Clint Frazier. I've said it dozens of times before, and I'll say it again... prospects like Frazier are to be dealt for a team's need, not a team's want. And the fact is the Yankees don't need a starter right now. But since that may change by mid-season, it's imperative to hold onto as many trade bullets as Cashman can.

We have to get it out of our heads that a lack of news is a bad thing. I see so many fans clamoring for a trade, or to sign Darvish, and it's not necessary. If we acquired Giancarlo Stanton last month I'm sure nobody would mind going into Opening Day as is. But the lack of moves/news has people going insane. And the last thing the Yankees, who are World Series contenders, need to do is something insane.

Would Brian Cashman Really Head to Miami in 2018?

Here we stand on August 31^st with the trade deadline now past and the rumor mill has already begun for the 2018 offseason. That’s typical in baseball but this story kind of hits close to home as some publications are already speculating that the Yankees GM Brian Cashman may be done in pinstripes after the season. Cashman, who is set to be a free agent at the end of the year, is speculated to be joining the Miami Marlins who were recently bought by a group headed by former Yankees legend Derek Jeter in case you’ve been living under a rock for the past six months or so but this begs the question, Cashman wouldn’t really leave New York for Miami…. Would he?

Honestly I can’t see Cashman bolting from the Yankees to go anywhere, let alone the Miami Marlins. Why? Giancarlo Stanton. That contract is moveable, sure, but that contract is going to hinder the Marlins ability to spend for a long, long time. Cashman, in his own defense, has been great lately with his handling of prospects and in trading for young, cheap and controllable players but at the end of the day Cashman has always and will always look to bail himself out with the big money grab of a veteran player or a key piece. That just simply, and I am obviously speculating here, won’t be the case down in Miami. The Miami Marlins will never have the payroll that the Los Angeles Dodgers or the New York Yankees have. The market would never support it, the attendance would never support it and I doubt the group headed by Jeter could support it.

Cashman finally has the power and the ability to basically make trades at will here in the Bronx. Sure, he has a spending limit but his spending limit here is much higher than it would be anywhere else in the league with the obvious exception of the Los Angeles Dodgers so why would he want to go anywhere else? Cashman has a young team brewing here with plenty of star power and has a Top 5 – Top 10 farm system to boot because of recent developmental changes and philosophies in the system which begin and end with the man handing out the checks and trading, or in this case not trading, the Yankees prospects. Cashman has fought for a long time for this kind of team, this kind of farm system and this kind of control over it and I simply can’t see Cashman moving on from it now.

The only way I can see Cashman leaving is if he gets a huge pay raise and promotion much like the Tampa Bay Rays executive Andrew Friedman a few years back. If Jeter were to offer President of Baseball Operations to Cashman and full control over the team… then maybe… but if it were just to be a GM I think Cashman will be back in the Bronx for the 2018 season, and I’m okay with that. 

Pitching Wise, Are the Yankees Worth it?

Hey guys and girls, it’s me again back with the same question. Are the Yankees worth it here in 2017? Earlier in the day we took a look at the offensive players and now we will look at the pitching. The Yankees had a ton of money sitting on the disabled list this week in Masahiro Tanaka and CC Sabathia so now seems like as good of a time as any to see if those two and their fellow brothers in arms have been worth it here in 2017. Again I will be referencing Fangraphs “value” and WAR stats and comparing them with the players actually salary from 2017, not their AAV.

Remember that these stats being used are cumulative so the fact that David Robertson has not exceeded his base salary with his Fangraphs “value” doesn’t mean that he won’t. Also I went ahead and included Jaime Garcia’s three teams and both the teams’ stats for Sonny Gray, Tommy Kahnle and David Robertson since including just the Yankees statistics would be too little of a sample size to look at in my opinion. Take them for what you will with that in mind. 

Offensively, Are the Yankees Worth it?

Are the Yankees worth it? In years past that may have been a hard question to answer but in the era of Moneyball and sabermetrics that answer is simply just a click away. Using Fangraphs WAR and “Value” stats I wanted to take a look at the Yankees offensive players salaries, WAR’s and what their values are to get a comparison. Are the Yankees getting the most bang for their buck? See below.

I went ahead and used Todd Frazier’s stats with both the Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees since I deemed the sample size of just his Bronx tenure too small to judge. Keep that in mind when looking over the chart above. 

So it Seems… I’m Home

Honey, I’m home! No really, I am home. Finally. It took forever, or what felt like forever, but everything is all about to be worth it. All the missing you. All the lonely nights. All the frustrations. All the insecurities. Everything. It’s here!!

To everyone else, thank you. Thank you for being patient with me and the blog and thank you for your understand when there couldn’t always be content put up. Thank you for reading my sappy crap every single morning and thank you for just being you. You guys and girls make it all worth it.

Good morning, Happy Saturday and enjoy the weekend!!!

So it Seems We Have a New Look

My apologies as this was long overdue but the website took a turn in a different direction as far as the looks of it goes. I have finally, and again I apologize, taken the time to update the site’s pictures on the side bars. Gone are the players that have walked via free agency, retired or been traded away and in are some of the new players and prospects that should be around for a long, long time.

The schedule for the 2017 season is updated as is the payroll and roster pages (thanks Bryan!). The Wives and Girlfriends section still needs to be updated while the TGP T-Shirts and Yankees Tickets links are still up and running properly. Also we are preparing for our 9^th season (wow… nine seasons of this) of the Mega Prediction Game which has also been updated on the site.

So check out the new additions, and some of the old functions that have been updated and at least consider joining us on the Mega Prediction Game. It’s fun, although it’s a season-long commitment, and we seems to have a lot of fun with it. I know that I do anyway. I’m a three time champion, Bryan Knepper is a three-time champion and Ken Reed is a two-time champion. Who wins season nine? Stay tuned.

Oh, because Kode, you are still my favorite thing. 

Today The Greedy Pinstripes Goes to School

We are about 12 hours away technically but it was on this day five long years ago that two friends of mine, Bryan Van Dusen and Jorge Maestre, approached me about starting our own shop. For years we had jumped around various sports forums and such, and I even tried to open my own sports forum with little luck, but one thing was for certain in all of us. We wanted our own shop and we wanted to do things our own way, different. For days we threw around ideas such as the Wives & Girlfriends section, the up-to-the-minute payroll and roster pages, the Mega Prediction Game and most importantly the name of the blog.

When we were deciding what to name the blog we had this thought process; If there was a list of 100 Yankees-related blogs, which could be easily done with all the competition around at the time, what name would allow us to stand out? We didn't want another generic Yankees blog and then we remembered my "Get Greedy" campaign from 2008. The Greedy Pinstripes were born and we bought the domain that night. Tonight, just five years ago.

Jorge has since gone his separate way and I personally miss him. I've reached out a few times, sent invites to be a part of the blog etc. and got little to no response. If you're reading this, once again Jorge, the olive branch is there... grab it. And to Bryan, thank you for pushing me to do this. You were right and I was wrong and there is a first time for everything.

To the fans, readers and followers thank you as well. This is a hobby, no one gets paid for this. Not even me. It's not worth it without your comments, your clicks and your tweets and such. Without your support, and I can only speak for myself here, this isn't worth it. The same goes to the writers here from past to present, you're awesome. You donate your time and efforts here for us and we appreciate you. I can't do it all alone and you guys make sure that I don't have to.

Thank you to everyone. The core group of people in the comments section, the people who support the Mega Prediction Game, the people who bookmark us and email us everyday, our Twitter followers, etc. This birthday is just as much for you as it is for us. I can go on all day so I'm just going to end it here before I do, thank you!

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!

Do You Realize?

In my continuing attempt to forget about how bad the New York Yankees are doing this season, I took a look at the team's payroll for next season. And one interesting thing led to another. But let's start with a few facts...

1. 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. 
2. 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.
3. 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.

Yankees Payroll: A Little Perspective

A lot of Yankees fans complain that the team doesn't spend money anymore, which is something that dumbfounds me.

Not long ago Yankees-haters would say things like "the Yankees buy championships", which is stupid enough if it wasn't for the fact that perhaps the best baseball team of all time... the 1998 New York Yankees... did not have the highest payroll in Major League Baseball (that honor went to the Baltimore Orioles, who finished in 4th place in the American League East). The team with the highest payroll in MLB in 2014, the Los Angeles Dodgers, lost in the National League Divisional Series. The Dodgers had the highest payroll in the league last season too, and it got them another loss in the NL Divisional Series.

But besides the fact that the idea of "buying championships" is as stupid as it gets, this idea that the Yankees don't spend money anymore is almost just as silly.

So the Yankees passed on David Price, Jason Heyward, Zack Greinke, Justin Upton, and every other player that signed a Major League contract this season. That doesn't change the fact that the team will still spend nearly $230 million on payroll, second only to the Dodgers (~$250 million), and well ahead of the 3rd place Detroit Tigers (~$200 million).

A number of people believe the Yankees will go hard after Bryce Harper when he's a free agent in a couple of years, and he will likely receive the largest contract in the history of sports.

Look... the Yankees spend plenty of money on their players, and will likely do so until the end of time. And I think I came up with a way to help some people understand just how much money we're talking about.

The following is a list of things that could be bought with the amount of money the Yankees spend on player payroll.

This is Lionel Richie's house. Pretty nice, huh? Well what if I told you that instead of spending all that money on payroll, you could buy this house for each player on the 40-man roster, and have enough leftover to get a house like this for Brian Cashman, Joe Girardi, Hal Steinbrenner, Hank Steinbrenner, Randy Levine and of course one for me.

You could buy the Hennessey Venom GT, the fastest car in the World, for every citizen of Herrings, NY... a village located about an hour and a half north of Syracuse.

Yankee Stadium isn't known for its cheap concession stand prices, Well, did you know that you could buy a steak sandwich, pretzel, and a Miller Lite (in a souvenir cup) for every person that went to a game at Yankee Stadium last year... TWICE!

How about instead of paying the Yankees team payroll, you instead got season tickets in the Field MVP level for you and 14,000 of your closest friends?

NOTE: There may not be enough Field MVP level seats in Yankee Stadium, so some of your friends may have to settle for Field Level tickets. Sorry.

The Diamond Vision screen at Yankee Stadium measures 103 feet wide by 58 feet tall, and has the capability of showing up to four different images at once... all in high definition thanks to over 8 million embedded LED lights. Suffice to say, it's a little bigger than the television you watch Yankee games on every season. But what if I told you that, for the price of the team's payroll, you can have one of these bad boys in every room in your house. Assuming you're house has 33 rooms.

Okay, look... I understand Yankees fans being upset that the team didn't spend more this winter to get better. I also understand the incredible amount of savings the team could receive if they were to get under the Luxury Tax threshold for just one season (that number is not just a few million, but nearly $50 million).

But you absolutely, positively, can not tell me that the Yankees are cheap. If you insist on saying it anyway, then why don't you say it to these guys...?

The Milwaukee Brewers currently have the lowest payroll in Major League Baseball,

Today The Greedy Pinstripes Turns 4 Years Old!

We are about 12 hours away technically but it was on this day four long years ago that two friends of mine, Bryan Van Dusen and Jorge Maestre, approached me about starting our own shop. For years we had jumped around various sports forums and such, and I even tried to open my own sports forum with little luck, but one thing was for certain in all of us. We wanted our own shop and we wanted to do things our own way, different. For days we threw around ideas such as the Wives & Girlfriends section, the up-to-the-minute payroll and roster pages, the Mega Prediction Game and most importantly the name of the blog.

When we were deciding what to name the blog we had this thought process; If there was a list of 100 Yankees-related blogs, which could be easily done with all the competition around at the time, what name would allow us to stand out? We didn't want another generic Yankees blog and then we remembered my "Get Greedy" campaign from 2008. The Greedy Pinstripes were born and we bought the domain that night. Tonight, just four years ago.

Jorge has since gone his separate way and I personally miss him. I've reached out a few times, sent invites to be a part of the blog etc. and got little to no response. If you're reading this, once again Jorge, the olive branch is there... grab it. And to Bryan, thank you for pushing me to do this. You were right and I was wrong and there is a first time for everything.

To the fans, readers and followers thank you as well. This is a hobby, no one gets paid for this. Not even me. It's not worth it without your comments, your clicks and your tweets and such. Without your support, and I can only speak for myself here, this isn't worth it. The same goes to the writers here from past to present, you're awesome. You donate your time and efforts here for us and we appreciate you. I can't do it all alone and you guys make sure that I don't have to.

Thank you to everyone. The core group of people in the comments section, the people who support the Mega Prediction Game, the people who bookmark us and email us everyday, our Twitter followers, etc. This birthday is just as much for you as it is for us. I can go on all day so I'm just going to end it here before I do, thank you!