The Luxury Tax Is Not The Only Tax The Yankees Pay

The New York Yankees have announced that they plan to spend big time money on the 2014-2015 International free agent market. The Yankees have thrown out a big number, $12-$15 million, which would result in $10-$12 million in penalties.

The figures have not been set for international spending for teams starting this June but the Yankees are presumed to be in the $2-$2.5 million range. The Yankees would have to pay a 100% tax on any spending higher than 10% of their cap and would lose the ability to sign any amateur free agents in 2015-2016 or 2016-2017 over $300K if they exceed 15% this coming season. Also it is worth noting that the Yankees risk losing top picks in the International Draft if MLB ever decided to go that route. Ouch!

Is it worth the Yankees dominating the international market for one season and spending somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 million, all told, to feel the restraints for the next two seasons? The Chicago Cubs did it this season by signing the two top IFA's on the market by signing Eloy Jimenez and Gleybar Torres and two others in the Top 30 by signing Erling Moreno and Jen-Ho Tseng and still only spent $7.895 million. That remains to be seen as this years pool may look stronger than ever, or this may be the Yankees plan to rejuvenate the farm system, either way looks like we are in all spend mode no matter what so stay tuned.