MLB Trade Rumors has released their top 50 free agent rankings with a short prediction of which team the crew over there thinks the Top 50 players will sign with. According to MLB Trade Rumors the Yankees are signing three free agents this offseason in the Top 50 in Jayson Heyward, Ben Zobrist and Chris Young.
To be honest these may be two of the best all around players in the league and two or three of the best fits for THIS team. MLB Trade Rumors don't get these correct as often as you'd think so if you're not a fan of Heyward or a 10-year deal don't jump off the edge just yet.
2. Jason Heyward – Yankees. Ten years, $200MM.
Since his 2010 rookie season, Heyward has quietly been one of the game’s best outfielders. He’s an excellent defender and baserunner with a solid on-base percentage and some pop. Heyward hit a career-high 27 home runs in 2012, but only 38 in the three seasons since. He doesn’t have the typical power output of a $200MM player, but his all-around game makes him a sabermetric darling with six wins above replacement this year. A very long term and an opt-out clause are on the table for Heyward because he broke into the Majors at age 20, and is now just 26. The Cardinals will try to convince Heyward to stay, but teams like the Angels, Yankees, White Sox, and Astros could make a play. For more on Heyward, click here.
Baseball’s Swiss Army knife would fit with more than a dozen teams, as he can handle second base and the outfield corners and even back up at shortstop. Offensively, Zobrist contributes a strong OBP and good pop, plus he’s ineligible for a qualifying offer because he was traded to the Royals. He’ll be vying for a fourth year, and Victor Martinez did get that, but with Zobrist turning 35 in May it’s still a tough sell. He remains a good fit for the Royals, while the Yankees, Orioles, Padres, Astros, and White Sox could also make sense.
Young is a lefty-masher who can play all three outfield positions. If the Yankees don’t bring him back, the Rangers could be a fit.
$ 200,000,000.00 ........For Jason Heyward ?
ReplyDeleteThat goes against everything Yankee management has been saying for the past
three-four years......."No more expensive, long term contacts !" They said it, over, and over.
They can't make moves now, and the contracts they are bound to are coming to their ends.
So, we start doing the same moves all over again ? Another A-Rod contract ?
Who's nuts here ? Not patrick.
Nothing against Heyward, but he is not a Reggie Jackson type. Which is what they need.
How many men left on base in 2015 ?..........85,000 ? Felt like it.
Go back, and look harder.
I can't see Hal opening his check book for $200,000,000. He wants under that luxury tax either after 2016 or 2017, adding $20 million in AAV is not going to achieve that.
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