Now Begins the Time to “Get Greedy”

Earlier this morning on the blog we took a look at the complete list of 161 MLB free agents for the 2018 season so now begins the process for every team, especially the New York Yankees, to “get greedy” and sign up some of these free agents. We have the list in hand so let’s take a look at it and see if any of these players will and should fit into the Yankees plans here in 2018.  

We will start high here and then taper off I guess as there are quite a few notable bullpen additions that the New York Yankees could conceivably look at this winter. Greg Holland declined his 2018 option with the Colorado Rockies, Wade Davis is a free agent with the Chicago Cubs, Brandon Kintzler was an All-Star with the Minnesota Twins before being shipped away prior to the deadline and is now hitting free agency and there are a couple notable left-handed arms as well. The two arms I would like the Yankees to take a long and hard look at, because let’s be real… none of the names I mentioned above are coming to the Bronx with the plethora of former closers and arms the Yankees pen already has, are left-handers Tony Watson and Oliver Perez. Perez would obviously be a Plan B or even a Plan C, I may trust Chasen Shreve and company more at this point than Perez although I do realize that Perez could be a useful LOOGY, but Watson has been on my radar for a long, long time. Watson is a tough left-handed arm that spent time recently with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Pittsburgh Pirates and is an arm that would fill an area of need for New York, the LOOGY position. I doubt Watson would command a terrible amount in terms of years and dollars as well which only helps the Yankees case to sign him.  

New York went into last season with a full-time DH in Matt Holliday and a part-time first baseman in Chris Carter and there is no reason to believe that the team couldn’t do that with at least one of those positions again here in 2018. Now the options on the free agent market aren’t all that appealing to be honest with names like Jay Bruce, Pedro Alvarez and Carlos Santana out there but I truly believe at least two of these options could be better than either Holiday or Carter were in 2017. Although I will admit I am leaning towards not filling the DH position and letting a rotation of outfielders fill the slot all season long if New York can sign a big-time free agent, but more on that later. 

Finally, the Yankees may look at adding a starting pitcher this winter. Obviously, it is highly unlikely that the team will do so after Masahiro Tanaka decided to not opt-out of his contract, but I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the fact that Jake Arrieta and Yu Darvish are free agents at the time of this writing. The Yankees have a lot of star power in Japan already with Tanaka and their presumable pursuit of Shohei Otani will only add to that, but could you imagine a rotation with both them and Darvish? It would be insanity in Japan and everyone in the country would be wearing Yankees apparel, oh and the Yankees would be good as well. Is it unlikely? Sure, the Yankees may only add Otani and that’s it, but the team should at least go through the motions and check in with both Darvish and Arrieta. That’s a general manager’s job after all, now get greedy! Bring me somebody! 

Looking Ahead to 2018: Potential Free Agent Offensive Additions

So we saw who the Yankees could be potentially losing via free agency this coming offseason so let’s once again look ahead to 2018 and see who the team could potentially fill those holes with. Let us first take a look at the potential offensive upgrades that the Yankees could add this coming offseason and at a later time we will look at the pitching. Keep in mind that this is all hypothetical and as it stands today, everything is subject to change in a moment’s notice.

Remember when I, and many Yankees fans, clamored so hard for Justin Upton in Yankees pinstripes? Well that didn’t happen but the beating of the drum could happen again in 2018 if the Tigers outfielder opts out of his six-year deal with Detroit with four-years and $88.5 million remaining. The Tigers are looking to rebuild and Upton has continued to produce which means even if he doesn’t get a pay raise the right-hander would get on a better team and that alone is worth its weight in gold. I don’t think the Yankees need an outfielder though so cross Upton off the list for New York.

Greg Bird is the first baseman of the future but let’s just assume that Bird isn’t healthy heading into the offseason and let’s assume the Yankees want a bit of insurance at the position for the 2018 season. It isn’t really all that far-fetched since the team signed Chris Carter this past offseason to platoon with Bird so who is to say the team won’t again in 2018? There’s many free agent first baseman expected to be available including Yonder Alonso, Lucas Duda, Logan Morrison, Mitch Moreland, Mike Napoli and Mark Reynolds to name a few. Presumably the Yankees would prefer a right-handed option to compliment Bird meaning that Reynolds, a former Yankee, and Napoli move to the front of the line. Neither are ideal, Reynolds strikes out a lot and his defense is mediocre while Napoli is aging and is more of a DH-or-bust at this point in his career, but the Yankees have been dealing with a less than ideal situation at the position all season long anyway. Could it get much worse? You could also throw Todd Frazier into the mix here although I believe the third baseman will prefer to stay on the other side of the diamond as he hits free agency this offseason.

Sticking with the first base position but looking in areas that will likely exceed what the Yankees are willing to pay you find the bats of Carlos Santana of the Cleveland Indians and Eric Hosmer of the Kansas City Royals. Santana has taken a step back in 2017 after posting 34 home runs and a 3.7 WAR in 2016 but his walk rate has been steady and his stats this season have been in line with his career norms. The problem is Santana is going to want to cash in after that strong 2016 season, even if 2017 hasn’t gone exactly according to plan, and even in a stacked free agent pool there should be plenty of money to go around for Santana. Meanwhile Hosmer is not someone who has ever really impressed me much. Sure his bat is nice and he is just 28-years old but advanced metrics show Hosmer as a very limited fielder and his -0.2 WAR in 2016, a season in which he made the All-Star team for the first time in his career, doesn’t exactly make me want to run home screaming to mom about him. Hosmer is durable and Hosmer can hit but his career wRC+ (109) is lower than Lucas Duda’s (124) who can also be had on the free agent market and if I were a betting man I’d say Duda gets significantly less than Hosmer in 2018 in terms of both years and dollars respectively.

The final player I want to showcase here is a bit of a “Get Greedy” kind of player. This player isn’t a player that the New York Yankees necessarily need but is a player that could rotate in and out of the outfield as well as the soon-to-be vacant DH position. J.D. Martinez has somehow flown under the radar for years now and that was never more evident than when the Arizona Diamondbacks acquired the outfielder from the Detroit Tigers without giving up a single blue-chip prospect. Since the start of the 2014 season only Mike Trout, Nolan Arenado and Giancarlo Stanton have put up higher slugging percentage numbers than Martinez, and keep in mind that Martinez was doing this inside Comerica Park in Detroit which is historically a pitcher’s park, yet somehow still Martinez is not what I would consider a household name. Now the teammate of another player, Paul Goldschmidt, who isn’t really a household name but should be, Martinez is gearing up to cash in on the free agent market in 2018. If anyone notices that is. If no one does notice it would behoove the Yankees to not make a run at him on a shorter term deal in my opinion to see if they could snag a great free agent option for less. Dare I say, Ninja Cashman. Martinez is not going to win you a Gold Glove out there in the outfield, hence why I said he could split time as the DH as well, and has been a bit injury prone throughout his career but he is just 30-years old and would likely only command a three-or-four year deal while having the same wRC+ (145) as Miguel Cabrera has had over the past three seasons.

Get Greedy and get Martinez if you can. If not and if the team wants a platoon and an insurance option at first base then sign a Mike Napoli and call it a day. Either way it looks like there won’t be much offensive help coming or much heavy lifting to be found in the Bronx before the 2018 season on the free agent market. Or I could be completely wrong, that’s happened more than once. 

World Series 2016: Jon Lester vs. the Indians Offense

Jon Lester gets the ball in Game One for the Chicago Cubs against a tough Cleveland Indians offense. Who has the upper hand on paper tonight? Let's find out. All stats and photos courtesy of ESPN.com

The Daily Dozen - August 8, 2014

The Daily Dozen - August 8th, 2014
(Twelve Takeaways from Last Night's Game--No Pictures Edition)

1. You have to take advantage of 1-2 counts as a pitcher.  I don't know how many times I've seen Yankees opponents get big hits after the pitcher has started out 1-2 against them.  Make them chase the ball on the outside corner.  This very instance occurred in the 1st inning last night when Carlos Santana hit an RBI single with a 3-2 count after being down 1-2.

2. Derek Jeter ties the "Flying Dutchmen" with 3,430 hits.  I bet it wasn't the hit that he wanted to tie for 6th all-time on the career list as it should have been considered an error, but we'll all take it, right?  I mean after getting his 3,000th hit with a HR any other milestone would probably be a let down anyways.  More on Honus Wagner when Jeter passes the Hall of Famer (hopefully today).

3. Cleveland is basically the worst defense in Major League Baseball.  Way to go Native Americans!  If it wasn't for their offense for most of the season, they would be in dire straits.

4. Walking in runs is a big no-no.  Then again, so is walking the bases loaded right before a Grand Slam...but it didn't keep the Native Americans from doing it in last night's game.

5. The floodgates opened up early AND late for the Yankees.  Crooked numbers win games...this hasn't happened too much this season as the Yankees score one run on most occassions and that's it.  Thankfully they didn't have to pitch in tense situations as per usual late in the game.

6. You can thank Shane Greene.  By pitching into the 9th inning in Thursday's game versus the Tigers, Mr. Greene saved the bullpen allowing for a bigger role by relievers in last night's game started by Esmil Rogers.

7. Is it just me or does it look like Trevor Bauer balks every time he gets in his wind up?  I'm just saying...

8. I wouldn't pitch to Brantley at all.  WALK HIM EVERY TIME.  The guy is just money against the Yankees just as David Ortiz was years ago.  He crushed the Yankees in Cleveland.  He had a huge double in the game and would have probably done it again in 8th inning had they not walked him to score a run.  Obviously Santana came up big in the next at-bat, but Brantely for SURE would have done damage.

9. As a lefty with a man on second, WHY, I MEAN WHY are you pitching away?  David Huff just flabbergasts me sometimes.

10. Unselfishness.  This has driven Derek Jeter's career.  With a chance to pass Honus Wagner in the bottom of the 6th with 2 men on, he laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move the runners over into scoring position.  Both runners scored and the Yankees got 5 runs that inning.  Well done Mr. Captain, well done!

11. Carlos Beltran gets his 11th career grand slam to put the game out of reach.  He increased his RBI total by 5 to 49 and now has 14 home runs on the season.  I could see him ending somewhere in the 22 HR, 75 RBI range, which isn't bad considering the injury plagued season the Yankees have had.  I just hope he proves clutch in the playoffs should they be reached.

12. There were many Yankee greats at the Stadium last night.  They are in town for Paul O'Neill day, which starts in 10 minutes as his number is retired and he gets enshrined in Monument Park. Congrats to the Warrior!