Scott Boras, STFU!

When Scott Boras talks it seems that a lot of people around Major League Baseball, both the fans and the people directly associated with the game, tend to listen which has proven to be a great power for the super-agent over the years. The problem with some people is when they learn that they let that power and their ego go to their head and it ruins them. Now I’m not saying this has happened yet with Boras or that it will happen at all but I will say one thing, his comments on Derek Jeter and the purchase of the Miami Marlins really kind of rubbed me the wrong way. It made me want to scream, it made me want to head down to the GM Meetings and tell Boras to simply “STFU!” 

Boras was very critical of Jeter and his group of investors that purchased the Miami Marlins and their decision to slash payroll by subsequently trading away Giancarlo Stanton. Boras was quoted as saying the following in a USA Today interview from the GM meetings: 

“When you’re looking at building a market and you have an All-Star outfield with all he dynamics,’’ Boras said, “and you have a club being purchased at $1.2 billion, what happens is that you got a marketplace saying the new owners are coming in here and saying they’re making the franchise better. We’re excited. And then where we are now creating a plan where we are not going to win five or six years.

“We’re going to basically reduce our payroll. We’re going to rid our team of our substantial stars. We’re going to set up this five-, six-year plan. We basically have a system in baseball where we have sales of franchises, and we have a reduction.

“Basically the idea is to reduce the debt service to pay for the franchise by reducing all major league payroll, not being competitive, basically using the argument that we’re going to build a successful team through development.

“That has nothing to do with the fans. It has nothing to do with winning. It has nothing to do with anything other than a financial plan that suits ownership without consideration of the impact it has on Major League Baseball.’’ 

So let’s discuss this. Is Boras more worried about the fans of Miami and the fans of Major League Baseball, or is he more worried about himself and how a trade of the likes of Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich or whoever else the Marlins decide to trade could affect his clients on the free agent market this season, and how that could affect his wallet? Call me pessimistic but I am leaning towards the latter. I am leaning towards Boras knowing that he has that platform and the power to say and change things around the league during this time of the year and I think that Boras is taking full advantage of that. Who could blame him? I don’t, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I have to agree with his actions either. 

Random Thoughts After the GM Meetings

The general manager meetings are done and after a few days of sitting under palm trees in the Sonora

Desert resort not a whole lot got done. This is not uncommon, the big event where players move around the most is usually the winter meetings which take place next month, but it is a bit unusual to see exactly zero trades done during the four day event.

The Yankees have a viable trade piece in Brian McCann, the Pittsburgh Pirates have one also in Andrew McCutchen while the Detroit Tigers will listen to offers on anything that isn’t tied down including Justin Verlander, Miguel Cabrera, Ian Kinsler, J.D. Martinez and Victor Martinez. Chris Sale could be had from the Chicago White Sox with the right deal along with a slew of names I’m sure we the fans just aren’t hearing about.

There is an eerie calm around the league right now. Maybe it is the upcoming collective bargaining agreement that is set to expire. Maybe it’s the rumors of the luxury tax threshold potentially rising with any new CBA. Maybe it’s just the fact that the free agent class is weak and these players know it so they are going to take their time, make opposing teams sweat and ultimately bid against themselves in order to get the maximum contract.

I don’t know why but I just get a weird feeling about this offseason. It’s either going to be really great for the Yankees, great being Brian Cashman pulls off a few trades and puts an actual World Series caliber team out there for once, or a really disappointing offseason for the Yankees. One thing is for sure I don’t see how they can go another offseason without signing a free agent to a MLB deal… so stay tuned.

Remaining Key Dates Left on 2015-2016 Offseason Calendar

Major League Baseball and their fans have been able to check off many boxes on their offseason calendar including the World Series, the Winter Meetings, the Rule 5 Draft, the GM Meetings, the owners meetings and the Hall of Fame pre-integration era committee announcements. If you think the big events left this winter are over you may be right but there are a few notables events worth mentioning. We will mention those here for your information.

January 6 — Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame vote announced

January 12 — Salary arbitration filing

January 15 — Salary arbitration figures exchanged

February 1-21 — Salary arbitration hearings

Yankees Winter Meetings Priority Checklist

Here we are, we’ve almost made it to the first major milestone of the winter. The MLB GM Winter Meetings in Nashville, TN. This is where most of the activity usually goes down during the winter. This is where the trades are made and this is the week that most of the big-money free agents wait for before fielding or signing off on offers. David Price jumped the gun a bit and so did Zack Greinke but there are plenty of big names still left on the board for Brian Cashman and his brain trust to look at this week. Will Cashman bring in any talent either via free agency or via trade and does Cashman have a plan? Just in case he doesn’t I made him a little check list to carry around with him this week in Nashville.

Starting Rotation

The starting rotation should be the priority this week, either sorting the starting five or improving on the starting five. The Yankees conceivably have seven options vying for just five starting rotation spots, you know the names, and lots of young pitching is said to be available including Shelby Miller, Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco to name a few. I can’t see the Yankees making a free agent signing though, especially after the Ryan Zimmermann, Zack Greinke and David Price contracts.

Bullpen

The bullpen was an obvious strength in 2015 but it can be better in 2016 with another signing or two. The Yankees just don’t know what they will get out of Chasen Shreve heading into next season, the first half version or the second half version, so adding another arm or two (Darren O’Day por favor) would be ideal for New York. Well that and holding onto Andrew Miller.

Minor League Deals

There is no such thing as a bad minor league deal. The cost is relatively small in terms of dollars, years and commitment. Rarely do you see a multi-year deal for a minor league player and many of the deals have splits in them now paying a certain salary, usually the league minimum, for minor league time while the player can achieve an entirely new salary if he reaches the Major Leagues. These veteran Triple-A signings rarely have any bearing on the season but they don’t hurt to have, especially on an aging, veteran and injury prone team in recent seasons.

No Knee Jerk Reactions

Who cares what the Red Sox and Blue Jays are doing? The team is finally getting the contracts of CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez and Carlos Beltran off the books. Don’t add more of them we’re going to regret later.

The 2015-2016 MLB Offseason Calendar

Courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors:

• Nov. 6: Final day for teams to extend qualifying offers to free agents. Qualifying offers must be submitted by 5pm ET.
• Nov. 7: Players become eligible to sign with any team.
• Nov. 13: Deadline for players to accept or reject qualifying offers. Players must formally make their decision by 5pm ET.
• Nov. 9-12: GM Meetings are held in Florida. While not as active as December’s Winter Meetings, the groundwork for many trades and free-agent signings will take place here, and a few moves figure to be completed.
• Dec. 2: Deadline for teams to decide whether or not to tender contracts to their arbitration-eligible players. The free agent market should expand to some degree on this day, albeit with relatively minor names.
• Dec. 7-10: Winter Meetings in Nashville. These four days are among the most chaotic of the year for those who follow trades and free agency — often even more so than the days leading up to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. MLBTR will be providing 24-hour, around-the-clock coverage while the Winter Meetings are in effect. It should be noted that the Rule 5 Draft will be held on the final day of the Winter Meetings.

Reminder: GM Meetings Begin Tomorrow

Just a quick reminder for you before your NFL schedules get started as a notable baseball date comes and passes tomorrow. The GM meetings in Phoenix, Arizona begin tomorrow and run through Wednesday. Now while these are not the Winter Meetings we see in December where a flurry of activity usually goes down something usually does. I'm pretty bored so far this offseason so I am excited to maybe see some players come off the board.

Stay tuned to The Greedy Pinstripes as we cover all the doings that happen down in Phoenix.

MLB's Official Offseason Schedule

10/21 — World Series begins with home field advantage going to the American League champion.

November— Deadline to offer qualifying offers to free agents 5 days after World Series.

November — Deadline to accept qualifying offers 12 days after World Series.

11/10 - 11/12 — GM Meetings

Nov. 19-20 — Owners’ meetings, Kansas City, Missouri.

12/8 - 12/11 — Winter meetings

1/13 — Salary arbitration filing.

1/16 — Salary arbitration figures exchanged.

2/1 -- Prospects Month Starts on TGP

2/19 — Reporting date for pitchers, catchers and injured players.

2/1 - 2/21 — Salary arbitration hearings

2/24 — Reporting date for other players.

3/3 — Mandatory reporting date.

4/6 -- Yankees Opening Day

Add Haren, Arroyo, & Feldman To The Yankees Wish List

Add a few more names to the Yankees Christmas wishlist and shopping list this evening as Jon Heyman is reporting that the Yankees are interested in pitchers Bronson Arroyo, Scott Feldman, and Dan Haren. Okay so I know that Brian Cashman has to work the phones, do his due diligence, leave no stone un-turned, explore every option, etc. I get that and I appreciate that and the effort but being interested in a guy like Arroyo makes absolutely no sense. Either way the Yankees seem to be ready to become very aggressive at next week's GM Meetings.

Arroyo is 36 years old and went to the National League because he could not cut in the American League anymore, specifically in the AL East, so I think a move back would be foolish. Arroyo is coming off of a 3.79 ERA and 4.49 FIP in a traditionally home run friendly ballpark in Cincinnati in 202 innings pitched. If the Yankees needed a 5th or 6th starter type and had every other position filled then sure you an make room for a big innings eater that can keep you into games but right now I still say we have to pass on Bronson.

Feldman had a pretty decent season split between the Chicago Cubs and the Baltimore Orioles and may be a sleeper pick for whoever acquires him in 2014. Feldman is only 30 years old and is coming off a combined 3.86 ERA and  4.03 FIP in 182.2 innings pitched. Feldman will likely not command a long or big money contract and could fit nicely in or around the #3 spot in our rotation so I say make a guy like Masahiro Tanaka a priority but after that is in the bag I could see us going after a guy like Feldman.

Dan Haren scares the hell out of me after he struggled in a strong National League East division last year with the Nationals. That task is only going to get harder in the American League East with the Yankees if he were to come here although he did pitch better in the second half then he did in the first. I know we were after him at the end of last season but that was only to upgrade over Phil Hughes, now he has a little bit bigger shoes to fill so right now I may have to pass.

Day One GM Meeting Notes

There wasn't much as far as news coming out of day one of the GM Meetings. Brian Cashman said not to expect anything big to come out of the meetings, as he's basically just getting a feeling for who's available in a trade, not to mention waiting to find out if Swisher, Kuroda, or Soriano accept the qualifying offers. 

A couple of things did stick out to me, though. 

“He obviously wants to be here, and we want him back,” Cashman said. “That’s the hard part. So I’m confident we’ll be able to work through the issues, whatever they are.”

That quote is in response to Mariano Rivera returning to the team next season. There has been some concern since it was announced that the Yankees are looking to cut Rivera's salary from the $15 million he made in 2011 and 2012. Cash doesn't seem to be taking a hard stance on Mo's contract, so I'm more confident that it will get worked out and Rivera will be closing for the team on Opening Day.

“I don’t pencil him in anywhere right now, but I think he’s best as a starter,” Cashman said. “Good starters can all go to the pen. Pens are where failed starters go. He can do that. All our starters can do that. … Mo was a failed starter. Sorry Mo. The only failure he ever had.”

This time Cashman was referring to David Phelps. Last season, as a starter, Phelps had an ERA of 3.77 with a triple-slash against of .233/.322/.390. He also started in 90 out of 91 appearances in the minor leagues, where he had an ERA of 2.51. So I'm glad that David is still being seen as a possible starter next season, as we could see him and not Ivan Nova in the rotation along with Sabathia, Hughes, Kuroda, and Pettitte.