The Yankees "2014" Plan

Is It The 2014 Plan.. Or The 2015 Plan?

As we have heard all off season long the Yankees have a plan for the 2014 season. The plan, the way we are all taking it, is that the Yankees want to be under the luxury tax threshold by the start of the 2014 season, setting our payroll under $189 million, to avoid a 50% tax on top of what we go over on the threshold. In a business aspect of it the Yankees would be in line to save in excess of $50 million dollars if they are willing and able to do this. Let's remember that the Yankees would also be in line for a tax rebate of somewhere between 25-50% for what they have put into the revenue sharing pot. The beauty of it is 2014 is the only season that we need to be under the tax threshold to get the $50 million dollars and wont have to pay the revenue sharing of 50% anymore... everything starts fresh.

So let's look at some of the possible free agents for the 2015 season. By the way, yes I know it is nearly impossible to predict three seasons ahead and probably useless.. but it is 1/29/12 and nothing else is going on in the Yankees world. Anyway, on to the free agents.

Ben Zobrist

Evan Longoria

Justin Verlander

Max Scherzer

Felix Hernandez

Yiovanni Gallardo

Clayton Kershaw

Hanley Ramirez

Dustin Pedroia

Pablo Sandoval

Billy Butler

Victor Martinez

Elvis Andrus

Derek Jeter

Nick Markakis

If you are asking me right now I am excited about this new plan. In 3 years we will know whether the Alex Rodriguez decline is real or if he just fell into some bad luck injury wise the last couple of seasons. If the decline is a true decline we have ourselves a DH possibility and a replacement in Evan Longoria just waiting.

We, presumably, will be without Derek Jeter also in that same season and look who will be waiting there via free agency. None other then Hanley Ramirez. Especially if he does not like playing 3rd base down in Miami and playing second fiddle to Jose Reyes. If not Hanley then there are plenty of alternatives, namely Elvis Andrus.

Brett Gardner will be a free agent after this season and as much as I would not like to lose his gritty speedy type play both on the base paths and in the field... Nick Markakis, right now, is a hell of an upgrade.

The pitching class is insane. Not that I expect a Kershaw to be there, nor do I really expect Max Scherzer to be there, but we are talking now. Oh yeah did I mention that 2011 MVP and CY Young award winning Justin Verlander will be there as well? While we will still have CC Sabathia, Michael Pineda, and presumably Phil Hughes, Dellin Betances, and Manny Banuelos to name a few.

In 2015 I could see the Yankees, if they get under the tax threshold in 2014, going all out in 2015 much like they did in 2009 or the Marlins did this offseason. I, personally, am already penciling the Yankees on the World Series Trophy in 2015 ;)

Watch The Yankees In 3D!!!

Everything is going 3d these days..

Want to know the BEST way to watch the Yankees in 3D? Buy tickets, support your team, and go see them live. Season tickets and FLEX plans are on sale now for Spring Training and the regular season. You can buy them here at Yankees.com or at stubhub for you misplaced Yankees fans like myself. Support your team!

The Answer To The DH Problem... Kendrys Morales?

UPDATE: Maybe even Joba for Morales? Your rehabbing 1B that we need for our rehabbing relief pitcher that you need? Plus its a fair trade for both... Maybe.

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One Stipulation To Being a Yankee.... NO JUMPING

Apparently the Yankees traded super prospect Jesus Montero and have an opening for a DH spot. Also apparently the Yankees have 7 starting pitchers and are looking for one to trade. The Angels signed Albert Pujols apparently and also have ROY candidate Mark Trumbo also on the team with Kendrys Morales. Sounds like they have too many first basemen type players and we have too many pitchers. Lets make a deal?

Kendrys Morales is probably best known right now for his home run celebration that ended his season, pictured above BEFORE the injury. What we forget about Kendrys Morales so quickly is that Kendrys Morales has been a pretty good player since he broke into the league in 2009. In his first major league season he hit 34 home runs and slugged  .569, ranking second only to eventual MVP Joe Mauer. He ended up finishing 5th in that MVP vote in 2009. 2010 season was the season where he hit the walk off grand slam against the Seattle Mariners and fractured his leg during the celebration. In 51 games games he still batted .290 with 11 home runs and 39 rbis. He still has not come back to play a game since that incident, missing the entire 2011 season because of complications. Do you know what that tells me? Trade value is CHEAP.

Lets look at the Angels pitching staff since that is what we have to trade to Anaheim for Morales. The last thing the Angels need is pitching, let's be honest, but here is the projected rotation via the Angels official website here.

Jered Weaver

Dan Haren

CJ Wilson

Ervin Santana

Jerome Williams

That is a pretty scary looking pitching rotation. CJ Wilson and Jered Weaver are both signed long term where  Dan Haren has a club option for $15.5 million for the 2013 season. Ervin Santana is in the same situation with a contract through 2012 and the team holding a $13 million club option for 2013. Jerome Williams is a free agent after the 2012 season. All salaries and information was obtained at Cots Baseball Contracts. 

Who, if anyone, would the Angels be interested in? Obviously the choices are limited to Phil Hughes or AJ Burnett unless they are willing to accept prospects. The Angels currently are sitting at just under $142 million and I find it highly unlikely that they want 2 years of AJ Burnett at $33 million unless we eat 85% of that contract. That brings me to Phil Hughes.... As much as I love Phil Hughes he makes the most sense for a trade here. Hughes may actually be too much to ask for the Angels but the Yankees seem like they feel like they "have" to trade a starter, which is not true. Hughes could easily slip into more of a middle relief role while AJ/Garcia could fill the 5th spot and long man spot. Maybe the Angels would even be interested in Adam Warren , David Phelps, and/or DJ Mitchell. The Angels also do not seem to be entirely sold on Jordan Walden as their closer so maybe we could ship them a Mark Montgomery? Who knows..

The biggest concern is going to be Kendrys Morales' health. According to Roto World, 

Kendrys Morales (ankle) is drawing rave reviews for his early workouts at the Angels' spring training complex.

"I've been hitting with him every day and he looks strong," Angels center fielder Peter Bourjos said Wednesday. "Monday was the first time he took live BP (with a coach throwing) and he was popping them out from both sides. It's very impressive." If Morales continues progressing, he could become a legitimate fantasy sleeper. The 28-year-old tallied 34 homers and 108 RBI in 2009.

A lot of what is drawing me to Kendrys Morales, besides the low risk high reward type trades that Brian Cashman loves to pull (perfect example is Nick Swisher in 2009), is that he has more versatility then the other DH candidates being thrown out there. He has played 1B before, a position that Jesus Montero was penciled in to take some innings at to spell Mark Teixeira, and has also played the outfield. My line of thinking was that if Morales comes back healthy and productive then we have our replacement already on the team for Nick Swisher if he leaves after the 2012 season. Granted he has not played a ton of games in the outfield but he is far from a defensive liability out there, especially with speedy guys like Granderson and Gardner who cover a ton of ground in the outfield. The Angels seem like they have to do SOMETHING with Pujols, Trumbo, and Morales all looking to be vying for one spot on the team... I think we should take advantage of this and improve the team for the long term while staying with the 2014 tax thresh hold plan. Morales is making less then $3 million this season and does not seem to get a huge raise next season.

Still looking for a DH

"I'm still available!"

I just read this from MLBTradeRumors.com

The Yankees have interest in Raul Ibanez, Kevin Kernan of the New York Post reports. Ibanez has drawn interest from a number of clubs, including the Mets and Tigers, in recent weeks. We heard ten days ago that ACES had contacted the Yankees about Ibanez, but this is the first concrete indication that the interest is mutual.

Ibanez posted a .245/.289/.419 line with 20 home runs in 575 plate appearances as the Phillies' everyday left fielder last year. The 39-year-old could provide the Yankees with an option at designated hitter or in the corner outfield positions. He owns a .286/.351/.488 line against right-handed pitching in 16 MLB seasons. ESPN.com’s Buster Olney suggested earlier today that Ibanez would be a good fit in the Bronx.

To start with I wondered what his contract demands were. I mean, if it was anything like Carlos Pena, where he signed with the Rays for $7.25 million, then forget it. The Yankees just don't have the payroll for a deal like that, as they've said a few times that the cap on DH spending this season is like $2 million. But I couldn't find anything concrete on Raul, which is really no surprise. There is the fact he's coming off a 3 year deal worth $31.5 million, but he's coming off a poor season, and will turn 40 in June. So it's possible he'd take a cheap deal to play in the town he was born.

The age may stand out, but over the last three seasons he's averaged 144 games a season. I looked into his recent injury history, and outside of having surgery in 2009 for a sports hernia, he's been pretty healthy. However, Raul hit .245/.289/.419 last season, which was his worst offensive season since 2000, when he played in only 92 games for Seattle. His 2011 numbers may stand out against what he did in 2010 and for years before that, but when you're talking about a 40 year old guy teams are hesitant to pay for a rebound. Which may work in favor for the Yankees.

Over Ibanez's career he's hit .286/.351/.488 against right-handed pitchers, which makes him sound like a great DH-platoon guy to put with Andruw Jones. But Raul only hit .256/.307/.440 against LHPs last season. What happened?

After looking at his stats two things stuck out. One, his BABIP dropped from .311 in 2010 to only .268 in 2011 (career BABIP of .303). Although small fluctuations are expected, I found that most of the difference can be attributed to his Line Drive percentage dropping from 21% in 2010 to 16% in 2011 (career LD% of 20%). I tend to think he can raise that LD% a bit, to help his BABIP improve, thus moving his batting average up to around .275 against RHPs.

Second, and a way he can improve upon that abysmal OBP of .303 he hit against RHPs last season, is he needs to get back to taking more walks. Raul Ibanez has averaged a walk in 8.5% of plate appearances, and in 2010 that BB% was at 10.7%. However, in 2011, that rate dropped to an extremely low 5.7%. So to put it simply, if Raul can start taking walks like he's done his entire career, then his OBP should return to more than acceptable levels.

In conclusion, if Raul is willing to take a part-time DH spot (starting against RHPs, who outnumber LHPs, meaning he'll see a decent amount of at bats), as well as a 1 year deal worth $2 million, then I say go for it.

Logan Agrees

From the NY Post -

The Yankees settled their final salary arbitration case, agreeing with left-hander Boone Logan on a one-year contract worth $1,875,000.

The agreement Thursday was just below the midpoint between the $2.1 million he had asked for last week in arbitration and the $1.7 million New York had offered. But Logan can earn a $25,000 bonus if he appears in 55 games this season.

Logan was 5-3 with a 3.46 ERA in 64 games last year and earned $1.2 million.

Gerardo Concepcion "Close To Signing"

But will he be a Yankee?

According to MLB Trade Rumors International Free Agent Gerardo Concepcion is close to signing with a team, one of the 10 that are interested. Here is the write up:

Cuban left-hander Gerardo Concepcion, an 18-year-old free agent, is very close to signing with a team, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com (story is in Spanish).Concepcion's agent, Jaime Torres, tells Rojas that the lefty has offers from as many as 10 teams and could sign as soon as this weekend. Earlier this week, Torres said the Rangers, Yankees, Cubs and White Sox have expressed the most interest in Concepcion so far.The Cuban defector recently established residency in Mexico and was declared eligible for free agency thereafter.

Concepcion is a "finesse" type pitcher  that seems to be far above his age when it comes to maturity and how he is developing. I say the Yankees should go all out for this guy, especially since he would be one of the last IFA's to sign under the OLD Collective Bargaining Agreement. Sign him Cash.

Hughes in 2012!

Don't make me eat my words, Phil.

I've said in the past that I believe the Yankees are just fine going with guys like Andruw Jones, Jorge Vazquez, and others as the DH heading into the 2012 season. That's not to say that I think they won't have to, or want to, make a move sometime during the season. But as of right now their offense has enough firepower to contend.

There was some talk of trading Phil Hughes for Billy Butler, but it wasn't anything serious (I believe I read that it was started by somebody at Bleacher Report, and there were no sources behind the rumor). I'm against that idea, or trading Hughes at all. For one, we don't know where Phil's ceiling is. He's only 25 years old, after all. We're not talking about a 30 year old guy that's had more than his fair share of starting opportunities in MLB. And secondly, it's really selling low on the guy. I mean, Hughes' value was way higher when the guy was still in AAA. I'm not saying that he'll ever be an ace, like some believed was in his future back in 2006. I can't even say for sure he'd be a decent bottom of the rotation starter. But due to what the team already has, there's no reason to give up on him. Even if he flames out and goes 0-5 in April, the team hasn't missed out on anything big.

I want to see what the Yankees can get from Phil, either as a starter for them all season, or in a trade by mid-season once he's shown the ability to be a solid starter. Simply put, he has a higher ceiling than either Freddy Garcia or AJ Burnett.

I've all but given up on AJ Burnett. There's still a sliver of optimism inside me, regarding what he could do for us, but I'm not about to bet even a penny on it. It's been shown that he was a bit unlucky last season, as evidenced by a BABIP of .376 in the 2nd half of 2011 (.293 throughout his career) and HR/FB ratio of 12.4% (8.3% average, with MLB average of 7.9%). And the guy has given the team an average of 194 innings a season. But when we have a 1-4 as good as we do, I see no reason to settle on AJ. It would be different if we didn't have any other option, but the Yankees actually have two other options. So... yeah.

Freddy Garcia would probably make a fine #5. I don't expect him to repeat that 3.62 ERA (career average of 4.09), but even a repeat of the 4.64 ERA he put up as a White Sox pitcher in 2010 wouldn't be awful. The problem here is "upside". Not just when comparing him to what Burnett or Hughes could do, but "upside" for what he could give the team. The salary relief of dealing Burnett, should he show the capability to be a decent starter, is worth more to the team than Freddy in my opinion. And what Hughes could net the team in a trade is worth more than Garcia as well.

In all, if it wasn't for a very large part of me saying "forget about AJ ever doing something for the team", I'd say start Burnett at the beginning of 2012. But I would rather just eat the $16.5 million he'll make this season, and hope to pawn him off on somebody else and save a few million bucks next offseason. Because I truly believe Hughes will not only be a better starter, but could also get the Yankees the largest return via trade.

Whelan DFA'd

Via MLBTradeRumors.com -

The Yankees designated right-hander Kevin Whelan for assignment to create 40-man roster space for Hiroki Kuroda, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. The 28-year-old debuted with the Yankees in 2011, appearing in two games.

Whelan posted a 2.75 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 52 1/3 innings at Triple-A in 2011. The 2005 fourth rounder owns a 3.23 ERA with 11.1 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9 in seven minor league seasons.

Andruw Jones Signing Becomes Official

Andruw Jones Will Be A Yankee in 2012

According to our partner blog, Lohud Yankees Blog, The Yankees have officially re-signed Andruw Jones to a 1 year major league contract with potential incentives. This officially makes our 40 man roster full with an unofficial signing of Hiroki Kuroda to come. Here is a little info about Andruw courtesy of Lohud Yankees Blog:

The Yankees finally made this move official. Here’s the announcement.

 The New York Yankees today announced they have re-signed five-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove Award-winning outfielder Andruw Jones to a one-year Major League contract.
Jones, 34, batted .247 (47-for-190) with 27 runs, eight doubles, 13 home runs and 33 RBI in 77 games in his debut season with the Yankees in 2011, appearing in 39 games in left field, 19 games in right field and 16 games at designated hitter. He recorded his highest average, on-base percentage (.356) and slugging percentage (.495) since 2006. Following the All-Star break, he hit .291 (30-for-103), including a .344 (21-for-61) mark off left-handers in the second half. Overall, he batted .286 (36-for-126) off left-handed pitching with 16 of his 36 hits off lefties going for extra bases (eight doubles and 8HR).

Jones is a 16-year Major League veteran, appearing in 2,102 combined games with Atlanta (1996-2007), Los Angeles-NL (2008), Texas (2009), Chicago-AL (2010) and the Yankees (2011). He owns a .256 (1,887-for-7,366) career batting average with 376 doubles, 36 triples, 420 home runs and 1,255 RBI, and is one of four players all time—and the only active player—with at least 400 career home runs and 10 Gold Glove Awards, joining Ken Griffey Jr., Willie Ways and Mike Schmidt.

Originally signed by the Braves as a non-drafted free agent in 1993, Jones ranks 45th on Baseball’s all-time home runs list, hitting at least 25 homers in 10 consecutive seasons from 1998-2007 (tied for fourth-most such seasons among active players currently signed with a Major League team) and recording seven seasons of 30-or-more home runs. He has also collected at least 100 RBI in a season five times and scored at least 100 runs four times. He is a career .262 (497-for-1,894) batter against left-handed pitchers with 110 home runs.

Jones’s defense garnered him 10 consecutive Gold Glove Awards with the Braves from 1998-2007, making him one of just five outfielders in Major League history to win the honor that many times – also Roberto Clemente (12), Willie Mays (12), Ken Griffey Jr. (10) and Al Kaline (10). Over the last three seasons (2009-11), has combined in left field and right field for a .987 fielding percentage (three errors, 233 total chances). He is a career .273 (65-for-238) batter in the postseason with eight doubles, 10 home runs and 34 RBI, appearing in 76 career playoff games.

A native of Willemstad, Curacao, Jones became the third player from Curacao to reach the Majors when he made his debut at 19 years, three months and 23 days old on August 15, 1996 with Atlanta, joining Yankees outfielder Hensley Meulens and Florida’s Ralph Milliard.
The Yankees’ 40-man roster now stands at 40.

This signing makes a lot of sense for the Yankees. He can still play adequate defense and can absolutely mash left handed pitching. He is still somewhat of a power threat off the bench as well. He could slide into a situational DH spot as well for us against LHP. Good signing Cashman!

Kim Jones Leaving YES Network

Kim Jones Leaving YES Network

This post is being borrowed from Neil Best and his twitter account, seen here, among other places. Here is the write up:

After seven seasons at YES, @YESKimJones will not return in 2012. YES offered her a contract but she opted to explore other opportunities

Kim Jones is leaving the YES Network? Who am I going to drool over now? Hmm...

ESPN's Erin Andrews

Here's to wishing!