The New York Yankees were unusually quiet during the
offseason before the 2016 season signing as many major league free agents as I
have major league at-bats in my life, zero. This was unusually surprising
because the free agent market last winter was exceptionally strong so with a much
thinner market this time around it shouldn’t come as a shock if the team
remains quiet again this winter. The last time the Yankees went truly crazy on
the free agent market was the big splash after big splash free agent market of
2014 where the New York Yankees signed Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, Jacoby
Ellsbury and Masahiro Tanaka but looking back now three years later was it a
good idea and what would the Yankees look like right now had that not happened?
Let’s start with the easy one in Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury
did not deserve his seven-year and $153 million contract in my opinion and he
has far from lived up to the hype and the expectations since signing it, also
my opinion. I mean he has been healthy overall, which was a huge concern, but
he has hit just 32 home runs in his three seasons in pinstripes, hasn’t sniffed
a .300 batting average and his stolen base numbers (80 combined in three
seasons) are way down from his monster numbers that he had in Boston before
leaving for New York. Without Ellsbury the Yankees could have more room for
players like Ben Gamel (who was traded to Seattle due to the outfield logjam),
Mason Williams who impressed in another short stint in the Major Leagues and
others. This Ellsbury contract is going to hurt in my opinion sooner rather
than later, especially when you consider his no-trade clause.
Speaking of no-trade clauses one of these men who also got
one but could still be traded as early as this winter, Brian McCann. McCann has
been just as good as advertised and maybe better since coming to New York and
he has been an absolute asset to the pitching staff. McCann, nor the Yankees,
couldn’t have expected or predicted the emergence of Gary Sanchez coming onto
the scene and exploding though which leaves both parties in a bit of a predicament.
The McCann deal was a good deal and likely will be a good deal if he sees it
till the end in New York.
Masahiro Tanaka and his deal has also been good thus far in
my opinion and will remain good as long as he can avoid the dread TJS word that
we won’t say here just in case. Tanaka has been consistent and he has been
getting better and better as he adjusts to Major League Baseball. The
Japanese-born right-hander has an opt-out clause upcoming into his contract
after this season so that will likely be the true indicator of whether this
deal worked or didn’t work for the Yankees.
The final piece of the puzzle may very well be the hardest
to judge, the Carlos Beltran signing. Beltran’s beginning to his tenure in
pinstripes was not a good one as an elbow injury limited his time in the field
and his ability to hit the ball but it ended with him being one of the most
consistent and possibly the best hitter in the Yankees lineup. Beltran is gone
now, traded away to the Texas Rangers this winter for Dillon Tate, so this may
be water under the bridge but to get the production out of him that the team
did plus Dillon Tate seems like a big win to me.
So there you have it, what if the 2014 offseason never
happened? The Yankees wouldn’t have enjoyed great production out of the catcher
position, they wouldn’t have had a 25-year old ace join the fold and they would
have missed out on some great moments and games from Carlos Beltran. McCann
will likely be traded this offseason bringing in fresh prospects to join Dillon
Tate who was acquired in the Beltran trade so all-in-all I believe the Yankees
benefited from the 2014 offseason as a whole. Now if they could just get out
from under that Ellsbury contract….
