7:48pm: The Yankees and Infante are "too far apart" in their negotiations and a deal is unlikely, a source tells ESPN New York's Wallace Matthews. The Yankees will keep their three-year/$24MM offer to Infante on the table but in the meantime will consider Stephen Drew as an alternative.
2:42pm: ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that the Yankees' offer was made right after Robinson Cano agreed to terms with the Mariners, meaning it's been on the table for nearly a week.
11:19am: Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that the Yankees offered Infante $24MM over three years.
THURSDAY, 11:08am: Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports that the Yankees have made a three-year offer to Infante, but the second baseman is looking for a four-year, $40MM pact (Twitter link).
WEDNESDAY, 1:45pm: The Yankees have no desire to go to four years on Infante, and the Royals may be the the favorites in talks, per Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News (on Twitter).
11:21am: Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports (on Twitter) that the Yankees are one of the teams talking to Infante.
8:37am: The Royals are a serious possibility for Omar Infante and may even be considered the favorites, MLB Daily Dish's Chris Cotillo tweeted late last night. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets that Infante is currently talking with the Royals and two other teams.
Yesterday it was reported that Infante is seeking north of $8MM per year on a multiyear deal this offseason. The soon-to-be 32-year-old batted .318/.345/.450 with 10 homers and strong defense at second base last season in the final year of a two-year, $8MM pact he signed when coming off a down season.
Kansas City's second basemen combined to bat just .240/.296/.306 as a collective unit in 2013, so Infante makes some sense as a target for GM Dayton Moore. Emilio Bonifacio turned things around after coming over from Toronto and projects as their current starter. However, he's been an inconsistent performer throughout his career, and the Royals, who are hoping to build on last year's winning season, could prefer a more stable option. Bonifacio's versatility would allow him to be used in a super utility role should Kansas City ink Infante.
Royals fans, what do you think of Daniel Murphy as your 2B next year? What would you give up for him?
Infante’s a better player and doesn’t cost anything but money.
Agreed though he will be about twice as expensive as Daniel Murphy next year.
Mets are trying to dump Murphy and Davis with no takers!
Prefer Dustin Ackley for Billy Butler.
Mariners make that trade in a heartbeat.
Even though Butler offers little defensive value whatsoever, that would be a poor trade for the Royals. Butler at least offers some offensive value, whereas Ackely has yet to show he can consistently hit at the major league level.
Angels
Don’t worry when he gets a 50 gamer for testing positive for something mlb will make sure it’ll mean he’ll miss facing the Yankees
Who are you referring to? Butler? Murphy? Infante? Ackley?
Cano
Murphy is not a second basemen!
Going to miss Omar in Detroit. Wish there was a way to keep him
He’d fill a need and allow them to get the one starter they’re missing.
Seems like a good fit in KC.
With so many teams needing infield help, I’m a little surprised there hasn’t been more interest in Infante. He looks like a solid, reliable contributer.
Tor jump on that already!
2012-2013… Infante – 6.0 WAR, Kendrick 5.7 WAR, Utley 7.0 WAR, Phillips 6.3 WAR, Aybar 5.3 WAR… All could be made available to a team that misses out on Infante however, Utley/Phillips cost some more $.
If Royals can get Infante at 3/27, they should say thank you and hand him the contract.
That’s not enough for Gardner….
Heard he wants Michael Bourn type of money which is rather insane. 50 million for Gardner? Seems like a lot of money who isn’t as good a player as Michael Bourn.
Heard he wants Michael Bourn type of money which is rather insane. 50 million for Gardner? Seems like a lot of money who isn’t as good a player as Michael Bourn.
That would be a nice acquisition for the Royals if they could get it done.
1. Aoki
2. Infante
3. Hosmer
4. Butler
5. Gordon
6. Perez
7. Moustakas
8. Cain
9. Escobar
If all stay healthy and produce as they “should/have done” there are 5 .300 hitters in there with good OBP, 3 20+ homer guys a 4th if he figures out his pop up problem, and 4 possibly 5 gold glove defenders. That is a big IF though…
5 – .300 hitters? I don’t think so.
Aoki, Infante, Billy boy, Gordan and Perez can all hit .300+ there problem will be power. Hosmer and Moustakas both need to become better pop hitters
KC doesn’t need power to win, historically, their M.O. has been pitching , speed, and defense. That’s how they won in the 70’s-80’s, even Brett wasn’t a big HR hitter.
Aoki (certainly capable has had high .280s and the type of hitter he is plays well in Kauffman), Infante(.318 last year), Hosmer(.302 last year), Butler (.300+ 3 of last 5 years), Gordon (.303 in 2011 .294 2012, certainly capable), Perez (after 3 years in the big leagues a .301 career average). I just gave you 6 that have shown .300 or close to it with some consistency. There are always possibilities of down years etc, but having a more solid lineup top to bottom means higher likelyhood of these guys seeing better pitches, and hitting close to their potential. Escobar hit .293 in 2012. I’m just saying there’s no reason to think it’s THAT far fetched.
I wouldn’t hit Infante that high up, I would hit HIM 9th , Esci 8th, Cain 7th and platoon them all at the bottom of the order. That said, I would keep Bonifacio and maybe hit HIM 2nd?
agree, Infante is typically a .310-.320 obp guy, that is best suited for bottom lineup.
I wonder what he’ll actually sign for, it’s difficult to gauge.
Omar Infante would be really really good for the royals. He plays solid defense, he’s familiar with central division pitching and he gets on base and hits for average. Royals get a great solid piece by adding infante to a club that will contend in the central next season.
not sure why he’s not a yankee already. seems like a perfect fit
If the Yankees want to overspend on Omar then they can have him. I always enjoy watching the Yankee$ spend all this money and only have one ring since 2001!!!
What are you talking about they have more championships than any other team in the history of baseball! Remember the 90’s they practically won it every single year!
Yep lets go back to the 90’s!!! You sound like a Lakers fan. Yanks reign is over!!!
But of course, going back to 2001 is perfectly acceptable.
But in the 90’s they weren’t spending $200m a season.
These are their payroll amounts for the years the won a WS:
1996: $52,189,370
1998: $65,663,698
1999: $88,180,7120
2000: $92,538,260
2009: $201,449,289
This is what they spent during those other years.
2013: $228,835,490
2012: $197,962,289
2011: $201,689,030
2010: $206,333,389
2008: $209,081,577
2007: $189,639,045
2006: $194,663,079
2005: $205,938,439
2004: $182,835,513
2003: $152,749,814
2002: $125,928,583
Spending $228m and not end up in the postseason was a risky gamble. To turn around and try the same thing for the next year is foolish. That is a whole lot of money and nothing to show for it.
The Yanks lost 56 million in ticket sales alone by not making the playoffs. The quickest way to get back there is to spend money.
That’s irrelevant, how much did they make!
Irrelevant? The money the Yankees spent last season was almost entirely spent years ago. The Yankees chose to sit on their cash and make low risk decisions last season. That cost them dearly as they failed to make the playoffs. The issue with the Yankees is/was not spending money it was spending it foolishly (Arod, plus having multiple long term contracts running simultaneously) and losing high draft picks every year by acquiring new talent.
The point of the post was to show that the Yankees have to spend money and make acquisitions in order to grow their business.
Infielders who were liftetime .270 hitters and only hit 10HR with 70RBI/season weren’t demanding 10 million a year either. The league seems to be full of King Baby players these days. I’m all for them getting paid and earning their fair share, but a lot of them are getting ridiculous.
FAIL the yankees won the world series in 2009, get your facts straight.
Yep I said one ring which was in 2009 so learn to read :)
That would be the one ring since 2001
No one can buy a championship weather it is the Yankees, LA Lakers or Dallas Cowboys. The team that is playing the best during the playoffs usually wins; but if you put the best team on the field you give your team a shot to win.
You cant buy championships period, last i heard you cant just cough up money to Bug Selig to take the trophy home. Its dumb when people say that, you have to earn it.
Yes, because it’s so easy to annually win the championship of a sport in which a .600 winning percentage is a lock for the playoffs. Since the 2000 WS, the Yankee have made the playoffs 11 of 13 seasons and won the AL East 9 of those 13 years. Yes, 2 pennants and 1 WS can be viewed as a drought, but hardly against odds. Odds of a team winning the pennant was 1 in 4 and is now 1 in 5, so the Yankees should have won 3 pennants instead of 2 over that time (hardly awful), while they were expected to win the WS 1-2 times over 12 playoff entries.
How many teams would be happy to win “only” 1 ws in last 10 years?
Cubs for one.
Padres
Tigers
Royals, Mariners, Indians, Mets, Rangers, Nationals, Rockies, Rays, Astros, Blue Jays.
With complete parity you should expect to win once every 30 years. I don’t think think it is doing too bad if you only win the ws once every 10 years.
Baseball is better than Football and Basketball who have caps! For years it was the Lakers and now it’s the Heat. In Football their are a number of teams that have never won a championship. In Baseball the Giants, Sox, and Cards were all underdogs when they won.
27 total, who laughing now!
Looks like I got the last laugh since the Royals just signed him but nice try though!!!
Wow so after having been outbid by the mariners for Robinson Cano could the Yankees be outbid by the royals for Omar Infante?! I think I just saw a flock of pigs flying over JFK international airport.
*cue movie trailer*
In an offseason where the yankees get outbid by the mariners and royals…
*World explodes*
…while trying to avoid a devastating luxury tax penalty and dealing with a depleted farm system. All the while the Alex Rodriguez saga is looming over their heads. After being spurned by one of their last homegrown stars, and importing a slew of players on the free agent market, their last hope for an infusion of youth, relevance, and contention this season is to sign a young stud from the Nippon Professional Baseball by the name of Masahiro Tanaka. With cameo appearances from Denzel Washington and Minka Kelly this season, The Yankees are…”Going For Broke”.
Rated PG-13.
Everyone else also read this in that trailer guys voice, right?
Of course, it wouldn’t be right if you didn’t!
There were so many explosions and inexplicable escape scenes manifesting themselves in the background everywhere
IMDB Rating: 4000.3/10, despite the film not actually existing.
Said film has been trending upwards on the top 250 for the last 4 days even without an IMDB page/entry.
We’re the Yankees and we simply refuse to spend competitively on a good second baseman. But if you’re an outfielder…
And over the age of 36…
They got outbid by the Pirates last year..
Sam, are you aware that Beltran took less than the $48 Million he was offered by the Diamondbacks and an offer from the Royals to sign with the Yanks, all Cashman is doing is showing he will not break the bank for everybody (Ellsbury sure, but not everybody). Infante will sign with the Yankees for 3 years and something between 24-30MM).
I still think the Yankees will sign him, not sure why he would go to a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in years after being in a ALCS this past season. But if it’s for the money I would understand.
I think Infante will definitely be the biggest steal of a FA this offseason
Watch the yankees settle on a 7 year $175M contract for Infante. ha
They throw in an extra 50 million just to show Cano who is boss!
Infante for $20 mil/2 year (give or take) + Brett Gardner Or Brandon Phillips $50 mil/4 year and no Brett Gardner. Hmmmmmmm.
He might want 3 years though
Could be worth it if the AAV drops down a little. Ex. 3 year/$30 million as opposed to 2 year/$25 million
I hope the mets sign infante to play SS. He played there with the marlins and I think he could still play SS. He is a better option than Drew who has major injury issues, especially given the Mets luck. He will also cost less than Drew.
Infante was our 2B, not SS.
I looked at a Dan Murphy trade a couple of weeks ago, for KC, before I realized that Bonifacio (2million) is the best option for the team!! No need to spend all that $$ on Infante. Boni is the Aoki of second-basemen.
Would be better to have a more consistent player that u don’t have to wonder about.
As a Royals fan I hope this is another player we lose to the Yankees.
I hope you do too, otherwise good chance Cashman becomes desperate and trades for the declining Brandon Phillips who is still owed a lot. Philllips may be better overall, but give me Infante who at least shows improvements in numbers and not declining numbers like Phillips
As a frustrated Royals fan, I would just rather our tight fisted owner spent his money for a younger player if he is going to give a four year contract. I would be fine with a two year contract with Infante. At least your team spends a lot of money.
Who does he think he is, Brian Roberts?
It looks like if the Royals are serious, they’re going to have to really step up
Ellsbury
Jeter
Beltran
Soriano
Texeria
Mcann
Infante
Arod/ Kelly j
Gardner/ ichi
There is no Gardner/Ich. Ich will be strictly defensive replacement and pinch-runner I would think.
Has cashman tried to get the the Mets GM on the horn about Daniel Murphy? What do you guys think the Mets would want/need in return?
Is infante even worth $10 mil a year? I just don’t see it
He’s worth at least a 7yr $175M contract…the one Cano wouldn’t take. That’s the going rate and standard now for 2B…even Brandon Phillips wants to up the annie with the Yankees and only waive his no-trade clause “if” they can renegotiate his discounted salary of only $50M.
I read this and thought… wait a minute, I didn’t write this.
For 3 years its not that bad.
Awww I feel sooooo bad that nobody wants to give the Yankees a discount just for being the Yankees. What’s this world coming to these days??!!
What are you saying here? Nobody is asking for sympathy.
Yes, that’s EXACTLY what negotiating entails. Nobody, in any place, has said that.
I’m still in SHOCK they didn’t pony up on Cano.
Even Brandon Phillips wants to cash in to renegotiate his $50M contract to go to the Yanks. Hmmm maybe he will ask for $240M…or $175M lol
Get out of here
Obviously Phillips doesn’t think it’s worth $50M going to the Yankees!
Well brandon phillips thinks walks are unimportant so obviously he is misguided.
Obviously the Reds don’t think Phillips is worth $50MM otherwise they wouldn’t be trying to unload him.
Royals are talking about a Justin Maxwell for Dee Gordon trade with the Dodgers could take them out on Infante if they get their 2B via trade. I can see him accepting this offer.
Maxwell for Dee Gordon? Maxwell is a feast or famine type batter, i’m not sure why the dodgers would go through with this.
Speaking of Maxwell, I have a question for Royals fans. KC now has 6 Outfielders, I hear they plan on starting Gordon in LF, Cain in CF, and Aoki in RF. What are their plans for Maxwell, Lough, and Dyson since all 3 will be out of options?
I’m simply root for the Royals to win the Central every year, but my loyalty is with the Yankees. Maxwell offers the pop, though his defensive metrics may not warrant him a roster spot with the Royals at least. Lough had a solid 2013 and could remain as a 4th/5th OF. Dyson offers speed and plus defense in the OF, so i’m guessing that they keep Dyson and Lough on the bench or to spell and OF leaving Maxwell as the odd man out.
It’s interesting to see how Infante would fit into the Royals 2014 Payroll if they sign him for anything close to what’s he’s asking for. According to Baseball-Reference they calculate the Royals payroll counting arbitration cases etc.. at $88MM right now. Adding Infante for $10MM per would bump their payroll to close to $100MM an all time high by quite a bit.
A very reasonable offer for Infante. If he can do better let him him take it.
Hey isn’t that what everyone was saying about Cano. Come on Royals lets see if you guys can get the Yanks “Yankeed” again this offseason!!!
As Cashman would say. lol
Classy, NOT. Believe me the Yankees are much better off in the long run not signing Cano to an insane 10 year $240MM contract. The Mariners will live to regret that deal.
Infante has a good chance at beating that offer. He is not a super flashy player but is a very stable and solid 2B option. He should be able to easily land in the 40-50 million range which in this market is a bargain. Most FA’s are getting 6-8 million per WAR. Over the past 4 years Infante has been worth 53.5 Million (BR) & 51 Million (fan graphs) @ 5million/ WAR
I almost think if you could get the Reds just to eat a tad bit, maybe 3 million a year, of Phillips salary the Gardner trade would be a really good one. I’d rather have Phillips at the cost of 13 million a year for the Yankees than Infante for 8. Phillips is an elite defender which MLBTR has pointed out several times and has had 18+ homers and has played 147+ games a year for 7 straight seasons.
And lets not forget his offensive numbers have been in steady decline for 3 straight years and Gardner has a better BA, OBP, SLG% and OPS than Phillips had last year and is 2 plus years young. For that deal to even remotely be of interest to the Yankees the Reds would have to eat at least 50% of Phillips remaining salary. Four 4 and anything close to $40 or $50MM plus trading Gardner for Phillips is a joke and ain’t gonna happen.
Umm that makes literally no sense. You just built Gardner up and then said he is a joke? Is Gardner good or is he a joke, make up your mind. Either way, one guy is a 5-time All-Star 2nd baseman and one is an outfielder, comparing them to one another is difficult to do because of the fact their are just a few elite hitters that play 2nd Base in MLB. Also, don’t discount the fact that they currently have (Beltran, Ellsbury, Soriano, Ichiro, Gardner, and Wells) all on the team and we currently do not have a 2nd baseman (Kelly Johnson? get outta here).
If the Reds would take Ichiro instead, that would be great. I’m sure Cashman pushed Ichiro first.
My intent was the idea of trading Gardner was a joke. But since that’s the way you took it I will change the wording.
This is a joke. You think Phillips is only worth $6M a year when Infante is going to get $8M-$10M and is the same age and an inferior player?
Infante wouldn’t cost the Yanks Gardner…
Phillips outstanding 12-17 UZR days are over trending towards league average, which will certainly happen sometime between now (age 32) and the end of the contract (age 35). His BB rate has always been below league average, dipping below 6% these last two seasons. And considering his speed is no longer an asset (a career low 5 swipes in 8 attempts last year), I don’t know if hopes for a 2-4 WAR Phillips this season is worth paying 13 mil for a probable replacement level type player in 16′ and 17′.
Also of note, those 18 HRs are likely to come down. YSIII has one of the largest right handed power alleys (385) and without the benefit of the noted jet stream to right which has made new Yankee Stadiums RF short porch seem even closer to home plate.
I think a Gardner for Phillips trade should an even trade as is. As you mentioned Phillips is a highlight reel keeping the infield
give him 3/30 and get this over with
Omg! They could probably get Dan Uggla for $20m over 2 years. I’m sure the Braves would eat $6.2 of his contract if NY threw in a prospect or 2. Come on!!
Are you kidding? Why would we want Uggla who hasn’t hit over .200 for two years?
NY took Vernon Wells, who is actually worse than Uggla (usually by a lot). So is it really unrealistic to imagine them taking Uggla? Not that I believe it will happen.
Vernon Wells had an OPS+ of 72 last year. Uggla’s was 83, by far the lowest of his career. Or if you prefer wRC+ Wells had a 70 and Uggla a 91.
Not to mention Uggla at least had positive value last year…
As Braves fan, we are just hoping the Yankees would do that. After all they owe us after Melky Cabrera
What? You Braves owe us for Javier Vasquez!
We got the best out of that trade. boone logan!
Depends on price, but if they make it cheap enough, I would take him hitting 8th on NYY with that power plus his BB ability. There’s always the chance a change of scenery would help too and if he can get himself back towards the ~.230 batting avg. range (not unreasonable), he would be worthwhile.
If Uggla became cheap enough, both in salary and what the Yankees would have to give, he could be a solid bet. I would’t mind him hitting 8th for NYY with that power plus his huge BB ability. If he could get his batting avg. back in the ~.230 range he would definitely be worthwhile.
Hey Yankees, we will give you Nick Franklin for Gardner.
We should give ’em back Hector Noesi for Ichiro
I would do it if Seattle pays 3.5 of Ichiro’s salary (6.5).
That’s interesting. Franklin + Ackley is more interesting. Could be more pieces to balance it out.
Has it really only been a week since Cano signed? Feels longer.
3/24 sounds fair. He is not exactly an all-star.
He is an all-star back in 2010
I’m guessing he could be had at either 3/30 or 4/32.
Drew doesn’t play 2B….ever. What’s their plan at second? KJ? Must be BP..
Kelly Johnson had a ~.720 OPS against RHP last season. Eduardo Nunez has a career ~.720 OPS against LHP.
I understand the defense will be questionable, but the real issue in New York is the rotation. If the team is serious about $189MM, any dollars burning a hole in their pocket need to go to a SP.
I don’t understand why the Yankees signed Kelly Johnson if they were planning on going for Infante.
Still need a starting or backup 3B too assuming A-Rod is suspended
If Infante doesnt accept sign Mark Ellis and trade for a 3B like Aramis Ramires.
Mark Ellis GP126 AVG.270 HR6 RBI 48 OBP .323 WAR 3.0
Infante GP118 AVG.318 HR10 RBI 51 OBP .345 WAR 2.4
Infante is better but ellis can be a good plan B for NYY
Unless I haven’t been paying attention to inflation, Infante isn’t worth 10m+/year.
Ackley for Pineda
Yankees can’t sign Infante and trading for Phillips is unrealistic, wouldn’t mind seeing them sign Mark Ellis. Does the little things right. Platoon him with Kelly Johnson (2B)
And assuming A-Rod is suspended, I guess platoon KJ and Nunez at 3B?
In theory you could do that but I would want something better if I’m already platooning at Second Base. Nunez has fallen out of favor with me. One quiet under the radar 3B candidate could be Trevor Plouffe.
And than yes, KJ would be able to platoon at both 2nd and 3rd.
Just no longer comfortable with Nunez given his offense and defense.
Why offer him so much until he went to the Marlins he was a bench player. He’d be smart to take it and take it now. He’s not worth 2mil over 3 year let alone 24mil
not sure who’s going to beat that.. royals?
Just sign Mark Ellis or go with KJ.
Infante to sign w/Royals. 4 years $30million. Sooo, another gone. Revisit Reds & Phillips. Mets will not be doing Yanks any favors with a deal for Murphy.