Derek Jeter left today’s game with a hamstring injury, but the Yankees outgoing icon will play tomorrow in his final professional game. As the Jeter era comes to a close, New York will have to re-adjust to a familiar dilemma – what to do with Alex Rodriguez. Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that Rodriguez is a symbol of “expense, uncertainty, and awkwardness” for the Yankees.
- Also per Sherman, Rodriguez is not interested in playing winter ball, which will make it hard for the Yankees to project his role in 2015. The former star is owed $61MM for his age 39 through 41 seasons. His presence, along with other expensive, injury prone players like Carlos Beltran and Mark Teixeira, will make GM Brian Cashman’s job difficult (assuming Cashman is extended, his contract is up on October 31). Retaining Chase Headley while also addressing rotation, bullpen, and outfield depth could be difficult due to Rodriguez’s contract.
- Joe Girardi believes Dellin Betances is ready to take over as the Yankees closer, reports George A. King III of the New York Post. David Robertson, the current ninth inning man, is a free agent at the end of the season. It’s thought the Yankees could extend a qualifying offer to Robertson and may pursue re-signing him to a multi-year deal. If those plans fall through the cracks, Betances represents an attractive alternative.
- Yoenis Cespedes is unsure if he wants to pursue a contract extension with the Red Sox, writes Tim Britton of the Providence Journal. Boston is dealing with a lot of fluidity with their future. Deciding the role of Cespedes will likely influence many of their offseason decisions.
I really hope the Red Sox don’t go after Sandoval or Hanley Ramirez in
the offseason to long term contracts. I want them to spend money but I
want them to spend it wisely. It would be very unwise to sign either
player to a lengthy contract, considering Cecchini’s recent showing this
month and the fact that they have Devers lower in the minors. Aramis
Ramirez has almost identical numbers to Sandoval and will come cheaper.
He would be more willing to sign a 1 or 2 year deal. I know he has a
team option left but it would cost Milwaukee 18 million which is a price
I don’t see them paying.
Boston also should not bring Ross back
for another year. I don’t care about his defense, hitting is this teams
issue and Ross can’t hit. I am hoping they go after Geovany Soto on a 1 year deal who can start maybe every 3rd or 4th game for Vazquez. Yeah Soto isn’t much of a hitter either but he’s a huge upgrade from Ross.
Banking on young prospects too much is what got the Red Sox in trouble in the first place. Cecchini looks like he’ll be a good young player, though.
Banking on young prospects would be expecting Cecchini to be the every day third baseman in 2015. He obviously needs more time in the minors. Signing ARamirez would help the team win now but also not hurt the future due to a lengthy big money contract that would come attached with Panda and HRamirez.
Yeah, I agree.
Aramis is gonna be expensive, probably more than you think. He may get one or two fewer years than Panda, but he’s still a huge number. Also, I think Panda’s staying in SF, and if not, the Giants will be huge competitors for Aramis.
You really think 36 year old Aram is gonna get more than 2 years?
Beltran got 3 at the same age. They are pretty close players recently.
There was a comment from A-Ram that he might not want to play more than a year. I wouldnt’ be surprised if he signs for 1 + an option of some sort, but I don’t expect him to go for many years.
Compare Aramis to Beltran last winter. If he is going for money he can get 3 years.
Aramis could probably get at least $30MM guaranteed if he wants. And why would it cost Milwaukee $18MM? It’s a mutual option for $14MM. Odds are he declines his half, he gets way more on the market. They shouldn’t not sign Sandoval based on 28 PA from Cecchini.
it’s 14 MM with a 4 MM buyout
So where do you get $18MM?
Is a $10MM decision for the Brewers. The $4MM is already shot, it doesn’t go up to $18MM if they accept, it’s a $14MM option.
Oh thank you for clearing that up. I wasn’t sure how buyouts work
Yeah, I mean they have three whole games worth of evidence that Cecchini is a good player. That should be enough right? They have two players signed passed 2015. I wouldn’t go anywhere near Hanley Ramirez, but Sandoval is a switch hitter who will be 28 next year. A five or six year contract would be fine for him, and it would do nothing to compromise the future.
I like Sandoval and the fact they he is a switch hitter adding some variance to what is now a righty dominated lineup. However, Hanley is the much better hitter with MVP potential while Sandoval is more All-Star consistency. If prices are similar I might be more willing to take the risk on Hanley with the plan to play him at 3B for two years, then move him to DH or 1B.
Hanley is horrible defensively, wants to play shortstop, and has a very tough time staying healthy. He won’t have MVP potential if he can’t stay on the field. He’s played 150 games once in the past 5 seasons. And he’s older. And a bad clubhouse guy. And I can’t see adding another right handed bat to this lineup. Not a good fit.
Hanley wouldn’t be a bad signing on the right deal and assuming he plays 3B. He is a legit middle of the order hitter. However, I agree it’d be preferable to sign A-Ram to a 2-3 year deal and let Cecchini develop into a starter.
cashman should try to trade for starlin Castro
Who does New York have that would possibly interest the Cubs in getting rid of their MLB proven, 24 year old SS?
Phelps, Nova, Betances and Warren for Castro.
Pass. Castro costs $10MM a year, why should they trade that talent when they can get a free agent shortstop like hardy who WAR wise is actually better for not much more.
JJ Hardy is 31 while Castro is 24. Castro isn’t done growing and could even be a power guy. Especially in NYS. Phelps and Warren are easily replaceable. Yankees can find a reliever to do a “good enough” job in relief. Nova will probably hurt, but the replacement pitchers were able to do a good job.
And Betances?
WAR wise Hardy is better, and what he costs $4MM more. Nova is a pretty good starter too. You giving up all that depth and hurting other parts of your team to get no more WAR and saving a few million a year.
Hardy Offense and Defense numbers decline this year. signing JJ will be a huge mistake by the NYY
Because he was injured this year, which could be a recurring theme due to getting older, or could just be unique to this season going forward. But even with the injuries and decline this year, Hardy was that much better than Castro.
“Could even be a power guy.”
I would hope so, otherwise, what major upside does he have? He isn’t going to be a high OBP guy, and isn’t going to give you much defense.
dont forget we also have Pineda, Gary sanchez and Luis severino.
you’re gonna have to give up at least 1 good piece to get an all-star SS, good rule of thumb.
Castro’s a 3-time All-star, 24 years old and on an extremely team friendly contract… that’s gonna take at least 1 top 100 prospect.
They’d likely never get a deal done. Teams like the Mets have more to offer and the same, if not greater need.
Don’t like the obsession people have with finding a young shortstop. Sure Jeter was great, but we don’t need to spend the whole winter trying to replace him. Just sign one of the free agent shortstops, not trying to trade several top prospects for a $10MM a year contract when they can sign a free agent for not much more.
Agree but dont forget the NYY need to improve their offense. The only way to do it is by signing a SS, 3B or 2B.
By trading several long term pieces for a .284/.325/.410 hitter? Especially when this market has tons of free agent shortstops. Trading several top prospects for him doesn’t help. It doesn’t save enough money to spend on other needs, it doesn’t really improve the team much over what is already available. And long term it really damages the team.
It would make sense if no one is available, but why empty the farm, when you got all these players that don’t cost prospects.
The only good free agents hitters are Hanley Ramirez, 30, and Victor martinez, 36 . Both players will cost the yankees a draft pick so it will still cost them prospects. Also, they will cost the NYY 15-19 per year. Starlin Castro is only 24 and he will only cost 6MM in 2015.
We are comparing someone with a 98 career wrc+ to Hanley as if they are equals?
I think trading for alexie is a better option than signing any of these FA
Just give A-Rod the money, and bid him farewell.
Why?
Paying him off isn’t going to make that contract go away. They are best off playing him. Offense is hard to find, If he can come anywhere close to the 113 Wrc+ he had last year it would be very nice.
It’s more than stats. He’s the biggest sideshow in all of sports and he hates the Yankees. After two years of celebrating Rivera and Jeter, they Yankees have to focus on putting a good team together now. They should focus on trading all the big contracts for as much potential talent as possible (obviously eating a lot of contract money along the way), add some big name retiring guys to draw fans, and resurface in a few years with some homegrown talent and buy some monster free agents when they have the money to do so.
There’s no way they’re going to do any of that, but it seems like a good idea if they want to win.
I think the A-Rod saga will be less than advertised. He will come back. He will play occasionally in the field and more at DH. He will still be able to hit a little. He will get injured and spend time on the DL. He will make his first incentive and the Yankees will have to pay it and him. All the Yankees need to do is work around him as dead money and clogging a roster spot. They had plenty of dead money and roster cloggers this year. Sign Headley if he’s interested, they have Prado for second base, and find a shortstop. Just let A-Rod do his thing. The Yankees aren’t going to get much better unless they get solid performances from the 4 people they just spent a fortune on last off season.
I think they bite the bullet and cut A-Rod. Impossible to believe in some ways, but I suspect they’ve been planning on doing so for some time. If he’s just a part-time DH (and I agree that’s what he is now, especially if Headley comes back) it’s pointless to keep him on the team and it’s a circus on every road trip.
No. If they cut him money is gone. If he plays and gets permanently injured or suspended that is money saved. He had a 113 wrc+ last year. If he can come anything close to that as a part time dh that is way far upgrade over what they had this year.
I don’t get why people have been keep saying he gets cut. There is nothing to gain by cutting him.
I agree with that, and to take it further remember he has incentive payments. If he’s cut, picked up and succeeds for someone else, the Yankees will be on the hook for them. If he’s just cut, he will sue for them. I don’t see how the circus goes away, so they might as well just keep him. Sooner or later, the fans will boo themselves out. And if they don’t, let A-Rod accept it while he earns his money.
Yea he only needs like 6 hr to get that $6MM, but spread that out over 3 years, and it’s really only an additional cost of $2MM for 3 years. He would need 54 more hr after that milestone to get the 2nd one. If he hit 60 hr in his last 3 years as a Yankee I think they would be more than willing to dole out that extra $6MM.
Basically it comes down to comparing ARod with a malignant tumor and cutting him out may be the only choice. But I think the issue the yanks face a crunch next year with deciding who to put in the field, who to bench and who the DH next year.
The Yankees have become prime example of what not to do in free agency. Teams are smart nowadays and choose to extend their young talent and let the “can’t miss” vets like McCann and Ellsbury walk. At this point, they’re just covering their past expensive stupid mistakes with present expensive stupid mistakes. Everyone could have told them from day one that the Beltran and McCann contracts were absurd.
Say what you want about the contracts given to those players but please tell me where Boston and Atlanta are today? There is no single model for success. Teams with big payrolls win and plenty of teams with small payrolls win and it all gets done in different ways
I’ll bet anything that if, and that’s a big if, ARod starts off hot, and has a decent year, Yankee fans will be ok that’s he’s back.
Suggestion from a non yankee fan: Sign Drew-there is no way he has another batting year like he had this year. You will win the pennant with Drew. He is a very good SS and that RF porch is made for him. I could visualize ,250, 10-15 HR, 50-60 RBI.
.992 Fld. average. Boras will hold out for 3 years @ $30 M. Ryan will field well–absolutely no stick. Good luck.
If the porch was made for him so well, why has he hit so poorly there this year?
Have faith brother!!!!!!
Cespy is a fine player that will get a nice paycheck. He would probably like to be back in the Bay area. My suggestion trade him to San Fran for Hunter Pence. The Sox, long term, need a RF as Victorino will be gone after ’15. Pence plays RF–Cespy doesn’t want to play RF.
Pence put up 3.6 WAR on a reasonable contract. What makes you think he’s available for an inferior player with less team control?