The Blue Jays have announced that outfielder Melky Cabrera will be out for the rest of the season with right pinky finger fracture he suffered during Friday’s game, and he’ll have surgery next week. Cabrera is a free agent after the season, which means his career in Toronto could soon be over. As long as he figures to be healthy for the start of next season, though, he could be in for a nice payday in a free agent market that doesn’t feature much hitting. After struggling through the first season of his two-year deal with the Jays, Cabrera has bounced back in 2014, hitting .300/.348/.457 in 619 plate appearances. Cabrera’s injury is a blow to the Jays, who have won five games in a row to cling to their playoff hopes but are still 4 1/2 games back of the last Wild Card spot. Here are more notes from around the big leagues.
- Twins catcher Josmil Pinto says he has no issue with the team signing Kurt Suzuki to a two-year extension, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. “It’s good,” says Pinto. “If I play a little more time with him, I’ll get more experience. He’s got like eight years in the big leagues.” Suzuki initially signed a one-year deal with the Twins before the season, and it looked like Pinto might take over once he left. But Suzuki hit well and won the respect of the Twins’ pitchers, and now it looks like Pinto will back him up as Suzuki’s extension kicks in next season.
- The Astros recently fired manager Bo Porter and bench coach Dave Trembley, and it’s unclear what will happen to their remaining coaches next season. But GM Jeff Luhnow is happy with them, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart writes. Luhnow points to performances by Chris Carter and Jose Altuve this season as evidence that the team’s hitting instruction has been good, and he says that pitching coach Brent Strom has done “a tremendous job.”
- Tigers third base coach Dave Clark would have interest in returning to Houston to manage the Astros, MLB.com’s Jason Beck reports. “[I]t’s always intriguing to have your name mentioned as a possible managerial candidate. It’s definitely something I would entertain,” says Clark, a base coach with the Astros until he joined Brad Ausmus’ staff this season.
- Angels infielder John McDonald realizes the 2014 season might be his last, writes MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez. “I don’t want to discount anything, but you’re also realistic about where you are in your career,” says the 39-year-old McDonald. “I’m at [69] at-bats right now, over the course of a full year, and last year I had the same. I’m also realistic.” McDonald has now played parts of 16 seasons with the Indians, Blue Jays, Tigers, Diamondbacks, Pirates, Phillies, Red Sox and Angels.
- The Yankees’ performance this year should serve as a wake-up call to the team’s top brass, Mike Axisa of River Ave Blues writes. The team’s usual strategy of signing the best free agents doesn’t work as well as it used to, Axisa writes, but the advent of the luxury tax has limited the Yankees’ advantage over other teams — the Yankees’ payroll has stayed roughly static in the last several years, while other teams’ payrolls have risen. And the number of pre-free-agency extensions means fewer players hit free agency during their prime years. The Yankees will need to stop depending so heavily on veteran free agents, Axisa suggests.
Many people in New York say it’s impossible for the Yankees to rebuild, that their fanbase would never accept it, that no one would pay their prices and the ballpark would be empty. I wonder how true that is, when you consider it’s looking more like they’ll have no choice, but to have a tear down or continue being mediocre. I wonder how many of those IFAs they signed this year will even pan out.
You make it sound like the Jays are still on their winning streak
“Cabrera’s injury is a blow to the Jays, who have won five games in a
row…”. It should be “Cabrera’s injury is a blow to the Jays, who HAD
won five games in a row before the loss tonight…”
What a brutal loss it was.
The Yankees’ problem has always been the years. I don’t think anybody had an issue with them signing Teixiera, McCann, or Beltran, or re-signing Sabathia or even A-Rod (at the time it happened, mind you!). The problem is that that every time the Yankees see a free agent they stumble over themselves to offer so many years that you’re left shaking your head.
This is the byproduct of a team-wide strategy of “sign a guy for his decline years to have him in his good years.” It caught up to them, and now even the Yankees’ payroll is having trouble hefting that much dead weight.
the Yankees have also had some bad luck as well. Tex has gone downhill much more rapidly than they could have predicted, as has CC. A-Rod is in a class by himself. Beltran is old (I thought the signing was bad when made) but it was hard to foresee he would be poor in the first year of the contract.
The Beltran signing as of now doesn’t look to be as bad as the Shin-Soo Choo signing. I”m actually glad he rejected the Yankees offer.
The Yankees’ Dilemma
The premier young talents in baseball reach the majors in their early 20s, are under team control for at least 6 years, then finally reach free agency (if they reach at all). That means usually the youngest free agents will be about 28-29 if you’re lucky. Although in today’s era, if they’re premium talents (E.G. Trouts, Machados, Smyly, et al), they’ve likely signed an extension early on, which bought out the first few free agent years, which would make this group’s youngest be around age 30-31.
This is where the Yankees have their first crack. Unfortunately it’s made their recent teams carry older average ages and more injury prone than you’d want. Outside lightning striking somewhere in the organization (not out of the realm of possibility in baseball) the Yankees need to change this fundamental formula.
I would love to see Dave Clark get a shot at managing the Astros, or anywhere in the majors for that matter. I always liked him as a player when he played for the Buccos, and he seems to have a pretty good track record as a coach and minor league manager.
It’s ridiculous to say that the method of spending on free agents doesn’t seem to work as well in NY, if anything the scouting department has failed to sign & re-sign (internationally & domestically)/ also drafting the right players over the years. Ownership & management are making mistakes by not committing to either method, while shying away from talent to appease luxury tax.