In today’s column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo is everybody’s bridesmaid right now. He has a strong resume that has prepared him for managing, but he hasn’t gotten his big break yet. There are others in the same boat, including Dodgers bench coach Tim Wallach and Athletics bench coach Chip Hale. Lovullo hopes that like Bo Porter, he can break through it eventually. Here’s more from today’s column..
- Manager Joe Girardi says otherwise, but Cafardo writes that the Yankees are viewing Alex Rodriguez are more of a DH than a third baseman possibility in 2015. A-Rod’s ability to play third could have an impact on the Yankees’ offseason plans, including whether to re-sign Chase Headley.
- Orioles lefty Andrew Miller is a strong union man who will seek the best contract for himself when he reaches free agency. Miller wants to return to the Red Sox, if they’re not close on money, but he’ll ultimately go to the highest bidder. Major league sources tell Cafardo that they believe the bidding will start at three years, $21MM.
- There was some trade buzz around shortstop Jose Iglesias but it now looks like he may be back in the driver’s seat as the Tigers’ future shortstop. Eugenio Suarez and Andrew Romine both showed promise at times, but they’ve each had their runs and fizzled out. Iglesias has recovered fully from stress fractures in both shins and is expected to pick up where he left off as one of the top defensive shortstops in baseball.
- The A’s are open to trading anyone, the Red Sox are looking for a backup left-handed hitter, and John Jaso seems to fit the profile for what Boston wants. Jaso started 47 games this season for the A’s, who also used him at DH.
3/21 is definitely closer to Miller’s ceiling than his floor. I could see the Yankees paying him that and moving Betances to closer. Better move than resigning Roberston at the ridiculous rate he’ll want.
I’m not sure how ridiculous Robertson will get. I’d make him a qualifying offer (worst case scenario, you have one very expensive closer for one year) and offer him about $12 mill per for about 3 or 4 years. If he says no, yeah, walk away and take the draft pick.
If he declines the QO, I’d end all negotiations with him and take the pick. He’s good, but offering him $48 million is a huge waste of money.
Could he really decline a QO? How many teams these days are going to give up a draft pick for a closer? Take the offer until it’s not offered anymore.
I think he would be very foolish to decline it. His agents could think that he’d get a multi-year deal on the open market since he’d be the top closer. There are too many other options for a serious bidding war to emerge though and with draft pick compensation, he’ll be in big trouble.
So you’d offer him upwards of what Papelbon got? Do you not see how people feel about that contract today or even how they felt out about it the year he signed it?
If the Yanks want to offer Roberston Papelbon money, they should just trade for Papelbon and let Philly eat some money. He’s the better pitcher anyway.
I couldn’t agree more.
It would make sense if they want a flashy closer. Papelbon is naughty, but he’s still an elite closer. Robertston is hardly in the same league.
If I were them, I’d make Betances the closer, invest in a decent set-up man, take on a reclamation project or two, and put the rest of the savings toward rotational depth. They don’t have a single starter who can be relied on to pitch 30 games with any assurance.
I just wouldn’t want Papelbon. Put his ego and A-Rod’s in the same zip code and you could disrupt the Force for a generation.
I can’t fathom Papelbon as a Yankee. I don’t think he and New York would mesh together all that well. His first blown save where he whines and makes excuses will have him booed out of the state.
Over the past 3 seasons, Robertson has a better, FIP, xFIP, SIERA, slightly higher ERA, 1 point lower ERA+,better K rate, and isn’t the one losing velocity.
I’m not sure how he isn’t in the same league. Unless you meant one plays in the AL and one in the NL.
Wow. This is so wrong. Robertson is far better than Papelbon, but yes Betances is better than both and Robertson probably isn’t worth the money he’ll get. But my god, he is better than Papelbon.
In 2014 he was better but over the past 3 years it’s pretty close. It’s actually a very fair comparison. To say they aren’t in the same league (which you did below) is silly.
Maybe so, but there’s really no point in paying Roberston that much money when he’s been a closer for one year.
I agree with that too.
$12 mil per year is too high for Robertson. He’s good, but he’s no elite closer. I’d maybe go $9 mil and if he thinks he can get more than that, let him go.
The stats actually say he IS an elite closer.
The problem with re-signing Robertson or even making a QO is the actual cost is huge, with luxury tax. Offer him $15M and he might take it. The Yankees aren’t winning next year.
How would you know they aren’t winning in 2015? Nobody knows what their 2015 roster even looks like.
It’s an opinion, from a very long-time Yankee fan not looking to take a shot. Too old, too injured, and not transitioning to a newer roster quite yet. I just don’t think they can do it. I’d love to be wrong
Why not? This team, with all the injuries and lack of runs, was in contention right up until the last few days of the season. There’s no reason they can’t improve on that.
in the last few days of what? A 2nd wild spot? The yankees are in a decline and.investing in the bullpen now would be fullish. Granted they have the money to do whatever they want but bad contracts have added up. Anyone who thinks the Yankees have a true chance at contending for a title next year is fulling themselves. You have to hope for a resurgence of Texieria and Beltran, Sabathia coming back from injury, Rodriguez after a year out of baseball, and a hole at a position that’s hard to fill. And the players mentioned above are past their prime, and what do they have in the minors? Its not like they can trade for anybody anymore. Rebuilding isn’t a bad word, and for the Yankees it will probably take them less time than it would most teams cconsidering their resources.
We’re watching a Royals team beat a much better Angels team, so yes getting in the playoffs in whatever way is enough. And the Yankees were competing for that WC spot for most of the year without most of their opening day rotation.
The Orioles beat most projections and made to where they are without 3 key pplayers and a weak rotation. They used their farm system for depth and made smart trades. All teams deal with injuriesand underperforming players. If you don’t mind your team treading mediocrity, fine, but patching holes on the team with almost nothing in the farm system is a sign of a declining franchise. The Yankees lack depth, thats part of the problem and rrebuilding now would be wise. With their resources it shouldn’t take long.
I think a lot of Yankee fans want Headley back. We’ll see.
It would at least guarantee they have 8 real hitters for 9 lineup spots before injury, shortstop still being the unknown. If you don’t bring him back you have to find someone to fill the ab from arod/beltran dh days.
Wow, how have times changed. Headley puts up a .768 OPS in NY and that’s considered a good bat. I hope the Yankees sign him for 3 or 4 years.
Headley’s all around play is what makes him valuable as a 3rd base option. He’ll pop some home runs with the bat, but he can play 3rd as well or better than just about anybody.
You seem to be an advanced metrics guy. Chase Headley has saved 29 runs above average in his career at 3rd base.
Very good point.
.68 higher than the league average OPS of .700. And his OPS+ with the Yankees was 119. If that’s not good, then what is?
I think the comparison is to what we used to consider good bats. Gone are the days of Manny Ramirez, Juan Gonzalez, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Sosa, Canseco, etc. There are prolific power bats in the league now, but nothing like what we had 10-15 years ago.
Exactly. Offense is way down. In today’s years a .768 OPS is pretty decent (as evidence shows the league OPS is .700)
It’s a pitcher’s league. Although, I do miss seeing the 500 foot home run every so often.
Yes, I saw that OPS+, too. I was surprised. You did notice I didn’t add his SD OPS. You did notice that I said, “Wow, how have times changed”? I agree with you totally.
Yes I see what you’re saying now. At first I thought you were saying his OPS was low and he didn’t have a good half year with the Yankees.
Times have changed a lot. 5 years ago I was anti-Headley. I thought he was overrated. Since then the league average ops has dropped 50+ points. He isn’t Stanton, but he is a solid enough player.
I would love if they brought Headley back if they can get him at a reasonable price.
What do you think a reasonable price for Headley is.
Not sure I even want to think about that. He is probably a 4 war player that is only 30 years old. I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone pony up 4 years and a decently high price.
Market value is about $6m per 1 WAR currently (may have gone up slightly due to inflation). Then again, most of his WAR comes from his defense, and defensive metrics are far less perfect than offensive…so the market isn’t going to hand him $24m per year.
Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised by something in the 4/50-5/60 range.
It would be insane not to sign Headley. Even if A-Rod comes back fully healthy and able to play third, he’s A: Not going to play third everyday and B: not going to stay healthy all season. They make the same mistake every year with things like this. Resign Headley and worry about giving him, A-Rod and Beltran at bats until one, two or all three get hurt.
I’m puzzled by Cafardo’s statement that Miller is a “strong union man” and therefor that would lead him to ask for a better contract. I don’t see how “union” has anything to do with it. This isn’t a player who has made huge sums in his career, and this is almost certainly his one and only time to cash in big. I realize Cafardo thinks that everyone should offer themselves up to the Red Sox at a significant discount, and that a portion of every weekly column needs to consist of calling former Red Sox players and saying “I know you really want to return…” but to make this a union thing is absurd.
The Player’s Union wants contracts to go up. Taking less than you can get gives other team’s leverage with other players. It’s pretty simple, especially with set-up men, who haven’t been paid high salaries on multi-year deals until recently. Taking discounts hurt comparable players.
I understand that, but Miller, or anyone else, who in 9 years has never made more than $2.4M, and less that $4.5M in three years with Boston, isn’t going to take a huge discount in dollars or years just to show the home-town folks some love. A small one, maybe. But not anything substantive
Maybe, maybe not. But it’s not really absurd of him to consider the wishes of his union when making his decision. Not everything is about Cafardo’s Red Sox bias.
The Yankees have their outfield set for next year Gardner (LF), Ellsbury (CF), Beltran (RF), they need to find a 3rd baseman and Ss. And the key here is quality and youth. If I’m them my first choice at Ss is Asdrubel Cabrera (29yrs old) and a good hitter and fielder. I would then resign Chase Headley (31yrs old) to a fair contract if I had to, really didn’t impress much. Now there is one player via trade that would intrigue me if I’m the Yankees, Daniel Murphy (30yrs old in April). His first position is 3B but David Wright has always blocked him. He showed he can play it while Wright was hurt towards the end of the season. The guy is a hustler and hard worker. He’s made himself into an average 2B and can play 1B (if Teixeira needs a day off also). Not fast but a sneaky base stealer. I think he could be a .300 15HR 80RBI guy in Yankee Stadium. (Quality AB’s). And one thing for sure is the Mets can’t afford him. They’re already talking about moving him because of his salary. Only thing is I don’t know what the Mets would want for him and if the Yankees even have it. Yanks just need to stay away from the 32+yrs olds.
Cabrera could well sign with the Yankees but he’s no huge deal offensively or defensively. Headley would be a very solid signing for them given his defense and offensive upside. I have a very difficult time seeing the Yankees making the best offer for Murphy given their lack of depth and talent at the minor league level.
Cabrera is a pretty good hitter, (.241 14HR 61RBI with Clev and Nats this year) check out his career stats with Cleveland. His fielding at Ss is not bad either, he has a career .974 FPCT and Jeter had a career .973 FPCT. For what’s out there he’s a better choice and younger choice then let’s say JJ Hardy (32-33 yrs old) Yankees gotta stop looking for the 25+ homers and get players that will give quality AB’s.
Hardy isn’t going to give them 25+ homers and they haven’t looked for that in a few years which, ironically enough, is exactly what they need right now. Their team power was one of the worst in all of baseball. Hell, in 2013, Soriano (power righty) actually helped them out a lot because they have no power. They are in need of power and have the small ball players now. But as I said, Hardy will not give them power. His power has diminished so much in the past few years, they’ll be lucky to get about 12 HRs from him. They’re signing Hardy for his A++ defense and his maybe slightly above average bat.
That’s the problem you just said it, he’s diminishing. The Yankees are old at too many positions (RF, 1B, 3B A-Rod and these are their big bats). Hardy will be 32yrs old next year and will probably want a 3yr deal. Another old player on the wrong side of 32. I like Hardy’s defense but as he gets older that will diminish very quickly too. But he maybe the Yankees best 2nd choice, Cabrera (29yrs old) will probably want too many years.
No, that’s not at all the Yankees problem. Their problem is too many large and untradeable contracts. He is diminishing, but his glove is still incredible and he still has a serviceable bat. His contract will be affordable. Age is irrelevant if you’re still good, and more important than that, you cannot keep handing out whatever contracts you want and blow past $200 million. Sorry that the Yankees cannot sign every top FA available every off-season, but you’ll have to show some restraint and accept a decent plug-in until Teixeira, Sabathia, and A-Rod are all off the books.
I didn’t say those were their only problems I was just talking about their hitting and fielding, their pitching is another issue they have to deal with. Unfortunately the only way the Yankees can salvage the next couple of seasons is by spending money. And they make plenty of it, at least they put it back into the team. There is nothing position wise coming up in the minors and like you said those contracts can’t be moved. And I don’t even know how they’re going to replenish that farm system. JJ Hardy isn’t going to be cheap either, the free agent class for SS is weak. So he’ll probably command good chunk of change. Adding another 32Yr+old player may not be the answer either no matter how good his defense is if it doesn’t help the offense. Yankees NEED to get younger and that’s a fact.
They have zero problems relating to age. Their only problems relate to too many bad contracts on the books now. What they need is a decent bat with amazing defense that doesn’t cost much. You’re incorrect if you think the SS market is weak and will be expensive. It’s the best shortstop market in years and he will be cheap and the perfect plugin guy. You’re incorrect by any objective measure.
Ok Then….who are the bad contracts on the Yankees and why are they bad contracts? Can these be bad contracts because the players have diminishing skills/performance due to AGE and/or can it be from injuries they can’t come back fast enough from due to AGE. Like it or not AGE is a very big contributor to these contracts being bad. Because if these players performed and didn’t get hurt these contracts wouldn’t be bad. As we all get older it’s harder to perform the way we used to and when we get hurt it takes longer to recover. And for an athlete you get old fast, once your 32+ your in the later stage of your career. So your incorrect when you say they have zero problems related to age.
Cabrera will cost too much. Hardy will probably want 3 years and cost less than $10m for each year which is decent. I’m thinking maybe 3 years/$21m. I don’t know why Headley didn’t impress you…4.4 WAR and a 28 UZR isn’t impressive?
I did say the Yankees should resign him to a fair contract I just don’t know what kind of player he’d be. He’s only had one great season. And he started the year bad with SD. Half a season doesn’t impress me, I’ve gotta see that consistently. Yankees just have to be careful with him. I would sign him and he should sign a one year contract for his benefit. Then they could talk about extension if he does well or just part ways. For what’s out there free agent wise he’s probably the best choice.
Wrong cabrera. There talking about the one who was with Cleveland and got traded to d.c.. your talking about the one in sd
That’s the one I’m talking about Asdrubal Cabrera not Everth Cabrera. Asdrubal is a free agent this year (29yrs old)
He has had all great defensive years with an average bat. He will never sign for 1 year. He will be the best player they can sign.
If the Yankees are going to re-sign Headley I don’t think they will wait to see how much A-Rod has left in the tank. If they did that would be to late, Headley will have signed with another team by then.
I like Andrew Miller but how can anybody suggest that he gets that kind of scratch? Very few teams can afford to tie that kind of money up in a guaranteed closer for the bullpen and Miller isn’t even that. Can Nick Cafardo write a column that doesn’t show an over-the-top Red Sox bias?
If the A’s feel like Max Muncy or Anthony Allioti or Shane Peterson can fill in Jaso’s role as a righty-mashing DH-type, then sure trade him. Problem is the only option that has any potential in that group is Muncy, and he was good-not-great overall this year, meaning he’ll need at least a partial season in AAA
So I guess Miller wants nothing to do with re-signing with Baltimore then?