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By Steve Adams | at
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James 59
Shouldn’t have these articles been finished in the offseason?
Steve Adams
We pushed back the start date this offseason and will actually be running them solely in April next year so as to not miss the late-spring moves. It didn’t matter in the case of New York, since their late moves in Spring weren’t especially notable.
But for a team like the Indians, for instance, that hammered out late extensions for Jose Ramirez and Roberto Perez — significant elements of their offseason that have longstanding ramifications for the organization — we’d have missed some pretty noteworthy items.
troll
maybe even change the headline to off-season review and 2018 outlook
DrLagwagon
Im surprised we’re not more excited about 2018 season. You didnt know sabathias going to pitch for 10 more years?
MB923
I’m surprised you didn’t mention A-Rod in the notable losses.
casualatlfan
Happened during last season, and not the offseason.
Steve Adams
Yeah, this is why I left him off. I actually had him included originally, but he walked away with a fair bit of the season left. Tex’s retirement wasn’t official until the end of the year. I lumped A-Rod in with Beltran and Miller — significant losses, but losses that occurred during the course of play.
BeatStains
Anyone think if the Yanks are in this come summer and Quintana is still struggling, they go after him? And what would the cost be?
thegreatcerealfamine
NO,NO,AND NO!!!
BeatStains
Why such emphatic NO’s? Serious question
hodor 3
Not worth the high asking price, that’s why. The Yankees can wait out the market for someone more reasonable or sign a FA or two in the next couple of offseasons. While unproven, the young guys they have, do deserve opportunities.
thegreatcerealfamine
Ding Ding..we have a winner!
Aoe3
Matt Holiday was a great signing. I’m sure he helps the younger guys especially on how to deal with off-field issues, and provides excellent leadership.
Tulo has been huge with this for the bluejays.
EonADS
The handling of the Betances arbitration is pretty much solely what pushed me to a C ranking for the Yanks. And I use the term “handling” very loosely. So basically a 78-79 out of 100, but that’s still a C.
billysbballz
I’m confused at the stance this article has taken on the Yanks signing of Chapman. If the Cubs would have signed Chapman or even the Reds would the writer had as many questions or took such exception as he did here. Why is it hard to believe the Yanks were willing to give a 28 yo lefty closer who is a great athlete a five year deal on a young team? He’s only 28 and how many lefty relievers like him at his age will hit the market in the next 5 years????
Obviously you are aware that the Yankees are playing good ball and their bullpen is pitching like a top pen? You said they should have allocated resources towards the rotation as there were affordable options but failed to give us names of free agents this past free agent market that were worthy of contracts or even good enough to crack their current rotation?
Who would you have signed to replace Tanaka, CC, Pineda, Severino, Montgomery, eventually Green, Adams, and Cessa? This is a young team with solid arms some if not most better then the arms available in the past free agent market.
Is your opinion geared more towards the money and years it took to sign a 28yo Chapman or is it because of the history which I get that also? But to make it the focal point in the closing paragraph is confusing as the bullpen appears to be a strength.
thegreatcerealfamine
Exactly Billy perhaps this writer is a Cubs fan! The arms available were salvageable at best. Stick to this plan and open up the check book in 2018..not to mention Otani this year.
hodor 3
I agree with you. The likes of FA SPs such as Tyson Ross and Jason Hammel weren’t really that much more valuable in terms of cost over the ready/almost arms they have lurking.
aff10
I don’t think it’s unreasonable at all to question the wisdom of a 5 year deal for a 29 year-old reliever. Chapman’s fantastic (a clear top 3-5 overall RP), but how late he’ll hold his velo, and how effectively he’ll be when it falls off, is a real question.
As for starting pitching, that’s a different question, since the market was so awful
hodor 3
28 and he has a higher ceiling to fall from in the later years. hHay be just average hisast two years, but that’s not unreasonable considering the entire life of the contract.
hodor 3
28 and he has a higher ceiling to fall from in the later years. He may be just average his last two years, but that’s not unreasonable considering the entire life of the contract. Phone issue, sorry for late edits.
billysbballz
28 yo lefty in excellent condition that can opt out after third year?
koz16
For a change, I like what the Yankees did this off season. They did just enough to be competitive without mortgaging their future. This still allows them to go “all in” at the trade deadline if they want (I hope they don’t) or continue to see what the young guys bring to the table. So in two years when all of the big name free agents hit the market they can be big spenders or they’ll know if their highly rated prospects pan out. It’s an exciting time to be a Yankee fan.
billysbballz
I agree100%
And Chapman will still be a young lefty closer so that is why I don’t get the argument or mindset attacking that signing.
padresfan
Why are they still doing off-season reviews? This should all be complete before the first pitch of the new season
lesterdnightfly
That was addressed above and in many previous review articles.
Besides that, why do you insist on that deadline? Tons of moves are made in the first few weeks of the season.
dwhitt3
How would it be done before the season? How do you review the offseason during the offseason? Did you do peer reviews in HS while you were still writing?
costergaard2
I would have liked to have seen commentary on what the luxury tax threshold is and where the Yankees project to be, over or under. Obviously July action (buy or sell) can radically alter what we think here at the end of April.
billy neftleberg
either steve is totally ignorant of what the yankees are doing or he’s trying to play us all for fools. the yankees arent trying to win at all costs, THIS SEASON. their stated goal was to build this year giving players a chance to learn at the big league level. thats why severino and Montgomery is starting, thats why holliday is here to mentor Carter is here to trade at the deadline for More Youth if he’s doing well
Steve adams should know this and if he doesnt he should go back to sleep because the Yankees direction was clear since last trade deadline
this is the worst written piece of trash ever on this fine website, If I were Tim Dierkes, Id suspend or fire Steve Adams, because a writer on MLB trade Rumors should follow the sport they cover and not write pieces like this one that shows zero insight into the teams direction. especially when that direction has been clearly broadcasted throughout the sport
Steve Adams you should be ashamed
lesterdnightfly
Never seen you on this site before, billy neftleberg. I’d say welcome but your ad-hominem attack rant is way over the top and unsubstantiated.
I’ll take Steve Adams’s experienced, well-researched perspective over yours any day.
billy neftleberg
thats why I wrote what I did lester, because its supposed to be well researched, and yet Steve Adams diesnt appear to have done that. Brian Cashman the General Manager of the NY Yankees has spent the Entire offseason telling everyine what his goals were for this season, To promote and give younger players opportunity and while making the playoffs would be nice, it wasnt the primary goal finding out more about their young players going forward was….
thats why another starter wasnt added, because Cashman didnt want to impede the growth of Severino or Montgomery, he didnt go out and acquire an experienced Catcher or Right fielder either to limit Sanchez or Judge either.
Steve said:”but Severino has yet to demonstrate that he’s capable of sustaining this level of play for a whole season.” how would Severino do that without an opportunity?
steve also wrote:”I wrote that adding a rotation arm that’s controllable beyond the 2017 season seemed “imperative” for a Yankees team that is poised to lose each of Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda and CC Sabathia to free agency next winter. Clearly, the New York front office didn’t agree.” obviously they didnt. they clearly sent a message to Steve that what Steve thought was imperative wasnt what they thought was imperative, Namely to give their young pitchers an opportunity, Which is exactly what Brian Cashman said he would do all along.
Perhaps Steve’s greatest gaffe is the following:”for a team with postseason aspirations, the contradictory nature of spending $86MM on a closer while simultaneously passing up the ability to add rotation help despite an abundance of affordable arms is confounding” first Steve assumes that making the Post season is the Yankees primary goal, when Cashman has said repeatedly that though the post season would be nice for 2017, the development of players was the primary focus, So Steve was only confounded by his own Wrong assumption, perhaps a little research would have clarified the Issue in Steve’s mind.
And whats wrong with having a strong bullpen to back up fragile young pitchers? When Doc Gooden was a rookie Davey Johnson made a point of pulling the Young fireballer when he had a lead to protect his fragile psyche, until later in the season when Johnson figured he’d be better prepared mentally for the challenge. Having Chapman around to save games helps the young arms by their knowing that their hard work will not be wasted once they hand over a lead to the bullpen. Davey Johnson knew that, maybe steve with some research would know that as well.
Steve was criticized by me and others because he made assumptions that if he had adequately researched, he would not have made. its as simple as that. on a site such as this, readers expect well researched commentary and in this case Steve failed to do that. My reply was not over the top, nor was it unfair. Ive cited specific examples where his assumptions were contrary to the facts.
Brian Cashman is the Yankees General Manager, how can you write a piece such as this, while being unaware of his comments, that incontrovertibly run contrary to Steve’s assumptions? the logical answer is that Steve wasnt aware of Cashman’s comments due to lack of or insufficient research.
If you lester, or Steve cant handle that, then perhaps he shouldn’t be writing professionally.
lesterdnightfly
“Ive [sic] cited specific examples where his assumptions were contrary to the facts.”
You readily confuse opinion and surmise with “facts”. Seems to be a trend these days.
Steve was not off-base in this piece, but your reactions are. Especially calling for his head over a difference of viewpoint.
I’ll stick with MLBTR’s way of doing things.
stratcrowder
Aren’t wanna be writers like you supposed to (at least) have some grammatical skill? You suck.
Jeff Todd
You seem to think there’s just one acceptable view of the Yankees: the one with your gloss over their public statements. Even if they were purely treading water this year — and we could just ignore the spending on Chapman, in particular — it’d still be open for debate whether the money they spent on short-term players was well-allocated or sufficient. But your comment essentially argues that, since the Yankees have suggested they aren’t all-in for the current season, their decisions are immune from even mild critique.
billy neftleberg
But Jeff who runs the team, and who owns it? Cashman has repeatedly stated he had to get ownership approval for the moves he’s made, That is not up for debate…. according to ownership, they have no issue with it and it has been stated ad nauseum….
My comments are directly at Steve’s incorrect assumptions, assumptions that with proper reseach would have never been made in the first place. They were addressed in the offseason.
if Steve had properly stated the Yankees position and said but I disagree with them and here’s why….. that my friend is a critique, but Steve did not do that….he clearly stated they were his own Assumptions….You cannot deny that Jeff. Brian Cashman was quite Clear in the offseason on his goals for 2017 and ownerships position, there are several stories in he National media, that Quoted him directly
How do you critique something that is based solely on your own faulty assumptions, the Answer is you dont and you know it.
Jeff you know Im right, be man enough to admit it
lesterdnightfly
p.s. Shouting “I’m right!” doesn’t make it so. The more you do so, the worse your argument looks. Give it up.
billy neftleberg
I can show you direct quotes from both Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner
“We’re in transition,” Brian Cashman said Thursday. “But we’re not waving the white flag while transitioning.”
nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/brian-cash…
“We’re trying to be as careful in our decision-making process as we possibly can as we straddle that line of trying to be as good as we can be in ’17 and hopefully even better than that in ’18 and going forward,” Cashman said. “Every decision we’re trying to make is with that in mind.”
nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/yankees-wi…
“I would be hard-pressed to do that; I think that we have spent a lot of time and effort growing to this level,” Cashman said. “I think we have an exciting young nucleus that’s coming. Some of it has arrived, some of it’s still coming, but there are some flaws in this roster still.
“(Improvement will come) from improved play from younger guys coming up through the system which had a chance to get their legs under them this year, and now being able to hopefully solidify a position moving forward and provide more consistent production from those positions that we got in 2016.”
sports.yahoo.com/news/brian-cashman-outlines-yanke…
so despite what you say lester, the facts bear me out, and despite Jeff Todd’s attempt to spin it in another direction cashmans own words prove that Steve Adams assumptions were faulty ones
as I said before you cant critique someone when your very own assumptions are faulty to begin with
Jeff Todd
You really think that Steve and I are unfamiliar with the things that Brian Cashman says about the club? We read it all day, every day.
You seem to want us to write an offseason review piece in which we say, “the Yankees said they were doing X and here’s how their moves fit that.” That’s not really what we are trying to do here. You have to look behind the statements of club executives, for one thing. For another, we are looking at the goals of these organizations but also their immediate rosters. I mean, we pointed out that the Padres’ starting pitching doesn’t seem very good, but we’re not denying that they are rebuilding.
I honestly believe that Steve isn’t making any mistaken assumptions about what the Yankees are trying to do. Of course they are trying to build for the future. Of course they are trying to win now. They’re trying to accomplish the former while not foreclosing the latter. When Steve says they have postseason aspirations, he’s distinguishing them from, say, a team like the Padres. You can’t deny there’s a difference. The Yankees signed Aroldis Chapman to the biggest contract ever given to a closer. That doesn’t mean they HAD to also add starting pitching, but I think Steve is suggesting perhaps they ought to have gone for a bit more depth there while, yes, also allowing the young arms to develop.
It seems you are reading more into this than is really there, because it doesn’t fit with your sense of how it should be framed. Where does Steve say they are all in? Or that all they care about is winning now?
Oh wait …
“Perhaps the lack of additions shouldn’t come as a surprise, however. The Yankees are a club that has oft stated a desire to get younger, and that’s played out both in the pitching staff and throughout the lineup.”
Jeff Todd
See, these quotes show exactly what is discussed in the post. The club is trying to put a winner on the field while developing a new young core. Really, I don’t see why it is so unbelievable to you that there’d be some critique of the failure to add a little rotation depth to that situation.
lesterdnightfly
Jeff, thanks for all the responses. Your and Steve’s points are on the money IMHO.
But this guy just has to be right and won’t let go, and you have better things to do. Like today’s Live Chat. Carry on.
billy neftleberg
no jeff is just is defending is site mate even if he has to lie to do it
Cashman specifically said they were in transition and not a finished product and now being able to hopefully solidify a position moving forward and provide more consistent production from those positions that we got in 2016.”
nowhere did he say they were expecting to win a world series and Jeff is trying to reframe the discussion to protect steve even if he has to lie to do it, Paying what they did for chapman is entirely justified to protect their youngsters rather than Steve’s faulty assumptions
cashmans words specifically indicate that their focus was on the future not this particular year, Jeff can deny that all he likes but that is what cashman said
the fact that Cashman said that development was the primary focus for this season was conveniently ignored….so I guess MLB trade rumors believes in “one lies and the other swears to it”
whatever they want to lie and show no honor thats on them
lesterdnightfly
Please go away and write your million-word magnum opus on the unfairness of MLBTR baseball bloggers and the world in general. You’ve made a good start with the 10,000 words (a few of them even use proper grammar) that you’ve posted here, fruitless as those words are.
billysbballz
Lester,
I have to say you and Todd are wrong here and I do agree with the other Billy even though he is taking it maybe a little too personal.
I feel the writer went out of his way to make assumptions and attack the Yanks signing of the best lefty closer not named Britton. His argument was why pay a closer like Chapman 80 plus million when the rotation is the real concern but the fact that you or Todd cannot defend the response from many that there were no free agent pitchers worthy of taking a rotation spot away from the current five and the three waiting in the wings defeats that entire assumption all together regarding depth signings. So getting back to bolstering up the bullpen, why is it so unbelievable that the Yanks would sign a 28 year old physical beast lefty closer for five years with a 3 year opt out who is clearly young and will grow with the team? Chapman makes the bullpen very good and the Yanks have the ability to contend now while still keeping the goal of building a youthful strong core for future high end success. Chapman is young just like Harper and Machado will be in two years as free agents and they are the tops at their position just as Chapman is at his! If your concern is that he was given too much money then blame the market because Cashman said he was offering almost 10 million less but the market drove it higher!
I’m just confused if this would have been the reaction if the Cubs resigned him or even cincy? How about Washington? If your argument is Washington is in a win now then why can’t you understand the Yanks have a decent team as it stands and they can also surprise and win now?
There is no real defense for this article and to Lester who I know to be based on your past posts obviously a Red Sox fan your comments are taken with a grain of salt.
greglowcws
Seems people are more outraged about the yanks trading for chapman than when the jets signed Vick
billysbballz
True. Two separate character issues but true.
AndyWarpath
Anyone else here because of the Live Chat today? Man…what a joke.
How dare you point out that the Yankees didn’t sign any off season starters! Don’t you read the press releases! They’re trying to lose every game this year. A team with 86 wins and a shiny new closer doesn’t want to compete for a playoff spot! Also, screw our 2018 rotation too. Brian Cashman said he’s going to pitch himself. Here’s a link. and another link. And some bad grammar.
Dude, a team can want to be competitive while also working on getting younger. Those two things aren’t mutually exclusive. Guys like Travis Wood and Jason Hammel were available for cheap, on the short term. All Steve Adams is saying is it might have been nice if the Yankees hedged their bet a bit; rather than crossing their fingers that 3 hurt guys stay healthy and 2 young guys are good.
Also, Aaron Judge just hit an infinite amount of home runs; so I guess we were all wrong.
aff10
Yeah, I commented on this like a week ago but missed all the ensuing drama. I don’t think it’s outlandish to support spending money on Chapman, as some commenters have suggested, and I agree with the premise that he was a better bet than any of the free agent SP. Still, paying the largest contract ever for a reliever (one who arguably wasn’t even the best one available this off-season, although Jansen’s QO and desire to stay in LA may have made him off limits) for a team in transition a bit is a little curious. To be honest, I thought they should have been in on Rich Hill more than they were (although they look prudent given his recurring blister troubles) rather than Jansen. Ultimately though, it’s an opinion piece, and disagreeing with Steve’s opinion is different from questioning his work ethic, which I think is kinda out-of-line given all the (free) content they constantly churn out on the site, Steve and Jeff especially