Yankees general manager Brian Cashman addressed a variety of topics this evening at the GM Meetings. Chief among them was the starting pitching market. Cashman confirmed to reporters (including Andy Martino of SNY) that the Yankees will engage with Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg this offseason. Cashman added, though, that the club has a significant amount of money already on the books (via Erik Boland of Newsday) and will also explore the trade and lower-tier free agent markets (reports James Wagner of the New York Times).
Clearly, Cashman and his front office are open to whatever opportunities may present themselves and aren’t locked into any specific means of improving the roster. Nevertheless, it’s still notable that the Yankees will engage with the market’s top arms. Cole, in particular, will come at a hefty cost. MLBTR forecasted an eight-year, $256MM deal for Cole, who stands a good chance of securing the offseason’s largest contract. Unsurprisingly, Cole’s camp figures to come out shooting even higher, with ESPN’s Buster Olney (via Twitter) estimating agent Scott Boras’ initial ask will exceed $300MM. While Cole doesn’t ultimately figure to command a price quite that high, bringing him in will no doubt require a franchise-altering outlay.
Signing Cole would certainly require that the Yankees exceed the $208MM luxury tax threshold, as they did in 2019. Cashman added that ownership hasn’t mandated the payroll remain south of the luxury tax (via Martino), although he stopped short of definitively declaring they would pay the penalties for the second consecutive year. The club’s luxury tax estimate already sits at almost $210MM, per Cot’s Contracts, before accounting for any offseason expenditures.
Cashman also addressed the status of three of New York’s own free agents. He confirmed reports the club has engaged with representatives for Brett Gardner (via Wagner), and added that New York remains in touch with reps for Didi Gregorius and Dellin Betances. MLBTR forecasted a Gardner reunion while projecting Gregorius and Betances to wind up elsewhere, although it’s plausible they bring one or both of the latter back.
Clearly, the situation remains in flux at these early stages of the offseason. Cashman didn’t commit to pursuing any specific players and expressed a willingness to evaluate all potential areas of player acquisition, as one would expect. The Bombers will cast a wide net as they look to fortify their roster in hopes of defending their AL East crown, including at least monitoring the very top of the market.
“I’ve been instructed by ownership that our internal pitching options are ready and I have full confidence in them. We looked at the free agents out there and didn’t like the options at the price”
That was last year’s strategy but I don’t get the vibe this time. I think we’re getting at least one big fish
Or both Cole and Strasburg. One can dream…
I wouldn’t touch Strasburg. For some reason I think AJ Burnett. He is very injury prone, and I think moving to the AL will hurt him.
“We feel we have a great team going into the season that has won 100 games over each of the past two seasons. If there is an area of needed improvement, we’ll be actively engaged in coversations with other teams throughout the season. Our goal once again is to win the World Series and the organization is determined to push forward to reach that finish line.”
Of course they have to at least talk to these big time FAs but the real question is will they make a serious push for them or will they just negotiate so they can say they tried. I hope it’s the first option because this is the time to go all in on a marquee pitcher
At the least – he has to let fans know he is talking to them. But it could simply be “Hey Gerrit , great season, hopefully we don’t see you too much next year” – that is talking to him.
So Romine is a goner then I guess..
Cole will go to whoever offers the most money, which is fine. But throwing on his Boras cap right after game 7 I thought was disrespectful to his teammates. Who apparently weren’t his teammates anymore since he tried not to answer interview questions stating he was now a free agent. Technically you’re a free agent 5 days after the World Series ends bud, and your sore loser attitude would be a detriment under the scrutiny of the New York media. I think the Houston coaching staff helped him immensely, hopefully he can keep performing at a high level for his sake.
He became a FA the very next day 5 days is for opt out clauses
The player’s current team has 5 days of exclusive negotiations, so he couldn’t talk to other teams. Doesn’t change my point, it was a b!*ch move on his part.
Nah
Not disagreeing. He could’ve used better tact. Some guys have different ways to cope with disappointment and creating distance is one of them.
Do you feel better now?
no I still think he’s butt hurt
It’s the Yankees. They should be in on Cole.
They’re not.
The off-season GM meetings are in full swing……
The Silly Season has officially begun.
As a lifelong Yankees fan, I absolutely hate the way Hal is running them. He’s a numbers guy whose bottom line is all that matters and that’s the equivalent of running the Yankees like a small-market team. If George was still alive there is absolutely no way this team goes a decade without winning the World Series; he’d have a $400MM payroll if that’s what it took.
This is New York City, spend some money, put asses in seats and win a championship ffs.
If they spent like George theyd be out of money and be a worse team than they are now. He almost traded Mariano for Fermin ffs. How quickly you all forget. Do you want a repeat of the 2013 offseason (the last time they spent like George) or would you rather have another 100 win season?
The Yankees print money lol they could run a $400,000,000 and be absolutely fine
I personally dont believe that. Im sure theyre making good money over there but theres more to their budget than simply player payroll and revenue. I mean, look at the Red Sox already trying to dial back payroll after one year of being the top spender. Its not even like they just built a stadium in NYC 10 years ago either.
What does winning 100 do? Nothing last time i checked if a team wins 162 games but no world series guess what buddy its still a losing season. They dont have 27 championships cause they played to win 100 games stupidest thing i heard from a yankees fan. For the past decade probably we haven’t had an ace its what the team needs and also if it doesn’t work out they still make money so whats the matter. Ownership rather put in 100 million in their bank account then 80 million.
Winning 100 means that a good team is on the field and you get to watch a good team play good baseball. Its better than watching them sign Jacoby, McCann, and Beltran and missing the playoffs you goof
Agree
Well said Begamin. People have been revising history regarding the GMS Era. It was Gabe Paul who built the 1977-1978 Champs, then after Paul left it was GMS with a different GM almost every year demanding the team constantly sign all stars. RESULT: the Yankees had the best record in baseball during the 1980s and NOTHING to show for it. Then it was Gene Michael (while GMS was suspended from baseball activities) who built the 1996-2000 Champs, and GMS who repeated the same mistakes in the succeeding years.
Then the Yankees bulked up with high-priced free agents for the new stadium in 2009, but paid dearly for it for the next 6 years until all those bad contracts were finished.
Cashman has made a few bad moves over the years too, but overall he has developed into a pretty savvy & smart GM. I have confidence he will make some interesting moves this winter.
* Only 92 days to pitchers & catchers!
The Yankees don’t have as much money to spend as they did under George because they’re paying that big mortgage for the new stadium and will be for awhile.
Didn’t they also just purchase the YES Network back as well?
The Yankees have plenty of money. They may not want to spend it but they certainly have it.
@AllRiseForTheJudge
This bromance with GS has to stop. He won 2 WS in the 70s but from 1982-1993 the Yanks were an absolute mess. Not one playoff appearance and several seasons where they were below .500. Meanwhile wasting money on bad vets past their prime. The daddy GS way of doing things didn’t work and we have to stop yearning for those days.
^^^^this
But remember no wildcards in that era you mentioned 82-93. Plus the most wins in the 80’s. A lot harder to make the playoffs then.
I believe the Yankees will be in the World Series next year.
It really sucks having a team coming off back to back 100 win seasons stacked with young talent at every position.
It’s the worst thing ever.
As a sox fan, I on the other hand like what Hal has done.
That says it all when your rivals love what your FO does!
The George Steinbrenner method of throwing money at the problem doesn’t work anymore and the reason why the Yankees are where they are these days is by avoiding the types of deals George was known for. Signing old FAs to long term deals hurts the farm by losing draft picks and international bonus pool money and ties up future money needed to extend homegrown talent in aging players who are not worth what they are being paid later in the contract.
The 96-00 Yankees won and were sustainable because they drafted well and signed veterans role players that weren’t stars (or who were stars, but were on the downside of their careers) to fill necessary roles.
Throwing money at the problem or emptying the farm may have short term gains, but it will eventually lead to years of terrible teams and bloated payrolls. Winning the WS is in large part luck. The Nationals had a losing record in May and wound up winning..
Agreed. I’d rather the team be constructed where they’re always competitive every year than have a super team for two. With the latter, it will eventually get to a point where saddling aging players will keep the team mediocre for a long stretch.
George did own the team throughout that whole 80s and early 90s drought. Just saying…
I picked Cole going to the Yankees.
Also picked Cole topping $250 Mil.
My offer would be 6-years, $195 million. Then I’d shake his hand and walk away. Price may have received $217 million, but he certainly is not providing that value in performance. Cole won’t, either. Especially in years 7 & 8, if some sucker owner is dumb enough to go there.
I agree, 6/195 is 32.5 mill per year. I would do that and if he is productive in year 6 and has a strong war (whatever the hell that is) and has over 180 innings pitched he can open a 7th year option and the same for an 8th year option in the 7th year but he has to earn those 2 years. otherwise 6/195 is my best offer and I can’t see any team going much higher then that in this market.
Then you won’t get Gerrit Cole
I think it’s worth it to give him the extra year or two knowing it won’t be a great contract at the end. If he pitches great for 5 yrs and gets you a ring or two you deal with it in years 6 and 7 and hope he can turn into a sabathia or Grienke… learn to pitch differently when the velocity drops. Won’t be the number 1 guy those years or be worth the salary at the back end of the contract but still serviceable and hopefully worth it for the front end of the contract. The Yankees can afford it. I’m sure somewhat similar to the nats and Corbin. He might not be great in year 6 but he helped them get a ring this year…
I hope the Yanks get one or both of Cole and Strasburg.
The rotation needs that big ace.
I’m ok with letting DiDi walk if he gets a big offer. Torres and DJ up the middle is fine.
Gardy should b back as the LF/4th OFer.
Really want to c Betances back as well.
I would like to c them move Frazier and Happ. And possibly Voit to get a Vet 1B. Maybe Todd Frazier back to play 1B. And a young CF to fill in till Hicks gets back and then operate as the 4/5th OF once Hicks comes back. And shuffle Judge and Stanton at the DH slot.
The roster is set everywhere but at SP1, 1B and CF (to start the year with Hicks hurt).
With Andujar coming back, maybe Gio could b flipped after his solid year as well for a true utility IFer. Or Andujar gets moved to 1st.
@dust44
Why would you trade your cheap and controllable 1b who showed 2018 wasn’t a fluke and had a .842 OPS for a soon to be 34 yo Frazier who;s showing signs of decline? And why trade Gio for a “real utility” player? With the Yanks being mindful of the lux tax it would make no sense to trade a pre arb player like Voit who you can have for another 4 years? Just hope you can ride out his prime seasons and let him walk afterwards?
Voit cratered last year.
I don’t think we should trade Voit and I don’t think he cratered. I think he played injured and required surgery, likely in party because it was his first full year in the majors as an older player for that situation and it doesn’t surprise me he got injured, but it would surprise me if he repeated the performance next season. I could see him staying healthy, appearing in 120+ games and have a .335 OBP with 25 HR’s/75 RBI’s, minimum.
Voit didn’t crater last year. He haf an injury that he tried to play through.
Agree the injury impacted him. He tried to become a pull hitter when his success came from hitting from gap to gap. That said, with Andujar back and an awful glove at 3rd, I fully expect him to compete with Voit and Ford for 1st base. Gio’s glove is just too good at 3rd to not roll with him. And by the way, the guy did hit .315 with over 20 homers.
@SuperSinker
Voit was injured last year and his play suffered. That was pretty obvious. But sill, his numbers as a Yankee have been nothing short of fantastic, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that his worst months were right before he went on the IL and right after he came off and then went back on the IL.
Overall, a .280/.384/517 slash with a .901 OPS and 40 homers in 686 AB and a BB rate of around 12% is great. Add to the fact that he has 5 years of control left doesn’t scream like a player that we should get rid of, especially for Todd Frazier. That’s insane. Especially since the Yanks need to find ways to offset the larger contracts they’ll have.
I am a Yankee fan and I do not want Cole. Great pitcher and great future, just too expensive. Actually, the Yankees can afford him but they do like every team and act like the luxury taxes are prohibitive, they are not. However, I would rather have the money spread out over other areas. So many teams are so horrible, Yankees can win 100 games next year without signing anyone. It’s true.
And never win again then too
Regular season wins mean nothing to the Yankees and their fans. Spending the money on Cole greatly increases the chances of winning the World Series and that should be the goal here
I agree I’d rather them sign Wheeler. I think it’ll be a more cost effective signing, the years will be fewer, the productivity will be comparable enough, the Yankees will save $5-10M per season and Wheeler won’t get those extra years, probably, so his contract would expire without sunk cost in the last 1-3 years.
@TrillionaireTeamOperator
Yanks should go after Wheeler but he isn’t an ace. Cole is and they need to make him a priority. I don’t think the Yanks NEED 2 new pitchers but with Tanaka, Paxton and Happ walking as a FA it would be smart.
Cole/Severino/Paxton/Wheeler/German/Tanaka with Montgomery in AAA and Happ they can try and dump and eat his salary.
I think they should try for one of Stras or Cole, let Wheeler sign elsewhere. They still have Monty on the wings and Garcia approaching the bigs soon.
Cole or Stras/Sevy/Paxton/German/Monty or Garcia. I wouldnt be too opposed to them maybe grabbing J. Gray or J. Tehran to be their 4th/5th starter if it doesnt coat them much. But i am not on the Wheeler hype train at all. Pitches in a pitcher friendly park in the NL and still manages to post very concerning numbers. Inconsistent, injury prone player. One year he is solid and the next he gives up 5 earned runs on average. He does have a high strikeout rate though…
Yanks need to go hard after Cole. He really is the one FA that can solve the Yanks biggest problems. I’d offer him 6/$240 with 2 team options at $20 per.. That takes the possible total sum at 8/$280 mil. I dare Boras to say no to that.
That’s allot of money and I can’t see any team giving that much per to a pitcher! I don’t see it. 6/200 with options is max.
@billysbballz
Be realistic. No way is Cole signing for less aav or less total dollars than Greinke or Price.
Agree he’s reached that level…. yanks have to take the risk now. Great SP isn’t great
The Yankees are a great organization but they seem to not know when to gamble on what players…They are practically sound and flush with financial resources, so they do well, but their brain trust lacks the genius or luck to know that the makeup of a Verlander is far more valuable than the cheap contract and solid numbers of a Sonny Gray. Or that pitching should always trump everything, when you have a strong offense and no face, so gamble on Cole and give up Andujar and Frazier.The Yanks are solid but they draw up their purse strings at the wrong time and trade for the wrong player at that key get over the top moment. Very good team, but bad luck and/or lack of gamblers blood has kept them from being the Astros, Red Sox, and Nationals. Patrick Corbin, as well.
Will they get Cole, I hope so…as a fan i would love to see them also acquire Strausberg as well…but let’s see what happens.
Boras is not letting anyone sign before February so let’s starting looking at the 2nd and 3rd tier FA and where they bay end up,
I’m not trying to be a hater by any stretch because clearly he’s talented. I just have questions committing that much money to a player after leaving the Astros. He’s always had the talent, but Houston’s analytical and coaching staffs clearly helped him unlock a few levels of his stuff. It’ll be interesting to see where how he’ll preform once all the variables around him change.
well the pitching coach the yanks just hired is supposed to be that kind of guy, what says you?
I say I’m glad I’m not the one in charge of spending over $200 million of my boss’s money on one player. 🙂
I don’t know why you all want Cole He’s not the answer The game is different now not spending like GS use too look how Cashmen built this team if he did it GS way There would be no Next Man Up and Boston and The Rays would be ruling the Division with the Jays in 3rd for years we need to play the same game be smart save money build up the minor-league system so you can make trades at the trading deadline in the winter off-season and get players that are young keep the team young at low-cost we will win many World Series championships that way it’s a Different Game Now SDSU’s stay the course !!!!!!
Alternatively, there’s nothing stopping the Yankees from doing both of these things. They can spend a ton of money and still be innovative, like the Dodgers.
I would be shocked if they get Cole or Strasburg.
If they get SP it will be by trading for it.
Feel like Yankees will do like they did with Cano and Machado. Make an offer that’s way lower than what the FA is expecting and say they “tried”. Cole goes to LAD and Strasburg goes to SD, IMO.
Cano’s deal was terrible and Machado isn’t of to a good start.
You’re probably right and history shows that they will probably be better of in the long term.
@angt222
Yanks made a very good offer to Cano but Seattle simply blew all interested parties out the water, Cano was my favorite players but no way was he worth 10/$240 mil and the evidence agrees. Manny they were never interested in.
This off season has so many question marks it will be interesting to see how it plays out. The could resign Gardner (likely) and put him in CF with Tauchman as the back up plan with Frazier. However Frazier could be dealt. What to do with Miggy? Do you sell low and trade him or hope he can learn 1st base? Bird is a lock DFA. Any chance at all the Yankees can convince Stanton to accept a trade to California? Doubt it….Will be a fun off season. Buckle up.
Gardner resigns
Frazier and Miggy both trade for SP
Bird gone.
Stanton unfortunately goes nowhere
Ride over
lol
Oh!
No Cole or Strasburg
WHAT CASHMAN and Hal(FOOD STAMPS) STEINBRENNER NEEDS TO DO AT THE GM MEETING
First and Foremost, sign an Ace and that Ace is Steven Strasburg, He’s less expensive than Garret Cole, and He has already had Tommy John Surgery,
Cole has not, but I’m betting that He will as He throws very hard and that’s an understatement’
Second, Sign Dallas Keuchel,
With the short Righfield and Leftfield( slightly deeper) porches we need a ground ball specialist
and trade for Francisco Lindor and Play Gleyber Torres at short , his natural,position
If perchance they do resign Sir DiDi,( as I reccomend) as is a most awesome clubhouse presence with a cannon like throwing arm, a left handed bat and a great defender,
and play him at third,
give the Indians LukeVoight and prospects and if necessary Gio Urshella and play JD lemahieu at first as that guy can play just about anywhere,
The Phoenix has Spoken
Does the phoenix realize that Strasburg has much more of an injury history than Cole?
And if they trade for Lindor he’d be the shortstop.
What’s the payroll come to at the end of Phoenix’s recommendations?
I have a feeling the Yanks won’t get any top SP again. Dream offseason would be 2 of Cole/Strasburg/Wheeler and bringing back Betances. I see Betances signing the rest I’m not too confident in
Oh Yeah ,and acquire Freddie Galvis as insurance
1 Brett Gardner
2 CC
3 Happ
3 mistakes last year
This year
1 Brett Gardner again – Yes he’s a mistake cannot hit in the playoffs and had a great year on a juiced ball.
2 Greg Bird fighting for a spot at 1b will be another mistake. They just can’t get away.
3 And just another 8-8 BUM SP they will land.
uhmm none of the yanks hit in the playoffs and gardner is still a plus defender. stupid comment.
Never have understood the fascination some people seem to have had with a lifetime 260 hitter with a 743 OPS and who outside of a couple of years 9 years ago has limited speed\always seemed to lack base stealing skills and instincts. Yes he is an excellent defensive LF’er, but offensively he is nothing special and despite what some want to believe, was never very good as a lead off man in the true sense, not getting on base at an extremely high clip. He has a good year with a juiced baseball and all of a sudden everyone thinks he really is a 28 Hr guy (he hit 12 in 2018). On the cheap, he is certainly worth bringing back as a 4th OF type, but really there is no major justification for giving him a starting job over Tauchman at this point and attitude notwhithstanding, there probably is no reason to be starting him over Frazier in LF either imo.