Given their impressive contingent of young talent, the retooling Yankees likely could have put together a package to acquire ace Chris Sale, who’s now with archrival Boston after the rebuilding White Sox traded him for a prospect haul last month. Noting that “all of a sudden, you’re tearing down when you start to build up,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman unsurprisingly expressed an unwillingness to give up potential superstar catcher Gary Sanchez for Sale (via Randy Miller of NJ.com). Regarding auxiliary pieces, Cashman said, “Is it (a touted pitching prospect such as James) Kaprielian or Chance Adams or Justus Sheffield? It would probably be (Luis) Severino right now. So those are the two primers just to get the ball rolling with the other two players yet to be named to try to match up for Sale.”
Yankees Rumors
Yankees Talked Multi-Year Deal With Dellin Betances
- The Yankees discussed a multi-year deal with Dellin Betances, GM Brian Cashman tells Dan Martin of the New York Post. The two sides didn’t reach an agreement prior to the arbitration deadline, however, and thus they will go to an arbitration hearing to determine Betances’ 2017 salary. “Based on all of our discussions, it was clear our different perspectives were at such a wide bridge, that we’ll go out and basically have a polite discussion about market value and history of where the marketplace sits versus attempts for a new market creation,” Cashman said. The Yankees filed for $3MM while Betances filed for $5MM in his first year of arbitration eligibility, a number the reliever feels is justified, he told the Post’s George A. King III. “What I’ve done for the first three years for the team, we’re asking for a fair number and I just want to be treated fairly. That’s all I ask, to be honest with you,” Betances said.
Yankees Intend To Go To Hearing With Dellin Betances
The Yankees will go to an arbitration hearing with right-hander Dellin Betances, general manager Brian Cashman tells MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (Twitter link). Betances filed for a $5MM salary in arbitration, while the Yankees countered at $3MM, so there’s a sizable gap between the two sides. In addition to the immediate $2MM that’s at stake, a $5MM salary in 2017 would give Betances a considerably larger platform for future salaries in the arbitration process. Betances is one of 23 unresolved arbitration cases left in baseball — all of which can be monitored using MLBTR’s 2017 Arbitration Tracker.
Yankees Agree To Minor League Deal With Ji-Man Choi
The Yankees have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent first baseman/outfielder Ji-Man Choi, his agency in Korea told Jee-ho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency (h/t: Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net, on Twitter). Choi will be invited to Major League Spring Training and will compete for a roster spot. If he makes the big league club, he’ll earn a $700K base salary.
Choi’s representatives tell Yoo that he also received offers from 10 clubs, including the Brewers, Reds and Cardinals, but elected to sign with the Yankees, who had showed interest in Choi last offseason. Mark Teixeira’s retirement and the ability to compete for at-bats at first base factored into the decision, Yoo writes. As it stands, the Yankees have Greg Bird and Tyler Austin slated to compete for playing time in Teixeira’s absence.
Choi, 26 in May, spent the 2016 campaign in the Angels organization and struggled in his Major League debut, hitting .170/.271/.339 with five home runs in 129 plate appearances. He was designated for assignment when the Angels inked Ben Revere to a one-year contract. Rather than accepting his assignment, Choi opted to elect free agency.
Despite his lackluster bottom-line production in the Majors, Choi did walk in more than 12 percent of his plate appearances while showing respectable pop, and his 21 percent strikeout rate wasn’t outlandishly high. He’ll bring to the Yankees a lifetime .304/.399/.446 batting line and 13 home runs in 627 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He may have a hard time beating out Bird and Austin, both of whom are already on the 40-man roster, but the Yankees could theoretically give Choi a bench job and send one of Bird or Austin to the minors to get everyday at-bats early in the season in the event that one of the two struggles in Spring Training.
Bird missed the entire 2016 season due to a shoulder injury that required surgery. Austin, meanwhile, batted .294/.392/.524 with 17 homers between Double-A and Triple-A before making his MLB debut last year. In 90 PAs with the Yankees, he hit .241/.300/.458 with five homers. Both players have minor league options remaining.
C.C. Sabathia Not Thinking Retirement
Interest remains strong in White Sox left-hander Jose Quintana, writes CBS Chicago’s Bruce Levine, who reports that teams have sweetened their trade proposals for the 27-year-old over the past week. While the Astros, Pirates and Yankees have been connected to Quintana more than anyone else this offseason, there are also other clubs in the mix, sources told Levine, who adds that the White Sox could strike a deal to move him soon. Chicago isn’t in any hurry to give up Quintana, but Levine expects it to happen prior to spring training.
- Yankees southpaw C.C. Sabathia will turn 37 in 2017, the last year of his contract, but retirement isn’t on his mind. Regarding the end of the long Yankee tenures of Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira last season, Sabathia told Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record, “If anything, it made me want to play as long as I can. As long as I’m healthy and feeling good, I want to play.’’ While Sabathia is no longer the front-line starter he was earlier in his career, he did bounce back last season from a couple subpar years in a row. In 179 2/3 innings, he logged a 3.91 ERA, 7.61 K/9, 3.26 BB/9 and 50.1 percent ground-ball rate. That impressed general manager Brian Cashman, who said, “It’s a big year for him. It’s his free-agent walk year. And I’ll sign up right now to get what we got out of him last year. He was very effective.’’ Cashman also stated that Sabathia’s “expectations and hopes are to pitch for another four or five years or something like that.”
Yankees To Attend Craig Breslow Showcase
- Also from Gammons, he reports that the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers and Red Sox will be among the 12-20 teams watching Craig Breslow’s showcase on January 23. Breslow has adopted new pitch-tracking technology in order to reinvent his throwing habits, with input from training partner Rich Hill (who revived his career in spectacular fashion).
[SOURCE LINK]
Yankees Avoid Arb With Gregorius, Hicks, Warren, Layne, Romine
- Righty Adam Warren will get $2.29MM from the Yankees, per Baseball America’s Josh Norris (via Twitter). That’s just a shade under his $2.3MM projection. New York also announced deals with shortstop outfielder Aaron Hicks and lefty Tommy Layne, among other players whose arrangements were previously reported. Layne receives $1.075MM, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (via Twitter).
- Austin Romine and the Yankees settled at $805K for the 2017 season, Heyman tweets, which is $95K less than the $900K projection. He’ll be their primary backup catcher and is controllable through 2019.
- The Yankees and Didi Gregorius agreed to a $5.1MM salary that is an exact match with Swartz’s projection, tweets Heyman. The 2016 season was Gregorius’ best at the big league level, as he hit .276/.304/.447 with a career-high 20 homers. He lands a nice raise over last year’s $2.425MM salary and can be controlled through 2019 via arbitration.
2017 Arbitration Filing Numbers
MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker is the place to go to see the arbitration contracts agreed upon thus far, as well as the figures exchanged between teams and players that were not able to reach agreement before today’s deadline to swap salary positions. Matt Swartz’s arbitration projections are available here.
After a busy day of dealmaking, 152 players (at last check) have reached agreement on arbitration salaries for the coming season. But 36 other tendered players have yet to reach reported agreements with their clubs. Of course, those players can still settle before their hearings (which will take place in early to mid-February). If the case goes to a hearing, the arbitrator must choose one side’s figures, rather than settling on a midpoint.
We’ve gathered the highest-stakes arbitration situations remaining — those where the player files for at least $4.5MM — in this post, but you can find them all in the tracker. We’ll update this list as the figures are reported:
- Danny Duffy, Royals: $8MM versus $7.25MM (Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star, via Twitter)
- Tony Watson, Pirates: $6MM versus $5.6MM (Jon Heyman of Fan Rag, via Twitter)
- Pedro Strop, Cubs: $6MM versus $4.6MM (Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune, via Twitter)
- Drew Pomeranz, Red Sox: $5.7MM versus $3.6MM (Heyman, via Twitter)
- Kelvin Herrera, Royals: $5.6MM versus $5.05MM (Heyman, via Twitter)
- Shelby Miller, Diamondbacks: $5.1MM versus $4.7MM (Heyman, via Twitter)
- Khris Davis, Athletics: $5MM versus $4.65MM (Heyman, via Twitter)
- Dellin Betances, Yankees: $5MM versus $3MM (Heyman, via Twitter)
Yankees Avoid Arbitration With Michael Pineda
The Yankees have avoided arbitration with righty Michael Pineda, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). He’ll receive $7.4MM in the deal, which is $400K shy of MLBTR’s projection.
Pineda, who’ll soon turn 28, earned a solid raise over his $4.3MM salary from 2015 despite an unsightly 4.82 ERA and just six wins. He did log 175 2/3 innings and struck out 207 batters on the year (against just 53 walks), which no doubt aided his cause.
This is Pineda’s final season of club control before he reaches the open market. His K/BB tallies remain impressive, but Pineda has been hurt by surrendering a lofty BABIP (.339) and too many home runs (1.4 per nine innings).
Cashman: No Extension Talks With Tanaka, No Active Trade Talks Regarding Gardner, Headley
- There’s been no talk of a new contract between the Yankees and Masahiro Tanaka, general manager Brian Cashman tells Mike Mazzeo of the New York Daily News. Tanaka is, of course, technically under contract with the Yankees for another four years, but he also has an opt-out clause in his contract following the 2017 season, which will allow him to re-enter the free agent market if he performs well. “We have a significant contract with Masahiro Tanaka,” said Cashman. “…I think he pitched like a Cy Young award candidate last year, and I certainly hope he does so again this year. But at this point we’ve had no discussions internally to pursue any kind of extension.” Tanaka is just one of three Yankees starters that is set to hit free agency next winter, as lefty CC Sabathia and righty Michael Pineda will also see their contracts expire.
- Mazzeo adds that Cashman said he’s “not in active trade talks at all” regarding veteran Yankees like Brett Gardner, Chase Headley or any of his position players. That comes as little surprise, as Cashman has quite recently suggested that the roster, as currently constructed, is the likely roster that the team will take into Spring Training. While both seemed like on-paper trade candidates entering the offseason, neither Gardner nor Headley ever surfaced all that much on the rumor circuit.
