The Yankees announced that they have exercised the 2013 options for right-hander David Aardsma, second baseman Robinson Cano and outfielder Curtis Granderson.
Cano, 30, will earn $15MM next season. He hit .313/.379/.550 with a career-high 33 homers this season, his third straight year of MVP-caliber performance. Cano is due to become a free agent after next season and we recently heard that agent Scott Boras is seeking a ten-year contract at "top-of-the-market dollars" for the second baseman.
Granderson, 31, will also earn $15MM next year after triggering escalator clauses in his contract with last season's fourth place finish in the MVP voting. He hit .232/.319/.492 with 43 homers in 2012, his second consecutive season with 40+ dingers. GM Brian Cashman recently said he won't trade the outfielder in a reactionary move following his poor postseason showing.
The Yankees signed Aardsma to a one-year contract last offseason with an eye on 2013 since the right-hander was coming off Tommy John surgery. The 30-year-old threw just one inning in September after spending the summer rehabbing. Aardsma will make just $500K next season, with more available in incentives.
Surprised they exercised cano after the playoffs. It’s clear he’s of no value now!
Had Cano been let go, he would have been the premier free agent on the block.
As for Aardsma, the only way he could have had his contract option declined is if he had regressed in recovery.
lol…yours must be broken!
Good work.
Dont worry Cashy always has a plan probably trying to spin him to San fran for Crawford and Blanco, and then sign scutaro to replace him. Blanco goes to rf, crawford takes ss position. YAY
Nothing wrong with trading for WINNERS!
To think after that trade they are a cool nicknamed player away from being winners!
Yeah, I would see if he could be traded to Toronto for say… Aviles, maybe.
See you got a point here, aviles can play multiple positions, can even net a new manager. I think you are on the right track here, go with versatility!
Brilliant minds tend to think alike.
You think AA is that much of a doohfus to trade his starting SS/2b for someone the **media** says is washed up? 🙁
Serious.. I like them bringing back Aardsma, it also means adios to Soriano and Rivera will be back.. You watch..
Farrell couldn’t do ANYTHING with Aardsma when he was in Boston, in fact when he was with them I used to joke here that Farrell had a path worn out between the dugout and the mound, cause everytime Aardsma pitched, Farrell would come out, take his hat off and scratch his head.. It was like clockwork and then Aardsma goes to Seattle and his splitter starts becoming a strike to go along with his 95-98mphFB…
I wonder how many ppl will take this post seriously
So far…2. Im pleased with my work
Yankee fans… sigh
Just as bad as those Red Sox fans!
hope they trade Cano and Granderson. Grandy I’m simply tired of. I like the fact that he hits those 40 hrs and drives in 100. But he is a strikeout machine, takes terrible approaches to balls, and doesn’t steal as many bases as he should. Cano is by far the best 2nd baseman in the league, and might be one of the greatest we see in history when it’s all said and done. I don’t question his postseason prowess (he was the Yanks best hitter the previous 2). however, he has become pull happy, and annoys me with his nonchalant play. And no I’m not saying this because he “makes the game look easy”. It just looks bad when we have 58 year old Raul Ibanez busting down the line harder than him every play, and lets balls that can be knocked down trickle through because he doesnt want to dive. The Yankees dont need another 10 year contract, do you see anyone on the Giants or Cards that has one? Either keep him, try to make a run and then let him walk and collect the picks. Or trade him for some cost-efficient, almost major league ready prospects (preferably a corner outfielder) and replace him with Corban Joseph/ David Adams. I just want the Yanks to shed payroll and get younger. I don’t care if that means they get worse for a year or two, because the fact is they’re not going anywhere with this team. They had their miracle run in 2009… it’s not happening again.
Ya it would have taken a miracle for the team with the best offense ans similar pitching to det and san fran could possibly win.
similar pitching to San fran and detroit? We had a 3 man rotation where CC pitched his ass off, and Pettite gave a solid 2-3 run performance. Burnett was a toss up. San Fran used a 5 man rotation in the NLCS. And our offense relies on hitting the HR, cant hit a HR cant win. One of the most unclutch teams I’ve ever seen in my life. They got big HRS from Arod and Matsui that 2009 run, Matsui isn’t there to provide the big hit anymore, and Arod, well, good luck with that.
First off i was obviosly talking about this year, secondly theres nothing wrong with having 3 starters in the postseason it’s not zito is a star. Not to mention arod has done very well in the postseason in his career the idea of clutch amuses me.
You can deny the “idea of clutch” all you want but if you actually played a team sport you would realize that “clutch” does exist. I really don’t see how you can deny it.
Well it isnt the existence that amuses it’s absolute failure to determine who is and isnt clutch. For one thing Arod isnt despite doing better in the postseason than Jeter. People say it’s not about stats it’s about what they see. They only problem is that people have much difficulty remembering what they see. That’s how Jeter became mr november after his dreadful 01 WS, and how players like Eckstein, and Renteria get praised for being something they’re not. Scutaro struggles in the WS and in his postseason career chances are that will be forgotten. It i were to ask you to give me a list of clutch baseball players how would you tell me who they are?
Completely agree! It can be hard to judge because clutch situations are generally small sample sizes. But that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.
Besides if i was talking about 09 they had better pitching than the angels and phillies, and the twins. SO either way you’d be wrong.
Similar pitching to San Fran? We has 3 man rotation, only 2 of those guys were reliable. And our offense got big hits then. Most of them from Matsui and miraculously Arod who got us to the WS. Our offense cant get a big hit if their life depended on it. One of the worst teams in RISP I’ve ever seen. Relied on the HR, couldn’t get one, and got sent home packing.
What do you know? One of those MVP escalator clauses actually kicked in.
At this point Grandy and Cano should def. be moved. If you package Grandy and either Hughes or Nova with maybe one prospect that should get you AT LEAST Chase Headley. Cano can bring back a front of the rotation pitcher as well as a position player. The Yankees can live with Nix at second. They hit far too many homeruns and strike out just as much. Cano doesn’t understand how to hustle and bust it down the line. Too many times he rips a pitch and jogs into second when if he had been running hard he’d have been on third. Grandy swings at pitches that are down the street because he has as much plate discipline as an 8 year old playing little league. To look at the team further they should find a team who is willing to take Arod and pay half of what they owe him. And if Arod and his diva attitude start tell him you either take the trade or you sit on the bench for the rest of your life because you just aren’t what you used to be and you need to understand that. Gardner can go because while he’s as fast as the flash, he can’t hit a cut off man without bouncing the ball about 4 times and he doesn’t understand how to steal second without giving it away. Swisher gets upset because he can’t hit in the playoffs so they should just let him go. And Martin can’t hit his weight so who needs him? if they were smart they would try to trade for JP Arrencibia. And if it takes a few years for the Yankees to be good again so be it. I survived the 80’s and early 90’s. It might even improve the quality of fan that go to games. The crowds now aren’t the true fan. They don’t cheer for the team when they should. They are too busy talking because it’s mostly businessmen. We as Yankees fans have been spoiled for the last 17 years. A few years out of the playoffs and a few rebuilding moves and the Yankees could be back on top where they should be. Or they can continue the course they are on now and always be eliminated in the DS or CS.
9 teams k’d lessthan the yankees 3 of those were the royals, twins and indians. But looking at facts isnt as fun as writing essays apparently.
So you dont like the yankees way of hitting hrs and getting on base so you’d rather go with JP and just hr?
“doesn’t understand how to steal second without giving it away.” What does this even mean Gardner staeals at 80 percent clip.
Granderson, Nova and a prospect for Headley? You must be smoking. I would do Cano for Felix tough. I would also try to get M. Napoli, and hire Paul O’neill has hitting coach.
While you’re at it why not trade A-rod for trout???
While I agree that they should move Granderson and A-rod, while letting Swisher and Matrin Walk, it isnt that easy.
Granderson does have value, just because you think he should be hitting .300 and stealing 30 bases and he doesn’t, does not mean he does not have value. He still gets on base a a good clip, does steal some bases, and plays decent enough defense, and 40 hrs from your center fielder is great value to just about every team. And who cares about his strike outs, what the difference between a strikeout, a ground out, a fly out, or a line out? NOTHING! an out is an out is an out. The thing with Granderson is that no one is going to give up a top prospect for him, and thats not because of his value its because the know the yankees will be looking to move his salary. An example of a good trade for both teams would be Granderson, and 5million to the Whitesox for De Aza. Granderson comes homes, his power shouldnt drop moving to the cell, and he gets to play for his home town. De Aza should continue to play very well and his power might raise in NY, play him at either CF or LF with Gardner going to CF, Deaza and Gardner as 1-2 thats pretty good.
A-rod will only be traded if the yankees eat a minimum 75% of his remaining deal. Its insane that you think a team would take him and pay half of his deal. Yes he still has value, his name alone will draw people, he could bounce back very well but there is no way a team pays 50-60 million for arod. Plus he would have to be moved to a contender, and a contender who has room at DH now or will in about 2 years. Most contenders already have good 3rd basemen, and there is no way A-rod also commits to DH full time, and oh yeah he has a Full not trade clause. My guess is he goes no where, and has a solid 2-3 WAR season next year. Honestly though I would love for the whitesox to trade for him, we have nothing to speak of at 3rd in our system and DH will open up full time next season(konerkos deal is done and dunn can play rotate between 1st and DH)
Swisher is one of the most over rated players in baseball, he has a great personality yes, but he is very very streaky. He inst a good defender in the outfield and his bat does not play well enough at 1st. I like him but I like him for about 4-5 million a season as a left fielder. The yankees need to let him and his tendency to swing at strike 1 and watch strike 3, walk.
Martin could walk but will more than likely come back on the cheap, he is a solid defensive C and has some pop. honestly any offense out of catchers is a luxury. They could try to trade for JPA but I doubt the Jays are ready just yet to move him. AJ Pierzynski will be avaiable, and on a 1-2 year deal would be a nice fit, he could sustain his power in that stadium but nothing more than 2 years.
Let’s examine how many things are questionable in that.
First, you’re selling low on Grandy and Hughes/Nova, and buying high on Headley. The price would probably be steeper considering years of control and salary, plus Padres’ needs.
Second, have you ever checked Nix’s career stats? There’s a reason that he never became a starter on the four teams he played for before he came to New York.
Third, while it is painful to watch Granderson at the plate, he’s still better than half the CFs out there.
Fourth, if the Yanks could trade A-Rod and getting any tangible return, you don’t think they’d jump on the chance? Other teams know that A-Rod is declining too.
Fifth, Gardner has double digits in assists each year and has an accurate arm. He also steals 40 bases a year, which I suppose means 30+ occasions of catchers feeling sorry for his obvious intention and gave him a free base out of pity.
Sixth, you are aware that Arencibia doesn’t hit much better than his weight, and would probably cost a lot more through an inter-division trade?
They do have problems but those solutions aren’t going to fix them. Good start though.
What team would you like? Clearly it’s not the Yankees, since you’d like to get rid of Gardner, Granderson, Swisher, Rodriguez, Martin, Cano, Hughes, and Nova.
10 year contract for Cano? Could you imagine Cano at 40 years of age, trying to play 2B and getting paid 20+ Million? I know by that time, he could be a DH, but how many secondbaseman become DHs?
Im excited to see what a healthy David Aardsma is capable of doing out of the Yankees bullpen. They also have a stable arm coming up through the minors named Mark Montgomery who I believe deserves a shot and will prove his worth in 2013. Three completely necessary moves that the Yankees needed to make. I am very pleased they did this. Granderson strikes out a ton but his power and center field defense is still valuable.
So am i but they still need to get Mo back. Montgomery is really impressing me in AFL, and he’s not the only relief option they have down there. I’m also excited to see if Cabral sticks.
Given the decline in A-Rod’s abilities (though he’s still good) I have a feeling there aren’t too many teams out there that are going to give a 30-year-old a 10-year deal. It just doesn’t make sense.
Hoping the Yankees use this opportunity to trade Granderson for a quality bundle of prospects or a top-tier starter.
So you don’t buy into New York Daily News Granderson for Ruf then huh? That was a joke and I don’t understand how he still has ajob after that article.
Now trade grandy, eat a few million and get some prospects back. Package them with zolio, Austin Nunez and Nova/Hughes for Jupton. Resign Ichiro and platoon him with Ludwick. You have the best defensive outfield in the league with Ichiro-Gardner-Upton.
Only thing left is to try and get jaso from the mariners or go out and get shoppach. Other than that, this team doesn’t need much else.
As a mets fan i’ll trade you Jason bay straight up for Cano…hahahahaha a man can dream right?
Bad move on Cano and Granderson with Marco Scutaro and Kosuke Fukudome available.