Both the Yankees and Mets are interested in free agent shortstop Stephen Drew, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The possibility of Drew going to either New York squad as a free agent was a prolonged saga that never came to fruition last offseason (though Drew did eventually end up a Yankee via trade). However, as Sherman points out, it could be different this time around, as Drew may have to settle for a one-year deal. (I’d personally wager that Drew can top the $4MM guarantee suggested by Sherman, but I agree with his point in a general sense.) Both teams are in the process of trying to determine whether his 2014 swoon was due to a late start to the season or if it was the beginning of a stark decline in his offensive skills.
Here’s more on the Mets and Yankees…
- Also within Sherman’s piece, he notes that neither team is currently interested in Japanese shortstop Takashi Toritani. The 33-year-old Toritani recently hired Scott Boras as his agent and is said to be weighing a jump to the Major Leagues, but only if it means regular playing time. An absolute iron man in 11 seasons with Japan’s Hanshin Tigers, Toritani hasn’t missed a single inning at shortstop over the past 10 seasons (1,444 games), hitting .285/.372/.412 in that time.
- Mets prospect Matt Reynolds spoke with Adam Rubin of ESPN New York about the strides he’s made on both ends of the game in the past year. The shortstop said he felt playing at Triple-A Las Vegas helped improve his defense immensely, because the infield is so fast there. “Vegas’ infield is one of the fastest infields I’ve ever played on,” said Reynolds. “…You’re playing in the middle of the summer with 115-degree weather and the infield is rock solid. …it taught me to get ready early and to use my hands.” GM Sandy Alderson said Reynolds will return to Vegas to open next season.
- Yankees GM Brian Cashman said that his top priority is finding a starting shortstop, writes NJ.com’s Brendan Kuty. Cashman adds that he feels the Yankees’ payroll will be “high” and “impressive” this year, stating that ownership has always had an “impressive commitment” to the fanbase and he hopes to use that support to improve the roster.
- In a second piece from Kuty, Cashman talks about the trade of Francisco Cervelli for Justin Wilson. Surprisingly, Cashman notes that he discussed this exact swap with Pirates GM Neal Huntington two years ago, but the sides didn’t follow through on the deal at that time. Cashman wouldn’t commit to John Ryan Murphy as the backup to Brian McCann just yet, mentioning Austin Romine’s name as well.
Dodgers could be looking for a ss if they don’t want Hanley back or Mets could use him since they need one bad
Stephen Drew did play 46 games for the Yankees last year so it did come to fruition for at least that NY team.
Touche. I was referring to their free agent ties to him and him ultimately signing with the Red Sox, but I suppose I should amend the wording there.
That’s just GM babble by Cashman, it’s not really a signifier saying they’re going to spend big. The payroll is already high and impressive.
The Yankees payroll use to be consistently above $200 million. Most other teams payrolls have increased in the meantime due to overall higher salaries in the league. It was reported earlier this week the Yankees could carry a $500 million dollar payroll, pay the luxury tax associated with it and still make a profit. The Yankees could go back to having a $200 million+ payroll is what I get from this.
Edit: Or this could be the Yankees saying forget about the luxury tax for now and maybe forever.
*It was reported that the Yankees could carry a $500 Million Dollars payroll INCLUDING the associated luxury taxes, not in addition to. This fits since they did generate 463 million in revenue in 2014. That being said do you really think Steinbrenner is going to pass up making a profit on the Yankees?
I heard during the late 90s during the Dynasty run the Yankees were breaking even. Although that was the dad, the sons seem to not care so much about profit. It seems Cashman is being the only responsible one fiscally speaking.
In 1999 the Yankees had an all time high payroll of 88.18 Million and generated 176 Million in revenue. They are the most valuable sports franchise in the US and have been for a long time!
Do you think the payroll is the only cost for a baseball team?
No but do you think payroll was less than half of their costs? To put this in better perspective, in 2014 the yankees spent 225 MM on player salaries. They made 246 MM in ticket sales alone. Then generated an additional 215 Million in non ticket related revenue. (all per Forbes) You really think they spent 236 million on non-player operating expenses?
Notice the ratio of 1/2 of revenue going to player salaries has stayed pretty constant for the Yankees over the last 15 years.
When you say payroll, that’s just on the field. It doesnt include payroll for the coaching staff, the front office, scouting, maintenance crews for the stadium, concession, etc. So the payroll for everyone, we can go further and say marketing staff and athletic health staff as well. That total figure might top $100 million. That’s just payroll, it doesn’t include property taxes and insurance on the stadium, spring training facilities and the list can go on.
Their payroll will probably be around 200 again, it’s not like they’re far off from it at the moment.
Well it may top their 2008 opening day payroll which was $208,081,577.
I see the yankees signing Hanley more and more now
John Ryan Murphy is probably the Yankees’ future catcher once McCann makes the eventual transfer to first base. Good for Murphy though, fun guy to watch play.
He’s the likely backup going into the season, but Romine has no options left, so that could be a factor. Even beyond Murphy, they have two other catchers with considerably higher ceilings as well.
Don’t think they let lettuce play. The question was always if he could hit, and he pretty much can’t. Wonder if they try resign him to a minor league deal after they cut him.
He looked like he was starting to come around at the end of ’13, but who knows. He could just be a slimmer jose molina, which still means somebody will want him.
That was only 46 PA where he was coming around, and that .448 babip was pretty unsustainable.
Talk about an awful signing. McCann will likely be one of (if not) the game’s worst 1B unless he finds his stroke again.
McCann was a great signing
lol
For him.
At the time, with the information available, McCann was a good fit for the team. He provided power in line with his recent career norms and added value to the team with his pitch-framing.
He’s got to get away from trying to pull everything, but he’s still a good catcher.
I hope you didn’t say that with a straight face. I’ve been a Cashman defender for years, but that has so far turned out to be a worse move than even I thought at the time. Now he’s made an even worse move giving Cervelli away for a mediocre reliever. It’s a sellers market for teams with catching depth and Cervelli could have been the cornerstone of a trade for a starting shortstop. He’s a starting catcher for at least half the teams in the majors.
Murphy will be the back-up this year, let’s wait on the overall evaluation. I don’t think the Yanks are quite ready to get rid of Sanchez yet. Romine is a AAA player.
Only 1,200 consecutive games to go and Toritani will be the Japaneses Cal Ripken
Cashman adds that he feels the Yankees’ payroll will be “high” and “impressive”
A team doesn’t have to be ‘highly’ paid or have an ‘impressive’ payroll to be good.
The Yankees have lost their way here, IMHO.
He’s stating a fact. He didn’t say that because they have are going to have a high payroll they are going to be good. This IS the Yankee way.
Having a high payroll is not the only path to success, but it is by far the most consistent.
In fact, the only reason why the strategy hasn’t been working as effectively the past few years is because mid-market teams all over baseball are capable of carrying payrolls well in excess of $100MM.
The ONLY thing Austin Romine has going in his favor over J.R. Murphy for the back up job is Romine is out of options. So he either makes the teams 25 man roster OR he goes bye bye.
Bye, Bye!
I like Cashman’s move for Wilson, he is a good lefty arm out of the pen, live arm! I would like to see the Yanks sign Headley, Drew, Gregerson, and Hammel or McCarthy.
As a long time New York resident (and Yankee fan) I find little more off-putting than the concept that the Yankees and Mets will have a fight over who gets to sign Stephen Drew. How Gotham has fallen.
Well, what’s the market out there for guys who can play a legitimate SS? Not a lot of options among free agents, and trade targets are going to cost assets that teams may be hesitant to part with.
The problem is that he hit like Brendan Ryan. So, you have to wonder if this is just a level of production that will get somewhat better, but only somewhat. His pre-2014 level of production, when he could stay on the field, is decent for a shortstop, not earth-shattering. All that puffery from last off season after one good season in Fenway didn’t hurt. If he’s played for another team, I wonder.
It certainly wasn’t a great year for him last year, that’s true. He had a similar poor year in a similar amount of playing time back in 2012 [though his average was much worse in 2014] and was able to bounce back well in 2013 to match his career norms.
He was still a positive contributor on defense and part of his appeal may be that he won’t require a large contractual commitment or a haul of prospects to secure his services.
I’m not saying he has no value. He’s just not close to a front line player. If he can stay on the field and bat late in the lineup, he’s a touch better than replacement. The team who signs him needs to get a bargain.
Right, but the original question I proposed to you is who is the front line player the New York teams should be targeting and what is it going to take to bring that front line player in?
As a Yankee fan, and thinking longer term, I’d rather not have any large contract for a shortstop right now. I don’t love Hanley, and Cabrera won’t be worth the cost. Lopsided trades for, say, Andrus make no sense. If that defaults me into Drew, eh, I’ll live with it. But that doesn’t make Drew worth what Boras will demand. He’s probably got pie-charts with every stat inverted.
If Scott Boras wasn’t trying to maximize his player’s salaries, he wouldn’t be doing his job and he wouldn’t be the best agent in baseball.
Not arguing with either point. But even Boras fails occasionally and misjudges the market. Someone will sign Drew. My guess is that they won’t be gulled into thinking he’s worth anywhere near what he got paid last year, and when you sign Drew, you have to think of him as a pure stop-gap. If you think Drew actually has value, Boras won’t let him sign for two years. If he plays well, he’s absolutely gone. If he plays poorly, well, you paid steak prices for chuck.
Risk exists for every single player that you may not get value on the contractual outlay, to varying degrees for various reasons. I’d imagine the bulk of Drew’s appeal is because he’s a stop gap player likely to come at stop gap prices.
For the right team, one that can afford to pay him (as opposed to a cheaper, younger player) and can bury him in a lineup with players who can actually hit, I agree. If he does return to even an average-hitting shortstop, and stays a decent glove, he solves a problem. Not, though, hitting .170. That’s distorting to the roster, because you’ve always got to worry about pinch hitting for him.
If teams think Drew is going to hit .170 again, they wouldn’t be thinking about him.
Agreed, Of course, I would imagine neither the Red Sox nor Yankees expected him to be so astoundingly bad last year.
Sandy and co…please stay away from Drew.
If the Mets are stupid enough to sign Stephen drew I will take my 40 years of support and I’m outta here!