The vast majority of Yankee fans are fixated on the team’s quest to re-sign reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge, but the Yankees are also looking into potential pitching upgrades. Andy Martino of SNY reports the Yankees recently requested Jacob deGrom’s medical records, and MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweets that they’ve been in touch with NPB ace Koudai Senga’s representatives.
Neither development is indicative of an all-out pursuit, of course. The Yankees have the financial wherewithal to sign any free agent in any given offseason, so it only stands to reason they’d make sure to be keenly aware of the potential market/asking price and the current medical status of any market’s top targets. At present, there’s no indication the Yankees have actually had a formal meeting about either pitcher.
The Yankees currently project to have a five-man rotation of Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, Luis Severino, Frankie Montas and Domingo German, though righty Clarke Schmidt and prospects Jhony Brito and Randy Vasquez could also pitch their way into the mix before long. German, 30, was solid through 15 games (14 starts) last season but was limited to 92 2/3 innings — minors and big leagues combined — while battling a shoulder impingement. Montas, acquired this summer with the expectation he’d be a key rotation piece down the stretch in ’22 and all season in ’23, struggled to a 6.35 ERA in eight starts with the Yankees. He also spent a bit more than two weeks on the injured list due to shoulder inflammation.
As things stand, the Yankees project to carry a $206MM bottom-line payroll, per Roster Resource, although their luxury-tax bill is already north of $222MM. Judge alone could push the Yankees into the second tier of luxury penalization, and both Senga and (especially) deGrom would come with notable average annual values, further ballooning the team’s luxury bill. Signing both Judge and deGrom seems like an extreme long shot, but speaking purely theoretically, that duo alone would likely push the Yankees into the newly created fourth tier of the luxury bracket.
As with the early stages of any offseason, a lot of this groundwork amounts to little more than due diligence. Requesting deGrom’s medicals does not serve as a clear portent for concurrent, all-out pursuits of the two-time Cy Young winner and the current AL MVP. The Yankees have already made an updated offer to Judge, GM Brian Cashman indicated last week, and both Cashman and owner Hal Steinbrenner have voiced on multiple occasions that Judge is the team’s top priority. However, no front office would simply presume a free agent is a lock to remain in place, and no team wants to be blindsided and unprepared in the event their homegrown star departs. The Yankees are no different and are surely gauging the entire market accordingly.
As far as the luxury tax is concerned, it bears mentioning, too, that if the Yankees do add a notable starter — whether as one of several additions or as their primary offseason pickup — doing so could enable Cashman and his staff to deal from the current group of in-house candidates. Montas and German, projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz at respective salaries of $7.7MM and $2.6MM, could be shipped elsewhere and slightly alter the financial outlook, speculatively speaking.
Both deGrom and Senga are among the most coveted pitchers on the market, though both come with red flags. Though he’s a two-time Cy Young winner and arguably the best pitcher on the planet when healthy, deGrom has missed considerable time in each of the past two seasons. Senga, of course, is still entirely untested against MLB opponents — dominant as his numbers in Japan may be. To this point, the Rangers and Mets have been the teams most prominently linked to deGrom. Senga, meanwhile, is hoping to pitch for a win-now club in a big market, agent Joel Wolfe recently said in an interview with NBC Sports’ Gordon Wittenmyer. In addition to the Yankees, he’s been tied to the Giants, Mets, Padres, Red Sox, Cubs and Rangers. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported over the weekend that Senga recently visited Texas brass.
“Preliminary” interest? That is beautiful. I have “preliminary” interest in Sophia Vergara and the weather girl on Kcal 5.
They’re kicking the tires. Due diligence. If they don’t sign Judge, they’ll want to move quickly on other fronts. My boring predictions are Judge returns to the Yankees and deGrom returns to the Mets.
Lord – This reminds me of when the Sox wanted Mussina, and signed Ramirez as a response to losing Moose to the Yanks.
Yanks can’t go wrong with either Judge or deGrom, provided they each stay healthy.
@Fever Pitch, sometimes plan B works out better. The Mussina response worked out well as Manny put up some big years. I seem to remember the Red Sox put Manny on waivers hoping a team would claim his contract. Lucky it don’t happen as Manny was the eventual World Series MVP.
Lord – Great point. Sox absolutely lucked out, as he was a huge part of both the 2004 and 2007 championship teams. After he was placed on waivers he put up a .993 OPS for the remaining 5 years of his contract.
But there’s no question if he wasn’t traded for Bay, Sox would have likely won another championship in 2008. His postseason numbers that year were absolutely sick …. 1.746 OPS.
I would be hard pressed to come up with a player who earned a 8yr/$160M contract more than Manny did … shenanigans or not.
The Red Sox never put Manny on waivers “hoping someone would claim his contract”. They put him on revocable waivers after the non-waiver trade deadline. It was common practice back then for every team to put pretty much their entire team on revocable waivers.
I agree. If the money is there I don’t see why Degrom would leave. Career met and they just won 101 games. It will come down to the # of years probably. I do think the Giants could sign Judge though. It makes sense to me. I just can’t truly see it happening.
@Rishi, it would require a significant contract, one that the Yankees won’t match, and for Judge to want to move. It could happen. Son of George describes himself as a financial geek, so there may come a point where he moves to plan B and absorbs the criticism. They did it with Cano.
My thing with Judge is from an outside perspective (not a NYer) he seems iconic but not super iconic. So is it really worth overpaying as much as you are gonna have to after he put up a 10 WAR season? I bet a few players receiving 150m(ish) contracts this off-season will be as valuable over the life of them as Judge (per yr at least).There’s also the fact many people would rather play in San Fran than New York. I would. But he handles it well.
There is a free marketplace out there. While to Eppler and his staff, deGrom is a co-ace worth $40mm for three years, a desperate “gotta win now” club such as Texas might believe that #48 makes them instant contenders and brings them credibility. Thus, the Rangers could be willing to break the bank and might offer deGrom $50 million or more a season.
Don’t laugh. Just be open to a surprise from a team that’s been out of the tournament and is itching to get back in.
The comparison in the Judge situation might be Barry Bonds — a Northern California native drafted by the Pirates who reached free agency with a chance to come home. (Let’s not talk steroids here, just family history.)
One other name New York area sports fans might recall: John Tavares. The Islanders star reached free agency and signed with his hometown NHL team, the Maple Leafs. At the time he cut the deal, a photo surfaced of seven year old John dressed in Maple Leafs pajamas. Do Judge’s parents have a snapshot of 7 or 8 year old Aaron in a Giants tee shirt or other outfit showing his boyhood loyalties?
And he was right with Cano.
The difference is, deGrom and Senga likely have interest in the Yankees.
Whereas Vergara and the weather girl don’t know you exist.
Perhaps Trumbo needs to request their medicals and offer them both contracts. That should get their attention… or the police’s.
YBC, it’s only PRELIMINARY! Standard practice to request medicals.
Of course they did.
Didn’t we just see a column here stating Cohen and Steinbrenner had a “gentlemen’s agreement” that the Yanks wouldn’t pursue deGrom and the Mets wouldn’t pursue Judge? Hmmmm ….
As far as Senga … when is his lunch date with the Red Sox gonna happen? Bloom has a BOGO coupon burning a hole in his pocket, with an expiration date fast approaching.
Yes, and Andy Martino reported both stories. There are better sources than Andy.
“Senga, meanwhile, is hoping to pitch for a win-now club in a big market, agent Joel Wolfe recently said in an interview with NBC Sports’ Gordon Wittenmyer.”
Samuel – Point well taken, right now the Red Sox are definitely not a “win-now” club.
And quite frankly I don’t picture them making any big name acquisitions in the next couple months.
I think Cohen needs to disprove the rumor and the investigation by signing both.
I think “showing” interest in deGrom is trying to prove the same.
Last sure thing Oriole pitcher produced was Mike Mussina if history serves me right.
Yeah very interesting that this article doesn’t even mention that.
They definitely need another really good pitcher if they want to feel like they have a good chance to make a deeper playoff run. Senga is interesting. Yanks seem to have done well signing NPB players before (outside of Kei Igawa).
Rish – Ever heard of Hideki Irabu?
He was called I-Rob-U for a reason.
“Fat Toad!”
YBC – I thought about including that, but figured I’d leave one for someone else. LOL
Gawd… I miss that old man George.
YBC – “Steinbrenner” certainly added a lot of entertainment to Seinfeld.
Steinbrenner: “Your son is dead.”
Frank: “What the hell did you trade Jay Buhner for? He had 30 homeruns, over 100 RBI last year, he’s got a rocket for an arm, you don’t know what the hell you’re doing!”
Steinbrenner: “Buhner was a good prospect, no question about it. But my baseball people loved Ken Phelps’ bat. They kept saying Ken Phelps, Ken Phelps.”
Fever-No I hadn’t. Interesting story there for sure.
@Steve it’s “deGrom not “DeGrom”
@trumbo, it’s kcal 9. Or are you ktla 5?
Greenwell, you are right. Ktla 5 and Kcal 9.
Whenever this happens…this happens here…..
No one posting here has seen Mr. Senga pitch. The only post I’ve read from someone that did any research was from JoeBrady that said he’d read a breakdown that Mr. Senga appeared to be a low level #2 or a high-level #3…..best case scenario.
I remember the same fever for Yusei Kikuchi years ago. He got around $35m from the Mariners for 3 years, had ERA’s of 5.46, 5.17, and 4.41, Last year the Jays paid him $16m to pitch 100 innings with a 5.19 ERA and a -1.1 bWAR.
Mr. Kikuchi and Mr. Senga are about the same age.
This is why I love the Orioles. They develop their own pitchers. They have 5 starters returning that all had ERA’s lower then Mr. Kikuchi. Their starters are all younger, pitched for far less money, and have upside. Meanwhile the same posters here thinking that Mr. Senga will revitalize their pitching staffs post that the Orioles badly need some starting pitchers.
LOL
Samuel – You have a valid point. I think the Rays also are very good at developing their own pitchers.
Hold on Samuel.
Can’t let you go on that rant without illuminating the other side.
You got said pitchers from being one of the worst teams in baseball for nearly a decade.
Some teams need a Mr Senga to round put their staff and have to gamble on his abilities.
Just like some teams need an Ace and have to overpay. Hello Toronto!!
Have those SP get you into the playoffs next year and beating the Jays Yankees Astros and Mariners, then revisit your rant
@Samuel
Whenever?
Like the time Takashi Saito came to the Dodgers and became a lights out closer at age 36?
Or Hiroki Kuroda (33) became a staple of consistency?
Koji Uehara? (34)
Okajima? (31)
Hisashi Iwkuma? (31)
Maybe a bit younger but still late 20’s Maeda? (28)
Sawamura? (33)
A lot of people in this forum know all about the guys I mentioned above and understand how much of an impact they had. Home grown pitchers are great, but on this it just seems like your trolling into a topic you appear to know little about.
Don’t talk to Suzie Samuel that way. The tough guy will mute you.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Just chatting ⚾.
It was a fun counter point to post.
I enjoy the topic of Japanese Baseball and the NPB quite a bit.
“This is why I love the Orioles. They develop their own pitchers. ”
I hope this is a joke, because Baltimore has been pretty horrible at developing starting pitchers for a very long time. Case in point, their current staff that you’re puffing up only had two starters with an ERA+ above 100 and one of them (Voth) was developed by the Nationals. Might change a bit when Means comes back, but still.
Good point on the risk factor re Japanese pitchers.
Yu Darvish is a star. A great pitcher who helped get the Padres to the Final Four in ’22.
Tanaka worked out well for the Yankees — though he was never quite the same after that partial ligament tear.
Irabu had a couple of moments.
Matsuzaka worked out OK for Boston.
BUT can any Yankee fan forget the total failure of the nearly $50mm flushed for Kei Igawa?
Yanks need to do a lot of spending or it’s 4th or 5th place in East
007, Bellinger is about to be a Canadian ballplayer from what I hear haha
Did the weather girl give you the tip after you slid in her DMs trying to give her your tip
That’s a callback in comedy ladies and gentlemen. View posts above to get the entire joke
Yes I hears the same thing, apparently a guy on Twitter who also broke the Jays managers contract has said it’s a done deal 1 plus 1 option for around 16-20 million
But why it hasn’t been signed?
Rumors!!!
Wait… the Mets are afraid of stepping on toes by talking to Judge, but the Yankees have no problem talking to deGrom?
“That’s a callback in comedy ladies and gentlemen. View posts above to get the entire joke”
Here’s a tip… you shouldn’t have to google search something to get the joke.
No idea what you’re referencing. I didn’t ask anyone to Google anything
In case you’re new here, this happens. People Crack on each other throughout a thread
Maybe you don’t like my comedy, that’s fine too
I also have a tip for you, but I can’t give it to you unless you’re here spreading your cheeks
Have a great day Mr Gibson
no way Hal is going to pay 40+ / year to deGrom. This is being done to throw off the accusers…
They need to sign Manaea not DeGrom. They have never been a contender this century without a TOR lefty. Manaea is exactly what their rotation needs. DeGrom would be far cheaper since he will spend 90% of his next contract injured. I doubt his insurance will be cheap but will still be worth it since whomever forks out the massive contract to sign him will shut up their fanbase for a couple of years. Can’t say you are punting the year by signing him.
Cause if they don’t want to sign Judge to a long term deal due to the risk of injury, then deGrom must seem completely healthy and safe
Big boys waiting for Judge Domino to drop.
I see 99 signing within the next 48hrs.
Halos getting ready to come out of the wood work…Arte can’t help himself! Do it Arte execute!
Almost zero chance he signs in the next 48 hours. Mlb off season moves slow and usually doesn’t pick up until the winter meetings.
Bloom is buying his plane tickets now to go have Thanksgiving Dinner in SF with the Judge Family…. 😉
Yankees are never signing deGrom. Steinbrenner and Cohen are boys and have a mutual respect. This is to throw off that mlb investigation.
German was solid? He was a train wreck.
I think the offseason must be really slow. I know this site is called MLB trade rumors, so I appreciate hearing about rumors, but now the site seems to be capturing rumors of rumors. I don’t believe 95% of the rumors on this site anymore, but it’s fun to see.
Senga should sign with the Tigers, who will trade him to a team who values him as that extra push to make.the playoffs.
“As far as the luxury tax is concerned, it bears mentioning, too, that if the Yankees do add a notable starter….”
This is a clunky way to write.
“As far as the luxury tax is concerned, it also bears mentioning, that if the Yankees do add a notable starter….”
Works better.
The Yankees have the financial wherewithal to sign any free agent in any given offseason, so it only stands to reason they’d make sure to be keenly aware of the potential market/asking price and the current medical status of any market’s top targets.
Seen this before. Nothing will happen. Hal is a businessman not a winning owner