Yankees chairman Hal Steinbrenner spoke to members of the media yesterday, including Chris Kirschner and Brendan Duty of The Athletic, noting that the club is open to making further additions to the roster but also adding that nothing is close and there could be budgetary concerns with any possible transactions.
“Given where we are payroll-wise, any addition to the club is going to be a costly one,” Steinbrenner said. “I’m still willing to consider anything that [general manager Brian Cashman] and his team bring my way. I’ll leave it at that. We are not done trying to improve this team.”
The openness to making another move doesn’t necessarily mean that one will come to pass, as Steinbrenner himself made clear. “I’m not saying anything is going to happen, I’m not saying something’s not going to happen. But I’m still willing to improve this team however we can.” But the mere fact that he’s keeping the window open is notable, especially given the way others have spoken recently.
Decision makers for the Giants, Rangers, Nationals, Mariners, Twins, Blue Jays and Angels have all downplayed the likelihood of further moves for their clubs in the past week or so. Though the so-called “Boras Four” of Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Matt Chapman and Cody Bellinger are all unsigned and many fans are pressing their favorite team to jump in, executives and owners seem to be doing their best to lower expectations.
Whether that’s a genuine expression of the current state of affairs or a posture for bargaining purposes isn’t known, but Steinbrenner’s comments nonetheless stand out as being a bit less outwardly pessimistic. Though as he mentioned, there will be significant financial considerations to any possible deal.
Roster Resource currently pegs the Yankees’ competitive balance tax number at $307MM, already about $10MM beyond the fourth and final tax tier of $297MM. As a third-time payor at that level, the Yankees are looking at a 110% tax rate for any further spending.
The club has been connected to Snell throughout the offseason, reportedly offering him a deal of $150MM over six years at one point. That deal would have come with an average annual value of $25MM and the Yankees would have had to pay $27.5MM in taxes. That means they would be looking at giving up $52.5MM to add Snell to the rotation for this year.
That $150MM guarantee wasn’t enough to get Snell to put pen to paper, which perhaps suggests the Yanks might have to be willing to go even further to get a deal done. The lefty hasn’t signed anywhere so perhaps the club can hold firm to their position, but it still highlights the significant numbers the club is calculating when considering these kinds of moves.
The end of February is now in sight and spring games are taking place. As the regular season creeps closer and big name free agents are still available, it seems a staring contest is taking place. Boras obviously doesn’t want to take offers for his clients that he considers below what they are worth while clubs are doing their best to present themselves as content with their current rosters and payrolls. Something will have to eventually give and it seems as though the Yankees could perhaps be at the table.
Their rotation is currently fronted by Gerrit Cole but has question marks beyond that. Each of Carlos Rodón, Nestor Cortes and Marcus Stroman missed significant time due to injuries last year. Clarke Schmidt is fine as a #5 but has an option year remaining and could potentially be pushed to the minors if someone else is signed. The Yanks dealt away four starting pitching options in the Juan Soto trade so there would be logic to pushing Schmidt down the depth chart for when a need inevitably arises as the season goes along. Steinbrenner trotted out the “I don’t think you can have enough pitching” cliché yesterday, per video relayed by Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.
It remains to be seen if they are willing to pay for someone like Snell or Montgomery in order to bolster the staff. The free agent market also features Michael Lorenzen, Mike Clevinger, Zack Greinke and others.
Would like to see Belly flanked by Soto and Judge. Adding Snell or Montgomery would help in such a tough division with Jays Rays, and Orioles.
Seeing is believing. All he did was shift the “blame” for not further spending to Cashman. There is no way he’s paying over 200% to add a Bellinger, Montgomery or Snell given he also likely wants to sign Soto long term in November.
Probably not. But dude is over estimating this team’s ability given they are in the toughest division in baseball (RS notwithstanding).
Dude lets not give the yankees that much credit they played the RS to a tie for last place in the al east as of 9/14/2023…regardless what they should be on paper they are no better than a couple games ahead of boston till they go out on the field and prove otherwise
When it comes to today Cashman has his top scout on one side and his metrics guy on the other. To really land any of these top guys somebody is going to have to bend and feel uncomfortable, whether it’s adding a year or injury risk. Players like Monte, Snell, Chapman, and Bellinger all are past their prime years, want more years, and want money like every year will be their best year. That is why they haven’t been signed.
dewey – I agree on Bellinger, it’s idiotic to think the Yankees would get rid of one or both GG-caliber outfielders they just traded for and are paying $14M combined.
It’s like the pampered child who has a ton of expensive new toys in the closet, but insists on getting the shiny new more expensive one that he doesn’t have.
And some people call Sox fans “entitled”? What a crock.
Fever, listening to Mets’ fans complaib on FAN has me ROTF. When Cohen bought the team, he made short term moves that were expensive but everyone knew they were short term. They also pleaded him to get Stearns to run the club. Now, they “stopped” spending and he’s running the club like a smaller market club. Difference with Boston is this is year five of Henry not spending. Cohen will spend but doesn’t see the value to pay $60m total for Montgomery. Bost should have already inked him. Let’s say his price goes down and it’s announced Boston signs him for $15 – $20m less. Was the $4m per year savings worth the negativity ownership created? o think they will lose substantially more at least in 24 with less fannies actually paying and eyeballs watching never mind merch sales that are shared.
With a flooded outfield I don’t think Bellinger is a fit on this Yankee team.
No, if the Martian and Spencer Jones are the real deal soon, it might not be wise to even sign Soto next year.
This is the smartest post yet, you are spot on my friend.
What if they signed bellinger to play first base and moved on from rizzo? I like rizzo but he’s not long term. Just throwing that out there. I’m not a big bellinger fan but if he plays the way he is capable there’s upside
Bellinger would be a poor allocation of funds here especially with the added lux tax penalties. Verdugo and Grisham are fine supporting players to judge and Soto and signing belli to a multi-year deal blocks Dominguez from mlb time later in the year as well as taking payroll space away from any bid to keep soto after 2024. If the yanks are going to pay a premium for anything at this point it should be pitching.
if i was the guy running things for the yankees. I’d probably not spend anymore on free agents. Yankees have a few young promising starting pitchers who look to fill the back end rotation spots, I’d like for them to have a chance. Also, I’d like to save money for the 2025 offseason. Not only only is Juan Soto a free agent, but the free agent pitching class looks a lot stronger than this years class.
Swag I’m with that take by and large. Like I wouldn’t turn my nose up at another big arm in the rotation but I would also like some homegrown guys to get a real shot at the majors. As far as a fa sp splurge goes I’d take burnes next year over snell this year by a mile for example. The yanks need to develop some more league min contributors from within to offset the big money they’re carrying on the roster. I think there’s a real appeal as a fan to seeing homegrown guys emerge and become part of the core. Baby bombers era yanks didn’t really manage to capture the same kind of special experience of yankees baseball as the Core 4 did back in the day. To be fair that kind of scenario is not exactly every day and commonplace in the game but I think it illustrates the appeal.
I’m sure they’ve looked into trade scenarios as well. I’m guessing the ask for Cease is a “no way” but possibly Bieber from the Guards? The ask for Cease may become more reasonable by the trade deadline… well… maybe… lol.
Rex,Snell doesn’t want to pitch for the pretender yankees and neither does Montgomery. The days of stars flocking to the rotten apple are over. Steinbrenners daddy’s money carries no weight. Sorry.
Let’s see if the add the pieces. Belly and snell or Monty would at least ensure that they sell out more games than no in 2024. Quite the opposite in 2023. Yankee stadium was empty 3/4 of the year.
Play that Boras Chorus again for us:
“ He’s a greedy, greedy, greedy man
He’s a greedy, wretched old man
If your favorite player is a free agent
you can kiss his services goodbye ”
-Shadow Banned
Other than the services of the roughly 170 players currently under contract represented by Boras Corporation.
780 MLB roster spots and they represent 175 players, it’s almost as if he knows what he’s doing.
Tigers are always irrelevant so I guess you’re used to that.
Who mentioned anything about what is or isn’t relevant? It’s almost as if you re deflecting from facts that don’t back the false narrative you were trying to push…
You don’t need to sign your posts, Michael Scott
I feel like only Rickey Henderson would sign his own posts…
Rickey loves him some Rickey
Yankee fans need to stop acting like Blake Snell is going to magically fix this team’s problems.
What are their problems anyway?
It’s an older club. Staying healthy is their problem. Stanton, Rizzo, Rodon, Cortes, Stroman have been susceptible here over recent years to the injury bug. Can they hold up over the 162?
Rotation depth and inconsistency. They don’t need another inconsistent pitcher.
“What are their problems” ..People will remember that last year it was the offense(and injuries), not pitching, that took down the New York Yankees.
Pitching was a HUGE problem. If you can’t keep your teams in the game, then all the offense in the world will not win. They also had a scoring runs problem.
They are a fourth place team.
Mets – Is that why Vegas has the Yankees winning the division and with the 4th-best odds of winning the World Series?
and what were the vegas odds for Rangers and Diamondbacks in the world series?
Part of Vegas odds account for $ on any given team. Yankees obviously are going to have a ton of $ from homer bets. I’d assume if all was even dollar for dollar BAL would be favored in AL East and above them for WS futures.
I don’t see how anyone can view them as a 4th place team. TB has gotten weaker and can only pull so many rabbits of a hat. BOS is not passing them. TOR is an interesting team and I’d say it’s them or Yankees for 2nd. Both TOR and NYY rotations leave alot to desire. If Manoah bounces back that changes alot for TOR as does a healthy Rodon and/or a good season from Stroman.
Overall though I don’t see the AL East being quite the powerhouse it was. Seems AL West has become the gauntlet for AL.
Roll – We are talking regular season. The Rangers and DBacks made the postseason by just one game each. I don’t know what their odds of winning the division were at this time last year, but I’m guessing they weren’t too far off from the 84-90 wins.
Tiger – Good point about Vegas odds.
I’ve got it O’s-Yanks-Jays-Rays-Sox unless Yanks do sign another big free agent.
@fever
the point is that vegas had a lot of teams ahead of them especially the diamondbacks and im sure the yankees were rated higher and probably a near lock to make the playoffs but they didnt make it.
Im pretty sure before the season the mets were a top 5 and look where they ended up.at the end of the season.
They had the Yankees winning the division by 10 games and lost by 19 last year. Go put your money on the Yankees. Vegas loves a suckers bet.
Tampa bay isn’t winning the division but they will have a better record than the Yankees. They have and always have tons of young replacement talent. Junior Caminerio has a high chance of being ROY. Everyone thinking Soto is adding a bunch of wins to this team is delusional. The padres lost more with him. The Yankees bullpen has down graded and their staff is a walking time bomb after Cole.
So anyone not agreeing with your opinion is delusional?? Yankees had serious issues with their offense last season and an unhealthy starting rotation. As for their offense replacing Cabrera 58 OPS+ and Bader 75 OPS+ with Soto 158 and Verdugo 100, is a significantly improved lineup. Now I don’t think they improved rotation enough which is why I believe they won’t win division as I clearly stated.
As for Padres, no the addition of Soto didn’t push them over the top. That was not because of him though as you are basically alluding to. You re talking a 5.5 WAR player with a 158 OPS+ last season. Padres had a very unbalanced lineup and Machado had a down season.
I don’t pay much attention to Vegas odds, however they are right more than they are wrong that’s how the casinos stay in business. But as I stated before Vegas odds also get skewed by $ totals with which size of Yankees fan base is always gonna be profound. There was clearly reason to be skeptical of Yankees last season. Rodon has never been poster boy of availability and Montas is vastly overrated even if he was available. He only pitched in 1 game though, which obviously didn’t help any predictions. They still went into 2023 with a questionable lineup, Judge carried that offense in 2022 after they fell off from hot start and limped through last half of season.
I’m not counting out TB, but as I stated before at some point there’s only so much they can do. Not to mention nearly everything went right for the offensively and alot of regression candidates in their lineup. They ll also most certainly be without Wander how was a 5.5 WAR player in only 112 games last season. Yes nothing went right with their rotation and alot of upside is there. However that rotation has almost no history of durability and availability. And they like 2022 Yankees got off to a scorching hot start and limped the rest of way. So counting on TB to have a better record seems pretty suspect.
Back to Yankees rotation, Severino was horrible for them last season so losing him is no loss, Montas played one game so losing him means nothing. So you re looking at a rotation that’s pretty much only added with addition of Stroman. But yes still leaves alot to be desired.
This notion that anyone believing the Yankees being better is delusional is an absolutely laughable statement. It is also completely not substantiated statistically.
Reading comprehension matters. I said Soto adding a bunch of wins and did not say he did not make them better. Do you think he makes them 20 wins better? Your long winded response was nothing but bot hot air.
My “long winded response” was explaining all the factors of the situation. You are trying to point at just Soto and 2023 records in a vacuum and ignore everything else. That’s flat out ignorant and unrealistic.
The Yankees as a whole have improved and the Rays have gotten worse. That’s indisputable as far as their talent.
Their bullpen is worse. Major losses on the one positive on the team. I’m saying the teams in their division are just better than them. The Orioles were drastically better than them and added an ace. The Yankees are a slightly above .500 team and it will show.
I think overall the Yankees as a whole are about the same. While their offense has improved, i think their overall pitching has gone down. Their starting rotation is basically the same with Stroman replacing King but now you lose alot of depth with atleast 2 pitchers that are injury prone in the rotation with the Soto trade. Also you probably lost some flexibility at the deadline with being over the cap by so much.
They also lost as Mets mentioned some of their main strength last season in the bullpen. they lost not only top relievers but also depth. The yankees have tried the whole offense before pitching and have not done much with that concept. I expect about the same record as last year. Maybe a couple wins more but not much. That is assuming Judge plays a full season and rizzo comes back to atleast average bat.
I say they are duking it out with the Rays for 3rd as the Rays just make it work somehow every season. For some reason, i think Pepiot is going to improve considerably this season. Maybe not ace but i think solid 2 or 3 pitcher.
Don’t under sell Snell, he has won 2 Cy Young awards!
I agree angry ! That’s why I think bellinger is the right addition. He fits much better in a roster where he’s not the prime addition so even thou being a Yankee- I think there’s less pressure than in most Yankee FA signings as his signing is kinda white noise and then insurance if soto walks.
Soto is walking no ifs ands or buts. Bellinger is a very very poor man’s version of juan.
Bellinger is clearly the better defender and has advantage as far as speed. If he can maintain his fixed swing he’s a poor man’s Soto at the plate, not very or especially not very very.
It will be interesting to see how Soto’s power #s benefit from that softball fence in RF for 81 games. I’m kind of expecting a drop in his OBP and spike in HRs and doubles. I think that short RF is gonna make him a bit more free swinging for home games. I’m hoping I can snag him in 2nd RD in fantasy leagues.
If Bellinger were to sign with Yankees I’d think his #s would jump significantly as well, just an ideal home park for LH bats with some pop.
I don’t think it’s going to make the impact most people think it will. Soto’s bread and butter is going to left center, and in Yankee Stadium left center is one of the most spacious in all MLB. I could see the most significant impact being visible in his slugging stats. I don’t believe he will suddenly switch to a pull hitter.
fangraphs.com/players/juan-soto/20123/spray-charts…
Check out his spray chart from last season. While he’s pretty solid using entire field he’s still pulling the ball more often than not and gets more power doing so. He does have a nice little sweet spot there in left center but that’s not where he’s generating majority of power. He was generating power most often whole pulling and primarily hitting chips shots other way to short LF.
Hm, good point. Well, I hope he doesn’t change anything, because they need OBP/slugging much more than they do HRs.
I agree they need baserunners. But if his OBP drops from .410 to .390ish with bigger power #s he could have a bigger impact. That’s contingent on the rest of lineup tho. I ve gotta think a few of them like DJ for example have to rebound a bit.
F it just get all the Borases. Borasi? Borasai? Package discount. How about it, Scott?
If you sign Montgomery and Snell at full price he will give you chapman for free
Make it Bellinger and you got a deal!
If they don’t end up on Yankees or dodgers they’ll prob go unsigned
Snell
They ain’t paying $52m a year for Snell. And that’s probably on the low side.
I bet they would give Snell whatever he wants if the Orioles were to make move for Montgomery (or trade for another high profile pitcher)
MLB teams do not operate like 12 year olds in 2024.
@1984, the Yankees kind of have to act like 12 yr olds when it comes to moves/countermoves with O’s. They re already so heavily invested in team they ve gotta insure that investment.
O’s have become a dangerous team very quickly. With Means likely returning in APR, Burnes-Means-GRod is a pretty formidable top 3. Yankees have the clear cut advantage Ace with Cole. But Burnes is dxmn good #1 Means is a very solid #2 and GRod has a very high ceiling. Yankees have to hang hopes on Stroman having a solid season and Rodon a healthy 25+ start season.
You’re right, they’re not. But what made you think $52 mil per year?
$52M is the number listed in the article, which includes the Yankees luxury tax payment
The Yankees could be the dodgers, but that’s what’s kept them out of contention. You can spend smart and big but when you spend big and stupid this is the end result of that. A culture change needs to happen to make them perennial contenders again.
You make it sound like they’ve been a disaster when last year was their first bad season and they were still above .500.
There’s a difference between your team’s expectations as a yankee fans vs mine as a pirates. Yours is win or bust vs mine is we’re happy not to be here and not spend. Thankfully cherington has completely changed the narrative on that. If .500 baseball is good for the yanks y’all might as well give Boone a lifetime contract.
Pretty sure Dewey is a Sox fan. Can’t you tell from his moniker?
Didn’t even notice just responded to the comment.
Of course I’m a Sox fan although it’s embarrassing to admit it. My point was the Yankees try to compete each year and until last year made the post season for how many straight years? Yes, the object is to win it all but as the saying goes “you have to be in it to win it”.
What are the Dodgers??? One ring since Kirk Gibson and it was in front of cardboard fans.
2020 respectively competitive baseball year in and out Arguably one of if not the best gm in baseball with all the tools at his disposal m. Dodgers and Atlanta are running the nl for years.
The NL West is not as good as the AL East!
The disparity isn’t as off as you think since Arizona expanded when it comes to championing.
Al East – 8
Nl west – 5
Considering the talent between the two in that time it should be much more than what it is since 1998.
Dodgers fan here, and I agree with Slider. The AL East is much tougher 1 – 5, especially with the Rockies being so bad right now.
Well – The Padres are certainly expected to be worse too. How can you lose Hader, Snell, Wacha and Soto and not be?
Fever, the Red Sox lost Betts and Bogie and look at them today ..never mind…
“Many fans are pressing their favorite teams” to make Scott Boras even richer. Well, that would be truth in advertising. Anyway, if Blake Snell sticks to his reported $270 million demand, he might be waiting until every last cow comes home. Same for the reported asking prices on the other members of the Boras Four (sounds like a retro jazz band).
$270m for Snell? I had not heard that one. I hope he enjoys his sofa and his little league team.
He beat 2 bWAR once in the last 5 years.
12 bWAR even including his Cy Young in those 5 years.
Call it 6 years, 2 Cy Youngs, and 19 WAR—and he really thinks he’s going to get $270m for what will undoubtedly be a far less interesting 2nd half to his career? Amazing, what people get up to.
The Orioles can sign both Snell and Montgomery on three year high AAV deals and not pay any tax.
If someone of real value fell into their lap at a huge discount, maybe. But I’d be shocked if they spent $50M for a year of anyone. Steinbrenner probably knows the Yankees, as constructed, are probably not a championship level team. They could be a playoff one, but adding any of the Big Four isn’t going to vault them into the top tier.
They’re generally seen as a top 4 team as they are. Hard to see how that plus Snell doesn’t cement them as “championship level”. They still wouldn’t be favored overall, but if your definition of top tier is just the Dodgers, not sure how iseful that is.
And, the playoffs are a crapshoot anyway.
Lars – That’s bullcrap.
I agree that Snell would make the Yanks a top contender, but as currently constructed, I don’t think they’re there yet.
Just curious, who else do you have in the top 4?
I think Dodgers, Braves, Phillies, Astros, Rangers, Orioles, Rays, and Blue Jays are reasonably seen as ahead of NYY. (The AL East is brutal!)
I’m not really trying to make my own prediction, just saying that is the conventional wisdom. Like oddsmakers give them third best odds to win WS, Fangraphs projections have them fourth. Other top teams are Dodgers/Astros/Braves.
Then why trade for Soto and sign Stroman to cross the fourth tax threshold? It’s fine if you don’t like any of the four but to say that Snell or Monty doesn’t improve their chances in the playoffs is silly.
Yankees are going after another pitcher. Owner is sending the signal to the agent. An owner who wants to win. Respect.
Okay, then I guess Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Matt Chapman and Cody Bellinger are all signing with the Yankees.
It only took 2 decades but maybe Hal finally found his big boy pants.
Meanwhile John Henry is rubbing 2 nickels together
Next to his four World Series trophies!
Mets – He has 8 WS championship rings.
Fever, I just read that Ohtani had a 10 war last year and probably would have gotten a 12 if he didn’t get hurt. Look at 67 and see what Yaz had. A 12 without pitching to one batter. What a season!
dewey – I have Roku and watch old MLB footage all the time, Yaz was a better fielder than I had thought!
Not sure how old you are but he was my idol. Quick story, family went to Boston as my mom sawca specialist. Yaz was having a lousy year and my mom joined the crowd booing him I stopped speaking to her on that trip!
Greinke gets a mention here. Forgot about him. Maybe a mid season hired gun to the highest playoff contender bidder in need of a rotation bump or fix? Zach gets a shot at a WS ring and reaching 3000 k.
I’m hoping pitchers like Cortes, Schmidt, Rodon, Warren, and Hampto take steps forward this year so their is no need for over paid free agents. I would wait until the deadline to see what they have this year!
Dude! Yankees are getting a Snell!
Corey Kluber! No risk, high reward!
Retired
They aren’t good enough for the division, either you spend or accept golf in September.
“Cancun on 3…!”
You have to respect Hal, he’s always spending! You can only blame him for trusting Cash! And please don’t sign Snell to a long contract. You already have Rodon.
Imagine a $307 million payroll and nothing but questions after Gerrit Cole.
Someone wasn’t thinking comprehensively. [CashmanCashmanCashman].
And THIS is the offseason you trade a significant amount of pitching for Soto, a 4-5 win DH currently faking an OF spot?
Soto was a good move, but I think not getting Yamamoto really turned their plans upside down, hence the Stroman signing.
Yamamoto always wanted the Dodgers but no one expected them to be top bidders. Then Ohtani did his contract gift and broke the Yankees plan.
Yeah, once Ohtani did super team friendly structured deal, Yamamoto was easy pickings for the Dodgers. Just that no one expected what Ohtani did, and that threw a giant wrench in the Yankees plans.
Jack – How is the questionable Yankees rotation any different from the Dodgers? Buehler, Kershaw, Glasnow and a guy wno has never pitched MLB.
Or the Rangers …. Scherzer, deGrom, Eovaldi …..
Basically every team’s starting rotation has lots of question marks.
The market value for Snell is 24, so the Yanks offer of 6/150 was a good offer, I think that’s about what he is going to get. 6/175 would be max for him. Monte value is 17, so he should get between 100-110. Chapman 17, and Bellinger 22. Bellinger is 28 in his prime years, while the others are 31 past prime. GM’s aren’t going too much over those limits to get them at this point. I think they are better off taking the long term deals if offered since they are past their prime.
$270m for Snell? I had not heard that one. I hope he enjoys his sofa and his little league team.
He beat 2 bWAR once in the last 5 years.
12 bWAR even including his Cy Young in those 5 years.
Call it 6 years, 2 Cy Youngs, and 19 WAR—and he really thinks he’s going to get $270m for what will undoubtedly be a far less interesting 2nd half to his career? Amazing, what people get up to.
The more I think about it, I think the Yanks are looking to defer money in a Snell contract similar to what the Dodgers did with Ohtani. They might offer Snell a 200 million dollar contract with 125 million deferred. Add a bonus to keep the AAV down. I could be a 6 year contract paid over 10 years. This way Stanton money would be off the books by then and they can still resign Soto next year.
I think that’s a reasonable assumption, but the AAV would be the same (for LTT purposes). Unless you mean they are just trying to spread out the real money owed each year, which seems like something they may consider at this stage.
I don’t think some fans realize how much will come off the books just next year alone…..But you’re also right about Stanton’s contract.
Clipper: Has Montgomery said anything about being open to returning to the Yankees? I haven’t heard any comments from him about that.
Suit: Based on reports that surfaced in….November (?) he was open to it. However, I think it was Jon Heyman (aka Boras’ secretary) that reported it, for what that’s worth.
Personally, I think Monty would rather go back to TX or be at home in Boston. All things equal I believe he chooses the latter over NY.
Clipper: Thanks. I’ve been thinking Monty might take a little less money from NY or Boston to be close to Boston. Maybe he would for the Phillies too.
So basically clipper, Steinbrenner says I might do something, I might not. Wow, that is quite exciting and quite a commitment to improving the team. That’s breaking news, Steinbrenner says nothing basically.
Yes, they have 100 coming off the books! The Stanton money is real, but it looks less of a problem every year when the prices continue to go up
This is the time for Snell and Monte to get their money, they are past their prime so any deal will be more for the player than the team. Both players come with risk and will be over paid.
You may be onto something but if Yankees are going to defer money its going to be for Soto permitting Steinbrenner even will to entertain blowing past $500-600 million that I doubt happens deferments or not. Dodgers not stupid, majority of owners will be very old or deceased by the time 10 yrs go by when Ohtani starts collecting his $700 million including deferrals for Betts and their 1st baseman (forgot name). The team will be sold to new ownership with the new owners paying the tab as part of the sales price. Its perfect strategy and I would not be surprised MLB steps in and adds language to contracts that deferred salary counts 100% towards luxury tax regardless how long its spread out.
Agreed, not only that but in ten years the money isn’t worth as much compared to the top cap which will keep going up! Boris is the one who doesn’t want the deferral. Yanks are looking to defer before the MLB changes the rule
@Slider, that’s not how deferred $ works though. Thr principal has to be funded annually to cover the future accrued value of payout. So they only save $ on one year. It makes the players contract look bigger on paper but it is still a current expe se for teams and still has luxury tax implications.
My NYY source who claims to know-all, tell-all, doesn’t.
The repercussions for over the top of the barrier spending are significant.
But he claims the Yankees pitch includes Ohtani-style deferrences which presume none of the players is desperate for spending money.
Yankees fans haven’t tossed ticker tape for too long, says my source, hence the motivation. I don’t believe it but if it comes to happen I’ll treat him with more respect. Future obligations pile up…
So then make them
I don’t see how they can go into the season expecting to be competitive with their current starting 5. Snell isn’t a sure thing but he’s more proven than the 2-5 options on this team and Monty might not want to pitch for the Yankees after they dumped him for a 4th OF’er. A little sarcastic there on that last point but the Yanks got fleeced on that deal. Having two fantastic hitters and only Cole who’s a sure thing, doesn’t guarantee a playoff spot, see the recent Angel squads as an example. I’m just grateful Rodon shaved off that hideous mustache. Looks good on some, I equated it to his poor performance. If Stanton, DJ and Rizzo can each bounce back closer to their career averages, and Rodon, Stroman and Nestor all stay healthy, it could be a fun year. But counting innings the 2-5 guys pitched, unless they have an Ace up their sleeve, seems like a lot of pressure for Cole. Bauer could be had for cheap, if money is the issue. Their Texas Tech product doesn’t look ready yet, and the 2 guys left on the market seem to want crazy money/years. From a baseball perspective, Bauer would fit. I can squint and see a WS contender.
I think we should sign Clevinger. He is 60-39 lifetime
Could you imagine Bellinger’s stats in Yankee stadium? Add in facing the Red Sox, Jays and Orioles staffs. He would be a .350 hitter with 40+ homers. It would give them a legitimate CF. Soto in left and Judge in right. That’s a decent defense in a small ballpark. You also have Grisham as a late inning defensive replacement. Verdugo would be the 5th OFer. They could rotate those 5 and keep everyone fresh.
Saturday morning, 24 Feb – Snell told Boras to take the $27 million per year and to stop holding out for $30 million per. Snell signs with Yanks in the next few days.
Why are the Yankees seemingly determined to add the wildly inconsistent & expensive Snell to the roster, rather than the more consistent Montgomery? We already know Monty can handle pitching in NYC, but we don’t know that about Snell, do we?
IMO, the reason the Yankees are focusing on Snell is because Cashman is Loathed to Admit that HE was an idiot for saying Monty wasn’t a playoff caliber pitcher & trading him for an injured CF, who couldn’t hit righties, no less, which comprise about 85% of starters.
Snell basically pitches 5.1 IP per start in his career. He KILLS your bullpen every outing, forcing them to pitch 2.3 innings virtually every outing. Over 30 starts — which Snell rarely does — that would mean about 79 IP out of the Bullpen to cover ONE “starter,” which is Ridiculous!
Keep in mind, Snell has started more than 25 games only 3 times in 8 years. Even if you throw-out the shortened 2020 Covid season, Snell has AVERAGED 134 IP Per Year!
Over the Same 7 Years, Garrett Cole has AVERAGED 218 IP Per Year, and yet Snell & Boras want Cole-type $$$ for 84 LESS IP a year!
Other than in his 2 Cy Young years (out of 7 non-Covid seasons), SNELL IS A GLORIFIED LONG RELIEVER, who just happens to start games.
Snell has pitched 436.2 innings the last 3 years, including his second Cy Young, which averages to 145.4 IP over those years.
Monty has pitched 524.1 innings the last 3 years, including his World Series run last year, which averages to 174.7 IP over those years.
So, Monty has averaged 29+ More IP per year the last 3 years. That’s like giving your Bullpen the equivalent of almost 10 Games Off that they would otherwise have had to pitch for Snell.
And I’s NOT like Snell’s ERA has been significantly better the last 3 years vs Monty; in fact, Monty easily beat him 1 of the 3, and virtually tied him in 1 other:
• 2021: Snell 4.20. Monty 3.83.
• 2022: Snell 3.38. Monty 3.48.
• 2022: Snell 2.25. Monty 3.20.
And in the only year in the last 3 in which Snell’s ERA was markedly better, Snell won a Cy Young & Monty won a World Series.
I’ll take the World Series, Thank You. Besides the odds-on Snell NOT going into another post-Cy funk aren’t great, especially if he feels he’s being grossly underpaid in the pressure pot that’s NYC, versus the very laidback environments of Tampa & San Diego.
Remember, Snell has NEVER pitched in a High-Pressure Environment like NYC.
If Snell crashes & burns in 2024 & beyond — like he did for years after his 1st Cy Young — and only pitches about 130 innings, while Monty continues to be a very good pitcher who provides more IP, you’ll know who to blame: Brainless Brian Cashman.