Utility player Enrique Hernández signed with the Dodgers earlier this week after having reported interest from clubs such as the Giants, Angels, Twins, and Padres. Hernández spoke to Foul Territory about his free agency (video link via X), adding that the Tigers were also interested but that it came down to the Dodgers and Yankees at the end.
The interest from the Tigers was not previously reported, but it seems fair to assume it came before they signed another utility infielder, Gio Urshela. That the Yankees were at the table is not something that was previously reported and would seem to suggest they are open to adding another utility player to their roster.
There are a few different ways Hernández could have been useful off the bench for the Yankees. The club is set to have veterans DJ LeMahieu and Anthony Rizzo at the infield corners, both of whom are now in the mid-30s and struggled with injuries last year. He could have given them some extra cover at those spots while also perhaps getting into the outfield mix in a platoon capacity, pairing with lefty Alex Verdugo.
Hernández hits from the right side and has a career slash of .257/.343/.458 against southpaws, good enough for a 115 wRC+, compared to a line of .228/.290/.377 and 80 wRC+ against righties. Verdugo’s career splits are .290/.346/.461 and 115 wRC+ against righties but .259/.315/.350 and 80 wRC+ versus lefties. Left-hander Trent Grisham is also in the mix but he has reverse splits.
The Yankees project to have a bench of Jose Trevino, Oswaldo Cabrera and Grisham in three spots. That leaves one spot open, which could go to Oswald Peraza, but he has an option and is probably better served getting regular reps in the minors as opposed to sitting on the big league bench.
The club’s interest in Hernández suggests they could sign a veteran to plug into their bench, though there aren’t many proven infield/outfield types unsigned. Donovan Solano hasn’t played the outfield since 2012 while guys like Elvis Andrus or Jonathan Schoop never have. Free agent outfielders like Tommy Pham, Adam Duvall or Michael A. Taylor can’t help on the infield. The Yanks just claimed Jahmai Jones off waivers, who has experience on the dirt and the grass and is out of options, so perhaps they will just turn to him or some other claimee to fill out their bench.
Elsewhere in Yankee tidbits, the club continues to be tied to Blake Snell as the lefty lingers on the market. Recent reporting has suggested Snell may follow Cody Bellinger in pivoting to a short-term deal with opt-outs and high average annual values, though this wouldn’t work well for a club like the Yankees. They are already over the fourth and final tier of the competitive balance tax and face a 110% tax on any additional spending. RosterResource puts their CBT number at $307MM, already $10MM over the $297MM top line.
Hypothetically, if Snell wanted the same $30MM salary as Bellinger this year, the Yankees would also have to pay $33MM in taxes to give it to him. Snell also rejected a qualifying offer, so the Yankees would have to surrender their second- and fifth-highest picks in the upcoming draft and $1MM of international bonus pool space to sign him. Brendan Kuty of The Athletic looked at the situation today and reported that it remains unlikely the two sides will get something done for those exact reasons.
As long as the Yankees don’t sign Snell or any other pitcher, then Clarke Schmidt projects as the number five behind Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Marcus Stroman and Nestor Cortes. Kuty spoke to manager Aaron Boone about Schmidt, with the skipper highlighting the strong finish to his season. “He never lost confidence,” Boone said. “He never lost focus. Then he put together a really strong 4 1/2 or five months — after Gerrit, he was the guy we could kind of hang our hat on. Hopefully there’s another step in that.”
In his ninth start of the season, Schmidt allowed seven earned runs in 4 2/3 innings against the Rays and had a 6.30 earned run average at that point. But he put up a 4.08 ERA the rest of the way, allowing him to finish at 4.64 for the season overall. The Yanks will be hoping the 28-year-old can take another step forward here in 2024, as they traded away much of their rotation depth in the deal that brought over Grisham and Juan Soto.
The RSN collapse makes this year not the best year to be a free agent unless your name is Ohtani or Yamamoto.
RSN?
Regional Sports Network
Funny, my initial reaction to RSN collapse was Red Sox Nation and how many fans feel with Henry spending his team cash outside of the sport.
The insane spending of the past couple of offseasons coupled with a weak free agent class made this “not to be the best year to be a free agent”. With the dearth of long term contracts handed out over the past few years the next several winters will mirror this one; one or two blue chip free agents and a bunch of guys not worth half of what they are asking for…
“Insane spending of the past”…Excellent points and then look how some of Boras’ recent contracts for Kumar Rocker, Anthony Rendon, Kris Bryant and Carlos Correa turned out. His clients often turn out to be high maintenance, unmotivated, injury prone and more trouble than they’re worth.
Depends on the player. Many poo-poo Montgomery’s “ceiling” yet he’s a starter who has been consistent, goes innings (which allows the pen to rest) and pitches even better in the bigger moments. To me, he’s a better value than Yamamoto given the AAV and years.
Sounds like a god damn bmw, high maintenance injury prone and more trouble than they’re worth
Snell is a 1 Montgomery a 4 so yes Montgomery is poo poo.
Montgomery is a good number 3, though he’ll now get paid like a number 2, because you say he’s poo poo. Though I fervently disagree with the 4 assertion, hard to find many number four starters who started 94 games at a 3.48 ERA and 3.62 FIP, averaging 175 innings per the past 3 years with 35 innings in the postseason via 7 strong appearances and a WS ring over that period too.
Yeah,but, you can still show off that BMW gold plated key chain at the bar, even while driving up in your 95′ Ford Ranger.
Snell is sometimes a “1”. He’s also pitched more like a backend guy. The sheer number of walks he issues often has him leaving games with 100 pitches after 5 innings, leaving the bullpen to cover 4 innings nearly every time he starts.
If I’m a GM, I’m looking at a guy who will never give my bullpen most of the day off (something a good #1 can often do), whose pitch counts resemble a 4-5 starter after 5 innings, and whose strikeouts are more like a top-end guy.
Snell may be upset that his price tag doesn’t seem to be as high as some other FAs have gotten, but those things + the QO make his ask unrealistic. The loss of a pick could be upwards of $5 million, the lack of innings means more BP depth (probably another couple of million).
He wants paid for his potential, GMs want to pay for what he is and sometimes has been; it’s no wonder he’s still not signed.
Age, regression? yeah, he’s totally worth a smaller deal for smaller years. 30 teams agree with u. But…Boras. he wants him paid handsomely when he’s 36.
Did you own a bum beemer, Shadow?
Yes and I went from complete amateur to somewhat novice mechanic in the process of so many things constantly breaking down
The fact that thousands of baseball fans die every day to be replaced by kids that have no interest in this extremely slow sport and most of the new owners are more interested in real estate deals than running a ballclub is not a good sign for the future.
I’m not sure this is all as big of a deal as people make it out to be. Baseball may be slow (it’s gotten much quicker) but so is every sport practically except basketball. Soccer may be fast, like hockey, but nothing ever actually happens involving any excitement. Baseball is still absurdly popular. And even if it isn’t one day I don’t really care. Things come and go. People will find other ways of channeling their warrior type energy (this is largely the role sports serve as people need an outlet for their passion and restlessness without (hopefully) killing each other). That said I really don’t think baseball is going anywhere. It’s arguably more popular than ever worldwide (tho I have no stats but at the least the population explosion an westernization of much of the world has likely ensured that enough people will like baseball to keep it worthwhile financially)
kids that have no interest in this extremely slow sport
==============================
I heard soccer is about to overtake us. I heard that 40 years, but maybe this is the year.
When people talk about slow, what I really noticed with the NFL this last season was the staggering amount of commercial breaks they take, it really slows down the action. (Yes I know a person can DVR the game and FF thru commercials, but I like to watch it while it’s actually being played.) Anyone else notice the relentless commercial breaks?? At least in MLB we know when those will occur and can plan for them.
Incessant commercials and constant canera shots of Taylor Swift has made the NFL unwatchable, at least for this past season
Personally I have always found NFL to be annoying in that it teases you with excitement mixed with commercial breaks and flags being thrown and reviews. I’d rather it just be quick or slow than a mixture. I just don’t like football honestly. I do appreciate the mental aspect of drawing up and deciding on plays tho.
I’ve been complaining about the obnoxious TV timeouts for NFL games for well over 10 years now. I would make the same argument as you when whiners would complain that baseball is a “slow” game. Have you ever attended an NFL game in person? The TV timeouts are even MORE annoying. Players are just standing around talking, fans walk to the bathroom, then all of a sudden they start playing again! (we all know it was because of TV) This doesn’t happen in high school or small school college games. I’ve even read a report that within football’s 60 minute game clock, there’s actually only about 12 minutes of action on the field! This accounts for those TV breaks, huddles before the next play, endless replays, coaches challenges, etc. The pitch clock, which I didn’t like at first, definitely improved the watchability of baseball last year.
If this was worldwide then baseball is well behind soccer. Here in the states, it’s overtaken hockey in popularity for sure. MLS has grown substantially over the last ten years with packed stadiums (average 22k per game, with most soccer specific stadoums in the 20-25k capacity), a superb deal with AppleTV+, lauded academies (actally true that more kids in US play soccer than anything else), and more international players of note coming over then ever before. With the US population also as diverse as it has ever been, there’s a real possibility that could actually happen at some point in the future.
As for the comment earlier that nothing exciting happens, that’s just based on taste. As a soccer fan, there’s almost no wasted motion. Every touch is important. I think folks would be shocked at how deep the analytics game is in soccer, too. It’s honestly really interesting all the way around.
Well said Rishi. I don’t comment often but your takes are very well thought out and well-written. Props.
I hear what you’re saying but mls teams play like 36 games. MLB teams play 162 and average 5,000 more per game in attendance. If soccer were somehow played 160 times a season I highly doubt as many people would come. Same with football. It truly says a lot about how many people actually like baseball.
Thanks!
Joe – It still cracks me up when people say there’s so little action in baseball games.
Every pitch that’s thrown is action. There’s on average 240 pitches thrown per game, which in essence means 240 plays …. not even counting non-pitch plays such as stolen bases, pickoff attempts, etc.
NFL games? On average 100 plays a game that total just 15-20 minutes of live action.
Now patiently explain the exciting nuances of baseball to a kid with a game console set up to play rocket league in the next room. Brave new world.
The exciting part of baseball is playing it largely which is where a large amount of fans come from. Nothing is gonna take away the fun for a kid hitting batting practice or playing catch.
Football has a lot more status and momentum. In high school our football games packed the local community college stadium. My baseball games usually had about 3 bleacher rows full of assorted parents and girlfriends, and my soccer games had a smaller group of spectators that sometimes had to just stand in the grass on the side of the field.
What many don’t seem to get is it is more fun to some to not be running around for 90 minutes and instead chilling in between innings and waiting on the field for action. You get the action you want at a pace that lets it be more chill and anticipation is built up by the slow nature of the action. That’s what people like too…the anticipation. This is why horror movies drag out things so long with music, etc.
I don’t know man, watching the Pats lose was pretty fun
Football has status in high school for many reasons beyond football itself. I live in Cobb GA and I can go down the road and, within a mile see 3 different parks with baseball fields. There is a group of baseball fields everywhere you go. If one were playing football or soccer they would have to travel several more miles. I have been all throughout this state and everywhere you go there has always been braves hats/ bumper stickers/flags in yards- and football is very popular in the south so that says lot I think. And yes in high school nobody went to baseball games compared to football games.I have noticed more indications of soccer being popular definitely.
I should admit that college football seems more popular to me where I live so I should mention that it is huge.
They’ve been saying that since I was a kid in the 70’s… soccer was so popular with kids it was going to take over baseball as the #1 sport in America… 45 years later it’s still way behind hockey.
The thing they don’t understand when they project that is baseball is heavily built into American society. A father teaches a son perhaps…it’s anchored into the collective identity. Soccer is something foreign seeming. It has no torch passed down. Gravity carries baseball to the next generation like water down a hill while soccer has to climb the hill in this country. Gravity wins
I was thinking that all those lugs running around and banging into each other on the field made the Taylor Swift Road Show nearly unwatchable.
Tv makes the NFL seem more action packed than it is with all the instant replays filling up the huddle time
Devils advocate– there may be a lot more “plays” (per your definition) in baseball; but most of them involve just 3 players. In football, 22 players are involved in every play. That’s what they are referring to. There’s more total kinetic energy in a football game than a baseball game, and it doesn’t seem particularly close. Personally, I prefer the intensity of baseball to the frenetic and often indecipherable energy of football, but those of us who do may be a minority.
Maybe but for me the biggest problem with baseball is there are way too many games. So of course the owners expand the playoffs. The owners’ grab for cash make the game’s biggest flaws even worse. It’s only going to make the game less popular among younger people.
The biggest draw for the NFL is fantasy and gambling. It’s the perfect sport for TV. I love the NFL, but that is truth. You only need 3 hours a week for your team. You set your line up, place your bets and tune in at the end of a long week and relax. You can find football all day on over the air channels.
No expensive obsolete cable that just contains reality midget homebuilding shows on each channel. The nightly time commitment and the fact that individual games have little at stake don’t help.
@Jack19 How do you deal with all the annoying commercial breaks?
It had potential in 70’s but bad decisions led to to the demise of NASL. MLS instead took its time amd lumps to develop, but it developed more smartly and its grown exponentially since Beckham arrived. That was the turning point, and now by almost every metric it’s absolutely ahead of the NHL.
The United States is hugely built on being a being a melting pot of cultures. Soccer being “foreign” is as foreign as those citizens. My parents immigrated from Italy, I was born here, and loved baseball since I was a kid, but my dad taught me soccer. I’ve taught my kid both (and more), but he gravitates more towards soccer. Thing about that sport is its easy to get the basic concept. You throw a ball down in a park and every kid will know how to play. Not so with baseball. So this thing you talk about its anecdotal, and doesn’t tell the full picture.
I always felt the appeal of soccer is it’s potential simplicity and that all it takes is a ball. Everything I said is quite true tho. Things that already have a strong footing, are rooted, continue largely without effort (at least for a good while). Soccer IS foreign seeming imo. The US is a melting pot but it has an identity just like anything else. Yes, it is more subject to change than most places but it also stubbornly resists being uprooted. Both are true. Both apply to this. So you are right. And so am I. Both things apply. The fact of it being a melting pot is part of said identity. Just like baseball has been. The average person born in US, if asked to name 3 sports, will name baseball football and basketball. Doesn’t mean it will be so forever but change can take time.
It’s part of the game. It’s usually during change of possession anyways. It never really bothered me. I’ve read that during a game that takes on average 3:12 only 12 minutes of action. 1 hour if advertising and 2 hours of watching players set up the next play. Baseball while I couldn’t find the exact data is probably similar. The 300 pitches themselves probably take what at most 2.5 minutes of time. Another 15 minutes at the most if generous for the 60 balls in play. 17 between innings without pitching changes adds another 36 to 45 minutes of commercials. Add in pitching changes, mound visits and you get nearly an hourly of advertising. The rest is watching the pitchers and batters get ready.
Soccer is cheap to play. Lower and middle income families can put their child in soccer much easier than baseball.
Baseball can be played relatively cheap. I know the travel ball can be pricey, but I’m sure the same for soccer. If a kid shows true talent then there is always someone willing to pick up the check. I grew up with a guy. Single mom rural community. Was super talented and we all knew he was gonna be a professional athlete. HS QB, 1st round MLB draft, recruited by Villanova in the 80s for basketball(Only 6 ft). Played 10+ years, son played, daughter in WNBA. He played travelball all through youth never had to pay.
30 seconds of Swift too much for you? Why does she trigger people so?
Hockey is fast and plays or highlights are constantly happening. Not sure how you can make that comment unless you don’t watch or understand hockey. It’s the one sport kids can sit and watch without fidgeting with a tablet.
I will not follow the MLS until they allow the NY Cosmos to join the league.
Soccer’s popularity is much like climate change. Same stale threats for decades from doom and gloomers.
Not arguing what is better for a sport, but I personally LOVE that baseball teams play so many games. It matches with the slower pace of the sport. Almost every night I can sit down and watch my team play. I can watch the big games intently, but I can also watch games passively and check in and out. Both ways I get a good experience.
My 11 year old son LOVES baseball above anything else, so the younger population does appreciate what baseball is.
I find football to be slow and really don’t like going to live games because you can’t see ANYTHING but two lines of giant people blocking the action. It’s a TV sport 100% and you need replays to even appreciate the action.
Basketball, in terms of constant action, is the best. Though the games do drag on (and on and on) in the 4th quarter when games are close. Teams call 7 time outs, replays, fouls, etc… make the last 5 minutes of a game take 30 minutes (much like football).
I played soccer through high school, so I understand it, but watching a professional game is all kinds of boring! They spend half the game just testing the defense waiting for a mistake. Good teams don’t make a lot of defensive mistakes so it just turns into a game of keep away. Soccer is best watched by seeing the edited “highlight” video afterwards.
Hockey is exciting to watch, but I never got into it so I don’t have much to say about it.
Niched – This was meant to play off of what you said, but I got carried away.
Worldwide, soccer has been around for 1000 years longer than baseball. I’m not sure that the MLS is more popular than the NHL, and a deal with a fringe streaming service like AppleTV isn’t really all that impressive. And more people and kids play soccer than other sports because it requires a much lower skill level and far less equipment and people. You can watch 4 year olds tripping over the ball on Saturdays in many cities and towns, and most of them end up playing a different sport.
You are a soccer fan so you see it with rose colored glasses. To most, it’s absurdly dull. And if every touch is important as you claim, it’s only because the scoring is so limited. Very limited action. Extremely popular worldwide, I will give you that.
If these guys don’t want to play. Let them sit.
Don’t overpay in years and get stuck with a guy that’s injured after 2 seasons or in decline.
Soccer may be more simple on the surface which attracts kids. But you have to be aggressive in nature in games like Soccer, Basketball and Football. Baseball on the other hand is not an aggressive sport. This is attractive to all those kids who don’t have that trait but still love sports.
Jack, It all really depends on what you consider “action’. A pitch is more then just the half second of action. It’s the game within the game.
– Pitchers shake off a pitches to try and confuse the batter
– They hold the ball longer to throw the timing off of batters and baserunners
– The catcher shifts left then right so the batter doesn’t know where the pitch is coming
– The infielders jockey back and forth to disturb baserunners.
– Baserunners take bigger or smaller leads, jump back and forth to try and distract the pitchers
– Fielders adjust their position based off count, hitter, and even pitch.
This all happens on EVERY pitch to some extent and it all matters in the game..
It is much like the pre-snap motion and qb calls made before the ball is snapped in football.
I agree, hockey is definitely the fastest paced game and has the most action. Some of the most exciting sports games I’ve ever watched were Devil playoff games back in the 90’s.
HOWEVER! I’m not a fan of hockey and find it boring to watch because I just don’t have a vested interest in it. The only reason I can think of for this is that in NJ it is not easy to play hockey. It’s the only sport I couldn’t play by just going outside. and grabbing a friend or my brother. And it was VERY inconvenient to find a team/league to play on because of the lack of ice rinks in the area. (5AM practices were a norm for those that tried).
I never thought of that. Kids play ball still, but, u don’t see any kids or teen fans at all. Unless they have a baseball nut fan like us to stear them that way. I think you’ll see a lot more worldly games, maybe even foreign teams in the MLB soon. Women players will be huge ( no I’m not w0ke) but far away still ( mid relievers would be their ceiling anyways). Plus they make the event a spectacle now- laser light 2000 drone shows, superstar performers doing the anthem etc. theme night: hey, Drag nun night was great!
I’d have to agree that, in the last 40 years (yes, fantasy football started in the 80’s!), fantasy football and “legalized” gambling on games via Draft Kings, FanDuel, etc has increased the popularity of the NFL. So much that even people who never cared about football are playing fantasy or betting the games just for the allure of winning some $$$!
Mound visits and pitching changes have been reduced, though, with the recent rule changes that included the pitch clock.
This is why I believe soccer is more popular with young children than the other sports. It’s less expensive for parents to get their kids involved in that game, and there’s less chance of serious injuries occurring like there is with football. (American football, that is 😉
Hockey has become my 2nd favorite sport to watch after baseball. When I was growing up many decades ago football was #1. It’s just not the same game anymore, as it was then, and I get annoyed trying to sit through all the dead time on TV now…so, I don’t.
I was never really a fan of basketball, but you nailed it when you stated the last 5 minutes of EVERY game plays out the same. And it just drags on & on… it’s literally the only part of a basketball game you need to watch! IMHO
I agree – football is not fun to watch anymore – the hitting is gone – there’s more contact in basketball than football now
Baseball is pricy compared to soccer. Let’s stop trying to compare. Some poor countries can put together dynamite soccer teams.
Stop
I guess it all depends on what excites someone. I watch movies and yawn to death during action scenes. Some people love them. To me it’s of no consequence, I just want the storyline. Same with hockey. I think lots of people only find scoring exciting. I know hockey has changed (from what I’ve heard) but it’s relatively low scoring like baseball. If people like defense and turnovers they may be inclined to like hockey, soccer, etc. If I grew up somewhere besides GA I know I would like hockey. I honestly hate watching sports where there is a constant seeming excitement that rarely ends in points. Constantly- oh! Wait, we’ve got something going here!…oh, no…nevermind. Baseball is more straightforwardly uneventful instead of a constant lead up to nothing. Just how I see it. I also appreciate the slow unfolding nature of baseball. It gives time to appreciate all the little things that went into the scoring. In other sports it happens in a flash. A blaze of excitement in an otherwise uneventful scene. I like the feeling of prolonged anticipation. Not up down up down up down every few seconds
Rsox – This was a weak free agent class for positional players, but a very strong class for pitchers.
Yamamoto, Snell, Nola, Montgomery, Hader, Gray, Imanaga, ERod and a whole bunch more solid pitchers such as Lugo, Stroman, Wacha, YRod, Maeda, Hicks…. not to mention a healthy Ohtani next year.
Based on context I think you misused my word “dearth” …. it means scarcity. I’m guessing you meant to say the many longterm contracts handed out over the past few years.
But Boras’ clients go unsigned into spring training every year, not just this year…
Not all of them… just the ones that ask for more than they are worth
EVERYONE asks for more than they are worth. And then the agent negotiates with teams, and finds a deal … before spring training starts, because there’s absolutely no reason to drag it out. It hurts the player.
When all the unsigned players are represented by the same agent, halfway into spring training, year after year … it’s probably that agent that’s the problem, not the players.
I do agree that Boras is doing harm not signing them before spring training.
Nola and Gray did fine.
So did the majority of the top bullpen arms that were available
Except Gray is reportedly injured…
This pitching staff all make 25+ starts and this will be a very good baseball team.
“Nola & Gray did fine”….Hey, that’s not a fair comparison because those guys had competent agent representation that knew how to read the market. Guys like Belli, Snell, Chappy Monty never got that because their “agent” is a bombastic, mercurial boob who markets all players, elite or average, pretty much the same.
This. Snell would have been signed long ago if he sought the same deal Nola got, not trying to get a $300 million dollar commitment that was never coming. Bellinger, after a bounce back year that still had him miss a month due to injury was never getting a decade long deal in the $250 million range. Montgomery and Chapman are sort of victims of the other two as Boras will suppress one players market til he gets the other big money
How can we know this is a “blame Boras” situation and not a “blame Snell, Belli, Chapman, Monty” situation?? Had those guys picked other representation and had the exact same salary expectations, why wouldn’t have those agents worked just as hard to meet the player’s expectations?? You guys blame Boras but the agent works for the player. It’s the players who are demanding these sort of salaries. They go with Boras because he has a track record of meeting what the player’s desire. But any player agent would be expected to go full bore to meet the contractual expectations the player asks for.
The agent is supposed to know the market, and advises the player on the best strategy. Given the common thread, the most likely explanation is that Boras completely misread the market. For example, if reports are to be believed, he failed to realize that the draft penalty meant that the opt-out option was not going be available for Snell. He failed to recognize the impact of luxury tax implications for the Yankees; didn’t readjust his strategy to account for the Dodgers dropping out quickly, and failed to realize that none of his clients had the kind of track record that teams were going to open the vaults for. He seems to have assumed that supply and demand were based completely on short term market conditions, favoring his players; while more teams are looking at salary cap implications, and free agent availability, over multiple year periods. The guy once had a great track record but he seems to have failed to adjust his strategy as the teams’ own strategies have changed.
I think a lot has to do with the perception that Boras is looking for the biggest deal for his ego and not the best fit for his players. The big problem that Snell is facing is his logical destination is over the 4th tier. 30Mil turns in 63Mil, 1M less international signing money, and 2 draft picks. His bet is sign a 3 year deal with Baltimore, win a ring, and reenter the market.
Because they all have the same agent and regardless of them making the final decision, Boras still gives advice that they’ll trust. Besides, what’s the odds of all of them thinking exactly alike. It’s Boras.
Nice – Which brings me to a question that is never asked …. how is The Boras Four/Five not evidence of collusion?
Only HIS top clients remained unsigned after ST games already began …. I wouldn’t be surprised if Belli went against the advice of Boras in signing with the Cubbies.
Fair enough
Maybe it’s just teams wiseing up. How many teams has Boras saddled with big contracts for players to sit on the IR for 5 years? The tax is working. Yankees I think made a good offer based on his track record. He said no and they signed Stroman. Who else spends big and is an ace away? Angels and Giants are desperate, but aren’t that dumb.
Doesn’t that make your original blanket statement “unfair” as well then?
And nola was willing to go lower aav for the extra year. Gray was just a short term higher aav deal, not that different from bassitt the year before.
I really hope the Yankees do not sign Blake Snell. Number one who wants to pay that absorbent amount and lose draft picks and the million dollars in pool money. Pass
Aww, but c’mon. Yankees are the best franchise at signing or trading for overrated and/or aging superstars.
They’re better off going to the trade deadline and reassessing then. If they need someone then, they can just trade for them.
They’re currently paying millions in dead money and sunk costs. $18mil alone in dead money for 2024 and sunk costs of over $40mil for the remaining years of DJM and Stanton. You have a better chance of improving the team paying tax dollars as opposed to no chance standing pat and paying for players who can no longer help you win or are no longer playing for you. Yankees are penny wise and pound foolish.
Seems really doubtful. Most of the top spending, perennially competitive teams don’t offer those constant opt out option contracts. That’s more of a Twins/Cubs/Giants/etc… on their downward spiral thing.
Too inconsistent. What version of Snell would the Yankees get for their hugh investment? He may be another Sonny Gray.
I don’t think I’d want that for my team even if he got a 3rd Cy. Let alone he’s been terrible or hurt in 3 of the last 5 years.
He kills the dodgers, and u need him if and when your staff gets injuries. Coles due.
Snell should have taken Yanks initial offer.
He wanted them Boras bucks $
Montgomery and/or Bauer would be a nice set of pick ups.
Why does everyone mention Bauer? He had one good season.
And no one will touch him with a ten foot pole. I mean that in several senses.
Bauer would be a PR nightmare for any organization marketing “family entertainment”. Simple as that…
So take your family a night he doesn’t pitch. Winning should matter, he helps any rotation in the game.
Nobody wants him; he’s trailer trash.
Ha…ha….says SOB.
The LA Times ran an interesting piece last week where Bauer was interviewed as if the writer was a GM who was considering hiring him. Very revealing. Bottom line, the man still doesn’t get it. Forget the PR and forget family friendliness, this is why he’s unemployed.
Snell would help any rotation too, but there’s an obvious reason (money) why most teams aren’t bothering with him.
Just like there’s an obvious reason (female-beating scumbag) teams want nothing to do with Bauer.
Bauer would be a cheaper option, and his reach on his social platforms will be a boost to any organization. Bauer can never touch the mound again and be fine making huge money off his socials.
If you believe he’s a 2 or a 3, you’d take that if it costs you 800K plus incentives.
I’ll bottom line this because I’m tired of seeing Bauer brought up all the time:
This is not complicated. Bauer is mentioned all the time because he has a history of supporting Trump. Trump voters are desperate to latch on to athletes, and Bauer, before his legal problems, was a vocal supporter of Trump.
That’s it. That’s what it’s all about. Bauer could kill someone and there would still be people here trying to inject doubt into his case in order to defend him.
It’s about Trump, not Bauer. Period. That’s the entire reason we keep reading this abusive scumbag’s name all the time. Bauer is a woman-beating scumbag. Who he votes for will never change that and I don’t spend one second of any day feeling bad for him.
Trump, really? You’re obviously unwell.
I’m not the one that advocated for signing Bauer.
Do you think MLB teams want women to go to their games? It takes a pretty basic understanding of women – I’m sure you at least have that – to figure out what the reaction would be to a team signing Bauer. It would be protests, and the protests would be warranted.
Name a team that wants to deal with that. There are zero.
That’s some all star level TDS right there.
You are also missing the point. The main reason this player is radioactive is he refuses to even acknowledge that he violated MLB/MLBPA policy, even though the finding that he did was made in two separate hearings in which his side of the argument was fully represented. So that case is closed, but he doesn’t seem to think so. A player in his situation can find a way back into baseball, as so many others have, if he accepts the findings and then convinces a future employer that he really wants to be a better person.
If you really want to talk about this, you should read the LAT piece and you will understand why he’s unemployed. It’s because he’s still in denial.
latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2024-02-22/trevor…
The real John Olerud would want you to creat distance from his name. You’re basically saying Trump supporters have no place in MLB. That’s the message you’re saying.
Bauer, flawed human indeed, is a nerd. Got caught up in some stupidity with a woman who targeted him. Yes, she targeted a nerd. A socially-awkward nerd.
Instead of the lesson being that women should stop targeting athletes, you want them to win with your, “women will protest” argument. Had Bauer been a random dude making under 50k, the woman (and all women) wouldn’t bother with him. That ends your silly argument.
Sign Bauer, give him a second chance, let him redeem himself and let’s move on.
“You’re basically saying Trump supporters have no place in MLB.”
No, I’m saying MLB teams don’t want women protesting their product because they sign a man with a history of beating women up.
It’s not about whether your idol Bauer deserves a second chance. It’s THAT TEAMS DON’T WANT TO SIGN HIM BECAUSE HE’S RADIOACTIVE. THIS IS HIS OWN FAULT.
You’re clueless.
You first. For once.
MLB teams have no problem employing men with history of beating women up. Difference here is Bauer was asked by the woman to do so. In the bedroom.
Get a clue.
Was doing good Before suspension . 7-4. 3:21 did great last year.
Because these idiots don’t realize what it means to countersue as the richer party
are the yankees really going to spend like 70mm AAV to sign snell? somehow I feel like it has to be a negotiating ploy – if not….. that is kind of insane
It’s all Boras trying drive up the price. Notice it’s mostly Heyman pushing the Yankees angle.
yeah I mean that is what I figure. I can only assume they are trying to reverse judge the giants.
I never liked the tax on salary caps. How has it helped the small market teams when they just pocket the money.
there is no such thing as a ‘tax on salary cap’
There is also no “pocketing the money.” Just a large market conspiracy theory.
Really? The clubs that receive CBT money are required to spend it?
Do tell!
The tax pays for the assistance to small market teams, which is what keeps them afloat. The Yanks tax, some of it anyway, goes right to the Rays, for instance.
He said the bench Mikey… Torres can hit but if he gets injured, or senior citizens DJ & Rizzo need a nap then it’s circus time…
The only reason the Yankees are still tied to Snell is that there has been no other interested teams since that was reported.
Crazy to think all offseason the only three teams I’ve even seen mentioned with Snell are the Yankees, Giants and Angels. Of those three only the Giants really make sense on a short deal with opt outs
The Yankees bench can’t hit. All under .199. Hernandez can at least hit around .250-.260 and hits lefties. Yankees needed him. LA got him. lol good luck Yankees. Your everyday infielders can’t hit and when they are on the DL the bench can’t hit. Another season of NYY not getting on base or scoring runs.
Gleyber Torres can’t hit? I admit to not being the biggest Torres fan but that’s a hot take on your part.
Don’t waste your breath. He’s a clown
You’re a Yankee fan. lol also, you’re not real. Your fake.
Clown
Soto will have down year. I bet anything on that. Hell do good, yeah, but Padres lineup was and is better. Hell get his walks n 33 hrs, but will dip in avg n tick down on rbi. He’s NOT 25!!! All Venezuelans doctor there birth certificate
He’s the one you’re right. .270 is solid.
I reported you. Hope you get banned.
Man, how’d the Yankees hurt you? Want me to call somebody for you? I’m getting concerned here.
That said, while you are pretty wrong, the Yankees infield can indeed hit, I’ll have to agree, that bench could have used the upgrade.
Snell should fire Boras and work on a reasonable longer term deal. Snell wants to play for the Yankees. Boras will only get in his way.
“Snell should fire”….Snell probably sent at LEAST 5 teams running for cover with his initial ask. Now that he’s more reasonable, most teams have already spent their alloted budget. Players can take the risk of waiting, holding out and dragging out the process, but it’s not realistic to expect teams to wait with them.
I think Snell blew his shot to sign with NY. That offer was before they decided to sign Stroman. Take away the $18M they’re giving Stroman and put that toward the $25M per year they offered Snell and it looks more workable even with the taxes. On top of Stroman with all of it taxed at the max along with the draft penalties and it’s a very hard sell. Snell’s best bets now are either the Angels or Giants.
During a lengthy video interview about three weeks ago, Cashman implied that he never made a formal offer to Snell and had also been speaking with Stroman’s camp since last November. The media won’t stop running that narrative.
YankeesBleacherCreature
I believe you speak Cashman’s interview with Jomboy. He did indeed say there was never a “pen and paper” offer, just an initial number from the Yankees and then nothing after that. Stroman was the backup plan, but they probably got going on that ASAP so as to not have to do the whole back and forth with Boras.
There is no scenario where the Yankees add meaningful contracts to their roster, due to that 110% tax. They’d need to move a ton of expensive contracts completely off the books in order to afford Snell for even just one season-which they can’t and won’t do. They literally can’t and if they did it’d leave too many gaps in their line up.
This is a pipe dream. Snell should move on and the Yankees should hold tight with what they’ve got, unless they can swing one of the greatest and most complex blockbuster trades of all time.
TTO
“There is no scenario where the Yankees add meaningful contracts to their roster, due to that 110% tax. They’d need to move a ton of expensive contracts completely off the books in order to afford Snell for even just one season-which they can’t and won’t do. They literally can’t ”
Will you delete you account if they add another $20 million plus contract?
Man you must really hate me, huh? Lol. The comment section version of “you should kill yourself.”
TTO
“Man you must really hate me, huh?”
Nah. I don’t know you enough to hate you
What I hate is people being certain about things they cannot be certain about?
So, deal? You delete your account if they do the thing that they “literally: can’t do?
Dude, why is that your ultimatum? I didn’t say anything about what I will do or not do if the Yankees do or don’t do whatever.
So that’s your projecting your distaste onto me.
TTO: I agree that they likely will not add Blake Snell. I do think there is one circumstance under which they would add him: if he agrees to a structure similar to Bellinger.
Like I said though, I think it’s a very, very remote possibility even with that structure. For some reason, MLB “insiders” keep pushing the narrative that the Yanks are the most likely landing spot. I just don’t see it.
Filihok hates you, it’s why he tore both his thumbs pushing the mute button for a hundred posters.
TTO
“Dude, why is that your ultimatum? I didn’t say anything about what I will do or not do if the Yankees do or don’t do whatever.”
No. You didn’t. You just ran your mouth with no consequence -saying what the Yankees “literally can’t” do.
Yeah the contact demands, taxes, and QO will make it not happen. Maybe next year the Yankees could move money around. This year is the big if. Snell is terrified to pitch this year with a ltc.
I would pay money to get you and filihok to mute me. Please!
It would make this wonderful site more pleasant.
br
“I would pay money to get you and filihok to mute me. Please!”
Make me an offer
A buck
You haven’t muted me yet? I will keep on testing. Get muted from you is not a punishment.
You replying to me? You’ll hit the mute long before I ever consider it. Your loss.
br
“A buck”
I think you can do better. It’s almost like you don’t want to be muted.
Make a real offer.
Unless you’re, like so many, all talk.
“You haven’t muted me yet? I will keep on testing.”
I’m waiting for a better offer. Or to see if you are just running your mouth. I think it’s probably the later. ‘
” Get muted from you is not a punishment.”
It’s not meant to be a punishment. What?
I can think of a lot of things that might be called a loss but this one somehow does not make the list.
They won’t add snell.
You should look into what the Yankees yearly revenues are, before declaring that they can’t “afford” to spend more.
They absolutely can afford to spend more Whaaaay more. They’re at $341 mill. in payroll + luxury tax, right now. They could afford to spend half a billion pretty comfortably.
It’s what George would be spending, if he hadn’t won a title in 15 years. That’s because he was passionate about the Yankees winning. His kids obviously aren’t. Hal just cares about finances, and the rest don’t seem to care about any of it.
AL/ NL cy young winners on the same team a year after winning the awards! Will be the first time that happened.
Mark Davis (1989 NL CYA winner) signed with the Royals prior to the 1990 season, joining Bret Saberhagen (1989 AL CYA winner). Davis won as a reliever. It didn’t help the Royals much, they won 75 games in 1990.
Maybe if Cole is traded but I don’t see a team trading for that contract as he enters his mid 30’s.
MLBTR
In regards to Grisham’s reverse platoon splits.
He only has 518 career PA’s vs lefties. That’s not a large enough sample to draw meaningful conclusions about his batting performance from
What stabilizes quickest are K% and BB%
Vs lefties, Grishom has a 10% BB rate and 25.5% K rate
vs righties: Grishom has a 12.1% BB rate and 26.5% K rate
Those are pretty similar and don’t reflect a hitter who would be expected to perform better vs lefties than righties.
The difference in his performance is BABIP
vs L: .304 BABIP, .173 ISO
vs R: .260 BABIP, .167 ISO
Much more likely that he has a smaller than average split, perhaps a neutral split.
Nothing really suggests he;ll continue to have a reverse split.
Way to dig in.
TrOG
It took way longer to write than to look up.
And, anyone who’s ever looked into it knows that true reverse splits basically don’t exist.
What an excuse of a baseball news website
I don’t know who 90% of the people are in any of these articles whatsoever
I miss the good old days where they’d only post articles about true athletes, not mediocre international leaguers with weird names
Stop visiting the site then. No one will miss you.
What astute analysis! Not! Did you just finish rolling around in your own poop, because you stink!!! Later.
I just lost my brain cells reading your reply
Kike would’ve really been the perfect player for the Yankees. Can play all 3 outfield spots and most of the infield. Could also spell Judge in CF as a righty bat. Also a great clubhouse guy from how it seems. Surprised they didn’t make a harder push for him.
Snail to the Angels 3-100mil with opt outs
Just watch out for the salt shaker!
I really think Snell wants to sign with a winning team for next year (and the years of his contract). It may be a long time before the Angels finally fumble into a winning season.
Welp, they need pitching to win and Snail would be a good start!!
Man, if you are a Angels fan, then I am rooting for you. But I just don’t see why he would pick them over the Giants or Yankees.
Money and Southern California are my guesses
I’m stoked to have Kike back with the Dodgers. The Dodgers roster is filled with good dudes I love to root for. So glad that piece of trash Bauer was shown the exit.
Dude, I watched Yamamoto’s innings today…. That’s gotta be a great feeling for LAD fans. He looked fantastic, and that splitter is for real.
It was, though it was also noticed that he tips his splitter, at least he would to anyone standing on 2B. Not sure how he got away with this in Japan but he’ll need to be more careful with his grip in MLB.
Dodgers don’t even have Ohtani pitching this year, it’ll be pretty cool to watch those two dominate games in 2025.
Ohtani might never pitch again.
It also might never rain again, but I doubt it.
I hate it when these teams sign players to these opt out deals. If you sign a player to one of these deals that first year better be way below the average of the deal.
Don’t let Boras bully your team into a 3 year 100M contract and they bail after year one unless they get hurt or completely stink.
Also don’t forget pitchers like Snell & Montgomery are like 3 weeks behind now and may get hurt if they push too hard to be ready for opening day.
Man, I gotta say, that would have been a nice fit for the Yanks. Hard to beat the allure of going back to LA with that stacked team though.
Maybe we can swing a third deal with LA and get Chris Taylor lol.
Time for Cohen to do his annual thing. 1/40m for Snell?
Too bad that only makes sense if Senga’s healthy.
Sign Snell to a 10 year deal with opt outs.
$30M
$30M
and 8 years at $1M each
That would lower the AV to $6.8M.
That is a two-year contract for $60 million that would cost the Yankees nearly $125 million. That is a non-starter.
It’s a Beautiful Day!
Don’t Let it Get Away!
Taking the dog for a walk
Almost Spring. Music is Good.
Lay off the crack pipe Mary Poppins!
The Light that has Lighted the World!
I think the biggest reason that Snell and Montgomery have not signed is because of Nola. Both pitchers think they are better and won’t take less money. The big kick with Nolas deal is its his original team that probably overpaid a bit for previous work.
boreass said to be looking for a chin in his latest snell demands
Clarke can be a great pitcher if the yanks just let him develop
The fact that it’s now March 1 and last season’s NL Cy Young winner still hasn’t signed is insane.
Unreasonable hype over Montgomery and Snell, all those combined seasons and so few with double digit wins. I would have rather had Eduardo Rodriguez.
luvo
[That’s bait gif]
There’s a finite (albeit huge) amount of money out there, not every team has the capacity to spend, of those that do, some owners don’t want to, and it wouldn’t surprise if a few of the expensively priced talents need to go on sale. I have some sympathy, because I believe people should be paid for unusual talents, which these guys have, but the difference between $1M for a start, as opposed to $800K per start ($30M per year vs. $24M per year) does not make me want to contribute to a Gofundme campaign.
Mike
“the difference between $1M for a start, as opposed to $800K per start ($30M per year vs. $24M per year) does not make me want to contribute to a Gofundme campaign.”
And I’m sure about 90% of the world would be happy to shave 20% of y9ur annual earnings to give back to your boss for no apparent reason
Blake Snell needs to sign ASAP in order to get right for the start of the season. With how bad his control is he needs to be getting some innings in now.
Merrill should be in LF or CF for the season.
He is great defensively.
And, he will hit much better than Profar or Pham or Azocar.
AAA is a storage lot for veteran depth players.
Many players skip AAA and jump right to the majors with success.