With the Yankees in need of infield help, both Alex Bregman and Nolan Arenado have been linked to the club this offseason, with the idea being that one would become New York’s new third baseman and Jazz Chisholm Jr. would become the full-time second baseman. However, during an edition of the YES Network’s “Yankees Hot Stove” show earlier this week, Jack Curry said that the Bronx Bombers weren’t in on either Bregman or Arenado, and pushed back on the idea that the Yankees ever had interest in trading for Arenado.
This runs counter to last week’s report (from MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, John Denton, and Bryan Hoch) that the Yankees offered Marcus Stroman to the Cardinals as part of a trade package for Arenado, though St. Louis rejected the deal. As always with seemingly contradictory offseason reports, the truth could lie somewhere in the middle. Hypothetically, it could be that New York’s interest in Arenado was limited to this scenario that would’ve seen Stroman’s salary moved off the team’s books.
Whatever the depth of the Yankees’ interest in Arenado might be, it could be a moot point if Arenado himself isn’t interested in joining the team. The Yankees aren’t one of the six clubs (the Angels, Dodgers, Padres, Phillies, Mets, Red Sox) Arenado is reportedly willing to waive his no-trade protection to join, and Arenado has already vetoed a proposed deal to the Astros. There was speculation that New York’s deal with Paul Goldschmidt was made in part to entice Arenado to accept a trade to the Bronx to join his old teammate, yet Curry’s report seems to close the door on that possibility.
In addition to signing Goldschmidt and Max Fried, the Yankees have also traded for Cody Bellinger, Devin Williams, and Fernando Cruz, as GM Brian Cashman has aggressively reloaded the roster after Juan Soto left to sign with the Mets. Even with some holes left to be addressed, New York is projected (by RosterResource) for a luxury tax number of $303.2MM, and thus the team is already over the maximum penalty threshold of $301MM.
The Yankees could reduce their tax bill by trying to move Stroman or another unfavorable contract, yet the payroll situation might hint at why Arenado or Bregman aren’t (or no longer are) on the radar. Signing Bregman would require a far higher investment than taking most or all of Arenado’s contract in a trade, plus since Bregman rejected Houston’s qualifying offer, the Yankees would need to give up two draft picks and $1MM in international bonus pool money. Since the Bombers already paid that extra penalty to sign another qualified free agent in Fried, the club would very likely prefer to avoid further depleting its draft pool and bonus pool by adding Bregman.
If the Yankees are indeed out on Bregman, that leaves the Phillies, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Mets, and Tigers as teams known to have some level of interest in Bregman’s services this winter. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press shed a little more light on the Tigers’ link in the latest edition of the Days of Roar podcast, noting that “there has been an increase in the Tigers’ prioritization of Bregman” as the offseason has developed, with “more dialogue, more conversation” between the club and Bregman’s camp.
Heading into the offseason, Detroit was viewed as a logical landing spot for Bregman for multiple reasons — his past history with manager A.J. Hinch, the lack of long-term money on the Tigers’ books, and the perception that the Tigers were going to be aggressive in the wake of their Cinderella run to the ALDS last season. The latter point hasn’t played out to date, as Alex Cobb’s one-year, $15MM deal represents the Motown team’s only major investment of the winter.
Bregman’s reported asking price of at least $200MM appears to be the hold-up, as the Tigers aren’t willing to spend to that level. What remains unclear is if Detroit is willing to at least approach Bregman’s demands, or if the team is aiming lower overall. Most of the free agents or trade targets publicly linked to the Tigers in rumors this winter (i.e. Goldschmidt, Carlos Santana, Walker Buehler, Kirby Yates, Erick Fedde, Steven Matz, Andrew Heaney, Kyle Gibson) are either already under contract on short-term deals, or would likely require only one- or two-year investments. Apart from Bregman, Jack Flaherty and Ha-Seong Kim are the other free agents on the Tigers’ list of targets that would require bigger contracts, and even Kim’s situation is fluid due to the lingering uncertainty surrounding his shoulder surgery.
Bregman already turned down a reported six-year, $156MM offer from the Astros earlier this winter, which was the first step towards what now looks like the end of a reunion possibility between the third baseman and his longtime team. Acquiring corner infielder Isaac Paredes in the Kyle Tucker trade left open the possibility that Bregman could still be re-signed and Paredes could play first base in Houston, but the Astros’ three-year, $60MM deal with first baseman Christian Walker has now addressed the team’s needs in the corner infield.
While not officially stating that the Astros were now out on Bregman, GM Dana Brown left things pretty clear by stating “Paredes is going to play third and Walker is going to play first” when speaking with reporters (including the Houston Chronicle’s Matt Kawahara) earlier this week. Brown felt “the negotiations stalled” with Bregman’s camp, leaving the Astros in search of an alternative.
“I thought we made a really competitive offer and showed that we wanted [Bregman] back,” Brown said. “But we had to pursue other options, we couldn’t just sit there. We locked in Paredes early in that trade knowing that he could play third or first. And then when the opportunity to add another bat [Walker] came up, we just jumped on it.”
I feel like Jazz Chisholm is the newer, younger DJ LeMahieu for the Yankees- undefined utility infielder who’s got starting position player qualities but isn’t viewed as locked into any one position- and so they actually do have a couple of internal solutions in DJLM and Chisholm, but they prefer to use Chisholm to replace Gleyber on a daily basis and consider DJLM to be superfluous and unreliable so they aren’t really factoring him into their plans- he’s just kinda on the 40-man roster and if he plays and is effective, great, but don’t bet on it?
Jack knows.
If he says the Yankees have an interest or don’t have an interest, you can take it to the bank.
The blood bank, senator.
Steven Seagal quoted. Hell yeah
that rando Seagal quote lol
Agreed LordD though Feinssnd and Hoch are typically reliable. This one is a bit confusing but I do lean more to Curry being right.
Time will tell and it makes logical sense Joe. and by Arenados spray charts, he would not do well in Yankee, Stadium, which I’m sure the Yankees analytics team is aware of.
not to mention the fact that, as reported, they were already well above the final threshold of the cap, and will be spending a projected hundred million dollars in luxury tax this year, I would strongly doubt I wish to add to it.
This is where listening to the complete interview instead of Polishuk’s opinion about what he said is so important. Then at the very least you know the questions Jack was asked.
Mets should sign Arenado this year and Vlad Guerrero next year. Sorry Pete, you took too long. Call San Francisco or Seattle.
Pete should call San Diego, but alas the Padres refuse to spend.
Why in the world would the Padres want Alonso? Any infielder for that matter. They had so many last season they had to push a decent 2B with a 4 DRS to DH. In my not so humble opinion the Padres need some minor league depth in the infield and that’s it.
Give it a rest. The Padres were 11th by luxury tax payroll in 2024, behind all the larger market usual suspects while SD ranks 30th in sports team market size (just ahead of San Antonio).
Appreciate what you have and that thus far, your ownership has ponied up for a competitive payroll beyond other larger market teams (Pittsburgh, Baltimore, St. Louis, Cleveland, etc.) and that your GM has assembled a ballclub that might have been the 3rd best team last year.
apnews.com/sports/baseball-new-york-mets-los-angel…
sportsmediawatch.com/nba-market-size-nfl-mlb-nhl-n…
The Padres need to jump on Arenado now!!
Mike Schildt would love to have Arenado again and Arenado would love to play for Mike Schildt again!!
Arenado said he would move to First base if it’s the right team!!
( And in this case —- Right Manager!)
Arenado would think he was in Heaven — playing for Mike Schildt instead of Oil Marmol.
Plus Arenado would be locked into an organization who goes after “Quality players” to fill in the blanks on their team —- rather than grabbing the “Low Hanging Fruit!”
Who would they be giving up for arenado
Arenado isn’t a free agent so signing him isn’t an option. Vlad Guerrero is retired.
Giants have Wilmer and LaMonte Wade Jr. and the Mariners don’t do big FA contracts.
Pretty sure he means Vlad Guerrero Jr. but some people have to be smart allecks about it.
Some people appreciate attention to detail…it’s smart aleck btw not alleck.
Oh ok thanks for the correction. I’m Hispanic so I don’t really know the term. It wasn’t my first choice of words but I didn’t want to call you a donkey. We all knew he meant Jr, since us dedicated baseball fans know Vladdy Snr has been retired for a while now.
that’s funny. Some people have to be so picky.
Piazza Hahaha you smard Alex .
Why would you use a term you don’t know? Yo no haría eso en español.
Arenado is signed through 2027 with deferrals through 2041.
Mets can’t just sign Arenado. He must first b traded for then waive NTC after a deal is reached. Mets would then have to extend him.
It is quite possible they could do so. But it is not as simple as just signing him.
Bregman to Boston 6/170
Good or bad the Yankees still have LeMahieu under contract for the next two seasons to the tune of $30+ million, so either they play him, trade him, or cut him. All three of those options will cost them money, and two out of three will cost them the full amount. It would be silly to go spend another $30 million to bring in someone else when they are on the hook for LeMahieu while also having Cabrera and Peraza as in-house options
I would count out the Angels. Arenado wants to win.
Bergman to Detroit 6/175
Bergman to Detroit, 1 year, $18M
I can easily see Bregman doing another Boras special of 3 years of decent AAV with a player opt out every year at this point.. I would be shocked if he ended up getting $200 million. Chapman just signed an extension for 6/152~, ain’t no way Breggy is worth more than Chapman at this point
Except Bregman’s stats decline offensively each season, so now is the time to get the money. Younger players in their prime can do that. A declining Bregman can’t really keep putting off a big contract that he wants.
Bregman can’t “put off” the big contract he wants, if no one offers it. He has to choose from the offers he gets, whether at the level he hoped for or not. The other choice is to not sign, and sit out.
labial: And how much will BREGMAN get?
Maybe all Bitcoin or all DOGECoin with the Shiba Inus dog face?
OR 6 years/180M total which includes an upfront 15M signing bonus, 30 M deferred over 10 years starting in year 7
Bergman? Dave or Ingmar?
Ingrid
IDK, I have a hard time believing the Tigers are serious about signing Bregman. But maybe they are and are willing to at least wait a bit and are not ready to move on as the Astros appear to have done. Bregman is the best fit for the Tigers which could mean they are more than willing to wait. Need a RHH bat with power and 3B is the best fit.
It just feels like a situation where *someone* “has to” sign Bregman, the contending clubs aren’t comfortable signing him to 5+ years, but someone “has to” and it falls to a team like the Tigers, who aren’t going to be in serious contention, but have money to throw around anyway and might as well?
Like the league is going “look, nobody who has a real shot at contending for the post season or the world series wants to be stuck with an aging, overpaid Bregman, but he’s paid his dues, he’s an All-Star level player at least in terms of his media profile level, so someone has to give him that big money free agent contract and we feel it falls to you, the Detroit Tigers, to take that one for the collective teams, even though he won’t actually improve your chances of contending and he will more than likely become an albatross of a contract sooner rather than later. C’mon, Tigers- be cool., be a team player, waste your money and roster spot so that we don’t have to, but a high profile free agent in his prime isn’t actually denied his high profile expensive free agency deal.”
^^^ this exactly. To be fair they haven’t signed a big free agent in a while so it is their turn
That’s kind of a silly take. Tigers are not going to sign someone to a $180-200MM contract out of obligation imposed by the rest of the league. If that was the case, they would have done it already. I believe the Tigers truly are interested in Bregman, but definitely not for 7 years/$200MM and probably not for what the Astros offered him either. They remain in discussions with him, probably for the slim chance of getting him for 5 years at $28MM/year if no one else bites. But that would actually be a sensible deal for the team.
well, a team gets in trouble if they don’t spend the money they get from the luxury tax distributed amongst all the teams, and it could be quite a large amount of money. If they don’t spend it, just shove it in their pocket they get in trouble with major league baseball.
I don’t believe you are very well acquainted with Scott Harris or Chris Illitch. They’re eye-to-eye on fiscal prudence. In fact, I think it’s in Harris’s job description not to let the team/owner get into another Javy Baez-like contract, which Bregman will surely become in year 3 of his expected 5 year deal.
That’s what worries me about Bregman: becoming another albatross contract that locks up payroll and a position. SS is already a disaster. I liked the idea of Bregman on the Tigs at one point, but not now after the warning of things to come with his 2024 start.
I also don’t like the idea of giving up draft picks for the right to overpay for Bregman or the idea of him trying to hit in Comerica National Park, probably THE worst fit for him.
.
Despite what they said (that they are still in on Bregman), I doubt there is a real chance he signs with them. They probably have a low offer in place that keeps them in the running, but extremely doubtful that he plans to accept it.
AJ Hinch factor plus he provides leadership and some cheating abilities for a team on the rise
Problem is they won’t go more then 4 years on him and he probably wants at least 6
Given what happened with LeMahieu, who was looking for 4 years/$80-$100M and settled on $90M but over 6 years and is now a massive albatross with two years left instead of being off the books, that should be a lesson to most clubs about guys aiming for a total dollar amount- give them a higher AAV over fewer years.
So with Bregman, if he is aiming for like 6 years/$180M to 7 years/$245M or whatever it is, I’d offer him, no joke, 4 years/$160M and then walk away from him no matter what, even if someone else thinks he’d be worth another 2-4 years at any given price and he winds up holding up decently over that next contract.
@tiger
Coming from winning 2 WS rings with the Astros, do you think Bregman wants to go somewhere that will likely not be a serious contender? money is money but he’ll likely be in the last year or two of his career or he ft
Bregman overestimated his situation. I personally think he very much wanted to stay in Houston but attempted to squeeze out as much money as he could (hey can’t blame him), however the Astros decided not to wait until he arbitrarily decided to sign and moved on with their plans.
@school
I just don’t see him signing with a team like the Tigers. He may get his money but his career will likely end without appearing in the playoffs again. I would be shocked to see the Tigers back next year.
Why will the Tigers not be back this year? They are essentially running back the same team that won 86 games and was finally 4 in the AL. They have a very young lineup that should improve whether they add or not, a great manager, a great pitching coach, really good pitching with the #1 pitching prospect in baseball likely to graduate, two stars in Carp and Greene and arguBly the number one minor league system in baseball. And…if they add the right bat(s) they will be even better, and there is still tons of time left before spring training. SI predicts them to be in the World Series this year against the Dodgers. Can’t say I agree with your take on the team.
agreed, but he’s not gonna have much choice if nobody wants him especially for the money he’s asking well for the years. He’s gonna have to go somewhere. He’s gonna have to have more realistic expectations given the market.
Boras is asking too much for another guy and in the long run will cost Bregman money. The waiting game didn’t work last year and spots are already getting filled this year. If the team he came up with and won extensively doesn’t want to come near the price demands then I’m not sure anyone else will either
Why do people think the agent sets the price? The player says how much they want and then it’s up to the agent to go get them the money or as close to it as they can. Boras can only advise Bregman on the market, not force him to sign or not sign for a certain amount. It was Bregman that compared himself to Machado. I’m sure that had to have terrified Boras since he had to know that there was no way Bregman would even approach that level.
Boras is a pretty persuasive advisor and it’s not always a good thing. There’s a reason Montgomery switched agents.
@manfred
Unless a client tells him “don’t bring me any offers under this amount” then it’s the agents job to present all deals. Boras can advise but he’s not the boss, the client is.
There is a reason Boras picks up more clients than he loses.
Of the Boras Four, 3 got large raises and 2 got long-term deals.
Bellinger had too many question marks and is still making $4 million more AAV for 3 years than the $22 million AAV he was expected to get in FA. If he plays well in 2025, he can still opt out and go after a big contract at age 29.
After having 3 straight seasons from 2021-2023 with offense that was only a 108 OPS+, a huge collapse at the plate in the 2nd half in 2023, and a QO dampening his options, Chapman came into the 2023-2024 offseason with huge question marks attached to him going into his age 31 season and only 1 team on his wish list, his hometown Giants. Even with those issues hanging over his head, Chapman earned $20 million in 2024, an $8 million raise from he had earned with Toronto in 2023. Then after having an exceptional season he signed a 6/151 million extension to play with the only team he even considered in FA. A total of $171 million over 7 years. Chapman won big.
Snell went from expecting to make $27.5 million AAV over 7 years going into the 2023-2024 offseason to getting $36.4 million AAV over 5 years after earning $32 million in 2024. A total of $212 million over 6 years. Snell will be 36 at the end of his contract and able to earn some money in FA or extensions after that. Snell won big.
Montgomery is the only one that lost. He was a poor sport, sulked, fired Boras, played extremely poorly, and now he is stuck in Arizona.
The agent is legally obligated to present all deals. He cannot pick and choose which ones he brings to the client. Good or bad, he has to at least tell the client about them all.
Yeah, that’s what Freeman thought. It then becomes interpretation. Does the agent really think that an offer was completed or the discussions are still on going?
If a team submits an offer, the agent is legally obligated to present it to his client. There is no interpretation. There is the law.
Boras compiles a huge presentation of why his client is worth X amount of dollars. The player then either agrees that this is his bottom dollar and holds out or he is flexible on price depending on each situation. If you believe Boras has no input on the dollar amount and is only chasing a number that Bregman made up himself then you are naive. The player always possesses the power to sign whatever deal he chooses but in this case we all have several instances where Boras and Co. have held out for a dollar amount that will never be attained. The years and dollar amount always start with Scottie
Several? Last season there was one. Montgomery. The rest got paid. .
All four received deals for less than asked and for shorter terms. Three luckily worked out better down the road. None of the Boras four got what they expected on their ’24 contract.
3 got huge raises. 3 got more in the first year than anyone thought they would get AAV. 2 got more total than they were even asking for initially in that 2023-2024 offseason. Snell got a HUGE raise over what anyone expected. $54 million more. Between 2024 and his extension Chapman got $20 million more than anyone expected going into the 2023-2024 offseason. You argue these points when the facts say that you are wrong. Why do you continue?
Alonso will be a Met and Vientos will stay at 3B. What about Alec Bohm to the Yankees? Philly would never deal him to the Mets but to the Yankees makes sense. He’s much cheaper than Bregman and Arenado.
Seaver rules: If Bohm is such a bargain compared to Bregman and Arenado, why would the Phillies trade him?
@Blue
Ask your GM because its being trolleys by many sources they he’s on the trading block.
KnicksFan: Who’s my GM?
I agree, that trade makes sense. If they’re offering Stroman, they’ll probably have to sweeten the pot a little bit more than that.
NO ONE wants Stroman. Its like they can’t give the guy away.
that’s for sure, a lot more. Stroman is getting on in years and he’s not very good anymore. He’s just useful as a depth piece maybe
Bregman, without considering price or draft picks, is exactly who Harris describes as his type of player: strong defensively, hits for average and power, doesn’t strike out much, has play off experience. Add in the past relationship with Hinch, and it looks like a great match. Still not expecting it to happen, because I think Bregman wants to play for a perennial contender, and Boras wants his money.
Why are the Tigers not set up to be perennial contenders? Good young team that won 86 games with a great farm system to supplement moving forward. I’d be happy if they got him, but I’d be happier if they grabbed Kim (if the shoulder is good) and maybe another bat to cover some 1B/DH instead.
I wouldn’t sign to more than a 3 year deal. IF he were to “bust” in Detroit, Illitch wouldn’t sign anyone for another 10 years. Skubal is as good as gone. This franchise isn’t serious about being a contender.
Phillies aren’t in because of their salary situation already and the fact that no one is willing to give anything up for Bohm.
We’ve reached the point of the postseason where teams have a little more leverage than the players, so it will be interesting to see how some of these final big transactions play out.
Why not just keep stroman? Yea get rid of some payroll and some potential lux tax concerns but he makes the team better and what are they honestly going to add if they get rid of him?
Subtraction for addition. They eat some of Stroman’s salary to unload his salary. Then add another position player which makes being over the last tax line more palatable. Stroman doesn’t have a role right now and is not suited for the bullpen.
I thought it was addition white attraction, bleaching creatures. But anyway, otherwise what you said is pretty much been said numerous times elsewhere. I think it’s valid. The Yankees showed their thoughts about it. They didn’t even play him in the postseason. They didn’t even deem him worthy of it, and if that if you remember a few years back, when storm was younger, even and a little better, there was some controversy regarding the Yankees, not interested in Stroman and him having something to say about it you know, and then he was better than all the other Yankee pitchers except for Cole. I think it was one of his comments. And Cashman not being shy, I fired back that they weren’t interested in him because he wouldn’t even be on the postseason roster that was several years ago. It proved to be truly prophetic.
Spring training begins with more than 5 pitchers getting starts. Because of his contract, Stroman will get starts. He could very well out pitch others and earn a spot in the rotation. Poor performance by others and injury could play a role.
What YankeesBleacherCreature said- he doesn’t seem reliable as a starter to go the distance and but he also doesn’t have the performance make up or experience to be a reliever, so there’s nowhere to put or use him. Better to trade him to a team who will use him as a starter and get something out of him and give the Yankees the roster flexibility to add someone they could really use in a clearly defined position or function.
They could try and see if the Rays want to trade Diaz. It might cost them Jasson, but Diaz is a solid player who walks a lot and could men 3B
They’re not trading Dominguez if they held onto him for this long.
L O L. Treating the Martian, doesn’t everyone know he’s the next Mickey Mantle. he’s the golden boy ,they have high hopes for him, they’re not gonna give him up for anything, at least not yet
Yeah, trading a MLB ready potential superstar to your division rival for 2 years of a soon to be 35yo Yandy Diaz makes sense…
“MLB ready potential superstar”
Ahh, if I only had a dollar for every time I heard a Yankee fan describe a Yankee prospect as a future superstar, I could probably afford to have a pool installed in my backyard AND sign Corbin Burnes as my pool boy.
@Dev
Aren’t almost every top 30 prospects seen as having “superstar” potential?
KFC Fan – Not saying some don’t eventually become a superstar (though darn few do), but fans (and I suspect some GMs) view their prospects as if they’re all going to achieve their 100%tile ceiling. Been reading this site a long time, and I could fill a starting lineup with vaunted Yankee prospects who people wouldn’t give up under any circumstances and who eventually washed out or became marginal players.
@Devish
And any GM that listens to what a fan feels should be fired. But the industry isn’t influenced by the fans or GM and we have to assume that their evaluations aren’t influenced by anyone, thus, legit, and most feel he had the potential to be a future superstar. Thus his trade value should be viewed as such and the Yanks should value him as sick to not include him in silly trades, especially those to dump salary.
he said potential, if you read more closely before just commenting,you would’ve known.
@KFCf
No, they aren’t.
If you read the same prospect reviews as I do, by the time you get to #10, if not sooner, words like swing man and 5th starter potential start showing up. Utility fielder, and 4th outfielder, and platoon bat or backup catcher. A top prospect is just one with the likelihood of making the majors. If someone who strikes out 40% of the time is being talked about as having “superstar” potential, someone is blowing smoke up your A$$.
yup, makes perfect sense, not. They’re not trading their potential future golden boy, for anything they have high hopes for him certainly not trading him for an over the hill first base, that’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard or in a long time anyway
Rays are open for business, I mean, the Cubs snookered them into trading Paredes for Morel, Cubs then moved him to Astros as part of Tucker deal. Good horse trading by Cubs. Rays lost that one badly, and they will lose some more, too.
I think we’re still a year or two from declaring a winner. While Paredes is perfect for the Astros ballpark, I’m withholding judgment on Morel until the Rays have had him another year.
How about even one full year?
I’d much rather leave Jazz at third and give him a chance to improve defensively. Sticking him at second feels like a solution in search of a problem. A declining Arenado or Bregman on a long-term deal will both be poor values.
There’s a reasonable argument that we should offer Gleyber an incentive laden 1 year deal to see if he can sustain his production from the leadoff role. There’s also a logic to pursuing Kim to add the defense and contact hitting.
The potential solutions at second are far cheaper, better fits than the options on third base market. I hope the front office realizes this
I agree with all of this.
I feel like Gleyber is undervalued because he didn’t reach the level of player he was expected to, but if you make your peace with that, he’s still a very solid option and acquitted himself nicely in 2024 and would be a fine stop gap signing to… replace himself, haha.
Replace Gleyber temporarily with Gleyber.
1 year/$20M and then hope to have better options in 2025 or see if he becomes the player people hoped he’d be.
He was able to turn on the production late in the season so he was complacent
on a $14 million salary. His benching midseason confirmed this. I fail to see how guaranteeing $20 million will solve the problem.
I say keep him motivated. $12 million and up to $7 million in incentives in incentives. If he wants his money he’ll have to hit This is literally his last chance to demonstrate he can excel in the right lineup spot. Keeping him at second already weakens the defense.
Considering that there was a period of time where people were realistically suggesting an early lifetime extension for Gleyber in the 15 yeas/$450M range and he seem to know that nobody is gonna offer him 3 years/$60M let alone 5 years $150M or 8 years/$200M, etc. basically any guaranteed money over about $15M is a huge win for him at this point.
He made $14.2M for his final year of arbitration- oddly enough that was roughly his exact WAR value in 2024 as well. It is entirely reasonable that a player in his position expects significantly more cash on any AAV for his free agency coming off an okay season going into free agency. As it stands I don’t think he’s expecting anything more than 2 years/$30M, maybe 2 years/$37M with an opt out or something along those lines.
1 year/$20M would be saying “we think you’re worthy of free agent level money, but nobody is certain about your consistency. Prove you can do well on a free agent sized salary without free agency guaranteed years and maybe you will convince us or some other team to give you another raise and a few more guaranteed years.” vs “we want you to take a salary reduction from us just to have a job in this industry as a player.”
Again- Gleyber was still decent enough to justify a 1 year/$20M deal as a first time free agent coming of a $14.2M salary and he didn’t suck enough to justify anybody arguing for him to take a discount or a salary cut in free agency.
Gleyber’s production declined 40% in 2024. Makes no sense to reward him with a 40% pay increase.
To be clear, Kim is my clear cut first choice. I think Gleyber as a consolation price is justifiable, but not much more.
@dankyank Can’t tie performance stats to incentives. It will be based on games played and at-bats. Gleyber, who has been healthy, has no problem reaching those plateaus. I don’t see him going for that deal unless it’s a guaranteed $19M.
@dank @Trill
I can almost guarantee you he was other multi year deals on the table but he’s just not in love with them. at least one deal wanted him to play 3rd. I think there are other issues between him and Cash/Boone .A return now is unlikely.
I’d lowball the underachiever for 7 mil a yr. Thats what mediocrities make.
Why would Torres even consider returning to the Yankees? He has no future there. Someone will offer him 2 years, or more. He has little competition on the market.
I hear you, but I think they’re ready to move on from him. Unless they get him real cheap. They know all of his faults and flaws. They’ve witnessed them for the last six years or so. He’s just defensively very bad, and runs the bases poorly, seems like his head is not in the game often times, I think he is focused more on other things, like his family, which is his right, but not when he’s playing baseball and being paid millions for it. They want to get better defensively and that is not the way to do it. But I see your point and that’s another way to look at it obviously.
Oh right the base running… forget it. Forget Gleyber. Not worth it. He could mash 40 home runs and bat .300 and be slightly above average defensively but with that base running of his- forget it. His terrible base running instincts almost entirely negates even the most optimistic upside achieved version of him in all other aspects of his play.
with all due respect, I don’t think that’s it at all, he appears to have concentration problems, often not having his head in the game and makes foolish mistakes constantly. The Yankees are trying to get better defensively, and that won’t happen with labor Torres in the fold. He’s had years to improve yet he hasn’t because it doesn’t seem like his head is in the game a lot of the time I don’t know what it is he’s thinking about, but it doesn’t appear to be baseball.
Except Gleyber is already worse defensively at his age than Bregman and Arenado and probably about the same offensively. A player with a body type like Jazz that has agility and better footwork is usually better at turning the double play. Improving defense towards the middle of the field would probably help the overall defense. I think with his athleticism Jazz would be an above average 3B but I think 2B is his best spot (plus occasionally he could play some OF to give someone a day off or late in the game with a lead)
IF NYY doesn’t want to go the Arenado, Bregman route there are other utility types (Urshela would have helped – too late)
a 1 year incentive laden with a 2nd year option for Moncada could help.
3B could be a 3 headed Ghidorah monster: Moncada/DJL/Peraza
Peraza plays good defense and he can still improve his offense
Maybe DJL could be traded midseason if he gets off to a good start (and save some $) or keep him
Boras has boxed himself in a corner with his clients Burnes/Santander/Bregman. They likely all have strong offers, but it’s not from the goliath clubs like LAD/NYY/Mets/RSox/Philly that have already done most of its major spending for now.
Burnes should just sign for big $ w/SF-yes they are essentially competing for WCs, but it is a decent orgztn. Be a leader if Balt won’t match.
Bregman is good for Det in a low spending ALC. Seems like he’s waiting for Philly to unload a big chunk of salary such as Cast/Tajuan to make room or RSox due to not wanting to be in Det.
Santander like the 2 above doesn’t want to just be rich and be with likely last place Toronto or trust Cincy to spend on others if he commits.
*Only so many clients can sign with deep pocket playoff locks besides #1 goal of max guarantee
It’s interesting how so many of these free agents who were supposed to be part of major bidding wars with the best offer winning are all presumed to have no real suitors except for one specific team who know they’d be bidding against themselves, so they’re all likely trying to talk the prices down on these guys because they know they’re the only realistic option for each of these FA’s:
For Burnes, rumors keep circulating that the Giants are the only team seriously pursuing him and nobody else is making a serious bid for him.
For Bregman it sounds like it’s either the Astros 6 years/$156M offer or it’s heading to Detroit for a little more money and irrelevance on a 7 years/$200M deal- maybe.
I’m not one of those people who thinks all these guys are overpaid and should be happier making less- the ownerships and the league can afford to pay these free agents what they want and have earned, but its just weird that all these high profile guys are being frozen out, not because they aren’t valuable right now, but because teams don’t think they’ll be valuable in 3-5 years- even though this has been how free agency has played out forever. Every free agent ever that’s been signed for 5+ years is immediately treated as an overpaid albatross that needs to be managed as an expensive sunk cost- like all the big outfielders who its suggested need to be moved to first base at some point to salvage their offensive physical abilities by sparing them their defensive physical efforts just a year or two into 5 to 10 year deals they signed as outfielders.
And yet there’s one team in each case who’d be willing to take that risk for that player- and the players seem to hate their only real options to get close to their desired salary and year totals.
That’s twice now you’ve called Detroit irrelevant in relation to them signing Bregman. Not sure what your rationale for that is. Up and coming team that was one of the final four in the AL this year. Skubal was a Triple Crown winner. Carp and Greene look like stars. Hinch was 3rd place for manager of the year. Fetter won coach of the year. One of the best MiLB systems in baseball. How are the irrelevant?
Perhaps that’s an overstatement, I will give you that. What I meant to say is that Detroit is a team that has not done a great job in recent years of buying their improvements- their free agency signings have largely been lackluster or outright busts and Bregman likely wouldn’t improve their chances much despite how expensive he is.
Fair enough. Cheers dude.
Javy Baez! [ laughter…]
Yup. I can only hear so many times about him being a good teammate and a decent defensive player…it does not make me forget his “offensive” stats on offence! And thats why Ilitch is gunshy about big contracts. Too bad…I always liked Javy prior to him signing with Detroit.
Detroit is certainly relevant, more so with Bergman. As much so as every team that is not the Dodgers. Add on the Padres if they get Roki and the Mets if they make a couple more big splurges. Adding Bregman, most people would pick Tigers as the favorite over the Guards, Royals and Twins. AL Central is now an equal to AL East and AL West, if you skip over the White Sox.
Just NO to Bregs for more than 3 years.
Trillionaire
I think Burnes will have to “settle” for Fried money and it will happen in less than 7 days. He is not dim. Enough to pass on life-altering money no matter whether he sees the team as a competitor or not.
TTO-but because teams don’t think they’ll be valuable in 3-5 years- even though this has been how free agency has played out forever.
=============================
Teams learn from their mistakes, and the newer GMs might be a bit more savvy on aging curves. Teams like the Angels have been throwing l/t contracts at guys 31 years old for a decade now, and they all fail.
Other GMs learn from their mistakes. Next to go down will be the 3-year contracts with two different opt-outs. There is still plenty of money out there, but even rich teams don’t want to burn money at a 100% tax rate.
Yankees send Stroman and Peraza to the Phillies for Bohm
So let’s see – Peraza appears to have gone sideways as a prospect and can’t land the 3B job with the Yankees. Stroman is owed way too much and would be a 7th or 8th starter for the Phils.
And we give you two seasons of our cost-controlled 3B who was an All-Star last year for the privilege. Seems fair. Sheesh
Lol so the Phillies got 8 deep in the rotation. Hard enough to find innings for Walker but now Stroman ? Not even sure adding Dominguez would be enough w out a 3rd team
Hahah …..
If Phillies get to send Taijuan Walker back to the Yankees, the conversation may last a bit longer.
Just about long enough to figure out whether there could be a grievance over the Stroman player option for 2026.
Think it through. Whether it is Stroman or Taj, in that Phillies rotation they are only swingman depth, with at least 6 better arms ahead of them. The AAV are around the same, and both appear to be on the downswing although not over the hill. Realistically though either one is a gamble as to what they might bring in the next two years and what their trade value might be as a result.
The net concern is that the Phils no longer would have a solid 3B, and for no appreciable upside at all. WHY would the Phils do this?
@jmed
I’m a Yankee fan and there’s no way the Phil’s will trade Brohm for a bad contract and an unproven guy whose past rookie prospect status.
The Yankees don’t really have a lot of palatable options for third. I think it’s a mistake to make Jazz the full time 3b. DJ is absolutely cooked. Bregman is too expensive, and Arenado is exactly the type of aging acquisition the Yankees end up regretting. The rest of the 3b in FA are awful.
Maybe there’s a trade to make? I’m just not coming up with anything.
“I think it’s a mistake” indicates to me that you acknowledge Chisholm was serviceable at 3B and there are worst options- but again I hear everybody saying he’s more valuable up the middle.
I think Bregman would be a weird fit based on history. Its very likely Bregman will become a DJ (“cooked”, as you put it) halfway through a 6 year contract. A trade, if can be found, would likely be the best route, agreed.
@Brian
I think you’ll be smooching a trade for Arraez shortly. He’ll play 2b with Jazz at 3b.
Yankees should have no interest in Bregman. Too much $, and posterboy for the cheating scandal. He ends up either in Detroit or Boston.
I believe Arenado would play for the Yankees. And they certainly could use him. The Mets and Yankees make the most sense and the Dodgers are where he wants to play even if they don’t make as much sense.
Move jazz to 2b. Bring in Moncada to compete with Oswald/Oswaldo at 3B. Marlins need to take on contracts – package DJ and Stroman with Arias and Lombard to get them off the books
Might need more then that. Nobody wants that stroman deal right now for some reason. Maybe in the spring when some starter goes down, someone will bite the bullet and Take Stroman
it’s possible, but the Yankees will have to eat some of the money. And of course, a trade deadline it’ll be cheaper because you only have to pay half gor the player at that point. right now he could be a sixth starter and you know someone always gets injured so you might find at the deadline that they actually need him. Guess we’ll find out.
I like your first idea – low risk, higher upside 1 year deal plus an option maybe.
Your second idea is unlikely. Marlins don’t want to take on 2.5 years of NYY bad judgement even for the potential of the young players.
They can get their total salary higher other ways.
@Della
No way do you trade a top prospect just to get some salary relief, especially if you’re the Yankees. I think they’d release them but before giving up a real prospect.
Yet another instance where the Yankees don’t finish the job and leave a gaping hole that needs to be filled. Washed up inhouse (DJL) or never were or will be’s (either Oswalds) aren’t the answer. Youre already taking a chance on Jasson being ready and healthy all year, now you punt on another position ???
Arenado
Nootbbar
For
LeMahieu
Dominguez
That solves 3b and gives the Yankees a more reliable guy for the outfield.
Nootbaar is a solid player but is extremely injury prone. This may be the first time someone said he was more reliable than anyone else.
He’s not injury prone thats a silly thing to say.
Yes he is.
Every time you suggest a trade for Arenado with the Yankees you include DJL. We definitely do not want DJL. He is finished.
I assume DJ is in there to offset the Arenado salary.
LeMahieu might be finished but he could fit on the bench and most importantly eating his salary would be why the Yankees would give up Dominguez.
Lemahieu is in there to cover the value of Dominguez. But I figure that would help the Yankees cover the salary of Arenado and fill their other needs.
Basically Lemahieu has negative 28 million value. Arenado is close to neutral. Nootbaar has 15 to 20 million in surplus value. Dominguez is worth 45 million or so.
Also the Yankees could have Donovan instead of Nootbaar that would be fine. Both guys have 3 years of control left.
@Bita and Cashman would be and should be fired if he used Dominguez to dump Strom salary. It epiglottis be incredibly dumb and open up another position problem.
Dominguez would be used to dump Lemahieus salary and the Yankees would get an outfielder back in return. So no it would not open up another position problem it would simply solve 3b.
In what world is Dominguez worth 45 million in value. He has proven nothing. I get it that he has been touted a great Yankee prospect but tell me when any Yankee prospect is not the up and coming goat.
He’s the number 14 prospect in all of baseball. He’s worth it. The Cardinals can let him learn on the job and the Yankees can fill 2 holes.
@Bita
I know what the intent is for including JD in this trade scenario but it’s absolutely stupid for them to do so. JD, by industry wise, is considered to be an elite prospect. Why would the team with the highest revenue at their disposal, trade their best prospect with 6 hearts of control, to save $15 mil x 2? And what team has a surplus of desirable CF that they would be willing to give up? . If THEY think JD is a better option than the CF they would be giving up then WHY would they do that? Unless the Yanks are getting a Duran or Merril in return them, no that’s an unrealistic and frankly, stupid suggestion. Plus you haven’t disclosed how trading DJ AND JD for a replacement CF solved the 3b problem? Or are you theorizing that the Yanks can con a team into trading a good CF and 3b for JD and $30 mil owed to DJ? Even if the trading partner age the entire $15 mil x 2 that $15 mil won’t help them get a significant upgrade at 3b anyways. And if JD turns out to be the real deal then how much do the Yanks save having him cost controlled for 6 years? I think they’d rather give Bregman $180 rather than to trade JD for salary relief. The Yanks greatest advantage is their spending ability, the appeal of playing in the largest media market and the mantra of trying to compete for a WS every year. Unless the Yanks have lost for in JD them I don’t they would trade him to save money.
Did you even read my trade proposal? You mentioned Stroman earlier but I didn’t mention him at all. I don’t think you understand what is being said
@Bita
Yes, I apologize. I had to go back to the original thread to see you were speaking in a trade scenario for Arenando and Nootbar or whatever. Still a hard no. Yanks are not poor. They can absolutely absorb Stroman’s contract. They offered $765 mil to Soto with expectations that they’d likely have to pay Stroman, Stanton and DJ in 2025. In no way could they expect they could move those guys. Yanks greatest tool is financial leverage. Attaching cost controlled highly touted prospects to save money is not what the Yanks do.
It has nothing to do with Stroman
You are right. The Yankees way is to talk up the prospects in the media, never commit to playing time, because they are unproven, and wait until they are laughingly included in every trade proposal for other teams all stars, before designating them for assignment, or trading them for another teams lottery ticket.
NYY still has some time to act with acquiring other players
BUT Clock is Ticking
and they could make some subtractions but include some $
@Hitter
It’s still more than 2 months to AT and there are still options via FA and trade. Relax. You act as if the Yanks haven’t had a lot of other positions to replace.
Bregman may regret turning down that offer from Houston.
I’m sure he already does.
He wanted to stay in Houston. Every other team was just a tool to put more pressure on them to agree to the 1 additional year.
The Astros just agreed to give a declining 35 year old Altuve a deal through his age 39 season.
Boras and Alex thought they could get them to agree to offer one through his age 37 season. After all, he is 4 years younger and still having seasons of over 4 WAR.
They overplayed their hand.
Yeah you make great points I wonder If Altuve got rewarded for persevering through the three 100 year loss years.
Alex Bregman didn’t have to endure that. He first year was 2016.
If Alex would have split the salary difference between the HOU highest offer and 200M he probably could have stayed in TX.
He will still get good $ but maybe only 180M. DET should have very good next 5+ years, I think they need to make some other tweaks strengthen their pitching etc.
Bregman sold his penthouse in the Giorgetti Building for about $3.3 million before the 2024 season started. He knew he was leaving.
He is the 2nd best 3B in the game the last 3 years and is expecting to get paid to play elsewhere.
There were rumors that he bought a 6,000 sq ft house in his hometown in August and moved in there right after the season was over. His wife Reagan posted photos of a party there in November with snow on the ground and the city in the background.
He has another kid on the way. Perhaps he has moved past the penthouse time in his life?
Albuquerque is a baseball desert.
Here is where Bregman got his start.
ababaseball.com/our-beginnings/
Jazz has the potential to be an all star. Will he reach that potential in his first fill season in the Bronx ?
If he stays healthy
I wouldn’t be shocked w a .280/.340/445
25 hr 85 rbi 33 steals
Build stromans value then dump
They already have a starting five better than him. How do you build his value in-season?
@ybc
You pitch Stroman to build his value, that’s how. If he doesn’t build his value, he’ll get cut. Then the young guys get their chance. If Stroman pitches well, they won’t trade him, they will trade a young starter for something they need. Payroll stays high, and team gets older.
@yb
There’s not one GM that doesn’t understand what Stroman is and unless a SP is injured they’re should be ZERO reasons for him to start in any game, and showcasing him as a SP would be the only way of “showcasing ” him. If he’s kept on the roster then he’ll be a swingman and time will tell what he does. But if the Yanks were willing to eat $10 mil of his deal then he’ll be easy to trade if they aren’t excitedly anything significant back.
Responding to YankeesBleacherCreature- you use Stroman as a swing man- you use him as a spot starter / opener, sixth starter / opener and long reliever and hope he holds up through 2-4 innings at a time, enough to entice someone to pick him up and really ‘capitalize’ on him and send something more valuable to the Yankees back in exchange for Stroman- his salary commitment getting relieved or the Yankees having to eat the remainder themselves being a non-factor, ultimately.
@uvm @trill
That’s no need to rebuild his value. His value is evident. He’s an back of rotation innings eater. Pitchers that can throw 150 innings of mid 4 era/fip are needed. They just aren’t needed for $18 mil per with a vesting option. They’re are 80ish SP that threw 150+ IP and had a better ERA than Stroman. That means that there were a lot of teams that had rotation spots for guys in the bottom half of their rotation, that were worse than Stroman. If he was a FAZ he would likely get quite a few offers for 1/$5 mil to be a BOR innings eater. If the time comes when that’s necessary to get extra cash off class 6 roster spot then I’m sure their winning to pivot. But nothing yet and it doesn’t make sense to do it unless you have to. Otherwise he might just be a swing man backup should a SP miss games.
Pitchers that can throw 150 innings of mid 4 era/fip are needed. They just aren’t needed for $18 mil
=========================
That’s been my take all along. To me, he’s a lot like Yoshida. They can both play, but just not at that salary level.
If I were a team like Oakland, I’d trade for him and try to get a prospect with a $20M valuation. Stroman has a very decent chance of being a #3 this year. He’s got a real decent track record and relatively healthy.
If the Tigers sign Bregman to a reasonable contract in length I wouldn’t be sad. Instead of throwing all that money at one player, I’d he happier if they signed Kim, if his shoulder checks out, and either trade for Yandy Diaz or grab Santander for 4 years max.
Signing Kim is a fix for 3B and/or insurance at SS (or just their starting SS) and let’s Jung get at bats because of Kims versatility. He’s a better version of McKinistry. Eventually SS will belong to either McGonigle or Rainer and 3B to Jung or Rainer so Kim doesn’t really block anyone with his versatility. He gets on base, steals bases and fits in as their leadoff hitter. Diaz can get at bats at 1B, let’s Tork still get at bats if he makes the team and is a 1-2 year stopgap that either let’s Tork slide back in or allows Briceno or Liranzo to take over. He also gets on base and fits in the top half of the batting order. Santander blocks DH or one of the OF spots which takes at bats away from Mallor and Perez. He could play some 1B too. I like his fit less than Diaz and I think they have enough players in Carp and Malloy who can fill those spots and provide production.
@MCBB… Not that I’d be opposed to getting Yandy Diaz, but that would mean pretty much giving up on Tork which I don’t think the front office is willing to do yet. There were some rumors early in the offseason about trading for Lamonte Wade (LH) and platooning him with Tork which seems like more of a Harris move. As poor of a season that Tork had in 2024, his OPS vs. LHP was still about .800. And Wade is still arb-eligible with a projected salary of only about $4MM which means he won’t block Tork if Tork returns to 2023 form. And if Tork doesn’t pan out, we’re not blocking Briceno or Liranzo either… one of whom may be ready by 2026 and made a 1B.
I agree dkhits20 that the Tigers don’t appear to be giving up on Tork. My thought was Tork could get ABs at DH (if he makes the team vs say Malloy or Perez) as Diaz is a better fielder and hitter. Carp seems to be doing fine in the field so I’m hoping they let him play there and give Malloy more DH reps because his glove sucks too. I like the Wade idea as well. Harris would know him from SF. Hope you had a good Xmas. Cheers dude.
Gotcha. I personally don’t think there’s any good reason to DH Tork at this point. Tork’s defense isn’t a liability like it used to be and there are less injury concerns with him than with a few others. I think he’ll play 1B 95% of the time when he’s in the lineup. Ideally, they’d rotate mostly between Greene, Carp and Malloy at DH with Malloy getting the majority of the AB’s there, and Greene and Carp getting some days at DH in order to try to keep them healthy.
I think trading for a 1B might not happen until Spring Training, once they see how Tork looks and also start experimenting with Keith and Malloy at 1B.
Merry Christmas and happy new year to you to, MCBB!
Motor City Beach Bum
If the Tigers sign Bregman to a reasonable contract in length I wouldn’t be sad.
===========================
I like the approach. As a BB fan, I think Burnes is well overrated at say $225M/7. But it also wouldn’t break my heart if the RS signed him.
Signing Bregman goes directly against everything DUMBrowski has said and done since the beginning of the offseason.
Produce a source for this “Phillies interested in Bregman”.
Bergman to the Cubs for the hot corner!
Cubs are too cheap. Cheap cheap cheap.
I think saying the Cubs are cheap is far to simplistic. They’ve spent nearly a billion on Wrigley renovations. Drop crazy goin on their Dominican groups as well as Sloan Park. I think we agree their decision making process is “interesting”… but cheap?!?!
Matt Shaw and James Triantos are infielder that can fight for 3B in Spring Training.
Sounds like their top prospect Shaw will get promoted unless he struggles in ST.
I think the Yankees should definitely trade for Luis Arraez for 2B. That would put them over the top. The Yankees would have the most versatile and complete lineup that they’ve had in a very long time.
Wanting a trade is different than coming up with a deal that both teams are happy with
He stinks at defense, walks, and baserunning. Hard pass.
@Yanks
Who cares if he walks or not when he’s consistently hitting at such a high rate that his obp is historically in the
.370 or better range?
Arraez would be a huge improvement on defense after Torres. His worst the last 3 years would still be an improvement over what Yankee fans have suffered through. His .370 OBP would be incredible at the front of that lineup.
No it wouldn’t. Arraez is essentially unplayable at 2B. Terrible. He’s a 1B/DH with a great hit tool and no power. And his OBP hasn’t been near 370 in years.
@Seam
What are you talking about?.It was .393 in 2023 and .375 in 2022. Last year it was an “off year” at .346.
I don’t understand how Bregman thinks he’s worth $200m. That’s so utterly ridiculous, that’s a franchise crippling deal if any club gives him anything close to that, and commits 5 or 6 years to him. I think 3 years, $70 million is about what he’s realistically worth. He should have taken the Astros extension offer.
Chapman was an overpay by the Giants, that’s what got Bregman licking his chops
@Luke
Bregman had a 4 War season and was an elite defensive 3b and above average bat. It’s insane that you would suggest he abrupt a 3/$70 deal when Walker just signed for 3/$20 as a lesser player, at an easier position, and is 4 years older. I think 5/$125 is fair.
5/130 seems reasonable.
4 WAR consistently for next 4 years then a couple of 2 WAR seasons. 20 WAR is worth $180 million.
If he is asking for more than 6 years then that gets him close to $200 million.
6/160-170 would be a fair offer.
Always foolish teams like the yanks, Mets and doggers willing to overpay
@mad
You mean can “afford” to overpay?
I feel like we’re living in bizzaro land. The Yankees replaced Soto with two below average aging players in the lineup and somehow Yankees fans and the media are spinning this as a W.
Please someone make it make sense. I get that the additions to the rotation and pen are nice, but wasn’t the lineup a weak spot last season even with Soto?
@screamer
Find me another Soto this winter that won’t be a 1 year rental? You can’t because they don’t exist. The whole “elite” thing suggests they’re hard to find. So Cashman was wise to look at the problem differently.
Outgoing FA at 1b, 2b, LF, and closer. Belli can’t replace Soto, but moving Judge to RF replaces Soto’s offense and improves the defense at that position. Belli and JD should prove to be much better than Verdugo and you hope that JD is good enough to mitigate Soto’s offense. Judge, Soto and Verdugo hit about 115 homers. If Judge hits 50-60, JD 25-30 and Belli 25-30 them the Yanks have a chance to replace Soto’s missing power. Goldy should outperform what we got from Rizzo and DJ. We get a full season of Jazz who just hit 24 homers this year and seemed to flourish with the power hitting in YS. On the run prevention side, Fried and Williams should help too.
Yanks might still surprise us all if they bring in another 2b/3b.
Thanks for the reply. I can’t name another Soto replacement….which is why it’s such a blow the Yankees lost him.
I agree that Cashman is attempting to replace the lost production, I just feel that it’s obvious that what they’ve come up with is far short from what they’ve lost.
@screamer
again, there are no replacements for Soto. All you can do is try and mitigate the gap and make it up at the other positions. For example
..
2024 OF of Soto, Judge, and Verdugo accounted for 112 homers.
2025 OF of Judge, JD and Belli have a shot at about 100 homers if Judge gives you 50, Dominguez 25 and Belli 25.
The 2024 infield of Rizzo, 50% of Jazz, Torres, and some combo of DJ/Cabrera/Peraza combined for 45 homers.
The 2025 infield of Goldy, Jazz for a full season, and Volpe alone should be good for 55 homers with Goldy (20-25), Jazz (25), and Volpe (10). That’s not even factoring what you might get from whomever is playing opposite Jazz at 2b/3b.
Assuming Wells and Stanton do their thing, then that about matches the home run production they got from Soto and others last year with pedicle more one they fill the infield hole. Plus the addition of Fried and Williams can make this years team better. Obviously they aren’t replacing Soto’s OBP but they improve the defense in the OF by moving Judge back to RF and having Belli and JD are in the OF too. Goldy, Jazz and Volpe should provide good defense in the infield too.
If they had signed Soto, its very unlikely they would have been able to fill the other holes with this level of players. Money is already tight without him and the job is not yet finished.
Right. My point is simply that they are in mitigation mode. They are doing their best, but are attempting to climb out of the hole left by Soto…they are not “winning the offseason”.
@stymee
Yanks may not have splurged on Fried because they had 6 guys under contract already, but they weren’t going to leave 1b, 2b/3b , LF, and closer unaddressed. They had $91 mil coming off the books.
Angels will find a way to give up way too much for Arrenado. Calling it.
They should send Taylor Ward to St Louis for Arenado and 20mil. Works for both teams
Bregman is a greedy SOB isn’t he ??
No. He isn’t. None of these guys are. This isn’t greed. This is business.
There are absolutely people who make $50 million a year who are underpaid for what they produce in their industry.
Bregman has played up to and deserves to make $30M+ per season- the issue isn’t what he’s worth today, but what he will be worth in a few years.
For some reason, unlike a lot of players of identical age and overall performance going into free agency, teams are all thinking about the Bregman they’d be paying in 4-6 years and not the player they’ll be getting for the first 1-3 years of any deal- which is the opposite of how teams usually think about free agents, where they sign guys for 4 or 5 or 7 year deals, knowing in their heads they’re paying them for the first 2-3 years of those deals, with the back half or two thirds being a sunk cost, but the cost of doing business.
It is a little odd that they’re all being so logical with Bregman’s free agency as compared to countless other guys who were signing expensive long term deals going into their age 31 season, coming off productive, consistent track records and 4+ WAR seasons.
Altuve has been less consistently valuable than Bregman, but the Astros perceive him in a better, more valuable light, so they hand him these mega deals, whereas Bregman they just don’t view the same way despite him having better overall numbers and thus he struggles to get a great deal out of them.
I keep saying it- baseball valuation is largely about perception and emotion and not so much actual statistically provable numbers.
They offered Bregman a larger deal than they gave Altuve…
Much lower AAV, though- which means they didn’t value him as highly.
Not sure what you’re talking about.
Altuve signed for 5 years 125 (25 aav)
Bregman offered 6 years 156 (26 aav)
After 5 years/$145M which I think also came with a signing bonus or something?
Altuve acknowledged the Astros six year maximum. Bregman wanted more.
bregman’s bb% dropped by almost half in 2024 that’s a massive red flag. the only team he makes sense for is the red sox
Why? I usually ask for top dollar.
The best part of Arenado with the Yankees would be him shaving that awful beard
Pete and Berg to the Mets , just write it down.
Linder
Soto
Berg
Nimmo
Pete
Viento
McNeil
Alvarez
Siri
Dodgers ready team
With CBT tax Bregman would cost the Yankees $50M+ per year–and for 7-8 years when he may have already started hid decline phase. Plus the picks, plus the International $. It doesn’t make a lot of sense
batted ball profile is the opposite of what you want at yankee stadium. he’s made for fenway (also dislike the guy so he’d fit with the red sox)
Excellent comment…..
More than the picks, the Yankees need to keep every bit of the $$International money to go after Sasaki….the last several years of a 7 year deal with Bregman would definitely remind NY fans of Donaldson’s decline plus nY fans would hate Bregman for his 2017 Astros lineage…….
Boras, Bregman and greed may cost them. At 6 years for $150-something mil he should’ve stayed in Houston. He was a legend there and a pariah everywhere else.
I heard Josh Donaldson is still available.
Rusty Kuntz, too!
i take defensive stats with a grain of salt but by OAA jazz was elite at 3b. eye test suggests he has the things you can’t teach (reaction time and arm strength) and unsurprisingly needs work on things you can (positioning and footwork). for such a young player his health history is also worrisome so i would have no problem leaving him at third and patching together some good field/no-hit rotation at second (the younger kim would be a fun signing)
If only Bregman was a little younger. Mariners could sign him. Mariners only need a major league ready third baseman and that could be found in Spring Training.
The Tiger rumor probably began on this site. It doesn’t make sense to acquire a veteran that will block the talent that the Tigers have spent nearly 10 years trying to develop. But, Illich has come to mean change direction when the goal is in sight..
I think Petzold reported the link to Bregman, as well as a reporter in Boston.
It makes sense if they get him at the right price for the right contract length. That would mean they don’t see Jung as a solution at 3B though. There clad talk at the draft that Rainer could move to 3B entirely.
Kim makes all the sense in the world to me, if his shoulder is right. Lets the young guys play and built in solution when they finally turf Baez. With his versatility he is a better version of McKinistry who blocks no one. He’s a leadoff hitter which they are lacking (depending on which version of Meadows shows up), gets in vase and steals bases.
Yes, I think this was more of Petzold making a case for signing Bregman than it was actual Tigers interest in the player.
I think the Tigers want to give Baez one last chance, see if the hip surgery did anything to help his atrocious hitting. I see them platooning Baez and Sweeney at SS this year.
Next year, they’ll probably try to bring up McGonigle and see if he can stick at SS until Rainer arrives, then move to 2B as Colt moves to 1B if Tork stinks in 2025.
That still leaves a hole at 3B, they may patch with Vierling this year and maybe Vierling/Sweeney next year. Unless McGonigle can end up handling SS, then Rainer could slot into 3B.
A lot rides on McGonigle.
My guess is that they won’t end up signing Bregs and end up signing JD to a 1 yr deal.
The Tigers young players are on the clock. Skubal has two years to FA. If they don’t sign him, he will be traded before the ’26 season. Greene and Rogers are right behind him. Can’t wait forever to go for it.
So let’s just simplify this. The Yankees current payroll is teetering around 300m and they do not want to go over it again especially after losing out on Soto and the big free 3 free agents available next off season in Count Vlad, Kyle Tucker, and the Japanese Babe Ruth. So forget Bregman as he makes zero sense. The only possible way they add Arenado is if St Louis takes on a contract back such as Stroman or DJL which many Cardinals fans are expressing disdain and ambivalence to the thought of such a trade. But the fact is most Yankee fans also are concerned with an aging third baseman who has regressed two years in a row and has 3 more years left. Yankee fans are tired of untradeable contracts. Stroman is definitely not untradeable but DJL is.
So if the Yankees and Cardinals can find a 3rd team such as Oakland who needs to take on salary to get over the floor imaginary cap maybe Stroman 18m and Grisham 5m can go to Oakland with pitching prospect Warren and Oakland sends international cash back to the Yankees and player who will not make there 26 man roster to St Louis and the Yanks get Arenado with St Louis eating 5m. Something creative like that. That will keep the Yankees under the 300m Cohen cap but still with the DJL contract on the books. Spring training will dictate what they decide to do with DJL but with 4 roster spots on the bench and 1 going to the Catcher I’m guessing the other 3 will be an extra outfielder, Peraza who is out of options, and Ben Rice leaving DJL with no clear spot.
The other option is to leave Jazz at third which to me I thought he looked really good and comfortable. Than go sign the South Korean lefty swinging potential leadoff hitter and gold glove second baseman. That leaves Grisham, Ben Rice, and DJL with a back up catcher to round out the bench and Peraza with no options to start in minors and if he gets the call he can’t go back down unless they release him.
Those are truly the only two outcomes and the second one a’Kim seems good to me.
How was that simplified?
They only need a few moves in order to be set for a while.
1- sign Kim to play 2b. He will be relatively cheap, lefty hitter that is an on base, slap hitting machine. Decent speed as well.
2- sign Hill and Scott to shorten the game and have a lockdown pen.
3- trade Strowman for whatever you can reasonably get and maybe get some international money to try and get Sasaki.
4- get Spencer Jones ready for either LF or 1b. Bring him up later in the season or if injuries occur and let the kid smash. Damn wasting all these young guys until they’re injured and have no value. Rice needs to be the backup catcher and 1b until Jones has his reps at AAA.
Rice cannot back up catch. He is not a good defensive catcher that’s why they moved him off the position.
If the Yankees are truly out on Bregman, his options are thinning. I doubt the Phillies would be in on him now. They’re already over the $301 million luxury tax mark & Dombrowski has said that they’re likely done making moves. This is probably the case unless they can pay somebody to take Walker’s contract. That likely leaves the Red Sox, Tigers & Blue Jays. The Mets could get involved if they don’t re-sign Alonso.
Bluejays 7yr240m for bregman
We should talk more about the Yankees!!! What if there gm decided to pass gas could you imagine!!!! That would be a huge story!!! We have to talk about the Yankees every day or the world will stop spinning
If you notice Yankee talk gets the most responses. Sorry if that bothered you you but it’s a fact.
I’m not a yankee hater good for them but jeepers creepers can we talk about another team
What about…the Dodgers 😉
I don’t know …
I still believe that the Cards should be looking at Arenado/Stroman. Stroman is decent enough where it would be worth his while to have a good season and then opt out, or get traded again.
NY smoke screen for Bregman? Phillies or Boston be good but I think Boston goes with Teoscar. Not Sure how they get Burnes with all that cash.
I don’t think there’s a fit for the Cards. They declined Kyle Gibson’s ’25 option for $12M. He was slightly better than Stroman. He’s at $18M and his ’26 $18M option vests at 140 IP.
Cruz has almost a 5.00 era. What do they want with him?
What about picking up Tim Anderson and shifting him to 2nd and leaving Jazz at 3rd?
Mariners should sign Bregman.