To date, it has been an inactive season for the New York Yankees. They added deep-field player Greg Allen last week in a minor trade with the Padres, and it’s about that. Allen is the only player the Yankees have added to their 40s from outside the organization this winter. Smaller league signings like Jhoulys Chacin and Andrew Velazquez are their only other move.
The inactive off-season is largely by design. The Yankees plan to cut payroll amid pandemic – team officials did not give a fixed 2021 salary figure, but are expected to dive below the $ 210 million luxury tax threshold – and their first priority is to DJ LeMahieu to sign again. . This is understandable. LeMahieu is an excellent player and fits their needs perfectly.
Last month, GM Brian Cashman admitted on several occasions that the Yankees are waiting for LeMahieu’s decision before moving on to another off-season. Here’s what he said during a YES Network interview on December 10:
“As always, we will reflect on what the best options are, but we will exhaust his option first, that is to try to keep him here,” Cashman said. “He loves playing in New York. He loves playing for the New York Yankees. There are many things in our favor, but it ultimately comes down to the financial opportunity we offer compared to the financial opportunity that others offer. “That’s the big unknown.”
A few days later, Cashman had a telephone conversation with reporters, including James Wagner of the New York Times, saying: “anything that came from the board before today came from the board, because I’m willing to wait to hopefully find a way to move successfully with DJ LeMahieu to a negotiation.” It is clear that LeMahieu is the top priority.
Last month, a report indicated that LeMahieu wanted five years and $ 125 million. Shortly afterwards it was reported the Blue Jays and the dodgers have an interest in him. It seems to me the Yankees leaked LeMahieu’s asking price to scare other teams away, and LeMahieu’s camp responded by saying that an AL East rival and fellow big-market team were interested in getting the Yankees back on the table. This was the last update on contract talks.
My idea is that the Yankees have the biggest offer on the table and that they know it, and they are waiting for LeMahieu to say yes. Why bid against yourself? LeMahieu is perhaps looking for a better offer, or at least an offer he can take back to the Yankees and get them up. This is not a unique free agent negotiator in this regard. This is how these things work. The two sides use the media and other teams as leverage.
The thing is, it’s now mid – January and spring training is just five weeks away, and the Yankees still have to address multiple needs. They have a viable midfielder (Gleyber Torres) from the major leagues and their leading number 2 is Jordan Montgomery. Luis Severino is expected to be expected during the mid-season of the Tommy John surgery, though you never really know what you’ll be getting so soon after the elbow reconstruction, and New York needs rotation help behind him. Their depth map:
- RHP Gerrit Cole (amazing)
- RHP Luis Severino (expected back during mid-season)
- LHP Jordan Montgomery (5.11 ERA in 2020)
- RHP Domingo German (missed 2020 while serving a suspension for domestic violence)
- RHP Deivi Garcia (the best prospect to have a workload limit in 2021)
- RHP Clarke Schmidt (the best prospect with a workload limit in 2021)
- RHP Jhoulys Chacin (6.06 ERA in the last two years)
- RHP Michael King (7.76 ERA in 2020)
You are the Yankees and like to be a participant in the World Series. You can do better than that. No, let me rephrase: you has to do better than that. The bullpen is strong, and the lineup is so good that it will cause many rotation shortcomings during the long 162-game regular season. In a short post-season series, however, the rotation leaves much to be desired.
The off-season generally moved so slowly that LeMahieu waited out. You do not have to rush into anything. However, things started to heat up, and over the past three weeks, the Yankees have missed out on a Yu Darvish paycheck, and Carlos Carrasco and Francisco Lindor quasi-paycheck trading and Tomoyuki Sugano’s free agency. We could even include Lance Lynn in this, although the trade took place in early December. All the other things have happened more recently.
(I do not think Blake Snell was ever a realistic option for the Yankees, but give the whole Oriental rivalry with the Rays. Charlie Morton was probably not an option either, given his outspoken desire to play near the family home in Florida .)
These are four quality starting pitchers, all of whom would be the best behind Cole in New York, as well as a superstar midfielder who would replace LeMahieu more than adequately. The Yankees must have been with each of the players, and to be honest, they apparently questioned Lindor. They are only committed to seeing things through with LeMahieu, so conversations never got serious. The Yankees did not spend much time investigating Lindor as an alternative to LeMahieu.
The Yankees are currently about $ 35 million below the $ 210 million luxury tax threshold. If they sign LeMahieu again – I think a reunion is by far the most likely outcome – he will eat at least $ 20 million of it, maybe even as much as $ 25 million. It doesn ‘t leave much to be desired, whether it’s a reunion with Masahiro Tanaka or something else. It definitely brings them to Trevor Bauer, the no. 1 jar on the free market.
The release of LeMahieu and his $ 20 million-a-year contract presumably took the Yankees out of the mix for Darvish, meaning they did not even consider trading (Darvish is $ 59 for the next three years). million owed). The odds are the same with Sugano, who apparently wanted Yusei Kikuchi money (four years at $ 14 million a year) and is back in Japan. The commitment to LeMahieu means that the Yankees could not even consider Darvish or Sugano financially.
The market has several attractive options behind LeMahieu and the expensive Bauer. On the hill there are Tanaka and Jake Odorizzi, as well as trade recovery projections like Corey Kluber and former Yankee James Paxton. Joe Musgrove stands out as a candidate for the trade. Inland, the Yankees could turn to Marcus Semien, Andrelton Simmons, Kolten Wong or former Yankee Didi Gregorius if LeMahieu landed elsewhere. The Yankees did not miss it that much.
However, the Yankees missed several players because of their commitment to LeMahieu – Lindor is arguably the best non-LeMahieu fielder the Yankees have available at any given time this season, and Carrasco, Darvish and Lynn (and Snell) the best entrees traded – and the longer they wait for LeMahieu, the more likely they are to lose other quality players who will improve their rankings and thus their chances of winning the 2021 World Series.
At some point, the Yankees will have to sign LeMahieu or start seriously exploring other options, and that may not be too far as the hot stove gets hot and spring training approaches. For a big competitor, the Yankees have a lot of needs this off-season, especially in the rotation. They are not a LeMahieu away from the world series favorite. They should not allow one player to dominate their off-season any longer.
For now, the Yankees are content to wait out LeMahieu, even if that means other opportunities have to be missed. Patience has served them well in the past – the Yankees did not sign LeMahieu for the first time until January 14, 2019, a few days after the signing of Zack Britton and a few days before the signing of Adam Ottavino – and the slow-moving free agent means that still good players are available. However, they cannot wait forever. The market is rising and their needs are many.