yanks sign soriano

[Pharmcat]

http://twitter.com/SI_JonHeyman/status/ ... 7428992000

[Pharmcat]

i dont like the idea of losing a pick for a pen arm

any thoughts on this? i was hoping it'd be a trade so that we could keep the pick

[Wade2k6]

I like it, they had to do something. They'll have an absolute shutdown bullpen now.

[southampton]

I like it, the bullpen is really strong now.

Also don't the yankees do most their damage by over slotting in later rounds in the draft? While the first round pick is nice - can still have a very good draft without it, if the draft budget is high.

[Pharmcat]

what i dont understand is, why dont the yanks just buy the international FA market? money isnt a factor there

[PR07]

I wouldn't have cared either way, but there's no doubt Soriano will help the Yankees' pen, and give us the best 1-2 punch in baseball. It's a 7 inning game now folks.

[TKF]

I wouldn't have cared either way, but there's no doubt Soriano will help the Yankees' pen, and give us the best 1-2 punch in baseball. It's a 7 inning game now folks.

yea, soriano to rivera is going to be killer.....

[Dr. Detfink]

what i dont understand is, why dont the yanks just buy the international FA market? money isnt a factor there

Cause in a league, you must adhere to the draft, supplemental draft, etc...

NOT crazy over the money, which is 3 years over 30Million for a set up/future closer BUT every FA thinks the Yanks can meet any price...hence, they'll rape them for as much as they can.

The Yanks were going to quibble over a draft pick? It's hard to get a set up man because all the big money is in closing or starting...so I think this is a great pick up who can spell Mariano when he needs a rest. Call me a betting man but that lost pick would yield the next Strasburg or Lincecum but probably a marginal player who you won't see in the majors 3-4 seasons from now.

Automatically shortens the game to 7 innings. Now if you can consistently get 6-7 innings from the starters we're in business...But the bigger question may be whether or not Pettitte returns...

[rappa]

what i dont understand is, why dont the yanks just buy the international FA market? money isnt a factor there

The Yankees are by far the most efficient / productive franchise in the whole MLB when it comes to signing international FA. I could go on and on about players they signed and so forth but you obviously don't have much idea regarding that market.

Banuelos = IFA
Montero = IFA
Sanchez = IFA

Those are my top 3 prospects in our system and its possible all 3 are top 40 prospects in the game. Banny was signed for 200k, Montero for 1.5mil and Sanchez for 3mil. They also signed Depaula for over a mil this year, and Christofer Tavarez for 800k. The year before that they signed Chris Cabrera who was absolutely lights out in the dominican before he went down with an illness, not injury.

To say we don't spend is just wrong and shortminded. We spend and we spend it wiseley, not like some of these new teams that just throw million dollar contracts around to some 16yr old kids. A lot of things change when your 16 and are given a million dollars+ and its just irrational to throw that type of money around at EVERYONE. The yankees pick their targets and are willing to spend for them (Vizcaino, Sanchez, Montero, Cabrera, Depaula, even Felix Hernandez and Julio Teheran were offered more money from the yankees but spurned us in favor of the mariners and braves).

Breakout prospect this year: Ravel Santana.

He was an IFA signing for CHEAP 2 years ago and will be making his USA debut this year.

[rappa]

As for the soriano signing, I love it and hate it at the same time.

Pros:
Shortens the game
Moves joba/robertson into 7th inning
Logan/Feliciano can be used as loogys
Can opt out

Cons:
loss of a draft pick
opt out is player option
injury history
possibly 3 years

Non factors:
money

Lets be honest here, people can say he's overpaid but a 10mil contract to the yankees is basically 7mil to everyone else. I'd rather pay soriano 10mil per season then say a brandon lyon 5mil per.

We basically have 6 guaranteed outs at the end of the game. We saw what happened the last time we had that in '09 with Hughes and Mo.

[Pharmcat]

buster saying there was split in FO bout the signing....sounds like a ownership deal

not sure i like that, thought cash was in control

[moocow007]

Still time to add a starter via trade. With Soriano it potentially would allow them to deal a reliever in a package. Also didn't the Yankees get a supplemental round pick?

[thebuzzardman]

Good deal. Back to Stanton\Nelson\Rivera days

[moocow007]

Good deal. Back to Stanton\Nelson\Rivera days

Yep. Lets just hope Soriano doesn't get the Burnett/Weaver/Farnsworth/Johnson/Vazquez bug about pitching in NY.

[Dr. Detfink]

buster saying there was split in FO bout the signing....sounds like a ownership deal

not sure i like that, thought cash was in control

NO WAY Ownership wanted to pay that much for a set up man. Cashman had to be reasonable and re-think his position and have a small slice of humble pie.

As for the opt out clause, it's a non-factor. If he thinks he can get more by all means...

The BIGGER worry is if CC opts out, the Yanks are screwed.

[Pharmcat]

Still time to add a starter via trade. With Soriano it potentially would allow them to deal a reliever in a package. Also didn't the Yankees get a supplemental round pick?

i think yanks need to add another starting pitcher, or else this coming season will be a "transition" year

i wonder what romine + joba could get?

[Avenger]

This is only justifiable because you're the Yankees, this would be a horrendous move for just about every other team. Despite his sparkling 1.73 ERA for the season, his xFIP versus LHB was a beefy 4.42. His career xFIP versus lefties is 4.13. According to Stat Corner, Yankee Stadium increases lefty HRs by 24%. If used properly, he’d basically be a ROOGY. Is that worth 3 years, $30 million?

The dude can't stay healthy either nor is he a workhorse, he's thrown like 300 innings in the last 7 years and has spent almost 3 of those years on the DL.

Even the Yankees could have used that draft pick in a deep deep draft this year, they're not gonna be picking until the low 50's by which time their division rivals the Red Sox, the Rays and the Jays have picked more than 10 times.

[rappa]

This is only justifiable because you're the Yankees, this would be a horrendous move for just about every other team. Despite his sparkling 1.73 ERA for the season, his xFIP versus LHB was a beefy 4.42. His career xFIP versus lefties is 4.13. According to Stat Corner, Yankee Stadium increases lefty HRs by 24%. If used properly, he’d basically be a ROOGY. Is that worth 3 years, $30 million?

The dude can't stay healthy either nor is he a workhorse, he's thrown like 300 innings in the last 7 years and has spent almost 3 of those years on the DL.

Even the Yankees could have used that draft pick in a deep deep draft this year, they're not gonna be picking until the low 50's by which time their division rivals the Red Sox, the Rays and the Jays have picked more than 10 times.

You can say all you want about the draft pick and how deep the draft is but in reality other then the top 10, there are no guarantees. The Yankees are the most successful team in the international market so they can make it up for that and are definitely one of the more aggressive teams in over-slot bonuses for later round picks. We got a pick for Vazquez leaving so that makes up somewhat but I'm still in the boat of not giving up 1st rounders for relievers.

As for Soriano, I'm just baffled at the whole deal. People can say all the want about the money but it doesn't mean much to me, nor should it to anyone else since the Yankees can and will spend to get who/what they want, no matter what. This isn't like the 95% of the other teams where if this contract goes wrong it will handicap them significantly. The yankees just write it off as a sunk investment and move on, no other team can really do that. I just don't quite understand the player options. Odds are if he has an identical year as the previous one, especially in a less pressurized role, he could command another 3yr deal when there are more closer roles open. I just don't like that he has full control over this situation and the yankees don't have any leverage really.

I tried to find your xFIP data and was unsuccessful but I can tell you that the yankees baseball operations analyzed the data way more then you could imagine, believe me, i worked there, and i'm sure they were most likely split on this decision. I would argue that I bet the xFIP vs lhb was a small sample size and so forth but the way girardi manages a bullpen, it doesn't matter. He will go to his LH options in the 7th and 8th, no matter the contract size. If he's a ROOGY, he's the best one not named Mariano.

[Dr. Detfink]

First, the injury history with Soriano holds about as much water as Amare. Secondly, how you pitch in a ballpark can be corrected. Third, I've heard this "Yankees could have used a draft pick in a deep deep year.." and yet, the Twins, A's, Rays who have feasted off the Draft have how many WS rings?

FA is the minor league system of the Yankees.

[Scorpion King]

I do not like this signing. I have visions of Burnett i.e. inconsistency and injury prone.

Yankees could have waited a bit longer to see if his price comes down. I do not know why they outbid themselves.