What would you have the Yankees do in the Off-Season?

[Dr. Detfink]

Your thoughts on how you would fix the Yankees?

[Vides990]

But I thought PTI brought up a great point, 2B is usually a position of defense, it's ranked 8th in a position of power and if the Yanks need a ridiculous amount of help upgraded almost EVERY position...personally I think its a sign and trade.

You brought up a great point here, so I would definitely let Cano go, we got his best years, let some else pay for the rest. If we could sign and trade him all the better.

I know between Arod, Jeter, CC, and Tex we have 90 mil in salary tied up, and then another 8-10 players we have on deck brings the total to around 130-135 mill i believe. If we're sticking to the 189 plan, that doesn't leave a lot of room to fill out the team.

Arod most likely being out will help give us some money to play with this off season. However, there isn't really much out there. Roll the dice on the new Cuban Inf, and I would consider giving Ellsbury some money and seeing what happens there. We'll need to find a pitcher or two and it wouldn't surprise me if Hughes is back, perhaps in that setup role/closer with Robertson. The team needs a long term plan so I'd be fine if they shipped out the big contracts too.

[moocow007]

Your thoughts on how you would fix the Yankees?

Sign Tim Tebow to play 3rd?

Seriously though...one of the announcers on MLB channel (can't remember who) had some good ideas. All of this was centered around keeping the Yankees competitive while keeping their salary below the $189 million magic mark.

1. DO NOT offer Cano a 10 year deal $230 (or even an 8 year deal $180 million) for whatever crazy number he's looking for. If he finds someone dopey enough to give it to him, let him go.

2. DO offer Cano a 4 year $100 million contract. It's extremely high per year but short in the number of years meaning that they won't have to be worrying about paying yet another over the hill star player for years beyond his prime. What if he doesn't accept? See option 1.

3. Focus on pitching.

Starters - There likely won't be any ace pitchers on the FA market (other than maybe Lincecum?) and their likely won't be enough room (if they are seriously about staying under 189) to sign one and do much of anything else. So go with strong no.2 and no.3 types that have proven to be durable AND can pitch in the AL East...and one that maybe can be had without needing a long term deal (we've seen how well the Yanks have ended up with those). Bronson Arroyo is a guy that shouldn't require a long term deal, that is durable, that is tough and that knows how to pitch in the AL East with good success...he throws strikes and doesn't walk guys telling me that he's not afraid of challenging hitters. Kuroda for another year...maybe. Dan Haren is another possibility. He's still able to strike guys out, has solid SO/BB ratio and has AL experience. His ERA has been high the past couple seasons but he's an experienced ML starter with strong stuff and toughness.

Relievers - Well obviously there is no one that could remotely replace Rivera. Robertson will have to sink or swim as the closer cause there's also no one available on the FA market that is even as good as Robertson. Jesse Crain IMO probably is the best fit. He's a hard thrower and strikes guys out. His ERA is an AL ERA that is consistently sub-3.00. Joaquin Benoit is another throws strikes and has a nice WHIP.

4. What about positional players?

They'll have Soriano for another season at a super discounted rate (Cubs paying most of his contract) so that's one starting OF spot locked. Soriano isn't the same Soriano from the first go around but he still hits for power and can drive in runs. Than you Gardner penciled in for about 120 games or so at another OF spot. See if Granderson is willing to do a "makeup year" at I don't know $12-13 million and that would take care of the starting OF. Jeter is a DH and ARod probably will settle and miss at least half the season so the whole left side of the infield will need to be accounted for. If Cano gets a crazy offer and leaves and Texeirra remains iffy then we're basically looking for a whole new IF lol AND possibly even a starting C lol.

But lets' assume at least Texierra will be ok and that Cano returns...

SS - I do not want Nunez anywhere near SS or 3B. After a couple injury plagued years it looks like Stephen Drew might finally be getting back into the flow of things. At 30 he's still not too old and if he can recover a some of his D'Backs magic he'd be a nice slot at SS for Jeter (even if you do a platoon type thing).

C - Carlos Ruiz is coming off a down year but he's a guy that consistently has had high OBP and his defense is top notch. He's 34 so probably won't cost a long term deal.

3B - MAYBE if they can convince Jeter to move to 3rd and ARod doesn't project to miss the entire season+ via suspension, maybe then they can do with just resigning Brendan Ryan and having him play 3B in some platoon situation. Defensively Ryan is obviously top notch.

[Slamm Goodbody]

Sign and trades are pretty much unheard of in baseball, no?

[Dr. Detfink]

Sign and trades are pretty much unheard of in baseball, no?

Oh it happens. In fact, I thought the initial trade for A-Rod was a sign and trade.

Much depends on the nature of the pre-existing contract. Is there a no-trade. In the case of Cano he is an unrestricted FA. So the ONLY way the Yanks can hope to get something is IF...again, this is an unrealistic IF...the Dodgers say, if you re-sign Cano at this dollar amount we'll agree to trade you X number of prospects.

[Slamm Goodbody]

Do you mean A-Rod to the Yankees trade or when A-Rod went to Texas as a FA? The original A-Rod trade wasn't a sign and trade as Soriano and A-Rod were both under long-term deals.

I really can't think of a single one off the top of my head because there's no salary cap so nothing holding teams back from straight signing free agents except the loss of draft picks. That makes sense that a team could potentially want to swap a prospect or B-level player to offset a draft pick loss but I can't remember a deal where that happened.

[Slamm Goodbody]

And after some very cursory googling it looks like sign and trade was brought into the CBA in 2009 but I can't remember a significant deal where it was used. Either way no one is doing the Yanks any favors, I think we'd be better with the Type A pick compensation if Cano does go.

[Dr. Detfink]

My only concern is to get anything for Cano. I can't be too optimistic because of how trades go with the Yankees over the years.

[thebuzzardman]

I think the plan should be this:

Stay under 189 million
Ignore any international FA's, no matter how good
Sign aging, retread past prime players to fill out roster
Bring no one up from the farm, because the farm sucks
Lie to fans and state "we think this team is a playoff team"
Sit and count money

Oh, that was this past seasons plan. Ok, do it again.

[ccvle]

My only concern is to get anything for Cano. I can't be too optimistic because of how trades go with the Yankees over the years.

there is not going to be sign and trade for cano, unless the other team wants to unload something to the yanks.

[Dr. Detfink]

The Dodgers are the new Yankees. They'll unload prospects because Magic wants to win now. Besides Boston proved they can help you out.

Btw Ubaldo Jimenez 3-0 and a 1.04 ERA in the last month. Looks like the velocity is back and he's having a good season vs Pineda who will have 2 seasons and zero starts as a Yankee under his belt.

[Pharmcat]

I think the plan should be this:

Stay under 189 million
Ignore any international FA's, no matter how good
Sign aging, retread past prime players to fill out roster
Bring no one up from the farm, because the farm sucks
Lie to fans and state "we think this team is a playoff team"
Sit and count money

Oh, that was this past seasons plan. Ok, do it again.

if arod suspension is overturned, NY will be forced to do your plan above to get below 189, which means even a worse product on the field than this year

[moocow007]

I think the plan should be this:

Stay under 189 million
Ignore any international FA's, no matter how good
Sign aging, retread past prime players to fill out roster
Bring no one up from the farm, because the farm sucks
Lie to fans and state "we think this team is a playoff team"
Sit and count money

Oh, that was this past seasons plan. Ok, do it again.

if arod suspension is overturned, NY will be forced to do your plan above to get below 189, which means even a worse product on the field than this year

ARod's got a team of the best in the business in being able to argue their clients out of even fair judgments. I can't see MLB being able to argue and win a 211 game suspension with no more proof than what other guys got 50 game suspensions for. "Setting an example" or finding a "scapegoat" won't fly under independent arbitration. The only way that MLB would have gotten that is if ARod actually agreed to it (which is what they were hoping for). IMHO the best they'll get is 50 game suspension. So what's $30 million x (162-50/162)? That's what ARod will be counting against that magical $189 number.

[moocow007]

Again if they are serious about $189 then maybe punting next season will be what's in their best interests. Give whatever prospects they have one more season to try to get one step closer to the majors, finish up that $189 mark, hope that some better FA's hit the market in future seasons and then go from there.

Solid punting options include (in no particular order):

1. Resigning Brendan Ryan and have him play SS (and bat 9th). He can't hit worth a lick but he can sure as heck defend. Probably can sign him for pocket change for a 1 year deal.



2. If they think that one (or more) of their young catching prospects can start starting consistently, at least for maybe 100 games or so, signing Jose Molina to handle the rest of those games and provide some zen like tutelage may be an option. Molina's 38 so he's not likely to have a lot of teams chasing him and could be had for cheap. He's one of the best handlers of pitchers in the league and the Yankees likely will need a lot of that.



3. Like I mentioned previously, if they can bring Kuroda back for one more season or, more importantly, if they can't, then someone like Bronson Arroyo could be a real nice addition to the rotation as a durable workhorse type that isn't afraid to challenge hitters and who has experience pitching in the AL East. He's 37 years old so he likely won't cost an arm and an leg.



4. Jesse Crain should be on the top of their offseason shopping list. He's a hard throwing reliever that has a closer mentality that they could provide either late inning front man to Robertson or, if Robertson falters all by his lonesome, an alternative to at least share the closer role. So what we could be looking at is a guy with potential closer stuff that hasn't shown he can close and therefore wont be in on closer money.



5. While the Yanks have not had success with old guys that used to be top producers, maybe, just maybe it's worth looking into seeing if Roy Halladay would be interested in a one year deal (like Kuroda) that will pay him a lot but that won't lock the Yanks up for that $189 mark. Other than the recent stint on the IL, Halladay was among the more durable pitchers in baseball for his career. With basically a short season and a full offseason to heal maybe the Yanks could catch a little lighting in a bottle. If not, then it's a one year gamble (instead of the multi-year gambles they've flubbed on).



6. Bring Hideki Kuroda back. If Kuroda wants back, and it's hard to tell if he does (unlike last season when it was almost a certainty) then another one year deal is the perfect type of deal for the Yanks.

[moocow007]

Well at least the Yankees will be drafting the highest it's drafted since 1993.

[moocow007]

And anyone have any idea if, at age 75, Gene Michael still has it?

[Dr. Detfink]

I don't think Gene is working much these days except shaving some strokes off his golf card.

[Pharmcat]

Well at least the Yankees will be drafting the highest it's drafted since 1993.

cashman will blow that pick too

[moocow007]

Well at least the Yankees will be drafting the highest it's drafted since 1993.

cashman will blow that pick too

Probably. Right now it's 18th overall. I thought it was going to be 16th overall but was wrong. So not the best since 93...2nd best maybe.

[thebuzzardman]

I think the plan should be this:

Stay under 189 million
Ignore any international FA's, no matter how good
Sign aging, retread past prime players to fill out roster
Bring no one up from the farm, because the farm sucks
Lie to fans and state "we think this team is a playoff team"
Sit and count money

Oh, that was this past seasons plan. Ok, do it again.

if arod suspension is overturned, NY will be forced to do your plan above to get below 189, which means even a worse product on the field than this year

ARod's got a team of the best in the business in being able to argue their clients out of even fair judgments. I can't see MLB being able to argue and win a 211 game suspension with no more proof than what other guys got 50 game suspensions for. "Setting an example" or finding a "scapegoat" won't fly under independent arbitration. The only way that MLB would have gotten that is if ARod actually agreed to it (which is what they were hoping for). IMHO the best they'll get is 50 game suspension. So what's $30 million x (162-50/162)? That's what ARod will be counting against that magical $189 number.

You all know I was being sarcastic right?

The thing is, they are going to do EXACTLY the above and that is the part that is not funny. Maybe this year they will admit it's a "transition" instead of the lie they portrayed as being "contenders". Only dumb luck, some managerial skill and whatever pride the old yankees had left, made it resemble a "playoff chase". Face it, the Yanks were never really in it this past season. It's going to be worse next year.