Official NY Yankees Thread

[MaseInYourFace]

Having three Japanese Divos with their accompanying entourages could get crazy quick.

[moocow007]

Having three Japanese Divos with their accompanying entourages could get crazy quick.

It could. But big market teams have the capacity to handle it. Tanaka has been pretty out of the spotlight and lowkey his entire career in NY. Darvish is at a point in his career where he's probably past the rock star persona that he came into the league with. And Otani, thus far, has come off in interviews as a pretty focused and grounded guy (always says the right things and doesn't do anything to shame himself...in fact folks have said that he basically is a baseball lifer and doesn't do anything else, not even hang out with friends, but focus on baseball). Things could turn, and not to sound stereotypical, but it's hard to see the 3 of them turning into some sort of frat or getting out of control or letting their entourages get out of control. Otani doesn't have a brother/agent so that helps.

[Rich Rane]

Judge and Sanchez were awarded Silver Sluggers.

[moocow007]

Judge and Sanchez were awarded Silver Sluggers.

Good to hear. Not surprising.

[MaseInYourFace]

I'm getting nervous with this manager thing. Some of the names floating around ehh. Don't exactly inspire me. Maybe it's the neurotic Knicks/Jets fan side of me but this whole thing just seems like Cashman wants a lackey there.

[Rich Rane]

Otani's been posted.

[Mecca]

Otani's been posted.

I want to pass on Otani as well as every big name FA. Focus on keeping your own and developing your own talent. I rather trade Frazier and a mid level prospect for a starting pitching prospect than blow our bankroll on a starter. Big money starters get injured too often.

[Phish Tank]

Otani's been posted.

I want to pass on Otani as well as every big name FA. Focus on keeping your own and developing your own talent. I rather trade Frazier and a mid level prospect for a starting pitching prospect than blow our bankroll on a starter. Big money starters get injured too often.

no, this is not your average FA signing. There's a hard cap on what teams can offer him. Sell him on NY and sign him. He'll be 24 next season

[MaseInYourFace]

One thing with Otani, I almost feel like with his hitting ability that he's better suited for a national league team. An NL team would be able to get more bang for the buck out of him. In the NL there are a lot more in game situations where you pinch hit. Unless Yankees would be looking to DH him a lot which I don't see them doing.

[Mecca]

Otani's been posted.

I want to pass on Otani as well as every big name FA. Focus on keeping your own and developing your own talent. I rather trade Frazier and a mid level prospect for a starting pitching prospect than blow our bankroll on a starter. Big money starters get injured too often.

no, this is not your average FA signing. There's a hard cap on what teams can offer him. Sell him on NY and sign him. He'll be 24 next season

Don't we have to give an insane amount of money to the club that he's playing on now as well?

[Phish Tank]

I want to pass on Otani as well as every big name FA. Focus on keeping your own and developing your own talent. I rather trade Frazier and a mid level prospect for a starting pitching prospect than blow our bankroll on a starter. Big money starters get injured too often.

no, this is not your average FA signing. There's a hard cap on what teams can offer him. Sell him on NY and sign him. He'll be 24 next season

Don't we have to give an insane amount of money to the club that he's playing on now as well?

Nope, those rules are different for him because he's under the age of 25 I think. He's treated differently from the other Japanese players

[Mecca]

no, this is not your average FA signing. There's a hard cap on what teams can offer him. Sell him on NY and sign him. He'll be 24 next season

Don't we have to give an insane amount of money to the club that he's playing on now as well?

Nope, those rules are different for him because he's under the age of 25 I think. He's treated differently from the other Japanese players

Oh, well I retract my statement then. My knowledge of Igawa/Tanaka situations were we had to pay an insane debt to the Japanese club in order to accommodate his loss. Didn't know being under 25 freed that.

[MaseInYourFace]

I want to pass on Otani as well as every big name FA. Focus on keeping your own and developing your own talent. I rather trade Frazier and a mid level prospect for a starting pitching prospect than blow our bankroll on a starter. Big money starters get injured too often.

no, this is not your average FA signing. There's a hard cap on what teams can offer him. Sell him on NY and sign him. He'll be 24 next season

Don't we have to give an insane amount of money to the club that he's playing on now as well?

Yeah but Yankees have that easy and it doesn't count against lux tax or anything like that.

[MaseInYourFace]

I'm under the understanding the club definitely gets a cut.

[moocow007]

One thing with Otani, I almost feel like with his hitting ability that he's better suited for a national league team. An NL team would be able to get more bang for the buck out of him. In the NL there are a lot more in game situations where you pinch hit. Unless Yankees would be looking to DH him a lot which I don't see them doing.

Disagree. He is only interested in hitting. Having the play the field hasn't come up as a 'want' for him. He can DH in the AL. In the NL he would have to play the field if he wants to hit. Both for him and his team, it would be more beneficial if he did not have to play the field on days he doesn't pitch I would think (wear-and-tear, risk of injury, conserving energy for when he pitches, etc.). I don't think the plan from anyone's point of view is to have him hit every game. And that would be his only benefit IF he wants to hit everyday AND is actually willing to play the field.

[moocow007]

The Yankees would have to pay the Nippon Ham Fighters "ONLY" $20 million (that's the old posting agreement that they are trying to grandfather Otani under).

The new posting agreement gives the overseas team even less money. At no point would the money (for the Japanese team or the Japanese player) get anywhere near close to what was thrown around when Darvish and Tanaka was signed.

So again, that's ONLY $20 million that the Yankees or the Dodgers or the Rangers or whomever would have to give Nippon for them to allow Otani to sign with them. That $20 million does NOT count against the tax cap that the Yankees are trying to get themselves under.

Otani also would not be able to get the big money contracts that previous Japanese players have gotten. He'll be limited to what teams have left under their international spending limit. The most that Otani will be owed will be about $3.5 million per (what the Rangers and Yankees have that can actually be offered).

So we're talking about about a $23-24 million "gamble" (of which, at most, only $3-4 million would count against their tax reset number) to land what many scouts consider one of the best players on the planet (not just Japan) who is: a) only 23, b) will be under team control for a LONG time, c) plays the most premium position in baseball, d) opens up revenue streams globally, e) can likely contribute right away (both on the mound and in the batters box).

Otani not only throws upwards of 100mph which he apparently (like Severino) can carry late into games but also reportedly has nasty secondary pitches and can also hit a baseball 500'. One scout compared his swing to a young Darryl Strawberry in terms of easy power. Did I mention that Otani hits lefthanded and is a natural pull hitter (see Yankee Stadium)?

We're talking about a guy who would instantly be considered the best "prospect" in the majors, who is about the same age as an player in AA, who has front end starter stuff and who can contribute right away. I don't care what Chance Adams or Jordan Montgomery is or can become, Otani is already in another stratosphere.

The Yankees would be absolutely nuts to not be interested and go full tilt in on Otani regardless of what farm system or what young players they have already and that needs to focus on. Same goes for every single other team in the majors, on planet Earth or in the Milky Way Galaxy.

Put in another way. Yoan Moncada, who was a lesser player than Otani AND who cost more, is still someone that the Yankees goofed on not going after. So if they fail to go full tilt after a better player who will cost less then Girardi isn't the only one that should have been fired.

If they want to build a championship foundation that can last for as long as the last foundation lasted, trying to add someone like this is a no brainer. The talent, the age, the control, the cost...

[Rich Rane]

Keep in mind, the max teams can offer Shohei Otani is $10.1 million (total) over 5 or 6 years (I forgot which one) of team control. The money talked about earlier where the Rangers are in the lead and Yankees being second is the signing bonus.

[Phish Tank]

i think Otani's one player Hal and Brian Cashman are going full steam to sign

[Rich Rane]

i think Otani's one player Hal and Brian Cashman are going full steam to sign

And again, it wouldn't surprise me whether they sign him or not (please sign here, Shohei), that he's the only free agent outside the team they go after this offseason. Free agency will instead be the youth movement (Clint, Torres, Andujar, Adams).

[draftbarnes]

Otani has to be priority number 1 . the one big free agent that makes a ton of sense.