Hamels, who has spent his entire career in Philadelphia, likely would be a better fit. But Hamels, like Grienke is a free agent at the end of the season. The acquisition cost for him would be high, and the Yankees might view him only as a rental, given their desire to be under the $189 million luxury-tax threshold by 2014.
Nick Swisher is a free agent after this season and Granderson after 2013. And if the Yankees adhere to their vow to have a payroll under the $189 million luxury tax for 2014, then there is pretty much zero possibility they will retain Swisher and a lot less of a chance than they want to portray of keeping Granderson long term.
To revisit some math: It will cost approximately $85 million toward the 2014 luxury tax payroll for just Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira plus the roughly $10 million every team is charged for items such as insurance. The Yankees almost certainly would prioritize re-signing Robinson Cano (also a free agent after ’13) over Granderson and, with Scott Boras as his agent, Cano will end up no less than $20 million toward the cap — probably more. And Granderson is a major player with the union, so I do not see him taking a big discount to stay.
Thus, shoehorning even $40 million annually for Cano and Granderson would mean the Yanks have five players signed in 2014 for $125 million and have to put together the rest of a roster on about $60 million. Not impossible. But not likely.
This is why we said that the Yankees will be a worse team over the next couple years if Steinbrenner truly sticks to the $189 million. There’s too many bad contracts still on the books and generally, the Yankees’ best prospects are in the low levels of the farm system.
33 Comments
Smart Guy July 5, 2012 13:23
its a process we need to go through, i dont care for the fans whining and bitching like always, they will bitch no matter how good of a team we have but if we dont get under the cap we will put our team in danger by being penalized on the draft and thats a no no
Derrrrrrrr July 5, 2012 14:08
The process shouldn’t have involved re-signing A-Rod and CC when they opted out, or giving Tex 7 years.
We can’t have it both ways. Either don’t sign the most retarded contracts ever and expect to build cheaply from within, or sign massive contracts and expect to continue to sign overpriced free agents.
Are we going to wait 5 years for Tex, CC, and A-Rod to come off the books?
Smart Guy July 5, 2012 22:54
while I agree they they shouldnt sign dumb contracts its indifferent because before they could and wouldnt be penalyzed in the draft but the new CBA changed so its kinds dumb to go back on how they did things back then. you obviously are a moron and i hope your penis gets trapped in the toilet seat
Jesus Montero July 5, 2012 13:37
This is easy…hire someone to whack Arod in the kneecaps to force him to retire and have Soriano opt-out at gunpoint.
Greg July 5, 2012 13:48
Amen to that!! A-Rods contact and his lack of production is a killer. He’s projected to put up these sort of numbers this year. .269 23 75. Now that is from our cleanup hitter! And it’s only going to get worse. so someone needs to give A-Rod a push from the top of the steps
Brian S. July 5, 2012 14:23
Soriano would be off the payroll by 2014 even if he doesn’t opt out.
Don Corleone July 6, 2012 23:49
Easy, cut the head of Alex’s centaur and leave it in his bed. Hell, it worked on Jack Woltz…
NoMaas Circa2007 July 5, 2012 13:41
Give ARod whatever he wants- he’s the best player ever, a physical specimen. I wish I looked like an East German female body builder so I could spend one night with that man. Yankee fans who want don’t want to pay him into his 40′s are Jerz Shore idiots who can’t see the future with statistics like we can. Jeter sucks.
Fecal matter July 5, 2012 14:01
I’d love to see where NoMaas said the Yankees should sign Arod into his 40s. I call bullshit on you.
Stats July 5, 2012 14:25
Jeter has a .600 OPS the last two months and is one of the worst defenders in baseball. He kind of does suck.
The Immortal JJ Hardy July 5, 2012 18:07
You idiots could have had me!
Angela Merkel July 5, 2012 13:42
Want a bailout?
Mitt Romney July 5, 2012 15:25
Want some sexy mormon time? That’s what we call milk and cookies!
Oakland A's July 5, 2012 14:13
What are you guys moaning about? We swept the Sox with a $55 million payroll. Let’s see A-Rod, Soriano and Tex do that on their own.
The Truth July 5, 2012 14:59
Using the Billy Beane model how many playoff series have you won during his reign as GM? Honestly that fucked up movie makes everyone think he was a genius, as if having Mulder, Hidson & Zito had nothing to do with success of the 2002 team.
check your facts July 5, 2012 15:20
Mulder, Hi/udson, and Zito had as much to do with the success of the 2002 teams as they did with previous dominant A’s teams in 2000 and 2001. Then a shit ton of production left through free agency after 2001 and the team still won >100 games in 2002. Through signing ‘scrubs’.
P.S. Zito was never great. Check yourself.
Nick Social July 5, 2012 18:09
Barry Zito circa 2000 – 2002 was outstanding.
The Truth July 5, 2012 18:40
Thank you, Zito was 23-5 in 2002 and won the CY Young the following season. Mulder was 19-7 and Hudson was 15-9. Yeah they lost Giambi and Damon but they still had Chavez and Tejada, you know the 2002 AL MVP.
Nick Social July 5, 2012 19:26
That awful metal on metal sound you hear is from the nerds sharpening their knives after you used W/L record as a reliable statistic when evaluating a pitcher’s effectiveness.
Joeybagonuts July 6, 2012 10:22
I checked.
Zito was great in 2000, 2002, & 2003.
Brian S. July 5, 2012 14:24
Wait, 10 million we spend on insurance counts towards the 189? The fuck is that about?
Junk kicker July 5, 2012 15:28
Right, that sounds weird.
what's the point? July 5, 2012 15:23
This article basically quotes some extremely vague, speculative, leads about how the yankees aren’t players in trades for a major arm that’s on the trade block. Then it just reiterates basic math and more speculation about whom the yankees won’t prioritize to re-sign.
Phil "Monster Jaws" Hughes July 5, 2012 15:29
Don’t forget the money you guys are going to have to spend on me. My agent will only talk to Levine.
Nathan July 5, 2012 16:24
The one competitive advantage the Yankees have ($$$) has been neutralized.
Brett Gardner July 5, 2012 17:12
I still suck
NoMaas July 5, 2012 18:03
If you we had $189 to burn….
The Truth July 5, 2012 18:42
I Iwll believe this when I see it. They may lose one of the two outfielders but not both. Hal doesn’t appear stupid. I would like to think there would be a fan backlash about this, if the Yankees went on the cheap, but real fans don’t go to the stadium anymore, just shewp with IPAD’s and cell phones.
photo July 5, 2012 19:06
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Inconvenient Truth July 5, 2012 22:10
Win loss record means something still. It means you can ignore the person citing it.
Salary Cap July 7, 2012 19:32
Well, the rays seem to do well with a payroll under $70 million, so can we not fill the rest of our roster with $60 million?
R2-D2 July 8, 2012 15:33
Is there any possibility of reconstruction of the top 3 heinous contracts like they do in football? add more years but lower the payout?
Jay Destro's Weenie July 9, 2012 15:47
Luckily we have all that pitching coming. Banuelos. Betances. Pineda. Look out world!