Sunday, January 7, 2018

Do the math, and it's clear that Cashman has no money for another big name

Unless some good-hearted Samaritan steps forward to swallow and digest Jacoby Ellsbury's $21 million per season albatross contract, Friday's signing of utility infielder Jace Peterson may have signaled a de facto end to Brian "Cooperstown" Cashman's fantasy winter a-go-go shopping spree. Yesterday, we discussed Peterson's glove, lack of bat, and potential Yankee role, without fully blathering about his financial significance. Let us never leave a good blathering on the side of the road. So, here goes...

By spending $900,000 (plus incentives) on Peterson, Cashman just clipped a million dollars from the remaining Yankee war chest, which is wandering perilously close to the MLB $197 million salary cap  luxury tax threshold. 

According to Joel Sherman, the Evils now have tied up about $179 million in contracts - just $18 mill below "Foodstamps" Hal's sacred gold ceiling. If the Yankees were to acquire Manny Machado or Yu Darvish - as fairy tale rumors insist - it would chew up at least another $15 million, forcing them to go cold turkey at the July 31 trade deadline and throughout September. A $10-$15-million cushion could last the season. But for a team that plans to contend and stay below the threshold, a $3 million pre-season window would be a joke.

We can only guess what Cashman views as a valid leftover budget, heading into 2018. If, say, he stays $10 million below the threshold, that would leave about $8 million to address three remaining areas of concern:

1. LOOGY. Right now, the Yankee LH bullpen option is Chasen Shreve, and while he's not the worst plate of clams ever served, he is no lights-out lefty. Cash must scour the scrap heap for a LHer, which has become an annual scavenger hunt. Over the years, killer lefties have been a constant sore spot. To add a few mere lottery tickets will probably cost $1- to $3 million.  

2. Back-up catcher. Preferably, a LH defensive-specialist. I think the Yankees like Austin Romine. Who doesn't? But a lefty bat would give Aaron Boone more flexibility, and a great pitch-blocker could end up with more career saves than Eddie Giacomin. It might force Gary Sanchez to up his game or watch 9th innings from the dugout. Cost: Another $1-$3 million - more, if we want a hitter.

3. A second Jace Peterson. Cash might chase another scrap-heap UI looking for a career resurrection. If I were a veteran 3B with good Triple A numbers, I'd be phoning Tampa every morning. Think about it: If you have a solid spring training, you might come north with the New York fucking Yankees, hold 3B through May and maybe get a ring, a World Series winner's share and a retirement of signing balls and waitress butts in airport Ramadas. Peterson cost us a mill. I'd take two or three. 

Surely, Cash will kick the tires on the big name free agents, and who knows? Maybe in spring training, somebody will bite on Ellsbury's contract. But for the rest of this winter, I gotta believe Coop will shop at flea markets and preserve his pennies for the salary dumps of late July. And by the way, I'm hoping for this. Until the Toddfather signs elsewhere, he remains the greatest threat to every viable strategy in the Yankiverse.

7 comments:

  1. IT'S TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE...

    STANDING PAT MEANS THE ROOKIES WILL BE AT 2ND AND 3RD FROM THE BEGINNING....

    THEY NEED TO SEND GLEYBER DOWN FOR 12 DAYS TO TAKE THE CLOCK BACK ON HIS SERVICE TIME, SO "TOE" GETS THAT ASSIGNMENT AT 2ND.

    .....BUT THE REAL CLUE AS TO WHAT WILL HAPPEN, IS 3RD BASE.

    AS MUCH AS WE WANT IT, THERE IS NO WAY COOP WILL GO WITH MIGUEL ANDUJAR AT 3RD BASE, ESPECIALLY FROM THE START OF THE SEASON.

    THAT LEAVES EITHER A TODD FRAZIER SIGNING OR A TRADE FOR JOSH HARRISON.

    FROM THE MATH EL DUQUE JUST PROVIDED, YOU CAN SEE, PRECISELY WHAT THE YANKS WILL OFFER THE TODDFATHER....

    BETWEEN $10 TO $12 MILLION ON A 1 YEAR DEAL, AND NO MORE.

    I LIKE JOSH HARRISON, BUT DON'T REALLY WANT OUR PROSPECTS TO FLY AWAY.

    COOP MAKES IT SO HARD.

    JUST COMMIT TO ANDUJAR AT 3RD.

    IF HE SHITS THE BED AFTER 12 GAMES, PUT "TOE" AT 3RD, ONCE GLEYBER TAKES OVER AT 2ND.

    JUDGING FROM THE WAY WE ARE DROOLING OVER MANNY MACHADO, WHY WASTE ANY MONEY OR PROSPECTS ON A STOPGAP 3RD BASEMAN FOR 1 YEAR?

    THE POTENTIAL UPSIDE OF GOING WITH ANDUJAR?

    HE MIGHT BE GREAT!

    .....AND IF HE IS, HE MAY SAVE US NORTH OF $300 MILLION DOLLARS (THE COST IF AND WHEN WE GET MACHADO).

    NOW THAT IS STRATEGY WORTH BEING CALLED "COOPERSTOWN".

    SIGNING OFF.

    "COOPERSTOWN CAPS".








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  2. I hate Manny Machado. Just can't stand him. Maybe because his name is Manny, and my lizard brain is remembering that other Manny from the Red Sox. Regardless, I would really hate seeing him in pinstripes.

    Cashman is such a tool.

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  3. As usual, I'm with you, "COOPERSTOWN CAPS." I might be for a big Manny contract if Andujar tanks (after a real chance), but he has trouble written all over him. A bunch of injuries/operations already, declining stats last year, wants to play SS...

    Somebody ought to remind Coop that, if he had held onto Mike Lowell, we could have not only hurt the Bosox, but saved the fortune spent on A-Rod to sign real pitchers.

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  4. But...

    How amazing that Ellsbury might really be keeping us from taking a disastrous Gerrit Cole trade!!

    It's like discerning God's great plan...for the Yankiverse, anyway.

    'Yes, Virginia, the vampire wasp and the three-toed sloth have a role to play, no matter how disgusting they may seem. So it is with the Ellsbury, a rare form of albatross that prevented the Yankees from making one of the worst trades in their history..'

    Now, if we could just the Mets to ink T. Frazier...

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  5. Meanwhile, in Yanks v. Soccer, today was another nil-nil.

    The Sunday Times sports page went mainly with a big piece on a figure-skater...from Japan. And a huge, two-page spread on what percentage of foreign players play in different sports leagues all over the world have.

    (Yes, I did fall asleep twice before I finished writing that sentence.)

    But hey, we were informed that Ed Kranepool's memorabilia remains on display. Only the Mets could make Ed Kranepool into a controversial figure.

    A week into 2018, it remains Soccer 5, Yankees unmentioned in the Times.

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  6. If Ellsbury's contract can stop Cashman from making a colossal mistake, it would be the most beautiful twist of poetic justice we've seen in ages. Could Jacoby's contract be his most valuable contribution to the team? Should we extend Ellsbury???

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