Off Season Plan – We Need Specialists

The Yankees have so many issues going into this off season that the GM, especially one as inept as "GM For Life", Brian Cashman, cannot get it done alone. They need to divide up the tasks and bring in specialists.  

Last off season I suggested that the Yankees fire Cashman and bring in Marie Kondo the Japanese de-clutter guru to help them remove players that don’t “Spark Joy”.  Sadly they did not take my advice. 

Yes, they dumped Gary Sanchez, but they immediately brought in overpriced, broken, mismatched bric- a- brac that just made it worse.

This year I would bring in Dr. Kevorkian, but I think he took his own advice and is dead.  Instead, I offer a three-part plan designed to give the team a reset.

Step One

Hal needs to bring in Sam Bankman-Fried. 

The former FTX CEO can help Hal understand that, while on paper the Yankee roster looks reasonably strong, it is actually worthless.

This will soften him up for the next step.

Step Two

Hal needs to get Michael Milken out of retirement (or the federal pen if that’s where he is) to help him move some his junk assets.  

The two most important ones to move are:

Josh Donaldson:  

Jackie D. is owed $30 million. He supposedly is a strong defensive third baseman. Good. That will help. He is also a putz. That will not. So, while normally it would have been possible to cover half the salary in a trade, his attitude alone means we will need to pony up at least 60%. Add his haircut and we will need to push 75% to get it done.  

Do it anyway.  

Yes, we will still need to get another 3^rd baseman. Maybe the Angels will trade this Urshala guy.  I kid. Get a filler or, if DJ can still walk, let him play it.  Cabrera is the utility man.  IKF won a Gold Glove at third... whatever. Josh needs to go. With the discount we should be able to get at least one or two single A guys.  (-22.5M)

Aaron Hicks:   

He too is owed $30 million. A perfect change of scenery candidate. Yankee fans are done with this guy.  He seems nice. Spare him the cascade of boos. Seems like 50% on the dollar should work. That takes his annual salary down to $5M for any team that takes him.  A bargain. We should get back some international draft money or a low A player.  (-15M over three years. Chump change.)

Step Three

The Yankees need a new trainer. 

Giancarlo Stanton health has been a major issue for the team.  We currently owe him $260 million. Two-hundred-and-sixty million dollars.  For a part-time DH. 

There is no way to soften this financial blow by trading him because no team is that stupid. Well, there's one but we're it.  

Besides, even if the Yankees were to offer to pay a percentage of Stanton’s contract, he has a no trade clause. So, it's LA or nothing. And LA isn’t going to bite. Plus, we can’t move on and get another star because the cumulative cost is prohibitive.  

It’s time to get him a personal trainer.  

I suggest Kadarius Toney. 

We need Kadarius to befriend Giancarlo. Take him to the clubs. Teach him his workout routines.  

How does this help? 

The salary cap hit is a sunk cost. It’s big and there is nothing that can be done. But… and it’s a Kardashian sized but… much like with Jacoby Ellsbury, if Giancarlo is injured the Yankees can get the money back using insurance. 

The problem is not that he’s injured too much. It’s that he’s not injured enough! 

Bringing in Kadarius as his personal trainer insures Stanton will be injured year round. 

How does this help the team and not just Hal?  They need to bring in a top free agent Left Fielder to take Stanton’s place. This will put them over the cap and cost them luxury tax dollars, but it’s broken up by the year so even if the tax hit is 30% it’s only 30% of the overage. At $40M over the cap it’s just an additional 12M. Bupkis. The actual cost of the player is a wash. Covered by the insurance payment.

The Yankees only get in trouble if Stanton remains uninjured. Hence, we bring in Kadarius to make sure that doesn’t happen.  (-12M per year.)

Conclusion

By following this plan the Yankees have to spend roughly an extra 39M this year and only an extra 17M a year after that for the next three to get rid of the three major players holding them back.

It's a start.