What. The. Fuck.
How did we reach such a dark and dismal precipice?
An aging roster. An anemic farm system. An exploding payroll. Free agents with unearthly price tags. A division on fire with talent. A franchise clogged with contracts and tied down by its own hubris.
Listen: We're facing a Fall-of-Rome level debacle here. No single trade or acquisition can solve this dilemma, which has been built with bad decisions over the last three years.
The Yankees don't need a LF. They need a time machine.
Seriously, what big moves can they make this winter? Here are five potential strategies, each looming with an incredible downside.
1. Trade for Juan Soto. This means outbidding other teams with prospects, which, frankly, the Yankees just don't have. No question, Soto could be great. But he's a one-year rental with an impending price tag of $300-$400 million - just the kind of contract that paralyzes Mr. Frugality, Hal Steinbrenner.
2. Sign the Japanese pitcher, Yashinobu Yamamoto. Again, this requires outbidding the planet - in this case, the Dodgers, Mets, Giants and maybe Phillies, who have captured Philly. If Hal lays out the money here, he likely sits out the rest of the auctions.
3. Do something, anything, with Giancarlo Stanton. That requires tens of millions in movie money. It also means finding a team that wants him, in a city where he's willing to play. Forget about getting much in return. He'd be a write-off.
4. Sign free agent Cody Bellinger. Of all outcomes, this seems most likely. But again, he could be Hal's only big money free agent, and will he matter? One other thing: The Yanks must wonder if last season with the Cubs was an anomaly. What if he's another Joey Gallo?
5. Trade Gleyber Torres for whatever. Why Gleyber? Well, he's the one seemingly expendable player that somebody might want. He'll be a free agent next November, and his time is running out in NYC. By himself, he might bring a bullpen lug nut. In a package, who knows? But where does 2024 start coming into focus?
Of course, there are other earthquakes - Shohei Otani - which our minds cannot fully imagine. But the mad genius of these Yankees is how they've painted themselves into a corner so outrageously that - dear God - the best solution might be to cover their ears, ignore the screams and do nothing. It's amazing, the straightjacket they have sewn for themselves over the last three seasons.
But here's the most frightening reality of all:
This year, they finished 19 games behind Baltimore, and the O's are improving.
Dare we suggest "rebuilding year?"
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6 comments:
It's been a rebuilding decade, so why not? Start with the front office.
A true, committed rebuild takes more than a year, three minimum probably, and would include trading their most valuable assets...Judge and Cole. That'd bring the haul required for a true rebuild. Dumping the deadweight...Stanton, Rizzo, dare I say DJ... is necessary too, for pennies on the dollar unfortunately but so be it. In a true rebuild there wouldn't be more than a handful of players on the roster 28 years or older, and they'd be pitchers. Cannot fathom Hal/Cash/Boone Yankees doing this. More papering over, grasping at 90 wins, until all the shit contracts expire, another half decade of it at least I'd say.
Like most discerning fans, I’m fine with a rebuilding year, or two. Or three. But here’s what I predict.
I see the team signing Bellinger, his ability to play 1B makes him a good fit. No Gallo, he.
I predict the the team will sign ugly Randy Johnson clone Josh Hader, facilitating King’s transition to the starting rotation. The team will not sign Yamamoto. Kiermaier will be signed for CF if his price is right. That’s it for major acquisitions, of course there will be the usual scrap heap signings. Cashman’s sympathy for the homeless goes so far as to pick through other’s trash.
We are stuck with Stanton. I would endorse any deal to get him off the team. I could see a dead cat type of a minor rebound year in ‘24, but basically he is through.
Torres stays with the team this year.
3B will be the new LF as we cobble together a toxic mix of Peraza/Cabrera/DJLM. Speaking of LeMahieu, I expect a total collapse this year.
This will be the summer of our discontent, the team wins an ugly 85 games and somehow wins one playoff series. Based on this, Booone gets a fresh 4 year contract.
One signing and done. It's the Yankees Way.
I'm not sure we'll even get one signing. I think we'll soon be told that re-signing The Gleyber is our first priority, and that leaves no money for anything else.
I think that Publius and 999 are right: Yankees fans WILL sit still for a major rebuilding...IF it's clear that that's what they're getting.
You know who WON'T sit still for even a single rebuilding year, never mind three? HAL Steinbrenner, that's who.
Rebuilding cuts into profits. Period. And of course, it also runs into the Cashman Conundrum, whereby a man who has proven himself—for a quarter of a century now—woefully unable to assess talent or hire those who can, will have to...assess talent. And untried talent at that.
No, the Yankees will go blaming everything on us fans. Insisting that "we" won't stand for any rebuilding time. It's malarkey—but malarkey is what this front office specializes in.
Rebuilding? Target should be a competitive team in 2029. Yes, 2029. Why?
GStanton signed through '27 with a $10 million 2028 buy-out. Baseball-reference seems to indicate the Marlins are paying some of his salary thru the end.
CRodon signed thru end of '28. $27-million-plus each year thru then.
GCole signed thru end of '28 @ $36 million/year. He has an opt-out after 2024 season. He will be 34 in 2025. Some teams might bite on a higher-than-$36M/year contract for this guy -- but 4 years of that? I think he will choose to stay, whether he's still great or not.
Aaron Judge is signed thru 2031. He'll be 37 in 2029. Will be still be playing? Probably. Will the Yankees trade him before that? No. Will he still be GREAT at age 37?
So just this simple write-up shows the team on the hook for $63 million worth of (two) pitchers, $40 million worth of an aging Judge, and I'm-not-sure-how-much of Stanton thru 2028.
2029 is the year things MIGHT change. The question I have is: Will I be around to see it?
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