Roki Sasaki is 23, throws RH, and finished last season in Japan with the worst ERA of his career: a mere 2.35.
He's the latest in a caravan of Asian stars, all with one thing in common.
They're not Yankees.
Nope. The Mets have Kodai Senga. The Redsocks, Masataka Yoshida. The Dodgers - um, you get the picture. Every big market franchise - (and all our rivals) - have ventured recently into the Asian market except for - um, you get the picture.
What's impressive is how Team Hal somehow always manages to finish second in the bidding for Asian talent. There's an art to this. You can't just piss money down a player's throat, until his manager gurgles "Uncle." Nope, you gotta bob and weave, float and sting, then stick the landing in safe and secure second.
The Yankees vow to bid hard on Sasaki.
And they will. Yep. Wait and see. They'll finish second.
Last time the Yankees toured the Canyon of Heroes, 2009, Hideki Matsui was the reigning world series MVP. The Yankees were building a Oriental pipeline, looking to continually replenish their roster. Then Hal took over, with his public commitment to always contend - and, hmmm, isn't that just another way of striving to finish second?
I hesitate to mention this. Why pretend? Everybody knows Sasaki will sign with the Dodgers, who cook their books with deferred salaries, or the Mets, with Steve Cohen performing a literal golden shower.
But a Yankee rotation of Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Luis Gil, Clarke Schmidt and Sasaki would put an end to the handwringing over Juan Soto. The Yankees could actually be a better team than last year, and without Soto.
But it won't happen. We're built for second.
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That's Hal's M.O., for sure. Only in this case is there a cap on what he can make because he's under 25. and it's a small cap, too. So, cheapness won't have a bearing on signing Sasaki this time. The Yankees' dysfunctional organization and the perceived hostility of the NY press will be deciding factors. Let's cross our fingers and hope he is nostalgic for baseball history.
We specialize in second place. The “art of contending.”
I am certain Hal has a trophy case at home filled with participation trophies.
Hal is, himself, number two.
Is Burnes still available? How can we unload Stroman and--longer shot--Rodent? Brian just hates to admit he's wrong. Hal just hates to pay salaries for players who are playing somewhere else.
This team is establishing a practice of devaluing Asian players, another brick in the wall of its warped proclivities. There is absolutely no chance of them signing Sasaki.
Here's an interesting concept. It's not a new idea, of course, as it's used a lot in football and occasionally in the NHL: DJ is owed 15 million per for the next 2 years. No team would touch him. There's also a decent chance that no team will take the Strohman bait and absorb his 2025 salary, even if drastically discounted, with the Yankees eating part of it. So, why not renegotiate with each player and add deferred money until their careers are finished? For example, If DJ takes $ 5 million this year and next and Strohman agrees to $ 6 million, that would give the team an extra $ 17.5 to sign Bregman while offering to defer, say, 12 million per year. If done correctly, it will work for all parties. That renegotiation would require the MLBPA to sign off on the deal. They don't want to diminish a player's earnings, but if it is advantageous to the players and that is their wish, they would likely not interfere. This would enable the Yankees to avoid the dreaded $ 301 million luxury tax overage while bettering the team.
Any thoughts?
It's an interesting idea but I'm pretty sure the luxury tax hit would be unchanged in the scenario you propose so it wouldn't help.
The $301 million threshold would still be an issue because the luxury tax (or in the NFLs case the hard cap) is based on the total of the contract and bonus money divided by the number of years.
What they might want to do, and what football does, is add "void years".
It works like this... They could take DJ's $30 million owed and rewrite his contract to give him say, four years at $36 million. That would lower his "cap hit" to $8 Mil a year.
Then they cut him whenever they want or keep him for the two years he was originally contracted for and then pay him off for the other two "void years' . DJ gets an extra 6 mil. The Yankees get more flexibility in terms of the Luxury Tax.
Just an additional FYI.
The final two years at $8 mil (The void years) become part of the cap for those years so doing it a lot limits the amount of money the team has available for those years against the cap (or luxury tax).
In this case, the 8 mil hit is no big deal, but if it becomes a regular practice and is done with several other players, it can add up .
That said, teams know that the thresholds will increase with time and they factor that into their calculations. Obviously, it's better not to sign stupid contracts n the first place but, you know... Brian. So there's that.
Those are all splendid solutions...but don't count on them happening. The Yanks seem to be maneuvering to trade Stroman for Nolan Arenado, which is incredibly stupid. I always thought Stroman was a bad signing, a declining, mediocre pitcher way too distracted by the internet. But he's still a starting pitcher, which today gives him at least some cachet. Why not deal him for a bunch of magic beans? NOT a declining, increasingly injured has-been infielder?...
And yes, BTR, their devaluing of Japanese players has been hugely stupid. That's an enormous market they had a chance to win over after Matsui. But no, when Ohtani didn't want to come to town, they simply ceded it to the Dodgers—much as they have now ceded their own market to the Mets.
Here again, the failure to re-sign Soto had huge repercussions. Any free agent, eager to win, has to look at that and say, "The Dodgers and Mets want to win. Hal Steinbrenner wants to hoard money for his family."
@ Doug....As you mentioned, baseball has no salary cap, so there is no reason to worry about a " dead cap" in future years. However, MLB and the NFL look at void years in a different light. As you said, in the NFL, the contract can be divided into additional years, helping the team. It doesn't really help the player because, without guaranteed contracts, the team has leverage by just threatening to cut the player without any compensation versus employment but at a lower pay; in baseball, void years means that a player who has an opt-out can void the remainder of his current contract and, hopefully, extract more money from the team. For example, Cole had an opt-out/void of his last 3 years (which the Yankees could have negated by adding one or two more years at the current compensation of 34 million) and could have become a free agent. But he realized no team would offer him more money with a better chance of winning, so he kept the status quo. As you've agreed, the luxury tax is determined by dividing the AAV of the player's contract ( plus fringe benefits, a portion of collective contributions, and organizational salaries). Therefore, renegotiating DJ's and Stohman's contracts would help lower this year's total team salary. The player benefits by earning an excellent rate of return on the deferred portion of wages.
Dead on, Hoss. Everybody knows where we stand, vis a vis that thing called "winning it all." The Soto deal just confirmed it publicly. You can only put on that same kabuki dance so often before it betrays itself.
I just wanted to take a moment and remind everybody that Cashman chose not to rappel down that building in Stamford, Connecticut this year.
What does this mean for the future of the Yankees franchise?
What was Cashman afraid of?
Why didn't he rappel?
Is 2025 in jeopardy now?
How can America's Favorite GM make it up to all of mankind?
@ AA....He must have found out that I had some skulduggery planned for him this year. I paid the security guy on duty at the Stamford Forum during his scheduled rappelling session to be on his break. I also paid for a " friend' to enhance his descent with a little lube. I'm not suggeting that Minaya, Sabean, Afterman, or Fischman had any involvement; but let's just say that Cashman would no longer be calling the shots and that he would soon have a plaque in Monmument Park.
Thank for clearing that up, Carl.
Guess that’s better than cleaning him up, Carl.
@ Doug....Additionally, if teams did what you proposed, it would not be as clean. Take your DJ example above. The Yankees might not cut him after 2 years, especially if rediscovers his swing and stays healthy. That isn't farfetched as he would only be ages 38 and 39. There are still productive players at those ages. If so, DJ would be forced to play for free, Well, for just 3 million per season. DJ could not force the team to add more money.
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