2024-25 Yankees Offseason

Wingack

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Can I interest anyone in Carlos Correa at 3rd base? Would the Twins eat any of the money? While he was on the field last year he was very strong offensively and defensively.

He played third base for Puerto Rico in the WBC in 2017. He was going to play third for the Mets before that deal got cancelled.
 

jon abbey

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Nah he failed physicals from two different teams and is owed a lot of money, upside is not worth the risk IMO.
 

Snatch Catch

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I hate the Correa suggestion for every last one of the obvious reasons, including just hating him, and especially the injury one - the guy played just 86 games last year.

But I hate most that in a half season Correa produced more fWAR (4.6) than anyone currently on the Yankees not named Judge did for the entire year. Holy smokes is that good.
 

mefck

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There is a way to get messages to Cashman, I think. He is on cameo, so the message you want him to read could include trade suggestions ;)
 

Wingack

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But I hate most that in a half season Correa produced more fWAR (4.6) than anyone currently on the Yankees not named Judge did for the entire year. Holy smokes is that good.
I know! It’s bananas. Even the Twins could eat some of the money, or they take Stroman, he would be a massive upgrade pretty much anywhere on the diamond.
 

Snatch Catch

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I know! It’s bananas. Even the Twins could eat some of the money, or they take Stroman, he would be a massive upgrade pretty much anywhere on the diamond.
The prospects of trading for him are equally intoxicating and foreboding with him not being a cripple to this point. He's like an anthropomorphic late-stage Jenga tower.
 

jon abbey

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The fact that Steve Cohen signed him and then backed out should be enough to know not to go there IMO.
 

mefck

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I get the sense that Cashman is having a little more fun here - has some money and lots of optionality with how the roster is constructed so far.

It’s also interesting to see how little consensus there is on what the Yankees should do next because there are so many different paths. I have a feeling there is something out there we are not seeing yet.
 

jon abbey

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Cody Bellinger told Aaron Boone during their first conversation that he doesn't care which position he plays.

Boone: "That's a testament to the kind of player he is"
 

Snatch Catch

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I get the sense that Cashman is having a little more fun here - has some money and lots of optionality with how the roster is constructed so far.

It’s also interesting to see how little consensus there is on what the Yankees should do next because there are so many different paths. I have a feeling there is something out there we are not seeing yet.
This is my hope. I fully understand the options that have been discussed here in clear and concise terms, illustrating convincingly how they will improve the team. It literally makes sense to sign someone like Santander or Bregman in the context of attempting to make the New York Yankees better tomorrow than they are today. I just hope that Hal/Cashman are in on something that we are not seeing yet, because none of the position player work so far, and even the available options discussed, feels like win consolidation. It's more like patching and repairing. Anthony Rizzo is broken as a productive/playable baseball player, Cody Bellinger patches that non-functional aspect and repairs that issue at 1B (or wherever he plays)

The Carlos Correa idea, as abhorrent, odious, and terrifying as it is, still made me look twice because of just how much more additional production he brings to the table in one player. If Hal is actually giving Cashman more leash than usual, I really hope he uses it as a creative exercise to consolidate wins.
 

mefck

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This is my hope. I fully understand the options that have been discussed here in clear and concise terms, illustrating convincingly how they will improve the team. It literally makes sense to sign someone like Santander or Bregman in the context of attempting to make the New York Yankees better tomorrow than they are today. I just hope that Hal/Cashman are in on something that we are not seeing yet, because none of the position player work so far, and even the available options discussed, feels like win consolidation. It's more like patching and repairing. Anthony Rizzo is broken as a productive/playable baseball player, Cody Bellinger patches that non-functional aspect and repairs that issue at 1B (or wherever he plays)

The Carlos Correa idea, as abhorrent, odious, and terrifying as it is, still made me look twice because of just how much more additional production he brings to the table in one player. If Hal is actually giving Cashman more leash than usual, I really hope he uses it as a creative exercise to consolidate wins.
I am on board with all of this.

From the side interviews after the press conference, Cashman revealed that they were granted an in-person meeting with Sasaki.
 

EvilEmpire

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I'd love to know what Cashman's budget was over and above the contract they offered Soto and if the full amount from both is available to him now.
 

jon abbey

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I'd love to know what Cashman's budget was over and above the contract they offered Soto and if the full amount from both is available to him now.
Hal has said it doesn't really work like that, it's more like he is open to discussing anything that Cashman thinks makes sense.
 

EvilEmpire

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Hal has said it doesn't really work like that, it's more like he is open to discussing anything that Cashman thinks makes sense.
Oh, I know he's said that, but I don't fully believe it. Or rather, I think Cashman has a budget framework to work within, but also has the feeedom to ask Hal for more if it makes sense. Maybe what can be considered a soft budget?

I'm curious how far he can go before he has to ask for more.
 

Thurms Ghost

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I'd love to know what Cashman's budget was over and above the contract they offered Soto and if the full amount from both is available to him now.
Glancing at Spotrac it looks like they have shed around $81 million from last years payroll (Soto, Verdugo, Rizzo, Gleyber, Holmes and Nestor) and added around $59 million (Fried, Bellinger, Devin).
What Cashman has to spend this year is of course tbd.
 

jon abbey

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I believe they were at $315M last year and are at $284M currently, and that includes Stroman’s $18M.
 

EvilEmpire

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Seems like the hardest moves may have been made and the remaining open infield spots aren't likely to be a big challenge to resolve. So what's next? Another bullpen arm, sure. If Gil is sticking around, is moving Stroman the next highest priority? Or is there a chance that Cashman is still big game hunting and Gil is the biggest chip he can deal?
 

Wingack

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Seems like the hardest moves may have been made and the remaining open infield spots aren't likely to be a big challenge to resolve. So what's next? Another bullpen arm, sure. If Gil is sticking around, is moving Stroman the next highest priority? Or is there a chance that Cashman is still big game hunting and Gil is the biggest chip he can deal?
Well, I keep hearing Josh Naylor is available but we really haven’t heard the Yankees being directly in on him. I think he is a FA after this season.

I wonder what it would take to get him.
 

EvilEmpire

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I wonder what it would take to get him.
Cleveland is a well run organization and great at evaluating talent. I'm guessing the price for the Yankees would hurt. Maybe better to just spend some money.

Edit: A rental for a high end guy like Tucker (or of course Soto before him) that you want to extend, is a risk worth paying a heavy prospect price for. I don't think Naylor is that guy.
 

Snatch Catch

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Seems like the hardest moves may have been made and the remaining open infield spots aren't likely to be a big challenge to resolve. So what's next? Another bullpen arm, sure. If Gil is sticking around, is moving Stroman the next highest priority? Or is there a chance that Cashman is still big game hunting and Gil is the biggest chip he can deal?
I'm holding out hope in general for a big game surprise, and holding out hope in specific that his name isn't Nolan (just read the news of his blocked trade to HOU).
 
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jon abbey

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I don't think Gil will be dealt, NY's SP depth has taken a hit since the Tucker discussions as they have dealt Nestor and Poteet since then. There are plenty of infield possibilities out there at much lower cost (money and/or talent).
 

EvilEmpire

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Not really an inspiring choice if it happens. Assuming both would be very short deals, I think I'd rather have Santana.

That said, two positives:

1) Goldschmidt got off to a dreadful start last season (87 OPS+) but hit a lot better in the second half (122 OPS+). Better that than the other way around, I think.

2) Such a move would bode well for Ben Rice. Goldschmidt's platoon splits: 88 OPS+ vs. RHP, 135 OPS+ vs. LHP. If Goldschmidt is the guy, Ben Rice will likely get some opportunities to play against RHP. It would be great if Rice could build on the flashes of talent he showed when he first came up last season.
 

jon abbey

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Not really an inspiring choice if it happens. Assuming both would be very short deals, I think I'd rather have Santana.

That said, two positives:

1) Goldschmidt got off to a dreadful start last season (87 OPS+) but hit a lot better in the second half (122 OPS+). Better that than the other way around, I think.

2) Such a move would bode well for Ben Rice. Goldschmidt's platoon splits: 88 OPS+ vs. RHP, 135 OPS+ vs. LHP. If Goldschmidt is the guy, Ben Rice will likely get some opportunities to play against RHP. It would be great if Rice could build on the flashes of talent he showed when he first came up last season.
Yep and they could play some interesting roster games if they trade Trevino (as has been rumored) and make Rice the backup C as well as getting time at 1B. JC Escarra also plays many positions in addition to catching and is on the 40 man.

Goldschmidt had a massive MVP year in 2022 and a very good year in 2023, I don't really follow the NL much but I trust NY on this kind of move (given how many options there are currently), if it happens obv.
 

Snatch Catch

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Goldschmidt would be wildly uninspiring to me. This is a guy whose fWAR has halved each year since his fantastic 2022 (6.8 --> 3.4 --> 1.1). The idea that there's "something they can fix", they're "betting on a rebound", or "this underlying metric suggests if we just use him in these specific situations he can be a great addition" would be so much more palatable if he wasn't going to be 38 years old just in time for next year's playoff push.

I mean, his general profile of decline looks eerily similar to Josh Donaldson, and I'd hope, of all teams, the Yankees would be wary of touching that hot stove again.
 

jon abbey

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The glass half full way to look at is that he has had 2 1/2 great seasons out of the last three. :)

I am not really sure what I'm rooting for at this point, so much that we don't know. I would say that a one year Goldschmidt deal signals that NY probably plans to go after Tucker (Bellinger goes to 1B if they get him) and/or Murakami next winter and any multi-year deal for a 1B would block those.

But I should note that Yankee Twitter has had Walker and Santander both previously on the finish line of becoming the next Yankee 1B, so we'll see.

I say it periodically but so so so glad I don't have Cashman's job.
 

Snatch Catch

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I appreciate your optimism, jon!

I'm extremely curious to see what happens with Vlad Jr now that he's turned down TOR's $340M extension offer, which was apparently not close to landing him.
 

jon abbey

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I'm personally still trying to process the fact that MLBTR had Bellinger getting 12/264 a year ago, but the declined QO hurt his market and eventually CHC signed him back on Feb 28 to a face-saving, player-friendly structured deal.

He fractured two ribs in late April running into Wrigley's brick wall (he can bond with Judge about trying to run through concrete and brick) but only missed two weeks. Then in July, he got HBP in his finger, another fracture. He missed three weeks this time, still got to 130 games played and 569 PAs even with the two separate injuries. He ended up with a 2.2 bWAR season and was far better on the road than at home, he is going from one of the worst parks for lefty power pull hitters to one of the best.

So now NY got a guy who was supposed to get 12/264 just one season ago for 2/52.5, a guy who has evidently been pushing Boras to push Cashman to get him to NYY for a while now. If he gets off to a good start, I could see NY trying to extend a year or two and lower the AAV some (and take out the player option for 2026, make it guaranteed both ways).
 

jon abbey

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I will be stunned if NY goes after Vlad, I would not be comfortable even offering him what he turned down from TOR.
 

Snatch Catch

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When I said big game, I didn't mean that kind of big. :(
Haha, I totally get it - he's not a highly desirable on my list, either. But he IS a poor defense, poor baserunner, 25 year old with a career 155 wRC+ bat across 3500 PAs, and a roughly 4-6 WAR guy just can't be ignored if it's another Soto/Tucker situation (but with the chance of an extension).
 
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jon abbey

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I just don't see a world where the Yankees are the high bidder on Vlad Jr. and good.
 

jon abbey

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I also doubt they will be the high bidder on Tucker, who doesn't seem like a NYC guy to me, but Murakami I could definitely see, he will be 26 on opening day 2026 and has been linked to the Yankees for a while. He does not look like as much of a sure thing currently as he did two years ago but he is still just 24 and already has 241 career HRs in the Japanese league, do the math there.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=muraka000mun
 

Murderer's Crow

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I'm in the camp of fuck Vlad. Spent years talking shit about the Yankees and didn't just say he didn't like the Yankees but was an overconfident annoying asshole while doing it totally unprovoked. Him and his dad could retire hating the Yankees for as long as they live without me thinking twice about it.
 

Snatch Catch

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I'm currently sitting in the hell of a customer service chatbot for a company that is working overtime to not give me a meaningful solution after screwing up the personalized holiday gifts for my divorced parents so bad that I only found out when I didn't hear from either of them.

So I'm open to anything that can even be remotely construed as a net positive; Vlad Jr in pinstripes is basically rainbows and sunshine in this moment.
 

Sad Sam Jones

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Well, I keep hearing Josh Naylor is available but we really haven’t heard the Yankees being directly in on him. I think he is a FA after this season.

I wonder what it would take to get him.
The Andres Gimenez trade has to make an off-season trade of Naylor less likely. Cleveland isn't rebuilding, they're trying to repeat as AL Central champions. If they wanted to tear it down they wouldn't have even approached Shane Bieber about a short-term deal. Trading Gimenez helped them address their need for rotation depth. Their lineup isn't great, so they can't trade away their cleanup hitter unless it brings back a bat that can help immediately while being a more long-term solution. Naylor is a creature of comforts and loves playing with his brother. He might actually be re-signable or if 2025 doesn't go as planned they can still deal him in July.
 

EvilEmpire

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I guess more names linked to the Yankees could put a little bit of pressure on whoever the team is actually negotiating with.

Not that I think the team is trying to do that.

On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 meaning "totally not happening", I think Alonso would be like a 3 compared to other options.
 

EvilEmpire

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Yep and they could play some interesting roster games if they trade Trevino (as has been rumored) and make Rice the backup C as well as getting time at 1B.
Coming back to this.

1) I hope they don't trade him.
2) If they do, I wonder what his value is.
3) I especially wonder what his value would be to Boston since they don't have a real starting quality catcher.
4) It would be funny if the Yankees traded two catchers to Boston in the same offseason.
5) I hope they don't trade him to Boston.
 

Wingack

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The Andres Gimenez trade has to make an off-season trade of Naylor less likely. Cleveland isn't rebuilding, they're trying to repeat as AL Central champions. If they wanted to tear it down they wouldn't have even approached Shane Bieber about a short-term deal. Trading Gimenez helped them address their need for rotation depth. Their lineup isn't great, so they can't trade away their cleanup hitter unless it brings back a bat that can help immediately while being a more long-term solution. Naylor is a creature of comforts and loves playing with his brother. He might actually be re-signable or if 2025 doesn't go as planned they can still deal him in July.
M's talking with CLE about Naylor.

View: https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/1869803180340691091


I'd like to know what the pricetag is.
 

Jace II

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Having Judge, Bellinger, and Alonso on the same team would be funny retrospectively, as during that 2017-2019 range they were the 3 young power hitting phenoms across MLB, with Judge and Alonso literally swapping the rookie HR record. All 3 of them won ROYs during that period (!)

In the present day though, Alonso at 5/$125M (MLBTR prediction) with the trajectory he's on sounds pretty bad. Just imagining all of the Volpe skipped throws he would let go by is fun.