2024-25 Yankees Offseason

jon abbey

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No, Brubaker is 8th currently, I guess.

Cole
Rodon
Gil
Schmidt
Cortes

Stroman
Poteet
Brubaker
Will Warren

Clayton Beeter is in there too if he is a SP, but he could be an exciting multi-inning weapon out of the pen now, I think.
 

jon abbey

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Also, there were reports of mutual interest with Walker Buehler.
I don't see how NY can sign a FA SP to guarantee a rotation spot to unless they are trading both of Stroman and Nestor, maybe they are.

This is Nestor's last year before FA, Stroman gets a 1/18 player option for 2026 if he gets to 140 innings this year.
 

jon abbey

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The top four there are controlled for a while, in contrast:

Cole, Rodon, Gil: through 2028
Schmidt: through 2027
 

EvilEmpire

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Also, there were reports of mutual interest with Walker Buehler.
Supposedly Buehler has been or was working with Cressey Sports Performance, and given that Matt Blake used to work there and might still have contacts, I'd feel pretty ok if they signed him. Even going beyond pedigree.
 

mefck

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Supposedly Buehler has been or was working with Cressey Sports Performance, and given that Matt Blake used to work there and might still have contacts, I'd feel pretty ok if they signed him. Even going beyond pedigree.
Makes sense - I feel the same way. Very much a high reward signing.

With respect to Soto, I have been watching the main board and they seem to think it is Mets, then Red Sox. Maybe I am a biased Yankees fan, but I do not see the Red Sox being that high on the list of possibilities (or least ahead of the Yankees). Keeping in mind that Soto will start getting offers next week, would we expect to see him touring Boston or Toronto if he was thinking of signing there?
 

EvilEmpire

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I think Soto has already been touring.

Regardless, I think he'll have several high offers in the same ballpark of each other, Yankees among them. If he enjoyed his time with the organization and his teammates, he'll probably come back. If not, he'll certainly have other options.
 

ThePrideofShiner

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Makes sense - I feel the same way. Very much a high reward signing.

With respect to Soto, I have been watching the main board and they seem to think it is Mets, then Red Sox. Maybe I am a biased Yankees fan, but I do not see the Red Sox being that high on the list of possibilities (or least ahead of the Yankees).
Agreed. I think one thing people are potentially overselling when comparing the Yankees and Sox is that Soto knows he already makes the Yankees good enough to reach the Series, whereas with the Sox he has to trust that all of their future plans hit.
 

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For a he Yankee fans here, re: Soto, how much do you buy in to the idea that he wants to be “the man” wherever he signs? He certainly can’t be that on the Yankees while Judge is there, and would that extend to his contract? Are the Yankees willing to pay him more than they’re paying Judge?
 

EvilEmpire

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If Soto has said that, I'll take it seriously.

It's possible. It's also possible that great players really like playing with other great players. I don't put any weight in it unless Soto says it is important to him.

I know Soto wants to get paid a whole lot. That is the only thing I'm certain about right now.
 

jon abbey

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Soto hasn't said that or even hinted at it, people just make up shit and other people repeat it. Honestly I think it is the opposite, he just had his best season hitting ahead of Judge and Judge did specifically say last week he doesn't care if Soto gets paid more than him.
 

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It's nearly impossible to keep track of actual reporting on what Soto may have said, and what people are wishing his personal preferences to be.

So the next question is if this is a contract level that Hal & Hank will go to. I think they've sort of looked a little for frugal than in the past in that they'll play in the upper-middle of the market, but aren't giving out mega contracts (with the obvious exception of Judge, who the question becomes if they were saving for that obvious expenditure).

In short, how confident are you in landing him? Do you see the Yankees as willing to pony up that amount of money, and do you think they're able to outbid Cohen's Mets?
 

jon abbey

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Eh, we'll see when he signs somewhere. This period of hypothesizing based on nothing is not very interesting to me honestly.
 

jon abbey

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I tend to agree, but I'd like to get an opposing point of view from here to temper the enthusiasm. The main board is way too optimistic regarding the Sox's chances IMO.
Personally I have thought it will be Yankees or Mets for the past 6-7 months, does that help? :)
 

Murderer's Crow

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I tend to agree, but I'd like to get an opposing point of view from here to temper the enthusiasm. The main board is way too optimistic regarding the Sox's chances IMO.
Yea, I don't think you'll find anyone outside of Sox fans who think he's gonna sign there. That said, everyone here has been pretty open about the fact that we have no fucking clue....

Sidenote: I don't love when fans are like "This player is x ethnicity so that means he must want to be around other people like him." Especially when the player speaks perfect English. It seems like historically, players tend to play where they get paid the most, where they love the location the most, where they are most likely to succeed, and then the last gobbligook of reasoning is sales pitch elements (ties to home country, players of similar ethnicity, language barriers, ballpark factors, organization history).

Every single organization has a strong sales pitch that uses celebrities and former hall of famers and marketing teams creating videos and presentations with food and bullshit that player loves...I don't think it matters too much in the overall scoring.
 
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jon abbey

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The one thing if Soto goes elsewhere is that it would at least allow Judge to go back to RF where he can still be a defensive asset, as opposed to CF where he is usually bad (although occasionally spectacular) or LF where he refuses to attempt trying much for some reason.

Let's take a deep sad breath and at least see how it might look if the Yankees lose Soto and (are somewhat forced to) pivot to say, Bregman and Christian Walker.

Chisholm - 2B (L)
Bregman - 3B (R)
Judge - RF (R)
Wells - C (L)
Stanton - DH (R)
Dominguez - LF (S)
Walker - 1B (R)
Volpe - SS (R)
Grisham - CF (L)

Bench: Trevino, Cabrera, Peraza, Rice

With Spencer Jones hopefully charging hard for the CF spot. When last we left him in mid-September, he was hitting this 453 foot bomb in the AA playoffs off of one of the few top pitching prospects in all of MLB, Chase Dollander.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTEZQMNsIks


That above nine is a really good defensive team, I think. Like, really good. Dominguez is a solid CF, he will be good in LF with more experience there (instead of being plunked down there with minimal previous reps in mid-September twilight afternoon games in a pennant race).
 

E5 Yaz

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I'm not so sure that Bregman and Walker isn't a better use of the Yankees money anyway.
 

DBB23

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If they miss out on Soto I am going to assume Cashman goes pitching with Bregman and Walker with plenty of money and years saved.
 

jon abbey

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Not sure NY will pay up to add pitching, they already need to trade Stroman and/or Nestor. Maybe the bullpen but Cashman hasn’t wanted to lock in big deals there the last few years.
 

EvilEmpire

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If Soto doesn't work out, I'd be pretty happy with Bregman and Walker if Cashman could pull it off.

The defensive problems last season were frustrating.
 

LogansDad

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If Soto doesn't work out, I'd be pretty happy with Bregman and Walker if Cashman could pull it off.

The defensive problems last season were frustrating.
Funny thing is, a part of me agrees with this as a Sox fan. Walker is getting old, but I feel like he is quietly one of the big prizes this offseason.
 

jon abbey

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YES had their first offseason show tonight and the words of Jack Curry were carefully parsed by Yankee Nation.

One thing I think we learned is that if they do get Soto, the planned accompanying move would likely be to trade for Bellinger (Stroman as part of the deal to balance the money a little), who is a good defender in both CF and 1B still.

Chisholm - 3B (L)
Soto - RF (L)
Judge - CF (R)
Bellinger - 1B (L)
Stanton - DH (R)
Dominguez - LF (S)
Wells - C (L)
Volpe - SS (R)
Durbin - 2B (R)

Bench: Trevino, Cabrera, Peraza, Rice

That is a ton of speed from 6th through leadoff.
 

EvilEmpire

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Bellinger only if they get Soto? I don’t really get it. I suppose if they don’t get Soto they’ll look for more consistent offense at 1B from someone like Walker? Or spend some of that money on the rotation and make it easier to move on from Stroman?

Otherwise, I’m not sure I understand why their interest is dependent on Soto at all. They have a hole at 1B either way. And if Soto doesn’t sign they’ve got plenty of ABs at CF to fill too.
 

EvilEmpire

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Perhaps because they would focus on a different bat replacement for Soto?
Yeah, I mentioned more consistent offense at 1B with Walker as a possibility, but if they’re interested in dealing for Bellinger at all, if Soto’s gone Judge will be in RF and they’ll still have a hole in CF that Bellinger is a fit for.

That said, I do wonder if interest in Bellinger is mostly about 1B because even if Soto leaves, maybe they think Dominguez will be better in CF than LF. Which I don’t think is true, but who knows? I kinda feel like Judge, Dominguez, and Grish are all allergic to LF at the stadium.
 

jon abbey

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I maybe wasn’t clear but I don’t think Curry did say that the Bellinger interest is dependent on Soto, but his positional flexibility between CF/1B is a big part of his attraction, and that becomes less necessary if Soto is back in RF, so then some combo of Judge/Dominguez in CF/LF.
 

ThePrideofShiner

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As we in theory close in on the end of the Soto saga, I find myself waffling a bit about what I want.

Initially, I was all-in on resigning him no matter what. But then I recently found myself thinking about the different ways they could use that money and the chance to get Judge out of center field. But then I read RAB's patreon thoughts this morning and he reconvinced me that Soto alone changes the course of the franchise for the foreseeable future.

The Yankees were a pretty good team before Soto showed up. They are a World Series type team with Soto.

I'm not even convinced that the Yankees would spend the money they have earmarked for Soto. They certainly didn't after they lost out on Yamamoto.

Anyway, this post has no substance, but I wanted to try and lay out the conundrum teams and fans are facing right now.
 

jon abbey

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I'm not even convinced that the Yankees would spend the money they have earmarked for Soto. They certainly didn't after they lost out on Yamamoto.
Not picking on you, but this allows me to address something I see a lot of people say...

Yamamoto signed for 12/325, around $27M per year. No one in their right minds would pivot to signing someone else to a large 12 year long deal, obviously no one else on the market merited or necessitated that. What they did do after losing Yamamoto was fill the spot with Stroman at 2/36 (plus a possible third year), and even that deal was a year or two too long and NY will likely try to move it this winter.

So, yes, if they lose out on Soto and given the current alternatives (not just OFs), this winter NY would very likely spend the $45-$50M per season they have earmarked for Soto currently. That's the number to look at, not the total commitment.
 

jon abbey

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The SP talk makes no sense to me, so then they move both of Stroman and Cortes? I call shenanigans.
 

jon abbey

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Also both of those guys rejected QOs, really doesn’t make any sense.

“ Both pitchers rejected qualifying offers from their former clubs, meaning both would cost the Yankees their second- and fifth-highest draft selections, in addition to $1MM of space from their 2025 bonus pool in international free agency. ”
 

jon abbey

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They were willing to let Cole go over adding an additional year, just not passing the smell test.
 

EvilEmpire

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I'm not surprised by Cashman doing due diligence with the big names out there, even starting pitchers. I mean, if Fried was willing to take a deal with deferred money to wear pinstripes, I'd be ok with a Cole/Fried/Rodon/Gil/Schmidt rotation and figure out what to do with Stroman and Nestor afterward.

But yeah, none of that is happening.

At this point, I'm more curious about the infield plans. Soto may or may not happen, but the OF is relatively clear either way. I wonder what their preferences are in the IF. I hope to see Chisholm taking over 2B and Cashman finding a new (and sadly, subsidized) home for DJ, but I won't be surprised by anything.
 

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Jack Curry said he has a gut feeling Soto will be a Yankee. Jack usually doesn't say stuff like that so I'm not sure what to make of it. He's easily the best Yankees source though, period.
 

ThePrideofShiner

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I can buy it. He knows he can be comfortable in NYC. He can be Judge's right hand man for a few years and then be the face of the most glamorous and historical franchise in the game.

Or we could be wrong and he signs with Boston. I can see why that is attractive too.
 

EvilEmpire

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If Curry is saying that, I take it as an indicator that the money on the Yankees end might be competitive with the Mets and Red Sox. He probably has some insight into what is happening on the ownership side.

If true, that is good news. Some early rumors seemed to indicate that the Yankees were behind on money.
 

jon abbey

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Well, that was a fun season anyway.

Christian Walker seems like the most obvious immediate fit, although if they know Murakami wants to sign with them before 2026, a one year stop gap like Carlos Santana might be better.
 

jon abbey

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If NY did add a top SP, which I still don't really believe, Stroman and Nestor should both have good trade value with teams desperate for SPs.
 

jon abbey

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I am pretty thankful that Judge can go back to RF fulltime anyway.
 

EvilEmpire

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I'm glad that's done. What the Yankees offered Soto is terrifying. Trying to beat what the Mets did even more so. Hopefully they spread a lot of that money around.

If they're convinced the SP upgrade is worth it, yeah, trade Stroman and Nestor. Maybe for an immediately useful player, but adding back some of the lost prospect depth from the last couple of years would be fine too. And I know this isn't rotisserie baseball and it isn't a reasonable expectation for a great dude like Nestor going into his walk year, but I kind of wish even if they signed someone better that they could keep him as a lefty multi inning RP and spot starter. He'd be great in that role. SP depth is so valuable when so many pitchers get injured. But that would be terrible for Nestor.

I'm excited for what comes next. Find some offense. Improve the defense. Judge in RF definitely helps.
 
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