PressBox: Manny not a Yankee

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, spiritof66 said:

I think it's correct that the NYYs wont be trading to rent Manny this year. But that doesn't mean they won't try to sign him as a free agent. They didn't "need" Stanton, but they signed him to improve the team and create some fan excitement. Once they finish 2018 under the threshold for re-setting the tax, the money they would spend on Harper -- another OFer they don't "need" -- or Manny means very little to them. I think they'll take a long look at both of them in the off-season.

As much as I admired and liked Ken Singleton as a player, and he also seems like a pretty good guy, he really says some off-the-wall things as a NYY broadcaster, especially about the business side of the game. Singleton believes, or wants to believe, or is told to believe, that the NYYs succeed solely because the Steinbrenners, Cashman et al. are smarter, their managers are more effective and attentive, and their players are better human beings who try harder than their counterparts with other teams. His premise that the NYYs look at signing free agents the same way other teams do is of a piece with that.

They traded for Stanton.

[spiritof66]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

They traded for Stanton.

Correct, and I messed that up. But the point remains: they picked up a big salary obligation for a top-tier player not because they "needed" help in the OF but because they wanted a big-name upgrade and could afford to pay that price. They didn't mind that his salary is around $25 million and runs till he's 37 or 38. That would be an unacceptable burden for most teams to take on, quite possibly a larger burden than Manny's contract will be. 

[Can_of_corn]

46 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

Correct, and I messed that up. But the point remains: they picked up a big salary obligation for a top-tier player not because they "needed" help in the OF but because they wanted a big-name upgrade and could afford to pay that price. They didn't mind that his salary is around $25 million and runs till he's 37 or 38. That would be an unacceptable burden for most teams to take on, quite possibly a larger burden than Manny's contract will be. 

I don't think they would have traded for him if it would have put them into the luxury tax bracket.

[spiritof66]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

I don't think they would have traded for him if it would have put them into the luxury tax bracket.

I agree. The NYYs held down their spending this year, and they were smart enough or lucky enough (or both) to assemble enough young, low-paid talent to put together a very good team with a payroll that's under the luxury-tax threshold. Hal Steinbrenner is kind of obsessed with staying under the threshold this year -- he can't stand the idea of paying to support other teams just because the NYYs have a higher payroll than they do. And whatever they can spend this year while staying under the threshold will probably go to starting pitching, and not to Manny. 

Next year will be a different story. 

[SteveA]

1 hour ago, TonySoprano said:

They deliberately got under the cap this year to be able to reset and spend again this offseason.  Are they going to go after Harper?

Kershaw if he opts out?