Arbitration Avoidance Wrap-Up

Yesterday was the deadline to submit contract figures or accept a deal to avoid contract arbitration, and as expected all 5 of the Yankees' arbitration-eligible players agreed to new deals before the deadline.  Joel Sherman was the first to report most of the signings, and if you missed any of them yesterday here's how the new deals broke down.

• David Robertson- 1 year/$5.125 million
• Brett Gardner- 1 year/$5.6 million
• Shawn Kelley- 1 year/$1.7625 million
• Ivan Nova- 1 year/$3.3 million
• Francisco Cervelli- 1 year/$700,000

The higher values than what was projected for guys like Gardner and Nova puts the Yankees right up against the $189 million LT threshold.  With the starting rotation still needing an arm or 2 added to it, I think it's safe to say that the Yankees won't get under the threshold this year.

Five Yankees File For Arbitration

Yesterday was the deadline for arbitration-eligible players to file, and as expected the 5 eligible Yankees all filed.  It's more of a procedural thing than anything else.  The real action starts on Friday when the players and team exchange salary figures and then in February when the hearings start, provided both sides don't come to an agreement before then.  In case you've forgotten, here are the 5 eligible Yankees and their respective MLBTR projected 2014 salaries:

• David Robertson (3rd year eligible)- $5.5 million
• Brett Gardner (3rd year eligible)- $4 million
• Shawn Kelley (3rd year eligible)- $1.5 million
• Ivan Nova (1st year eligible)- $2.8 million
• Francisco Cervelli (1st year eligible)- $1 million

Off the top of my head, I wouldn't be surprised to see D-Rob get a little more based on his excellent body of work the last 3 seasons and I think Gardner could get significantly more than 4 mil because of the value his speed and defense creates.  The other 3 should come in right around those projected figures, but we'll see what happens Friday.

Yanks Still Trying To Avoid The Luxury Tax?

The Yankees' activity on the free agent market has slowed way down since the Carlos Beltran signing.  Sure, they added Brian Roberts and Matt Thornton this week, but their involvement on the starting pitching market has been non-existent with things held up on the Masahiro Tanaka front and now it sounds like the plan to stay under the $189 million luxury tax threshold is back on again.  Via Joel Sherman's Thursday column:

"Because as one member of the organization said to me, 'We either have to be under $189 million or up over $200 million or more. Think how dumb it would look if we worked for a few years to get under $189 million and we didn’t and we were at like $192 million and just missed. Either we go under or way over.'"

That comment was made in the context of talking about Alex Rodriguez's suspension, but it still doesn't make a lot of sense to me.  The Yankees have spent a shit ton of money this offseason, enough money to put themselves right on the ragged edge of going over that 189 number.  They've done a solid job of trying to reload the team on the fly but there are still some major spots that need to be addressed.  To not stay fully committed to that and to go super cheap to avoid the luxury tax in the event that A-Rod isn't suspended for the whole year is stupid and makes the rest of their big offseason moves relatively pointless.

Tuesday Mid-Morning Food For Thought: Bang For The Buck (UPDATED)

Yankee Free Agents Lost This Offseason: Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson, Boone Logan, Joba Chamberlain

Total Amount Paid to Those Free Agents: $319 million

Yankee Free Agents Signed This Offseason: Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury, Kelly Johnson, Hiroki Kuroda, Carlos Beltran*, Brian Roberts, Matt Thornton

Total Amount Paid to Those Free Agents: $304 311 million

Say what you want about how the Yankees are approaching this offseason, but don't say they aren't being smarter in general than we're used to seeing.  They would have been crazy to go 10 years for Cano or 3 for Logan and they wisely let them walk, and 4/$60 mil for Granderson is probably more than they wanted to pay.  Despite the holes they still have on the roster, they've managed to sign 6 7 players for $15 8 million less than the dollar value of the 4 they lost and they still have money available to add rotation/bullpen depth before equaling the total amount they didn't spend on the other guys.

If a chunk or all of that $15 8 million goes to Masahiro Tanaka, it'll be hard to say the Yankees didn't make the right moves this offseason.  7 8 useful bodies beats 4 any day of the week.

(*- Still not technically signed, but he will be)

Goodbye Operation 189

(I'd like to imagine Hal is doing this in his office, maybe even in Joker facepaint)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

It's been a fun last couple of weeks, huh?  The Yankees have plucked the second and third best free agents off the market, the top 2 players available at premium up-the-middle positions, and they've done in relatively sneaky fashion.  While everybody else was assuming their primary focus was on Robinson Cano and Carlos Beltran, they pushed harder than many of us realized to get Brian McCann and then called an audible for Jacoby Ellsbury.  McCann will finally be formally introduced this afternoon at a 2 PM press conference, and once he passes his physical Ellsbury won't be far behind.

After the slow, stagnant, predictable, and painful offseason of last year, this year's has already been full of fireworks and we aren't even to the Winter Meetings yet.  With wheels still turning on the Cano front and the signing of Ellsbury reportedly not stopping the Yanks from pursuing Shin-Soo Choo, I guess the most important question right now is who's next?

Report: Yanks Have Almost Made Up Their Minds On QO Decisions

Qualifying offers have to be made by Monday, and according to Jon Heyman's latest report, the Yankees are on the right path with their decisions.

Heyman reported yesterday afternoon that the Yankees will make qualifying offers to Robinson Cano and Hiroki Kuroda, and they're "leaning" towards making one to Curtis Granderson although they're still undecided there.  Granderson, as I've mentioned before, makes a ton of baseball sense for the Yankees next year, but that extra $14.1 mil tacked onto next year's payroll could be a problem in trying to get below the luxury tax threshold.  After seeing the fancy accounting moves the team made yesterday to re-sign a 40-year-old shortstop, that goal still seems to be the primary one.

The best news to come out of Heyman's report?  Confirmation that the Yanks won't be extending a qualifying offer to Phil Hughes.  Not that that comes as a surprise at this point, just a relief.

Another Key Monday Deadline To Consider

(Courtesy of the AP)

Next Monday is the deadline for teams to make qualifying offers to their free agents, and the Yankees are expected to be active in that department over the next 5 days.  It's also the deadline for players or teams with 2014 contract options to make a yay or nay decision on those options.  For the Yankees, that means Derek Jeter and his $9.5 million player option for 2014.