Something To Consider When Considering McCann Or Choo

In my Carlos Beltran free agent profile post last week, I pointed out that one of his greatest strengths was being a switch hitter who hit both right and left-handed pitching well.  What I neglected to mention in the later posts about Brian McCann and Shin-Soo Choo was that they, as strictly left-handed hitters, don't offer that same flexibility.

McCann 2013 vs. LHP- .231/.279/.337, .296 wOBA in 111 PA
McCann career vs. LHP- .259/.319/.424, .326 wOBA in 1,300 PA

Choo 2013 vs. LHP- .215/.347/.265, .292 wOBA in 221 PA
Choo career vs. LHP- .243/.340/.341, .310 wOBA in 1,128 PA

McCann was better against lefties in years past, although there's always been a pronounced split when compared to righties.  But he was below-average in 2013 and has been trending downwards recently.  The dramatic split in BB rate against lefties (3.6%) and righties (12.0%) is particularly concerning.  Choo has been pretty crappy against southpaws since he came into the league.  If it weren't for his ability to maintain a high BB rate against them he would offer almost no value against left-handed pitching whatsoever.  He could still serve a purpose as a table setter at the top of a lineup against lefties, but that's about it.

Not saying either of these guys should be off the table because of their crummy platoon splits.  Just saying these are the type of things that deserve a closer look when you're talking about signing players in their 30s.

The One Where I Say Something Positive About Hal Steinbrenner

(Courtesy of the AP)

Anybody who reads my stuff with any kind of regularity know I'm not a Hal Steinbrenner fan.  I don't think he's a smart baseball guy, I don't think he's as smart of a businessman as he fancies himself, and I don't appreciate his lame attempts to try to convince the Yankee fanbase that his #1 goal is still to field a championship-caliber team when none of the decisions being made are in line with that declaration.  I find most of what he says to be incredibly insulting towards me as a relatively intelligent Yankee fan, and to me he's more like that meddling boss at your office who thinks he's an authority on everything just because he's in the position he's in.

All that said, I have to put my hatred aside and give credit where credit is due.  I have to give some props to Hal for what he and the front office team have already done this offseason.  It hasn't been much, but it's been enough to show that maybe, just maybe, there's more than the bottom line and luxury tax avoidance being considered here.

Tuesday Mid-Morning Food For Thought

Via Chad Jennings earlier this morning:

"Cashman mentioned that the Yankees need 'probably 400 innings' for the rotation."

- Hiroki Kuroda 2013 IP: 201.1
- Andy Pettitte 2013 IP: 185.1
- Phil Hughes 2013 IP: 145.1

- Total 2013 IP Lost: 532.0

Cash is saying he needs 400 innings next year and the Yankees lost over 500.  That number would have been closer to 600 if Hughes didn't devolve into a 4-5 inning pitcher in the 2nd half, but Cash's math gives some insight into what the Yankees are looking to do to revamp their rotation for next season.  We know CC and Nova will be there and we can assume from Cash's estimate that he's looking to add 2 starting pitchers to those 2 returnees.  That leaves 1 spot open at the back of the rotation for the Pinedas, Phelpses, Warrens, Nunos, and ManBans of the world to compete for.

Hard to argue with the logic of that strategy, as nobody in the crop of internal starting options is a good bet to replicate what Andy and Hirok did last season.  Now it's a matter of sorting out the best candidates for those 2 spots and staying aggressive in the attempts to sign them.

Here's An Idea, Ask Him

Cashman says he still doesnt know whether kuroda wants to pitch in US next season.
— Daniel Barbarisi (@DanBarbarisi) November 11, 2013

 Far be it for me to criticize or question the way Brian Cashman is doing his job, but I'm not sure I like him saying he still doesn't know what Hiroki Kuroda plans to do next year 6 weeks after the season ended.  How is that even possible?  I know Kuroda is a quiet guy, but is it really that hard to pick up the phone and put a call in to him or his agent to ask?  The Yankees have been gearing up to be aggressive on almost every other front this offseason and yet they don't know anything about their best starting pitcher's intentions?  That seems like a hole in the plan to me.

Last time I checked, the Yanks needed to replace 60% of their starting rotation next year.  If the season started today they'd be filling it with Michael Pineda, David Phelps, and Adam Warren, and I don't think anybody needs to be reminded how small an amount of the mustard that trio is going to cut.  Kuroda could be a safe, reliable 1-year stopgap for one of those open spots or he could be passed on for a younger FA option.  The only way the Yankees find out which option makes more sense for them is by first seeing what Hirok wants to do.  I'm all for giving a player time and letting him do his thing, but now that he's rejected the QO, it's time for Cash to get on the horn and start getting an idea of what Kuroda wants to do.

Cano, C-Grand, and Kuroda Decline Their Qualifying Offers

To the surprise of no one, the trio of Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson, and Hiroki Kuroda declined the qualifying offers extended to them by the Yankees before this afternoon's deadline.  They weren't alone.  In fact, every single one of the 13 players who received qualifying offers declined them.  This now sets the Yankees up to recoup supplemental 1st round draft picks if any of these guys signs with another MLB team this offseason, although it bears reminding that the Yankees will not receive a pick if Kuroda decides to go back to Japan to pitch.

Now that this next step on the offseason path has been reached, the Yankees can continue to move forward with their busy offseason plans.  It's uncertain how, if at all, C-Grand fits into those plans, but I have to imagine they will at least have discussions with Kuroda about coming back and we can all safely assume that they're going to make a big push to bring back Cano.  With his market continuing to be slow, and with new reports stating that no other team outside of the Yankees has made Cano an offer yet, the Yanks continue to be in the driver's seat there.

AB4AR Free Agent Profiles

We kicked AB4AR's offseason focus into high gear this week.  If you missed any of the early free agent profile posts, you can find the whole 5-pack right here.

- Masahiro Tanaka

- Brian McCann

- Carlos Beltran

- Stephen Drew

- Shin-Soo Choo

If you've been following the offseason news at all, you know that these aren't the only 5 guys the Yankees are targeting and I can assure you they won't be the only 5 profiled this offseason.  They're just the high profile tip of the FA iceberg.  Be on the lookout for more FA profiles to come as the stove heats up.

How Will The Kuroda-To-Japan Rumors Impact The Yankees' Offseason Approach?

(Courtesy of the AP)

In just 1 day we'll find out the decisions of the 3 players the Yankees made qualifying offers to this week.  The early signs on Cano and C-Grand point strongly towards them declining the offers, but there hasn't been much talk about Hiroki Kuroda.  He's a very quiet guy in the media by nature and there isn't anybody in the mainstream Yankosphere who's gotten a word out of him on what his thoughts might be.

The few reports that are out there right now make it sound like Hirok is leaning towards returning to Japan to pitch next year.  That's always been part of his retirement plan and it stands to reason that he would want to be able to go back there and pitch while he could still be effective.  Kuroda has fallen off in the 2nd half of the last 2 seasons, maybe he's taking that as a sign that it's time to get out of MLB while he still has something left in the tank.

Report: Yanks Are "Going To Be Bold" In Tanaka Bidding

There's still no update on when the new posting rules between MLB and NPB will be agreed upon and put into place, but that hasn't slowed down the Masahiro Tanaka rumor mill.

In an article for Yahoo! Sports yesterday, Jeff Passan reported that the Yankees are "going to be bold" when the time comes to submit the posting bids for Tanaka.  Passan cited an unnamed source with knowledge of the Yankees' strategy, and while the information from those type of sources always has to be taken with a grain of salt, this specific bit of information does fall in line with the aggressive approach the Yankees have already taken in scouting Tanaka.

With some predicting the winning bid being at or above $75 million, the Yankees are in prime position to flex their financial muscle and blow everybody else away with the highest bid.  That would certainly be a bold move and one that might signal more serious intentions on their part to be a bigger player this offseason.  Tanaka has been drawing a lot of comparisons to Hiroki Kuroda lately, and paying big posting bucks for a 25-year-old version of Hirok would be a smart move for the future of the Yankee rotation.

Jeter And Sabathia Are Healthy Again

One thing Derek Jeter never did during the regular season was get healthy.  That was evident to anybody who watched him play and made even more evident by the quickness with which he landed back on the DL every time he did try to come back.

Now that the season is over and he's had time to rest his injured ankle, it sounds like Jeter is finally healthy again, or at least damn close.  Joe confirmed to the media earlier this week that Jeter has started his offseason workouts, which he wasn't even close to starting at this time last year.  It's just preliminary conditioning stuff, and Joe did say Jeter won't begin baseball activities until January, but that's still a great sign.  A few months of regular conditioning work are what Jeter needs to try to regain his lower body strength.

If that wasn't enough good news, Bryan Hoch reported last night that CC Sabathia has also gotten over the hamstring strain that ended his 2013 season and has started throwing again.  You'll remember that CC's regular offseason throwing routine was disturbed by his elbow surgery and those delays could have had something to do with his year-long struggles.

Sabathia and Jeter are 2 players the Yankees need bounce back years from if they're going to contend in 2014.  Knowing that they're both healthy enough in early November to start their offseason workout programs is a positive step towards those bounce back goals.

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 11/8/13

Going to my first Packer game this weekend.  The girlfriend wisely scooped up some tickets early in the year and it's been a roller coaster of emotions for me just in the months leading up this Sunday.  At first I was stoked that I was going to get to see the Chip Kelly offense in person and hopefully a 45-41 shootout.  Then the Eagles started to suck and I was a little disappointed that it might just turn into a Packer blowout.  Now with Aaron Rodgers out, Nick Foles tossing touchdowns all over the place, and the Packers having zero pass rush, I'm afraid I could be going to watch them get blown out of their own stadium.  Oh well, at least there will be beer and it's early enough in the year that the weather isn't in true "Frozen Tundra" territory.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, SJK of NoMaas explained what Ichiro's role should be in 2014.  It's exactly what I would do with Ichiro and what I fear the Yankees won't do.

- El duque of It Is High... made his case for why the Yankees should sign Jarrod Saltalamacchia to be their new catcher.

- On Tuesday, Chris Mitchell of Pinstripe Pundits weighed the pros and cons of bringing back Mark Reynolds and Brendan Ryan next season.

- On Wednesday, Greg Corcoran of Bronx Baseball Daily profiled High-A shortstop Cito Culver and pegged him as a breakout candidate in 2014.

- Chad Jennings of LoHud broke down the current state of the organization in the starting rotation.  Still a lot of upside in the Minors, but way too many questions and not a lot of depth up top.

- Jason Cohen of Pinstripe Alley offered up his opinions on each non-Yankee QO recipient and whether they would be good options for the Yankees to give up the draft pick and sign.

- William Juliano of The Captain's Blog looked at how David Robertson's inefficient pitch count tendencies may be influencing their search for a "proven" closer-type reliever.

- Michael Eder of IIATMS/TYA calculated out the money the Yankees would have in their budget to spend if A-Rod's contract comes off the books for next year.  That's a pretty good-sized chunk of change to work with.

- On Thursday, Joe Pawlikowski of RAB took a look back at Brian Cashman's prospect-for-veteran trade track record since gaining full control as GM.

- Jason Evans of Yanks Go Yard mused on the strategy in attempting to re-sign Hiroki Kuroda if the rumors about him leaning towards going back to Japan are true.

- On Friday, Daniel Burch of The Greedy Pinstripes revealed his complete All-Time Yankee roster.  It'd be fun to see how many games that team could win in a 162-game season with everybody in their prime.

- SG of RLYW released the first version of his 2014 CAIRO projections.  Gotta love projection season!

This Friday's jam is "Slaves And Bulldozers" by Soundgarden.  I didn't go back and check, but I don't think I've ever featured Soundgarden here and that is simply unacceptable.  Soundgarden is the shit, plain and simple.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.  It'll probably be a little slow over the weekend with me being out of town.

Free Agent Target: Shin-Soo Choo

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

In their efforts to improve their outfield production this offseason, Carlos Beltran is clearly the Yankees' top free agent target.  There were reports of mutual interest between he and the team before the postseason even ended and Beltran is a near perfect fit as the type of big name player the Yankees love to bring in.  But as I touched on earlier this week, Beltran comes with a fair amount of age-related risk at this stage in his career.  He's right at the point where a player can fall off the productivity cliff at a moment's notice, and his disconcerting downward trend in BB rate suggests he could be closer to that cliff than his solid overall statistical profile would lead you to believe.

He's also not the only viable option for a right field upgrade.  Former Cleveland Indian and Cincinnati Red Shin-Soo Choo is also a free agent this offseason.  He's younger than Beltran (31), a perennial high BB rate guy with a much higher OBP than Beltran (.423 in 2013), and less of an injury/regression risk than Beltran.  Choo is also reportedly drawing interest from the Yankees and if Beltran is OF target #1, it's a fair bet that Choo is right behind him on the list.

Should The Yanks Take The Plunge On Ubaldo Jimenez?

(Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

The Yankees tacked another top free agent name to their ever-expanding target list this week when George King name dropped righty pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez in an article for The Post.  You might remember Jimenez as a potential trade target for the Yankees a few years ago when he was in Colorado, a trade the Yankees ended up not pulling the trigger on.  Jimenez landed in Cleveland, where things really unraveled for him in 2012 in his first full season in the AL (5.40/5.06/4.98 in 176.2 IP).  He rebounded in 2013, posting a 3.30/3.43/3.63 slash line in 32 starts and a 1.82/2.17/2.99 line after the All Star break.  On the strength of that 2nd half, Jimenez is looking to land his first big contract after declining his option for 2014.  The Yankees need starting pitching, but Jimenez is such a jumble of inconsistencies that he might scare them off.

Report: No Progress On The Cano Contract Talks

The Yankees made a qualifying offer to Robinson Cano on Monday.  He has until next Monday to make a decision on it, which will 100% assuredly be a decision to decline.  Other than that it's been all quiet on the Cano contract front with not a lick of new information, from the Yankee side, the Cano side, or from the rest of MLB.  Maybe it's just me, but that seems a tad strange for the premiere position player in this year's free agent crop.

According to Dan Martin, there has been "no recent movement involving Cano and the Yankees."  This comes over a month after both sides made waves in the media with their reported asking prices and offers and over 2 weeks after the Dodgers apparently took themselves out of the running by signing Cuban infielder Alexander Guerrero.  It's still very early but the market for Cano hasn't come together at all, something that may work in the Yankees' favor.  The longer it goes without any other teams getting in the mix, the more leverage the Yankees should gain in trying to re-sign Cano to something closer to their desired 7-year/$161 million deal.

Free Agent Target: Stephen Drew

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

A few short years ago, the left side of the Yankee infield was one of the best in baseball.  Well, at least from an offensive standpoint.  Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez were still among the best hitters at their positions, even as they advanced into their mid-to-late 30s, and were permanent fixtures in key spots in the batting order.  Fast forward to 2013 and oh how the mighty have fallen.  The Captain and America's Most Hated Athlete combined to play just 61 games this season, the byproduct of a brutal combination of injury setbacks, MLB steroid probes, and natural age-related regression.

To their credit, the Yankees did attempt to bring in an MLB-caliber backup option for the left side when they went after free agent shortstop Stephen Drew last offseason.  His value was down after a few declining years in Arizona and a mid-season trade to Oakland, but Drew turned down a higher dollar offer from the Yankees to sign a 1-year deal with Baaaahhhhhston and guarantee himself more playing time.  After a much better 2013 season that ended with a championship parade, Drew is back out on the market this offseason and once again on the Yankees' radar.

C-Grand Leaning Towards Declining His Qualifying Offer?

Via The Post:

“Well, it’s definitely something you've got to think about, and I appreciate the Yankees extending that offer to me.  You definitely got to continue to weigh all your options to see what’s the best fit for you. Is it doing something like [accepting] the qualifying offer and going back out there again [in free agency next year], or seeing what else is out there?

You know, there are 29 other ballclubs out there, and we’re now at a point where every team has the chance to be a contender here in the near future."

Certainly sounds like a guy who wants to test the open market, and more power to him if that's what he ends up doing.  We know there's a market out there for Granderson already and we can safely assume from his past production that he can get a better offer than 1 year/$14 million even coming off his down 2013.  Granderson was the one player the Yankees weren't sure about when they were making their decisions on who to make QOs to, so maybe he's taking that as a sign that they don't really want him back next year anyway.  He's got a few more days to decide, but the signs and his comments certainly lead one to believe that he'll decline.

Robbie Cano Wins His 4th Straight Silver Slugger

(Courtesy of USA Today Sports)

And 5th in his career.  Led all AL second baseman in games played (160), batting average (.314), OBP (.383), SLG (.516), wOBA (.384), wRC+ (142), HR (27), RBI (107), intentional BB (16), fWAR (6.0), and bWAR (7.6).  Ho-hum.  I'd say he earned that new watch.

Free Agent Target: Carlos Beltran

(Beltran's lone defensive highlight of 2013)

When Curtis Granderson got knocked out of the lineup in Spring Training and then again in May, the Yankee outfield was exposed for how weak and shallow it had become.  After letting Swish walk, the Yanks were left with a light-hitting trio of Gardner, Ichiro, and panic trade acquisition Vernon Wells to hold down the fort.  There was no amount of luck, black magic, or age-defying skill rebound that was going to make Ichiro and Wells productive, above-average hitters for an entire season, and predictably the offensive output of the Yankee outfield took a nosedive.

Enter Carlos Beltran.  Once coveted by Yankee fans and writers alike in the mid-2000s, the Bombers missed out on him when he was in his prime and now have a second opportunity to add him to the mix this offseason.  He's not the 5-tool stud he used to be, and I'm on the record as saying I don't think pursuing him on a multi-year deal should be a top priority for the team, but there's no denying that Beltran would be a major upgrade in right field next year over any and everybody currently under contract.

Searching For Some Free Agent Backup Plans

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Free agency is just over a day old, and while the Yankees haven't signed or re-signed anybody yet they've definitely been among the most active teams so far.  They've reached out to a few teams to inquire about possible trades, they've built a long list of free agent targets to address the many holes on their roster, and they've set themselves up to possibly recoup some compensatory draft picks by making qualifying offers to 3 of their own free agents.  The activity is only going to increase from here and I expect the Yankees to start getting aggressive soon.

But what about players who haven't been connected to the Yankees yet?  There are a lot of guys out there who could be good fits for what New York is trying to do this offseason, at the very least solid backup options in case the Yanks don't hit on their primary targets.  Keep in mind that my mentioning of these names is not my way of saying I think the Yankees should or will go after these players.  Just pointing out that they're players who fit the Yankees' roster needs, their desire to keep payroll below the luxury tax threshold, and their preference for recognizable names.

Yankees Shut Out Of The Year-End Awards Finalists

(Can't imagine this image helped Joe's cause)

The BBWAA announced the finalists for the major end-of-season awards last night, and in what hardly comes as a shock the Yankees were not represented on any of the final ballots.  They didn't have a legitimate Cy Young contender and the combined uselessness of their parade of rookies this year made them laughably out of contention for Rookie of the Year.

Robinson Cano and Joe Girardi had chances to sneak into the final 3 spots for MVP and Manager of the Year, but in the end the more deserving candidates were selected.  As good as he was with as little help as he had, it's hard to argue that Cano was more valuable or statistically impressive than Cabrera, Davis, and Trout.  And despite keeping things together and staying in the playoff hunt almost until the end, it would have been a stretch to say Joe was more deserving of MOY than guys like Farrell, Francona, and Melvin whose teams actually got to the postseason.

Oh well.  Better luck next year (maybe).

MLBTR Predicting A Big Free Agent Haul For The Yanks

MLB Trade Rumors released their annual top 50 prospects list with predictions on where each player will sign on Monday, and if you were looking for the Yankees to be aggressive and spend big this offseason you'll be pleased with the predictions.

According to Tim Dierkes, when the offseason dust settles the Yankees will have signed Robinson Cano, Hiroki Kuroda, Ervin Santana, Carlos Beltran, Grant Balfour, and A.J. Pierzynski.  That haul wouldn't be quite as flashy as the rumored $300 mil spending spree to bring in Tanaka and McCann, but it would help the team in a lot of key areas.

Cano I'd obviously be happy about, same with Hirok, Beltran for the right price, and Balfour.  Santana and Pierzynski are the wild cards here, as neither has generated any buzz relative to the Yankees' reported offseason plans.  Santana had a nice bounce back year in KC in 2013, but he's been so hot and cold his whole career and his high HR rate wouldn't translate well to pitching in The Stadium.  Pierzynski, while an upgrade at catcher, is well on the downside of his career at age 37 and might not be worth the trouble that his reputation brings.  Still, it would be hard to be disappointed if the Yankees ended up bringing in all these guys.

Free Agent Target: Brian McCann

(Sharing a moment with Carlos Gomez.  Courtesy of USA Today Sports)

Of all the poor personnel decisions the Yankees made last offseason, the worst one is still probably the decision to let Russell Martin walk.  In Martin, the Yankees had a guy who was a solid all-around defensive catcher, had familiarity with the pitching staff, and could handle the bat pretty well.  The downgrade from Martin to the Francisco Cervelli-Chris Stewart tandem that was the team's backup plan was bigger than the front office probably realized, and that downgrade became even greater when injuries forced untested rookies Austin Romine and J.R. Murphy into regular duty.

Overall, the Yankees got a pathetic .213/.287/.298 batting line from the catcher position this season, good for a .266 wOBA that ranked 26th in MLB and 0.9 total fWAR that was good for 23rd.  They've apparently realized the err of their ways and have made upgrading that position one of their primary objectives this offseason.  The name at the top of their list to do so is former Atlanta Brave and recent qualifying offer recipient Brian McCann.

And So Ends A Sad Chapter In Yankee Pitching History

(Courtesy of Noah K. Murray/The Star-Ledger)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

17.8.  After 14 combined seasons filled with injuries, bad luck, bad developmental decisions, and just plain bad pitching, that's what the Yankees have to show for their years of team control over Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain.  17.8 fWAR.  Or if you prefer the BR version, 13.4.  That's over the course of 442 appearances and 1,225.1 innings pitched, and you don't have to be a sabermetric genius to figure out that's not exactly prime bang for your buck in terms of value.  Hughes and Chamberlain never lived up to the hype as pitching prospects and as of 12 o'clock this morning, with no qualifying offers in their hands, they were free to leave the Yankees and pursue a fresh start with a new ballclub.  Chances are microscopically slim that either will return to the Yankees next season.

Tuesday Mid-Morning Food For Thought

Boone Logan was not part of the group that received qualifying offers yesterday, nor should he have been.  On the strength of his time in New York, he's free to go get himself a fat new contract and in all likelihood that contract offer won't be coming from the Yankees.  His departure leaves a big void in the bullpen for the lefty specialist role next year, but some small September sample size success could be a clue as to who Logan's replacement will be.

(Courtesy of Texas Leaguers)

That's Cesar Cabral's pitch plot against lefties from his 8 September appearances this season.  In those 8 appearances, he faced 9 left-handed batters.  1 of them got a hit, 1 of them flew out, 1 of them was hit by a pitch (David Ortiz!!!), and 6 of them struck out.  Based on that pitch plot - fastballs on the corners of the strike zone and sliders that were thrown in the strike zone for called strikes and down and out of the zone for swinging strikes - it's reasonable to pencil Cabral in as the early favorite for the LOOGY job next year.  Small sample size or not, that's dominance.

We all know Joe loves to play the matchups when the situation calls for it and we know how much the Yankees like Cabral.  They kept him on their roster all last year when he was injured and all this year while he was rehabbing before giving him his September audition.  If he stays healthy, he could prove to be a cheap and valuable replacement bullpen piece in 2014.

Mo Wins AL Comeback Player Of The Year

In one of the least surprising awards decisions in the history of professional sports, Mariano Rivera was announced as the American League Comeback Player of the Year yesterday.  In his final season, coming off a major knee injury at age 43, Mo pitched to a 2.11 ERA with 44 saves in 64.0 innings pitched.  The cutter was still cutting, the command was still insanely good (3.5% BB rate), and if you didn't already know that Mo had suffered the knee injury in 2012 you would have never guessed.  His comeback was so seamless and his performance was so stereotypically Mo-like that it was almost as if he never left.

With Mo now retired, this was a fitting award for his final season.  He came back from a major injury, played incredibly well, and got to go out on his terms.  Nobody else in the AL stood a chance.  Congratulations, Mo.  And if this award stirs up anything inside you that makes you want to play next seasons, well that'd be just dandy.

Yankees Make Qualifying Offers To Cano, Kuroda, Granderson

The Yankees have made qualifying offers to 2B Robinson Cano, OF Curtis Granderson and RHP Hiroki Kuroda
— Yankees PR Dept. (@YankeesPR) November 4, 2013

There you have it.  The Yankees didn't wait until the deadline to announce their QO decisions, confirming earlier this afternoon that they have extended qualifying offers to Robinson Cano, Hiroki Kuroda, and Curtis Granderson.  The value of the 1-year QO is $14.1 million this year, and although there is still uncertainty surrounding C-Grand's plans, the expectation is that all 3 will reject the offer and line the Yankees up to recoup 3 1st-round sandwich picks in next year's draft if they sign with another team.

Not a lot of drama attached to these qualifiers, unless both Kuroda and Granderson surprise us and accept them.  That would put a strain on the club's offseason plans, both from a payroll and roster upgrade standpoint.  It's worth noting that Carlos Beltran, one of the first free agents to be connected to the Yanks this offseason, received a qualifying offer from the St. Louis Cardinals.  If New York ends up signing him, they'll give up their 1st round pick (18th) to the Cards.