McCann, Beltran, Ellsbury, Tanaka. That is what the Yankees spent nearly 500 million dollars on this offseason. With the departure of Cano, the additions of Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, and Jacoby Ellsbrry should be able to replace his offense. With questions about the rotation the Yankees spent 155 Million dollars on Masihiro Tanaka who went 24-0 in Japan last year.
The much raved-about pitcher has the Yankees so impressed that they spent $155M on him even though he has never pitched to a batter in the MLB before. With 500 million spent one must ask the question; even after spending almost 500 million dollars is it enough to fill all the holes?
Lets take a look at the remaining holes on the Yankees.
Third Base:
Once Arod was suspended and the arbitrator upheld his suspension for 2014 we could see a major hole to fill. The Yankees at the moment have Kelly Johnson and Eduardo Nunez who could play 3rd. Neither is a good long term or in my opinion a good solution for this season. Johnson is good defensively and so was Nunez in 2013 but they both have very little power and would be the 8th or 9th batter in the batting order.
What can the Yankees do the upgrade at 3rd? Not much at the moment. The only free agent 3rd Baseman who looks reasonable is Michael Young and his numbers took a huge plunge last year with the Phillies and Dodgers. It is also reported he will only play with the Dodgers next season and if they do not offer him a contract he will retire. There is not much on the trade market. The Bombers don’t have the prospects to get Chase Headley from San Diego. It appears the Yanks will go with the Johnson/Nunez platoon at 3rd until next offseason when Hanley Ramirez, Chase Headley, and Asdrubal Cabrera of the Indians could potentiality be free agents. Oh, and Arod might be back as well in 2015.
Second Base:
It is incredible that last year the Yankees had the best second baseman in all of baseball and now they have Brian Roberts at 2nd base. After the Bombers decided not to give Robinson Cano the 240M dollar deal Seattle gave him the Yankees also decided not to overpay and lost out on Omar Infante who went to the Royals.
As it stands right now the Yankees will start the year with a Brian Roberts/Kelly Johnson combo. The Yankees are hoping Brian Roberts can stay on the field and regain all star form from a few seasons ago. What are the Yankees options right now? It looks like they will stand pat but maybe a guy like Stephen Drew (who I will talk about more below) could come in. The Yankees look like they will wait until 2015 to settle their 2nd/3rd base gaps.
Stephen Drew:
One of the only SS on the market this winter Drew has had little interest shown in him. He won a World Series last year and Boston and the Red Sox could bring him back on a 1-year deal but they look set without him with Bogarts/Middlebrooks. The Mets have interest if it was a one or two year deal around 11 million per but unless his asking price comes down the Mets could opt to go another year with Ruben Tejada.
So lets bring in the Yankees here. Drew’s best option could be a 1-year deal with the Yankees. For him he can try and bring his numbers up in a hitter’s park and play regularly at either 2nd or 3rd base and play SS if Jeter gets injured. For the Yankees Drew is an upgrade over both Kelly Johnson and Eduardo Nunez at 3rd as well as Brian Roberts at 2nd. A 1-year deal could be a good thing for the Yankees and Drew.
Rotation:
Tanaka. The Yankees season could depend on this 25-year-old rookie from Japan. The Yankees outbid the Cubs, Dodgers, and Astros to sign him and bring him to the Bronx. If he shows his potential he could be the future ace of this Yankees staff. Having Tanaka, CC Sabathia, and Kuroda as a top 3 in a rotation is pretty good.
After the Yankees went over the 189M-luxury threshold mark I think they need to add one more starter: Ubaldo Jimenez. Jimenez is a guy who will eat innings and keep the ball from going out of the park. He doesn’t let many HRs and would be the perfect 4th starter in the Yankees. A 3 year deal around 12 million a year would be a good signing for the Yankees although reports say he is looking for 4-5 years at 16-17 million a year. The Yankees should not spend 16 million a year at 4 years on Jimenez especially with a good SP free agent class next year.
Bullpen:
Mo is gone. The Yankees do not have that freedom of knowing that once they have a lead in the 9th inning Mariano can lock it down. Brian Cashman said he expects David Robertson to be the closer next year, and he should get the first crack at closing. That being said the Yankees made a mistake not signing Grant Balfour after the Orioles ended up not signing him. Now they have to face him when they play division rival Tampa Bay. The Yankees also lost a big part of their bullpen in letting Boone Logan go to Colorado at 3 years 15 million. He was an undervalued guy who was very consistent. What should the Yankees do? Stand pat for the most part unless Fernando Rodney can be signed at a 1-year deal at around 9 million.
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There you have it Yankees fans. This Yankees team should be able to compete with Boston for the AL East and it should be enough to get them in the playoffs. This team will get ratings up on YES and will make the attendance go up again. These moves will sell more merchandise in the team stores but even after spending nearly 500 million this offseason the Yankees still have many questions left unanswered. Do you think the Yankees are a contender this year? Vote in our poll and express your feelings down in the comment section.