And with the 2013 autopsy complete and the body interred into the ground, all Yankee fans can focus on the promise of brighter days. I thought long and hard about the Yankees capability to contend without throwing big money out there, then I decided to actually look up the contract commitments for 2014. What I saw was pretty shocking. Including ARod, the Yankees have a mere $98.025 mil on the books. Without ARod and his $26 mil cap hit, we'd be at a lowly $72.025 mil. We have a few players in arb, but all together will likely commit another $15 mil to the total. So if we assume ARod will be around for the whole season, we have a cap number before any additions of $113.025 mil. Therefore, we have about $75.975 mil to play with to stay under the cap. That is a significant amount of money to throw at players. Now, let's look at the team we have under contract or arb
C- Cervelli
C- Romine
C- Murphy
1B- Teixeira
2B- Ryan/Nunez
SS- Jeter/Nunez/Ryan
3B- ARod (for now)
LF- Soriano
CF- Gardner
RF- Ichiro/Wells
DH- Ichiro/Wells/Jeter
SP1- Sabathia
SP2- Nova
SP3- Phelps
SP4- Warren
SP5- Pineda/Banuelos
CL- Robertson
MR- Kelley
MR- Claiborne
MR- Betances
Rotation
We have some filling out to do, that is for sure. For starters, let's look at the starters. If we go into the season with that rotation, we will learn a whole lot about the depth of our farm and the depths to which we can sink with a $100+ mil payroll. There is no way on God's green earth we go into a season with this much money to burn and not fill out the rotation. Sabathia will be entrenched at the #1 spot because he couldn't possibly suck as bad as he did last yr. His stuff got better as the year went on, yet his production went down the shitter. I think a full offseason instead of one spent rehabbing a surgically repaired elbow will do him wonders. He may not come back as a low 3ERA guy, but he wont be the meatballing fuckup we saw wearing his uniform at years end. Nova is a very solid #3 pitcher. His bipolar nature on the mound will limit his ceiling until he truly grasps his stuff and stops having mental fuckups. Stuffwise, you'll be hard pressed to find someone with a better arsenal. It's his makeup that limits him. Starting the yr as the #3 would be fine. Expecting an ace or #2 type performance is leaving a lot of shit to chance. Phelps and Warren could both fill out the #5 spot. I am not sure either should be trusted as a #4. For me, a #4 starter on a large market club is a guy who can produce league average ERA with good stamina. A guy like Arroyo comes to mind as a good #4. We need one. So in total, we need a #2 and a #4 starter. Preferably, that #2 starter would be a #1a guy should CC turn into a gigantic shitstain again.
Needs: #2, #4 starters
Lineup
We have some holes to fill, once again. Losing Cano and Granderson will be big. Hopefully we lose fuckbag roidhead cheater at third as well. For this synopsis, though, I am going to anticipate fuckbag isn't there as we will need to address a replacement at 3b should fucko lose his appeal. Starting at catcher. Cervelli was off to a solid start when he broke his hand then cheated his balls off. Romine looks overwhelmed. Murphy looks like he could be a good one eventually, but I doubt he turns into Russell Martin overnight. We could use a catcher. Maybe not a McCann, but someone who can come in and not be as bad as Stewart offensively or as bad as Salty defensively. We need at least one, preferably two middle infielders. Ryan and Nunez are not 2b's. Cano is a probability, but at his price, we could get 2 players who could replace his production at a fraction the cost. We also will need a 3b. I'd also like to add a corner OFer if there is room in the budget, although the OF as stated above isn't that bad.
Needs: 2MIF, 3B, C
Wants: COF
Bullpen
We need a closer, or at least someone who can take the mantle from Robertson should he choke. Maybe having Mo out of there will give KRob the gonadal fortitude to lock down the 9th, but his resume in the closers role isn't good. He was abysmal in 2012 when Mo went down and in his few chances in 2013, he wasn't good. We also need a LH specialist. We do not need much more. We have a shit-ton of MLB ready relievers in our minor league system. While the Sox have been churning out prospects capable of playing unneeded positions like SS, SP, CF, etc we have been focusing on the real bread and butter...Middle relief. (Hope you get the sarcasm there.) In all honesty, though, I am not sure a system has churned out so many prospects capable of filling a pen. We seem to find steals in the 5th-10th rounds. When other teams swing big for the HS power hitter, Cash is loading up on college closers. And it has been working to be honest. Whitley, Claiborne, Montgomery, Kahnle, etc are ready with a slew more maybe a half season away. This is the kind of year we can try to find the right connection since we have so many guys capable of handling the long and short relief slots.
Needs: CL, LHRP
So, when you look at needs you have a Closer, Lefty Specialist, #2 starter, #4 starter, C, 2B, SS, 3B. When you look at wants, you have a COF. That is a whole fucking lot of holes on a team with a budget. Well here goes.
I am going to start on the position player side of things. I want to deal for Brandon Phillips. The guy plays great defense and was a bit unlucky last yr. He'll be turning 33 midway through the season and is under contract until 2017, but it is a manageable cap hit of $12.1 mil per season. His big contract and his off season in 2013 will make him a little more expendable and as such, if we eat the whole contract, we could probably get him for one good prospect. We have a slew of prospects coming off down years, I am sure we could work something out. (Maybe Banuelos here). There have been tons of rumors as to the fact that Cincy wants to move him. Why not here. Phillips: $12.1 mil
At catcher, I want to go for the gusto. Go get McCann. I think the guy can be signed for 5yrs $90 mil. He turns 30 in February, so he isn't exactly old. 5 yrs for a catcher should do the trick. Move his lefty power bat into the Bronx and he'll hit 30HR per annum and giving him some rest in the DH spot will be good. The more I look at this, the more I want it to happen, especially if we don't throw 2014. McCann: $18 mil
As far as 3b goes, we are in a bit of a pickle. We can do what the Tigers did and go for offense over defense. We could move Tex back to 3b (his original position) and go for a 1b. Or we can just sift through the shit that is out there. There are no 3bs on the FA market that look good. But David Freese looks like an option. The Yankees had been checking him out earlier, but that rumor was debunked. With the Cards flush with IF talent, though, it makes sense to revisit this as a possible buy low candidate. Just 2 short years ago, the guy was doing his best Scott Brosius impression while he destroyed the Rangers en route to a WS title. I'd really try to open that up again and make it happen. Freese will likely see a modest raise in arbitration, so a deal for him wouldn't hurt too badly. Freese: $5 mil
The second middle infielder might already be in house with Brendan Ryan. We also could bring in Jhonny Peralta, although I don't like his resurgence in a PED year. One guy I wouldn't mind taking a look at, though, is Rafael Furcal. The downsides are that he just turned 36, he missed all of 2013 due to TJS and that he hasn't been the real Rafael Furcal since 2010. That being said, he could probably be had for a pillow contract ($1 mil with escalators) and if he sucks, cut bait. But if he finds himself again after rehabbing, then he could be a big time steal. Even if he provides a better offensive backup option at SS than Ryan, he could be worth it. We need options. We don't necessarily need a perennial 30HR hitter, but we need options. Furcal will help us with that. Furcal: $1 mil
In terms of COF, that remains to be seen. I don't see it as a definite need. I would like to change the COF to a BAT. We need another bat. Be it as a DH or 1B/DH or 1B/RF/DH, so be it. Corey Hart fits that. As does Choo. I think Choo is going to get a deal that far outvalues his worth. But getting a guy like Hart on a pillow deal would be great. Only one problem, he seems to love beer country and is willing to take a discount to stay. Maybe if we are the only team to offer him a 1yr deal with a player option for a 2nd, then he might bite. If you produce, you can be a FA again. If you suck, feel free to leech off the teet one more year. I'd do a 1 yr $10 mil contract with a $10 mil player option for year 2. That would likely cause him to bite. Hart: $10 mil
If we did all that, and AFraud loses his appeal, our lineup will look like so
1. Gardner CF
2. Jeter SS
3. Phillips 2B
4. Teixeira 1B
5. McCann C
6. Hart DH
7. Soriano LF
8. Freese 3B
9. Ichiro/Wells RF
That lineup reminds me a lot of the ones from the mid 90s. No 40HR hitters or guys who will lead the league in batting. Just a solid 1-9 that will be hard to beat on a nightly basis.
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Originally Posted by jacksonianmarch
