Believe me, I’ve thought about that possibility. Twice we came up against these Astros and twice we took them deep into a series, yet twice we went home. We’ve lost to the eventual champs the last two years. I’m pretty sure it’ll be three in a row. It’s time to make a bigger juggernaut
It's almost seems lately as if someone upstairs is preventing Cashman from committing the big bucks to marquee free agents. I thought for sure the Yanks would've signed Machado or Harper, though the former would've made more sense in that they could've dealt Andujar for pitching depth. Do you think George would've opened the purse for either? Or at least make both Cole and Strasburg offers they can't refuse?
I'm pretty convinced DD wasn't allowed to make any deals at the last deadline (esp. after Henry's quote, "We're not looking to add payroll"). Standing pat just isn't in DD's nature, and a surplus third base prospect like Dalbec surely could've netted someone like Hudson, the new closer for the NL champs.
George would 100% sign both cole & strasburg this offseason. no doubt about it.
the sons are more interested in their own bank account then the need for parades.
other names i have posted under: none
The Yanks have spent for sure. They’re just averse to long term contracts for pitchers. Right now, Hicks at 6 more years and Stanton at 8 more years, are our long term deals. Our longest non arb pitcher deal is Severino and his deal was for four seasons. There was an interesting stat making the rounds that we have not signed a starting pitcher for more than 4 years since we signed Tanaka prior to 2015. And they haven’t offered a pitcher more than 5 years since that time as well, which is why Corbin is playing in Washington. Chapman was our longest pitcher deal since Tanaka and at this point it was a resounding success.
What Cashman needs to be willing to do is to go the extra mile for the top tier guys. Corbin wasn’t top tier, so I get the aversion. But Cole and Strasburg are top tier arms and a price comes with them. Typically, the top tier arms don’t Carl Pavano you. Even when they show diminished stuff like Price did on signing, they still give good to great production for the first half of the contract. Also, Cole just turned 29, so he’ll be a year younger than Price was on signing his deal.
Now Strasburg will likely come cheaper than Cole. Strasburg is 31 and has quite the injury history. So maybe he fits the 5 year window the yanks are willing to offer. But the price on him is gonna be closer to $25-$28 mil AAV. Cole is 29, and has thrown 200+ IP 4 of the last 5 seasons. He’s also the most dominant force in baseball right now. He’s gonna get a 7-8 year deal likely with an AAV over $32 mil. Now, maybe the Yanks get creative and turn it into a 3 yr deal? 8 yr $240 mil deal with half the contract coming in the first 3 seasons and an opt out? Who knows, but the price will be very steep and we need to be willing to pay it
Price was coming off a season with a career high 6.7 fWAR and his average fastball velocity was up a full mph over the previous season when the Sox signed him. Not sure where you get your stuff, but you're not going to shake your reputation for denigrating all things Red Sox while praising all things Yankee with statements like this...