As expected, Dellin Betances is one of three finalists for the AL Rookie of the Year award, the BBWAA announced. Betances is up against Jose Abreu of the White Sox and Matt Shoemaker of the Angels. Abreu’s going to win in a landslide, so it’s basically Betances and Shoemaker competing for second place. No shame in that. Masahiro Tanaka’s injury took him out of the Rookie of the Year running. No other Yankees were among the rest of the major awards finalists.
Update: Yankees, Ibanez have some mutual interest in hitting coach job
Monday: King says Ibanez does have some interest in talking to the Yankees about their hitting coach job. He returned home to Seattle following Kansas City’s loss in Game Seven of the World Series last week, so if the two sides do decide to meet face-to-face, it probably won’t happen until later in the week.
Thursday: Via George King: The Yankees may have been waiting until the end of the World Series to contact Raul Ibanez and “gauge his interest in becoming their hitting coach.” Ibanez was not on the Royals’ World Series roster but he was still traveling with the team and stuff. They kept him around for his leadership.
Ibanez, 42, is more or less done as a player (61 wRC+ in 2014) and he’s long been considered a future coaching candidate because he’s very well-liked and a great communicator. He has zero coaching experience though — Ibanez has said he’d be open to coaching down the road — so who knows what kind of hitting coach he would be. The Yankees reportedly contacted Eric Hinske about the job as well, which shows they aren’t necessarily prioritizing experience at the position.
Yankees extend qualifying offer to David Robertson, not Hiroki Kuroda
As expected, the Yankees did extend the $15.3M qualifying offer to David Robertson prior to this afternoon’s deadline. He has seven days to accept or reject the deal. Robertson is a soon-to-be 30-year-old reliever coming off four straight elite seasons. If he accepts the qualifying offer, he should find himself a new agent. This is his best (only?) shot a bit contract.
In other news, the Yankees did not extend the qualifying offer to Hiroki Kuroda, which is somewhat surprising. They made him the offer in each of the last two winters, so maybe they feel confident that if he does pitch in 2015, it will be in New York. Kuroda will turn 40 in February and he wasn’t quite as good as he was from 2012-13 this past season, so I understand the team’s reluctance to put $15.3M on the table. Still surprised me though.
Chase Headley and Brandon McCarthy were not eligible for the qualifying offer because they were traded at midseason. A total of 12 free agents received the offer this year. Here’s the list.
Update: Yankees expected to make qualifying offer to Robertson, still undecided about Kuroda
Sunday: Jon Heyman says the Yankees are still undecided about making Kuroda the qualifying offer. RAB readers said they would make him the offer, for what it’s worth (nothing!). Heyman says giving Kuroda the qualifying offer would effectively limit his options to the Yankees and retirement for next season since teams are unlikely to give up a first round pick for a soon-to-be 40-year-old starter.
Saturday: Via Jack Curry: The Yankees are expected to make David Robertson the $15.3M qualifying offer by Monday’s deadline and they are hopeful of retaining him. There’s no word on whether the team will make the offer to Hiroki Kuroda. Players will have one week from Monday to accept or reject the offer. If Robertson rejects the qualifying offer and signs elsewhere, the Yankees will get a supplemental first round pick.
Robertson, 29, went 39-for-44 in save chances with a 3.08 ERA (2.68 FIP) and a 37.1% strikeout rate in 64.1 innings this summer, his first as the team’s closer. It’s no surprise the Yankees are making the qualifying offer — it would have been way more surprising if they didn’t — and I fully expect Robertson to decline the offer and test the market. He’s a soon-to-be 30-year-old reliever coming off four straight elite seasons. This is his best and probably only chance to get a huge contract.
Heyman: Yankees hire Eric Chavez as special assignment scout
Via Jon Heyman: The Yankees have hired former infielder Eric Chavez as a special assignment scout. He’s always said he wanted to continue working in baseball once his playing career was over, and he’s remained close with GM Brian Cashman and assistant GM Billy Eppler. Chavez retired this July after battling injuries with the Diamondbacks. Heyman says it’s unclear if Chavez pursued any coaching jobs this offseason or if the Yankees considered him for their hitting coach vacancy.
A-Rod reinstated, ten Yankees become free agents
Now that the World Series is over, Alex Rodriguez has officially been reinstated off the restricted list by MLB and the Yankees. He was originally suspended 211 games for his ties to Biogenesis, but it was reduced to 162 games during an appeal. A-Rod would not have been eligible to play in the postseason had the Yankees qualified. He now counts against the team’s 40-man roster.
In other news, a total of 121 players became free agents at 9am ET this morning. Here’s the full list. Ten of those 121 players are Yankees: Chris Capuano, Stephen Drew, Chase Headley, Rich Hill, Derek Jeter, Hiroki Kuroda, Brandon McCarthy, David Robertson, Ichiro Suzuki, and Chris Young. No surprises there at all. Martin Prado, CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, and Slade Heathcott all have to be activated off the 60-day DL if they haven’t been already. So, after all of that, the Yankees have 35 players on their 40-man roster.
San Francisco Giants win 2014 World Series
For the third time in the last five years, the Giants are the World Series champions. They beat the Royals by the score of 3-2 in Game Seven tonight. Madison Bumgarner allowed two hits in five scoreless innings of relief to nail down the win. He was named series MVP after allowing one run in 23 innings across two starts and the one relief appearance. Ridiculous. Bumgarner has a 0.25 ERA in 36.2 career World Series innings. He’s 25.
The Giants have plenty of ties to the Yankees. Pitching coach Dave Righetti, hitting coach Hensley Meulens, assistant hitting coach Joe Lefebvre, and first base coach Roberto Kelly all played for the Yankees back in the day. Left fielder Travis Ishikawa wore pinstripes for five minutes last season and utility infielder Joaquin Arias was the player to be named later the Yankees sent to the Rangers in the Alex Rodriguez trade a baseball lifetime ago. Also, GM Brian Sabean was in the Yankees front office from 1986-92. He was the team’s vice president of scouting when they drafted Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, and Jorge Posada.
Congrats to the Giants for the World Series win and congrats to the Royals for a really awesome season as well. And now, the cold of the offseason.