River Avenue Blues

River Ave. Blues » Brett Gardner » Page 3

Update: Gardner, Judge, and Tanaka do not win Gold Gloves

by

(Presswire)

November 4th: The Gold Glove awards were announced tonight and neither Gardner nor Judge nor Tanaka won. Gordon won in left field, Betts won in right field, and Keuchel won at pitcher. Here are all the Gold Glove winners. Too bad Tanaka didn’t win. I thought he deserved it.

October 25th: Earlier today MLB and Rawlings announced the finalists for the 2018 Gold Glove awards. They’ve been announcing finalists for a few years now, I guess as a way to drum up interest. There are three finalists at each position in each league.

Anyway, here are all the Gold Glove finalists. The Yankees have three:

  • Left Field: Brett Gardner (up against Andrew Benintendi and Alex Gordon)
  • Right Field: Aaron Judge (up against Mookie Betts and Kole Calhoun)
  • Pitcher: Masahiro Tanaka (up against Dallas Keuchel and Corey Kluber)

Gardner and Judge were finalists last season as well, when they lost to Gordon and Betts, respectively. Mookie will win his third straight Gold Glove in right field for sure. He’s unreal out there. Also, Judge missed all that time with the wrist injury and that’ll hurt him. Gardner could beat out Benintendi and Gordon. Left field is up for grabs.

As for Tanaka, I’m very pleased his defense is finally getting some attention. Luis Severino is sneaky good in the field as well, but Tanaka is the best fielding pitcher the Yankees have had in quite some time. Of course, Tanaka made a pretty terrible error in the final week of the season. Remember this?

Good grief. That was the first and so far only fielding error of Tanaka’s big league career. (His only other error came came on a thrown away pickoff throw.) For what it’s worth, Tanaka led all AL pitchers with +7 Defensive Runs Saved this year. It wasn’t close. If he wins, he’d become the first Yankees pitcher to win a Gold Glove since Mike Mussina (2001, 2003, 2008).

The only Yankees who deserve Gold Glove consideration aside from Gardner, Judge, and Tanaka are Didi Gregorius and Aaron Hicks, and neither is among their position finalists. Francisco Lindor, Marcus Semien, and Andrelton Simmons are up at shortstop. Jackie Bradley Jr., Adam Engel, and Mike Trout are up in center. Engel, man. That guy’s so annoying.

The last Yankee to win a Gold Glove was Gardner in 2016. The Yankees haven’t had multiple Gold Glove winners in a single season since Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano in 2012. The Gold Glove winners will be announced live during an ESPN broadcast on Sunday, November 4th at 9pm ET. They’re announcing them at 9pm ET on a Sunday? Whatever.

Thoughts after the Yankees re-sign Brett Gardner

by

(Jonathan Daniel/Getty)

The Yankees handled their first piece of offseason business yesterday when they brought Brett Gardner back for 2019. Officially, they declined his $12.5M option and paid him a $2M buyout, then signed him to a new one-year deal worth $7.5M. Gardner takes home $9.5M but the luxury tax bill is only $7.5M next year. Here are some thoughts on Gardner’s return.

1. Gardner’s playing time should be reduced next season and I think the Yankees realize that. That’s why they re-signed him at a lower salary. If they thought he was still an everyday player, they would’ve picked up the $12.5M option and been done with it. (The $2M buyout means it was a $10.5M decision and that’s a good price for an everyday outfielder.) Heck, in Spring Training this year Aaron Boone said plan was to reduce Gardner’s workload, but that didn’t happen because Judge got hurt and Stanton had the hamstring problem in the second half. They needed Gardner to play. I think that, in a perfect world, Gardner would be a bottom of the order guy who gets 350-400 plate appearances against righties and also comes in for defense in the late innings. He needs the regular time off his feet — Gardner’s always played all out and that tends to take its toll once you get into your mid-30s — and he needs to be sheltered against lefties. That should be the plan, I think. Bottom of the lineup guy who faces righties. Nothing more.

2. In order to lower Gardner’s workload, the Yankees will have to play Giancarlo Stanton in the field more often next season. I was surprised at how little he played the field early in the season. I know he had the hamstring in the second half, but only 47 starts in the outfield in 94 games in the first half? It probably would’ve been fewer too had Aaron Hicks not missed two weeks with an intercostal strain in April. Stanton’s a good defender! He looked a little lost in left field at first, but was fine out there by the end of the season. He just needed a little time. I thought Judge would get more time at DH than he actually did in the first half. With Gardner needing to play less, more Stanton in left field is the way to make it happen. I didn’t like that Giancarlo was close to a full-time DH when his hamstring was healthy in the first half. Feels like a waste of his defense. I hope to see him out there a little more often. It means more DH time for everyone else and a little less wear and tear overall.

3. You can never say never when it comes to big market team and a star player in his mid-20s, but it sure seems like Gardner’s deal closes the door on a Bryce Harper signing. The Yankees have four big league outfielders (Gardner, Hicks, Judge, Stanton) plus two unknowns (Jacoby Ellsbury, Clint Frazier) and I don’t see where Harper fits. The Yankees didn’t re-sign Gardner only to trade him. That’s a video game move, not a real life move. (Gardner has five-and-ten no-trade protection anyway.) Judge isn’t going anywhere. Stanton’s not going anywhere either. Trade Hicks for a pitcher? Okay, maybe, but who plays center field? Surely not 35-year-old Gardner on an everyday basis. Harper or Judge out there doesn’t seem like a good idea either. Unless they exceed the luxury tax threshold next year, the Yankees don’t really have the payroll room for a monster signing anyway. If they do make a huge signing though, it seems to me it would be Manny Machado over Harper. The outfield is full and the infield has a great big opening with Didi Gregorius out. Machado makes more sense given the roster.

4. So what were the alternatives to Gardner? Harper is a special case, obviously. The best non-Harper free agent outfielders are Michael Brantley (probably a DH going forward), A.J. Pollock (hurt all the time), and Andrew McCutchen (I like him, but I don’t multi-year contract like him). Those three are better players than Gardner, unquestionably in my mind, but those dudes are all getting much larger contracts. The Yankees are working on a budget — we don’t know if it’s the $206M luxury tax threshold or something else, but there’s a budget — and it stands to reason most of it is going to pitching. Spending big on what amounts to a fourth outfielder ain’t the best use of resources, you know? Free agent outfielders in Gardner’s price range include … uh … Carlos Gonzalez? Adam Jones? Lonnie Chisenhall? Curtis Granderson? Granderson is forever cool with me and I would’ve been a-okay with him as a Gardner replacement. The other stopgaps options don’t excite me. On one hand, replacing Gardner would’ve been a piece of cake. There are always corner outfielders available. Sign Jon Jay or Denard Span, for example. On the other hand, I don’t think there’s a big difference between these guys in bottom line production, and there’s no transition here. The Yankees know what they’re getting and Gardner knows what he’s getting into. It’s a relatively cheap one-year contract. I have no problems with it as long as the plan is to reduce his workload.

5. I don’t think the signing tells us anything about Ellsbury’s and particularly Frazier’s status. Ellsbury’s dead weight at this point. I don’t think he’s a factor in the team’s decision-making at all. Nothing the Yankees can do about him. Frazier is a young player with upside though, and now Gardner is ostensibly blocking his path to playing time next year. I don’t buy that at all. First of all, we don’t even know if Frazier will be healthy come Spring Training. He’s recovering from the post-concussion migraines and the Yankees say he’ll be ready for camp, but you can never be too sure with these things. We need to see Clint healthy before we start worrying about where he plays, you know? And, once Frazier is healthy, I think the Yankees will find a way to get him in the lineup. If that means less playing time for Gardner, so be it. Right now Frazier has four veterans ahead of him on the outfield depth chart. These things always take care of themselves though. Always. Last year Clint getting hurt is how the outfield logjam was cleared up. Hopefully he gets healthy this winter, reports to camp as a full player without restrictions, and forces the Yankees to put him into the lineup.

6. Truth be told, Gardner might not have been brought back had Frazier stayed healthy and aced a big league audition this past season. Give the Yankees a truth serum and I think they’d tell you the perfect world scenario for next season is Frazier coming to camp healthy, getting a few weeks worth of at-bats in Triple-A to get up to speed, then gradually taking playing time away from Gardner in the second half before taking over left field for good next year. That would be the ideal transition out of the Gardner era and into the Frazier era. Things never go that smoothly, of course, but that’s what I think the Yankees want to happen. Barring an unexpectedly massive season, I think next year will be Gardner’s last as a Yankee, and if Frazier is able to replace him, great. If not, the Yankees will find someone else.

Yankees sign Brett Gardner to new one-year deal for 2019

by

(Rich Schultz/Getty)

The unofficial captain of the Yankees will be back next season. The Yankees announced this afternoon that they have signed Brett Gardner to a new one-year contract after declining his $12.5M club option. Mark Feinsand says the new deal is worth $7.5M. There’s no word on whether the contract includes any playing time bonuses. Probably not.

“I’m very excited,” Gardner said to Feinsand. “I wasn’t sure what to expect at the end of the season, but being able to come back and rejoin this special group of guys we have in place, continue my career in a Yankees uniform — and hopefully finish it in a Yankees uniform — it means a great deal to me. We have some unfinished business. It was tough to sit back and watch the rest of the postseason this year. It was a great learning experience for us; we have a young team and had a great season, but came up short of our goal.”

All told, Gardner ends up with $9.5M in real dollars. The Yankees paid him a $2M buyout when they declined the option and he gets a $7.5M salary next year. For luxury tax purposes, the $2M buyout was spread across 2015-18 since it was guaranteed money as part of Gardner’s previous deal. His luxury tax hit next year will be $7.5M. The Yankees have approximately $42.2M in payroll space under next year’s $206M luxury tax threshold.

Gardner, 35, is the longest tenured Yankee. He hit .236/.322/.368 (90 wRC+) overall this past season and was much better in the first half (106 wRC+) than the second (66 wRC+). Gardner was also quite a bit better against righties (95 wRC+) than lefties (74 RC+). In a perfect world, he would platoon in left field with Clint Frazier next year, but Frazier’s concussion issues make him an unknown at the moment.

There’s still an entire offseason to play out, but it stands to reason the Yankees will go into next year with Gardner, Aaron Hicks, and Aaron Judge in the outfield with Giancarlo Stanton again roving around between the corner outfield spots and DH. Frazier could be in the mix as well. Jacoby Ellsbury is currently rehabbing from hip surgery and Brian Cashman said he may not be ready for Opening Day.

The Yankees love Gardner and he’s a leader in the clubhouse, and I always expected him to come back. Gardner didn’t want to leave either. The only question was whether the team would pick up the option or work out a new contract. A new contract it is. Gardner comes back at a lower salary and gets to stay with the only team he’s known. Works for me. Now the Yankees can focus on the rotation.

Friday Links: Gardner, Free Agents, NYPL Prospects, Severino

by

(Al Bello/Getty)

Later tonight the 2018 World Series will resume with Game Three at Dodger Stadium. At this point it appears the question is not whether the Red Sox will win the World Series, but whether the Dodgers will win even one game. My guess is no. But we’ll see. Here are some links and notes to check out as the workweek winds down.

Gardner would “love to be back”

Not surprisingly, Brett Gardner recently said he would “love to be back” with the Yankees next season, reports Sean Farrell. “I’m not going to stand here and say that I don’t want to play anymore baseball. My body feels great. I feel healthy. I would love to be back. We’ll sit down and figure that out at the right time,” said Gardner. His contract includes a $12.5M option for next season with a $2M buyout, so the Yankees have a $10.5M decision to make.

Here’s our Gardner season review post. He finished at .236/.322/.368 (90 wRC+) this year but his defense and baserunning still made him a +2 WAR player. As a part-time player who gets maybe 300-350 plate appearances against righties and also plays defense in the late innings, I definitely think Gardner can still be a contributor to a championship caliber team. Left field is a little up in the air for the Yankees. I know they love Gardner and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him back next year, but they have to at least look for an upgrade first, right?

Bollinger, Kontos, Robinson elect free agency

Lefty Ryan Bollinger, righty George Kontos, and outfielder Shane Robinson have all elected free agency, reports Matt Eddy. All three players spent time with the Yankees this season and were later outrighted off the 40-man roster and sent to Triple-A (in Robinson’s case, multiple times), and had the ability to elect free agency after the season. I could totally see the Yankees re-signing Bollinger as a minor league organizational depth arm. Kontos and Robinson figure to look for teams that offer a greater MLB opportunity in 2019.

Bollinger, 27, had two one-day stints with the Yankees as an emergency long man but never did appear in a game. He threw 111.2 innings with a 3.87 ERA (3.46 FIP) for Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton this year. Bollinger spent 2014-17 in independent leagues and Germany before signing with the Yankees last winter. Kontos threw 1.2 scoreless innings in his only appearance in pinstripes this year after coming over from the Indians in a cash trade. Robinson got 54 plate appearances with the Yankees and that was entirely too many. He hit .143/.208/.224 (16 wRC+).

Contreras, Sauer among top NY-Penn League prospects

Baseball America (subs. req’d) has continued their annual look at the top 20 prospects in each minor league with the short season NY-Penn League. Astros OF Gilberto Celestino sits in the top spot. RHP Juan De Paula, who the Yankees acquired in the Ben Gamel trade and dealt away in the Andrew McCutchen trade, ranks fourth. RHP Roansy Contreras is fifth. A snippet of the scouting report:

Contreras, who has added 22 pounds since signing, has a low-90s fastball that touched as high as 96 mph this year. He backs it up with a downer curveball with 11-to-5 break and a promising changeup. He needs to work on finishing his delivery more often in order to drive his entire arsenal down in the zone, where it will be most effective. He also shows advanced pitchability for his age, and he could grow into a little more velocity.

Contreras is one of my favorite prospects in the system right now. He was the top Dominican pitcher available during the 2016-17 international signing period and the Yankees were able to sign him to a $300,000 bonus, their maximum allowed while still dealing with the penalties from their 2014-15 spending free. Love Roansy’s stuff and pitchability. Anyway, RHP Matt Sauer is 13th on the NYPL list. Here’s part of his scouting report:

Sauer’s fastball sits in the low 90s, but he can dial it up to 97 mph when he needs a little extra. His breaking pitch, a curveball, is currently average but has the potential to be a plus offering in the future … While he does feature a good fastball and developing curveball, scouts wonder if he is more of a finished product than many young arms. Sauer has time to hone his command, but the profile reads more as a back-end rotation piece.

In the chat, Justin Coleman (subs. req’d) had some good things to say about RHP Harold Cortijo. “Cortijo shows pitchability and is very athletic. Threw a lot of strikes, low 90’s FB that touches 94. His advanced fastball command is notable, needs to work on the breaker,” he wrote. The just turned 20-year-old Cortijo had a 2.63 ERA (3.29 FIP) with 29.1% strikeouts and 5.8% walks in 51.1 innings with Short Season Staten Island this summer.

Super Two cutoff set at 2.134

According to Jerry Crasnick, the Super Two service time cutoff has been set at two years and 134 days this offseason. (It is more commonly written as 2.134.) A player must be in the top 22% of service time between two and three years to qualify as a Super Two. The cutoff does move around each year but is generally around 2.120. I can’t remember the last time it was as high as 2.134 (that’s good for teams and bad for players). Anyway, that number is set.

The Yankees have one player who qualifies for Super Two this winter and he’s an important one: Luis Severino. Severino is at 2.170 of service time right now. He’s well over the Super Two cutoff. One-hundred-and-seventy-two days of service time counts as a full season, so Severino will miss qualifying for free agency by two days during the 2021-22 offseason. The Yankees kept him in Triple-A juuust long enough in 2016 to push back free agency. Gary Sanchez falls 48 days short of the Super Two cutoff this offseason. He’s closest to the cutoff after Severino.

The Decline of Brett Gardner [2018 Season Review]

by

Good Guy Brett Gardner. (Getty Images)

From his humble beginnings as a fourth outfielder to becoming a respected veteran leader in the Yankees’ clubhouse, Brett Gardner has been a constant in the Bronx for the last 11 seasons. The speedy outfielder never lost his glove or impressive eye at the plate while developing power and becoming a valuable contributor.

However, despite a sixth straight season (and eighth straight full season) with at least 2.5 WAR, Gardner may have played his final year in pinstripes. He went from the Opening Day leadoff hitter to the bench over the course of the year, once again running into a cold second half.

Another strong start

Gardner has always been a streaky hitter and his age-34 season was no exception. Coming off his career-best 21-homer season, he quickly hit his first of the year on Opening Day in Toronto. However, he wouldn’t hit another until May 26. After a two-hit game on April 11, the outfielder carried a .767 OPS. That would crater over the next month as he couldn’t seem to hit the side of a barn until early May.

As the Yankees hit their stride in May, so did Gardner, who produced a three-hit game against Boston. That May 9 game was one of Gardner’s shining moments as he lined a go-ahead two-run triple off Craig Kimbrel to continue the Yankees’ win streak.

Gardner would reach base in all but one start for the next month while playing every day. Beginning with a four-hit game against the Astros on May 29, Gardner’s OPS reached .741 and wouldn’t dip below .700 until the end of August.

And just as he was in 2017, Gardner found himself coming through in the clutch on a regular basis. Two of his four hits on May 29 vs. Houston were home runs and the second dinger tied the game in the bottom of the ninth. Just over a week later, he took Jacob deGrom deep for a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning.

When the first half closed, Gardner was batting .254/.345/.403 (106 wRC+) with 10 home runs, featuring all but a little less power than he had in 2017.

Second half slump

Unfortunately, Gardner has a penchant for wearing down as a season goes on. Aaron Boone had hoped to give him more days off this season and, for the most part, he accomplished that goal. Gardner started eight fewer games in the first half of 2018 compared to 2017. However, Aaron Hicks’ early oblique injury forced the veteran outfielder into more consistent action in April.

No matter the playing time, Gardner’s bat faded in the late summer yet again. Overall, he hit just .209/.288/.316 (66 wRC+) with just three home runs after the break. His average exit velocity increased slightly, but his walk rate fell from 11.7 to 9.1 percent while his strikeout rate spiked to 21.6 from 14.9 percent.

Aaron Judge’s broken wrist, as well as Giancarlo Stanton’s balky hamstring, made sitting Gardner less possible as the alternative was often Shane Robinson. The southpaw started 27 games and playing in every single game during the month of August.

Benched

September likely was the beginning of the end for Gardner in pinstripes as Andrew McCutchen came over in a trade from San Francisco. Cutch replaced Gardy at the top of the lineup and made Gardner a constant at the bottom of the order for the first time since the start of the decade.

When Judge returned, Gardner was relegated to the bench, although he still found himself in center field often enough as Hicks dealt with injuries. Gardner failed to homer in September, his first month without a home run since 2015. He still saved a game with his glove!

When the playoffs came, he was all but set to be a defensive replacement for McCutchen and/or pinch runner. He played the final two innings of the Wild Card Game, a year after homering in the one-game playoff. However, he received at-bats in all four games of the Division Series after Hicks dealt with another injury. He went 0-for-8 with three walks.

Sliding into your home plate like… (Jim McIsaac/Getty)

Stout defense and baserunning

Despite the decline at the plate, Gardner remained reliable on the bases and in the outfield. He produced 11 defensive runs saved, down from 20 a year ago but right in line with the 12 he had in his Gold Glove 2016 season. In fact, his 8.4 UZR/150 was actually better than 2016, although still a little down from 2017. His Outs Above Average declined from five to zero.

Gardner played a little more center field than in 2017, likely due to Jacoby Ellsbury’s absence. He held his own in center and rated as a positive there. He took over left field from McCutchen in ALDS Game 4 but missed a crucial ball that went for an RBI double for Ian Kinsler.

On the base paths, he stole 16 bases and was caught just twice. At 29.2 ft/s, Gardner’s sprint speed was actually higher than 2017 according to Statcast, making him the fastest Yankee yet again. Both Baseball Reference and Fangraphs’ metrics graded him well on baserunning.

What’s next?

Now here comes the hard part. Gardner has a $12.5 million option with a $2 million buyout. For luxury tax purposes, the buyout was already factored into his AAV the last four years, so he’d be a $10.5 million player for the Yankees in 2019. Still, it seems that the Yankees will opt to part ways and take the buyout.

At 35 years old, he’s still a much-needed lefty bat in the lineup, but that shouldn’t stop the Yankees from pursuing an upgrade. The team could potentially have an upgrade in-house with Clint Frazier while Ellsbury may very well take over as a fourth outfielder-type (outside of his inevitable DL stints).

In theory, the Yankees could exercise the option and then try to trade him, but Gardner has attained 10/5 rights that kicked in this past season.

The end is never pretty, but if that was it for Gardner in pinstripes, it was a wonderful 11 seasons and he more than earned the respect and admiration of Yankee fans.

The qualifying offer is reportedly set $17.9M this winter and it will have zero impact on the Yankees

by

Two of these three are free agents. (Stephen Brashear/Getty)

No later than three weeks from yesterday, free agency will open and the 2018-19 offseason will really get underway. Well, at least in theory. MLB free agency tends to be slow-moving — that was especially true last winter — whereas other sports see a big rush of signings on Day One. Much like the MLB season, MLB free agency is a marathon, not a sprint.

According to both Joel Sherman and Buster Olney, the qualifying offer has been set at $17.9M for the upcoming offseason. That is up slightly from $17.4M last offseason. As a reminder, the qualifying offer is a one-year contract worth the average of the top 125 salaries in baseball. Teams must make a free agent the qualifying offer to receive draft pick compensation should he sign elsewhere.

The Yankees have a small army of players due to becoming free agents this winter — eight players on their ALCS roster will be free agents and a ninth has an option — and, despite that, the qualifying offer will be a non-factor for them. None of those eight (or nine) players will get a qualifying offer. We can drop them into one of three buckets.

Not Eligible For The Qualifying Offer

  • Zach Britton
  • J.A. Happ
  • Adeiny Hechavarria
  • Lance Lynn
  • Andrew McCutchen
  • David Robertson
  • Neil Walker

A player must spend the entire regular season with his team to be eligible for the qualifying offer. Britton, Happ, Hechavarria, Lynn, and McCutchen all came over in midseason trades and thus can not receive the qualifying offer. Britton, Happ, and McCutchen would’ve been qualifying offer candidates otherwise. Hechavarria and Lynn wouldn’t have received the qualifying offer even if eligible. Their production doesn’t warrant it.

Also, thanks to the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement, players can only receive the qualifying offer once in their careers. The Yankees made Robertson the qualifying offer during the 2014-15 offseason and the Mets made Walker the qualifying offer during the 2016-17 offseason. Robertson rejected the qualifying offer and the Yankees received a draft pick, which they used on Kyle Holder, when he signed with the White Sox. Walker accepted the qualifying offer and returned to the Mets. Anyway, because they received the qualifying offer previously, Robertson and Walker are not eligible to receive it this winter despite spending the entire year in pinstripes.

Not Getting The Qualifying Offer

  • CC Sabathia

Sabathia is indeed eligible for the qualifying offer. He spent the entirety of this past season with the Yankees and he’s never received the qualifying offer before. Back when Sabathia first signed with the Yankees, the old Elias Type-A/Type-B free agent compensation system ruled the land. CC is eligible for the qualifying offer this winter.

That said, the Yankees are not giving Sabathia the qualifying offer. They didn’t give him one last offseason and there’s no reason to give him one this offseason. Sabathia would take that one-year, $17.9M contract in a heartbeat. He made $10M this season and, regardless of whether he re-signs with the Yankees or heads elsewhere, he figures to sign a similar one-year contract worth $10M-ish this winter. Sabathia’s no longer worth $17.9M a year. He’d take the qualifying offer. No doubt about it.

The Option Decision

  • Brett Gardner

Gardner has never been a free agent in his career and he might get the opportunity this winter. The Yankees hold a $12.5M club option on Gardner for next season — the option includes a $2M buyout, so it is effectively a $10.5M decision — and, if they decline the option, they’re not going to make him the qualifying offer. They wouldn’t pass on bringing him back for $12.5M only to give him a $17.9M offer, you know? Gardner would take the qualifying offer. Looking for more guaranteed money as a free agent, even spread across two or three years, would be pushing it.

* * *

The Yankees won’t tender any of their free agents the qualifying offer, but, in all likelihood, they’re going to win up signing a qualifying free agent. Bryce Harper? Patrick Corbin? Adam Ottavino? I don’t know, but someone. (Manny Machado was traded at midseason and is ineligible for the qualifying offer.) Here are the compensation rules for teams that sign a qualified free agent:

  • Signing team receives revenue sharing money: Forfeits their third highest draft pick.
  • Signing team paid luxury tax during most recent season: Forfeits second and fifth highest draft picks, plus $1M in international bonus money.
  • All other teams: Forfeit second highest draft pick plus $500,000 in international bonus money.

The Yankees sure as heck don’t receive revenue sharing money — they pay more into revenue sharing than any other team — and they successfully avoided paying luxury tax in 2018, which means they fall into the “all other teams” bracket. They’ll give up their second highest draft pick plus $500,000 in bonus money for the 2019-20 international signing period for every qualified free agent. All first round picks are protected now.

The new free agent compensation rules are pretty lax these days — that is especially true now that the Yankees avoided paying luxury tax — and I can’t see how giving up your second highest draft pick and $500,000 in international bonus money would stop the Yankees from signing a qualifying free agent. Back in the day teams had to weigh giving up their first round pick to sign a mid-range guy. Now only the best of the best get the qualifying offer and you get to keep your first round pick. Free agent compensation is no real concern now.

Even with all those impending free agents, the Yankees do not have a qualifying offer candidate this offseason — only four of their nine possible free agents are even eligible for the qualifying offer — and the penalties to sign a qualified free agent are not harsh at all. If the Yankees don’t sign any of their final year arbitration-eligibles long-term this winter, they’ll have several qualifying offer candidates next season. This year though, nothing. The Yankees won’t gain any extra draft picks. They could lose some non-first rounders, however, and that is not a big deal.

Yankees and Red Sox announce 2018 ALDS rosters

by

(Getty)

This morning was the deadline for the Yankees and Red Sox to submit their 25-man ALDS rosters to MLB, and, shortly thereafter, the two clubs announced them officially. Yesterday Aaron Boone more or less confirmed the entire roster and it is as expected. No surprises.

Here is each team’s 25-man active roster for the ALDS, which begins later tonight:

NEW YORK YANKEES

Pitchers (12)
RHP Dellin Betances
LHP Zach Britton
LHP Aroldis Chapman
RHP Chad Green
LHP J.A. Happ (Game 1 starter)
RHP Jonathan Holder
RHP Lance Lynn
RHP David Robertson
LHP CC Sabathia
RHP Luis Severino
RHP Masahiro Tanaka (Game 2 starter)
LHP Stephen Tarpley

Catchers (2)
Austin Romine
Gary Sanchez

Infielders (6)
Miguel Andujar
Didi Gregorius
Adeiny Hechavarria
Gleyber Torres
Luke Voit
Neil Walker

Outfielders (5)
Brett Gardner
Aaron Hicks
Aaron Judge
Andrew McCutchen
Giancarlo Stanton

BOSTON RED SOX

Pitchers (11)
RHP Matt Barnes
RHP Ryan Brasier
RHP Nathan Eovaldi (Game 4 starter)
RHP Joe Kelly
RHP Craig Kimbrel
RHP Rick Porcello (Game 3 starter)
LHP David Price (Game 2 starter)
LHP Eduardo Rodriguez
LHP Chris Sale (Game 1 starter)
RHP Brandon Workman
RHP Steven Wright

Catchers (3)
Sandy Leon
Blake Swihart (UTIL)
Christian Vazquez

Infielders (7)
Xander Bogaerts
Rafael Devers
Brock Holt (IF/OF)
Ian Kinsler
Mitch Moreland
Eduardo Nunez
Steve Pearce (1B/OF)

Outfielders (4)
Andrew Benintendi
Mookie Betts
Jackie Bradley Jr.
J.D. Martinez

The Yankees dropped Kyle Higashioka and Tyler Wade from their Wild Card Game roster and added Sabathia and Tarpley. They’re carrying four starters, eight relievers, and a four-man bench. Normally, eight relievers in a postseason series is overkill, especially since they’re not going to play more than two days in a row. Yanks vs. Sox games tend to get wild though. The extra reliever could come in handy.

The five-man bench: Gardner, Hechavarria, Romine, and Walker. It’s worth noting Gardner (left field), Hechavarria (third base), and Walker (first base) all came in for defense in the late innings of the Wild Card Game. I wonder if that will continue to be the case going forward. I guess it depends on the score. The Yankees might hold Gardner back for a pinch-running situation in a close game. We’ll see.

Middle relief has been a season-long problem for the Red Sox and they’re going to try to patch that up with Rodriguez this postseason. Also, Eovaldi was told to prepare to pitch in relief in Game One. Wright is a starter by trade as well. Red Sox manager Alex Cora was the Astros bench coach last year, when they expertly used starters like Lance McCullers, Brad Peacock, and Charlie Morton in relief in the postseason. I suspect he’ll look to do the same with the Red Sox this year.

ALDS Game One begins tonight at 7:30pm ET. As expected, the Yankees and Red Sox games drew the primetime slots. All five ALDS games will begin somewhere between 7:30pm ET and 8:10pm ET. The entire series will be broadcast on TBS.