Yankees 2021-2022 Offseason Thread

[mvp 78]

Yanks could target Andrelton Simmons. Just what the injury prone, light hitting Yankees need is an injury prone light hitting shortstop.

 

Low risk, low reward guy. If he still could field like 2019, it would make sense. Seems that he's lost a step though.

[notin]

Low risk, low reward guy. If he still could field like 2019, it would make sense. Seems that he's lost a step though.

 

Yankees should target IKF. He’s a very good player with no place to play in Texas. (He also absolutely crushed Sox pitching last year with a 1.314 OPS.) Yankees have several options viewed as equal on BTV, and Texas might bite at any one of them…

[jacksonianmarch]

The lockout really cooled off any ideas the Yanks were going to try, especially with the fact that they did a whole lot of nothing before it started. Now, 2+ months into this thing, the sides are still fighting.

 

But to pass the time, beat writers like to spitball and they all seem to think Freeman is coming to NY. I’d be very skeptical of that. Freeman has been in ATL forever and just won a title there. The pressures of NY (and the taxes) make a deal in NY maybe not as nice as it sounds compared to being an icon in ATL. I think he ends up coming to a deal there to retire a Brave. I’d certainly take him in NY, but 6 year deals for 34 year olds in the drug testing era should be made very sparingly and only for the absolute outliers, and I don’t think Freeman fits that mold. Granted, by the end of his contract, yanks will be dealing with the albatross end of some big contracts and will probably be in a rebuilding phase anyway, so it’s not too painful if he produces.

 

I still would like to know who is playing SS, CF, and who is catching. Sanchez sucks defensively and outside of his one month hot streak he invariably goes on, he sucks offensively. Hicks is a good contributor who can’t stay healthy. Gleyber was moved off SS because he couldn’t handle the position and has been better for it. Right up the middle is where we are weak and that will kill us. Freeman helps, but could be redundant if Voit stays healthy. We have no internal candidates that are ready to fill C, SS and CF

[moonslav59]

The lockout really cooled off any ideas the Yanks were going to try, especially with the fact that they did a whole lot of nothing before it started. Now, 2+ months into this thing, the sides are still fighting.

 

But to pass the time, beat writers like to spitball and they all seem to think Freeman is coming to NY. I’d be very skeptical of that. Freeman has been in ATL forever and just won a title there. The pressures of NY (and the taxes) make a deal in NY maybe not as nice as it sounds compared to being an icon in ATL. I think he ends up coming to a deal there to retire a Brave. I’d certainly take him in NY, but 6 year deals for 34 year olds in the drug testing era should be made very sparingly and only for the absolute outliers, and I don’t think Freeman fits that mold. Granted, by the end of his contract, yanks will be dealing with the albatross end of some big contracts and will probably be in a rebuilding phase anyway, so it’s not too painful if he produces.

 

I still would like to know who is playing SS, CF, and who is catching. Sanchez sucks defensively and outside of his one month hot streak he invariably goes on, he sucks offensively. Hicks is a good contributor who can’t stay healthy. Gleyber was moved off SS because he couldn’t handle the position and has been better for it. Right up the middle is where we are weak and that will kill us. Freeman helps, but could be redundant if Voit stays healthy. We have no internal candidates that are ready to fill C, SS and CF

 

IMO...

 

Sanchez is your catcher.

 

Hicks is your CF'er.

 

Simmons will be your SS. (Outside chance at Story or Correa)

[jacksonianmarch]

Bring on another Wild Card game then.

[moonslav59]

Bring on another Wild Card game then.

 

Well, if they sign Story or Correa and a good pitcher, they may still be the ALE favorite.

 

Hicks may turn out fine.

 

Higashioka is a decent back-up to Sanchez.

 

One expects LeMahieu and Torres to improve on their 2021 numbers.

 

Urshela may be the key.

[jacksonianmarch]

Story sucks outside of Colorado. I don’t want him. I’d rather we just find a stop gap and wait til Volpe is ready

[moonslav59]

Story sucks outside of Colorado. I don’t want him. I’d rather we just find a stop gap and wait til Volpe is ready

 

At that money, .752 with some SBs is not good, but I would not say "sucks." He had to play numerous games in LA (.770 in 151 PAs) and SD (.691 in 188 PAs). He also has a .981 in AZ (199 PAs) and .658 in SF (200 PAs)

 

He does have a 1.003 OPS at Yankee Stadium in 22 PAs, but I agree for the same reasons I hope BOS does not sign him..

[notin]

Story sucks outside of Colorado. I don’t want him. I’d rather we just find a stop gap and wait til Volpe is ready

 

Story = Paul DeJong plus $20mill.

[jacksonianmarch]

Rumor has it Freeman is going to be getting a big offer from the Yanks. I hope this is true. While I like Olson, I do not think dealing the upper crust of our farm is a good plan right now when you can just spend some cash and get a guy. I said before that Freeman would likely enter his down phase around the same time as some of the other highly paid players making it a reasonable gamble

[notin]

I think a trade of Luke Voit for Paul DeJong makes sense. The Cardinals have reportedly soured on DeJong but he remains an excellent fielder who’d probably bat 8th or 9th in NY. Voit could walk into the DH role in St. Louis, and his departure clears up a very muddled NY infield and leaves them with their best defensive alignment (LeMahieu at 1b, Torres at 2b, Urshela at 3b, and DeJong at SS)…

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Yankees are 4th-ranked in all of baseball in MLB.com's Power Rankings, behind only the Dodgers, White Sox and Rays. Yup, the Bronx Bombers are rated higher than the World Champion Braves, AL champion Astros, and stacked Blue Jays.

 

Surely, no Yankee fan would trade their pitching staff for Atlanta's or Houston's (who just got Verlander back), or their top hitters for all the young studs on Toronto.

 

And just look how much New York has improved since last year at important defensive positions like catcher, shortstop and centerfield. Start spreading the news.

[Bellhorn04]

Yankees are 4th-ranked in all of baseball in MLB.com's Power Rankings, behind only the Dodgers, White Sox and Rays. Yup, the Bronx Bombers are rated higher than the World Champion Braves, AL champion Astros, and stacked Blue Jays.

 

Surely, no Yankee fan would trade their pitching staff for Atlanta's or Houston's (who just got Verlander back), or their top hitters for all the young studs on Toronto.

 

And just look how much New York has improved since last year at important defensive positions like catcher, shortstop and centerfield. Start spreading the news.

 

It's as if they're already counting some big moves by the Yankees.

[jacksonianmarch]

Where are these moves? Yanks said they aren’t making the Olson deal and now seem to be out of the Freeman stakes.

[Bellhorn04]

Where are these moves? Yanks said they aren’t making the Olson deal and now seem to be out of the Freeman stakes.

 

Correa?

[notin]

Correa?

 

It would make sense, as Le Mahieu can take 1b and Torres can play 2b.

 

The team need for a LHH is massively overblown.

 

But they seem high on Volpe. He’ll have to succeed in AA this year to justify it…

[jacksonianmarch]

IKF now a Twin. Literally nothing for the Yanks even though they just got $20 mil more for the Lux tax limit

[jacksonianmarch]

Yanks just sitting on the dock of the bay

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Yanks just sitting on the dock of the bay

 

Why not? They're the fourth most powerful team in the MLB.... DOT COM.

[jacksonianmarch]

Because they have clear holes and major durability issues. What’s the definition of insanity?

[notin]

Because they have clear holes and major durability issues. What’s the definition of insanity?

 

 

Expecting the Yankees to win?

 

Sorry. Too easy…

[Bellhorn04]

It's been extraordinarily quiet on the Yankee front. Don't think it'll stay that way, though.

[Meh]

I'm 100% fine with Gio being our SS and Torres being at 2B.

 

Looks like Freeman is heading to the dodgers for a massive deal too

[notin]

I'm 100% fine with Gio being our SS and Torres being at 2B.

 

Looks like Freeman is heading to the dodgers for a massive deal too

 

The Yankees missed out on IKF, which I think was a mistake. Urshela might be the best shortstop you have, but that doesn’t mean he can handle the role for a full year. But the Yankees also missed out the entire free agent market except Correa and Story.

 

The trade market has Elvis Andrus, overpriced but adequate. Maybe Didi Grigorius.

Others available include Nick Ahmed, Kevin Newman, and maybe Nicky Lopez…

[jacksonianmarch]

Urshela has bulked up a bit from his MIF days. While he can pick it with anyone, he doesn't have the range Torres had. Torres' issue was between his ears where he would miss routine throws or bobble easy balls. Torres will be better served as a 2b, but you cannot go into this year with Urshela being the lone SS option (let's be honest, DJ's days of SS are over). Is the plan to fast track Volpe? Kid hasnt played in AA yet, which is usually the proving ground for young talent and he only has one plus season under his belt. Is the plan to go to Peraza? He is more ready, but offers a lower offensive upside. Either way, the infield of Voit, Torres, Urshela and Lemahieu offers significant offensive upside, especially if DJ is healthy this year, but the SS defense will be lacking. While DJ is a good glove man, we don't know how he is at 3b. Voit is a butcher. Torres is prone to the brain farts in the field as well. Add in Sanchez and we are looking at a straight minus defense with significant injury risk. The depth options we had before 2021 are gone. Thairo Estrada was a solid backup option. We dealt him off and he became a really useful utility guy on a SF team that won the most games in baseball. Tyler Wade was dealt this offseason, which begs the question, why? HE was the only guy on the team who could steal bases, pick it at all IF positions and reach base reasonably for a backup.

 

We need to add someone who can hit who isn't a big injury ?? We were lucky not to lose Judge or Stanton for major stretches last year. Cannot bank on that again. Our CFer lives on the IL in Hicks and we let some of the OF depth go with Frazier moving to the Cubs. This is a decidedly thinner team, and while I like our farm, we are in a far different stage than we were 3-4 years ago. Our upper levels are chock full of high velocity arms waiting for their turn. We are not flush with reasonable big league depth on the position player side and our top prospects are at least 3-4 months away absolute best case, likely 1+ years out. We need to add veterans and to this point, Cash has had his thumb in his ass. Interestingly, with the Yanks just getting a $20 mil bonus injection to the lux cap, they still are no longer rumored to be after anyone. And that will pose a major issue for Yankee fans who realized rather quickly that the 2021 team was not good enough to take it

[Bellhorn04]

I'll be stunned if the Yanks don't at least spend up to the $230 M mark, Jax. It doesn't even seem possible.

[jacksonianmarch]

And for all the big guys left, the only one I want is Freeman. I do not want Correa. He is also injury prone, he's a cheat, and he will be on an obscene long term deal, blocking the guys we need to eventually make room for. Freeman allows us to move on from Voit or keep him around and use him as a bench bat or a LHP platoon guy.

[jacksonianmarch]

I'll be stunned if the Yanks don't at least spend up to the $230 M mark, Jax. It doesn't even seem possible.

 

It didnt seem possible that they would do nothing at the deadline last year either but they did. I wonder if they are going to use $230 mil as a hard cap and save some room for mid season reinforcements

[jacksonianmarch]

As it stands right now…

 

3B Lemahieu

RF Judge

DH Stanton

LF Gallo

CF Hicks

1B Voit

2B Torres

C Sanchez

SS Urshela

 

SP1 Cole

SP2 Severino

SP3 Taillon (might miss April)

SP4 Montgomery

SP5 German/Cortes

 

CL Chapman

SU Green

SU Loisiga

MR Holmes

MR Peralta

MR Luetge

MR Gil

 

If healthy, that’s a good roster. As it won’t stay healthy, it needs help that the farm cannot deliver right now. Gotta spend here

[jacksonianmarch]

If Lemahieu (my MIP candidate for 2022) can regain his form as a low K, high average hitter and we can add another regular who offsets the all or nothing approach of practically every other starter, we will be ok. We faced off against Eovaldi multiple times last year and each time he just rifled through our RH heavy, high K lineup. We need some guys who can put up a fight