jacksonianmarch

Losing Didi hurts if we are talking 2018 Didi. He was pretty useless last year. Torres doesn’t have his range, though, so defensively we will lose some. Hence why we need to keep Urshela there instead of Andujar

The biggest method to creating a cliff is to sell off your farm system and not replace them. You can live at the fringes of the lux tax if you have your holes filled internally. The problem becomes when you have no money to fill your holes and no prospects to fill your holes. That’s when you hit a cliff. This signing clearly makes it more likely that we will have limited money eventually to sign veterans to fill our holes. If we can keep our farm producing well, then the point will be moot. If we don’t, then we will fall off a cliff

It was a good day for fans who have been waiting for the Yankees to be the Yankees again. We haven't been favorites in a season since the end of the dynasty around 2009-2012. Is this going to be a nightmare at the end, probably. But if we can get 3-5 years of vintage Cole, then it's worth it. It is time to win a title

Stanton's opt out is pretty much a done deal, he is staying. The only caveat is if Stanton can stay healthy enough to post a full season and squashes 59 bombs again. Then he might be tempted to hit the open market.

Cole might be a different beast. I am hoping (no science behind this, just blind cheerleader hope) that Cole can be like Verlander and maintain his velocity towards the end of that deal. One can dream, right? Actually, my hope is Cole pitches lights out for 5 seasons, opts out and goes somewhere else to be paid handsomely for his twilight

Torres and Judge will get paid. Sanchez won’t, IMO

Price is a big dude, but pretty skinny and lost some heat. Cole is a different beast. Not as tall (close), but thick with far more power than Price ever had. Cole is the kind of guy who it wouldn't surprise me to see throw near 100mph for the next 5-6 years. I do wonder if that opt out is gonna be used. I actually wouldn't be surprised

It is always fun when the paper team is put into action starting in 2 months, but one can dream. The Cole move has unequivocally pushed the Yanks to the favorite positive for the World Series in 2020. The only team ahead of them in the AL was just pilfered and we stole from them. The loss of Didi and Romine can be filled internally and their 2019 productions can be replicated with who we have (or even outproduced). The loss of Betances (maybe) is no real loss as we saw only 2/3 IP from him during our 103 win campaign. The loss of Happ will likely be addition by subtraction. Not sure if we lose Gardy yet, but we will need a CFer/4th OFer for the beginning of the year with Hicks out with TJS. But this team is deep. This team is going to be dominant. There are now no weaknesses. This is gonna be fun. The first line is the expected starter on Opening day with the depth behind it C- Sanchez, Higashioka 1B- Voit, Ford, Andujar 2B- Lemahieu, Wade, Estrada SS- Torres, Wade, Estrada 3B- Urshela, Andujar LF- Stanton, Frazier, Tauchman, Andujar CF- Tauchman, Judge, Hicks RF- Judge, Stanton, Tauchman DH- Andujar, Ford, Frazier That is some serious depth. Where we will need to add in Hicks' stead is to our OF depth. Tauchman is a hell of a defender and really came on as a hitter. In our righty dominated lineup, he is going to be important. But we cannot entirely expect Stanton to man LF more than half the time, so there is a solid chance either Andujar shows he can handle it or we go with Frazier out there while Stanton slips to DH. We have power in every slot. There are no impending FAs. This lineup is loaded for bear and will continue to be dominant for awhile. We hit over 300HR and missed 2 months of Judge and a season of Stanton. The HR totals from this team will be crazu SP1- Cole SP2- Severino SP3- Paxton SP4- Tanaka SP5- German SP6- Montgomery SP7- Loaisiga SP8- Happ (expected to be dealt) SP9- D. Garcia SP10- C. Schmidt Power, depth, and now a true blue ace. Severino put two seasons together of true ace-hood but faded by the end. Cole did anything but that the past two seasons. He takes the pressure off of Severino. He also can be the leader and allow the others to follow. Paxton and Tanaka are entering contract years, so their production will be very important to their bottom line. But this rotation is deep, is powerful and is probably the best in the AL. CL- Chapman SU- Britton SU- Ottavino SU- Kahnle SU- Green RP- Holder RP- Cessa RP- Loaisiga RP- Heller Lots of power here. The back end is locked in. The top 5 in the pecking order all have wipeout stuff. The new additions in Heller and potentially Loaisiga should add some serious octane to the group and at a low cost. Lots more prospects coming up with fire in their arms, no idea if they will get a shot but this is deep This is the best Yankee team I have seen in awhile. In the 90s-2012, we were a star driven team with some holes. This is a deep team with some stars, but no real holes. Cole's signing puts the target on our backs. Cole's signing elevates us to where we had been previously. This is gonna be fun

Betts was fine at the plate last year. Thing is, you couldn't bank on his BABIP being extraordinary last year. I bet last year is his floor for his production in prime before his frame and speed loss knock off some value. Listen, you make the contract if the window fits. If Bloom is able to somehow turn the sox production machine back on in the minors and shed some of the albatross contracts, then adding Betts back next year will be a necessity to combat the Yanks who are within their window right now. Otherwise, I think a lot of you guys are going to be disappointed when he goes elsewhere. The sox need a lot of team building to fill their needs and no farm to lean on. That is hard to add a $300+ mil commitment to

It doesn’t work that way for lux tax, but for the payouts that’s cool. I don’t mind the contract if he performs. If he stops performing, then I’ll mind the contract

This is the alpha move that we haven’t made in a decade. Meh, I disagree that there’s much more work to be done beyond adding a CFer capable of filling in for two months. I don’t care if it’s Gardner. I really don’t. As long as the guy can play D, I don’t really care about the bat. It just cannot be expensive. Then we have to offload Happ to get the room to add that CFer. If the CFer is really cheap, then I go for Betances for a season

The Yankees got their man. They overpaid for him for sure. They are now right up against that upper threshold with Happ to be dealt and likely Gardner to be signed. So be it. I’ve been so f***ing sick of the Yankees getting the “smart pick” and the “smart signing” only to have it blow up in our faces. The lesser tier guy who ends up sucking ass. We went to the very top and grabbed (IMO) the best pitcher in baseball. He’s a strapping young man with a power fastball and impeccable command. Provided good health, I anticipate we will get our money’s worth in the first 3-4 years then go from there. But this signing is about today. This signing puts the Yanks back up there as the evil empire. We are back. This signing helps out fellow ace Severino and allows the pressure to come off Tanaka and Paxton. It gives us leeway to develop Montgomery and German in 2020 with the intent that both are in the rotation for 2021. It allows us to groom some of our younger pitchers without the constant question as to who is gonna be the ace. This is our time. Is this contract gonna suck by 2028? Probably. But this also gives us the best chance to unfurl #28 out there

9 yrs $324 mil. Wow.

Bloom reiterated that getting under the LT was a goal. Not surprised

Why would the Padres sell low on Quantrill? He's had one MLB season under his belt and is a former top prospect. They aren't selling him for Eovaldi, even if they get to dump Myers. The only way this would be somewhat feasible is if the sox sent back a nothing prospect and ate the Myers contract

The farm system isn't what it was, maybe, but it sure as hell kicked ass when we needed it to last season. Where we are LOADED is on the pitching end. Deivi Garcia, Clarke Schmidt, Luis Gil, Miguel Yajure, and others all with mid rotation or higher ceilings and all moving up in the system. That doesn't include major league depth in German, Loaisiga, and Montgomery. The money falling off the books is almost entirely on the pitching end outside of DJ. He is gonna cost us something and we are going to have to be willing to pay it. But if you stack Cole with Severino, you've got a hell of a top 2. From there, you add German (19 game winner last year) and Montgomery and all you need is one guy to stick and another to be the 6th starter/backup and you roll from there. Yes, the money will make things difficult to keep the entire band together, but without a pre-arb deal or extension, that was going to be an issue anyway

One of the reasons why the sox are doing what they are doing and the Yanks are going for it is timing. The sox went for it when there was only no consensus dominant team. After 2015, when DD took over, the best teams in the AL were KC and Toronto. KC was never going to maintain dominance as a small market club. Toronto was buoyed by aging vets on short term deals. Both of those teams were destined for a quick demise. The sox main competitor, the Yanks, were dealing with the aftermath of Randy Levine continuing the Boss' way of life yet not paying attention to the cost and you have a downtrodden rival and no clear top dog. The sox took advantage of this, albeit not knowing the Astros were going to che..build their way to a title of their own and 2 of 3 AL Crowns. But the sox got theirs and because of the use of their window, they will be able to fly that flag forever. For the Yanks, our rebuild came faster, but outside of being given Stanton (who we didn't really need), we haven't made any moves beyond peripheral additions on short term deals. Well, now the landscape is different. The sox are facing cap hell with a continued stated goal of getting under the cap, a horrendous farm system, and guys coming due for raises or FA. They are a non factor at this point. The co-ace of the Astros is up for grabs and pulling him from Houston will be start of their downfall as they are about to experience a purge with key players hitting the FA market as well. There is no way they replicate their performance without Cole. In a year, they wont be able to aptly replace Springer. Their farm remains good, but relying entirely on a 36 yr old and a soon to be 37 yr old to lead a rotation is a fine way to end up with a disappointing season. The Twins are not a formidable foe and we all know it. The Guardians are facing a purge as well as they are going to have trouble keeping their superstar in Lindor. The timing is there to make this move. Is Cole expensive, hell yes. If he performs to Houston levels for the next 3-4 seasons, will the deal be worth it? Hell yes. Adding Cole makes our rotation probably the best in baseball. Cole, Severino, Paxton, Tanaka, JMont, and German is as deep a rotation and as strong at the top that you'll find in baseball. Add that to our top notch offense and lights out pen and that's what you do to win a title. This kind of move is what puts the Yanks back on the map and a target on their backs. The other thing most people aren't seeing here is just how the money works out. For 2020, we are going to need to be careful not to pass that final line. But after 2020, the contracts for Paxton, Ellsbury, Happ, Lemahieu and Tanaka come off the books. That is $85 mil and only a portion of that will go to the arb totals for Judge, Sanchez, Torres, Andujar, JMont, etc. We would need to re-sign DJ and that will cost us, but the rest can be replaced internally or re-signed for less.

Brand is worth something, but if you’re losing money due to cost, then your brand suffers as well. Your valuation is based on the ability of the rich to make more money.

13 WAR the last two seasons isn’t a career year contract year. But I don’t like the acquisition cost either. The problem is, we need an ace. And as much as I like MadBum, he’s not really an ace anymore. Yeah, he had a very good 2019, but he’s not a guy you can hand the ball to and expect a win every time out like you can with Cole. MadBum screwed himself with the ATV accident

Another way the Yanks can go is a 7-$35.5 mil AAV so he sets the record, but gets $120 mil in the first 3 years with an opt out

Deferred money is the National way. But this likely escalates Cole. Not by much mind you, but by enough. I’m thinking instead of 7-$35 mil AAV, likely 8-$36 mil AAV.

I’ve been preaching for months now that signing Cole would have other significantly positive effects for our squad, namely give a leader to a rotation that badly needs one. But it also helps shore up the top of our rotation for years to come. With Tanaka and Paxton entering the final seasons of their contracts, Cole allows us to internally fill their spots and not have to panic and overpay them. For 2020, our rotation would be incredibly deep. Assuming a deal of Happ, we’d have 6 starters plus a lot of big league and minor league depth. For 2021 and 2022, it’ll give us a core of 1. Cole 2. Severino 3. German 4. Montgomery 5. Internal filler (Garcia, Gil, Schmidt, Yajure, etc) Filling the back end is far, far easier to do than the top. We have to win this bidding war

I’ll take 2018 too

Oh child, you have no idea. Dance my little troll, I’m enjoying this

That’s not really true. The odds are that he’ll start to decline when a lot of these guys do, 33-34. Injuries can expedite that. Like I said, the deal is worth it if Cole gives us 3-4 years of 2019 type performance