TwitterDon’t Buy The Sizzle
11 Jan 2012
Jon Heyman reports tonight that Hal Steinbrenner discussed Edwin Jackson with Scott Boras. Before you judge the story, keep in mind that Heyman has a very “interesting” relationship with Boras. It has been speculated all over the internet that they have a bit of a quid pro quo going on. Boras plants some info he wants to get into the mainstream with Heyman and in return, Heyman gets tipped on which players are going where from Boras. I have no idea if that is the case here, but there are a few things it is probably worth remembering.
1- The Yankees have been repeatedly linked to a goal of keeping their payroll under $189 million in 2014. They have four, yes four players signed in that year already for $80 million, so they have “only” $109 million to spend on the remainder of the roster. That makes fitting an expensive free agent into the budget hard.
2- I know there are a lot of superlatives about Jackson’s durability and strikeout numbers, but it is worth remembering that he has pitched for nine seasons on six teams and is 60-60 with a 4.46 ERA.
3- Even if the Yankees choose to ignore those signs, I am sure they have noticed that he went 19-26 with a 5.08 ERA when he was in Tampa.
What I would suspect is that Boras is quickly realizing he is running out of landing spots for Jackson. Reportedly, he was looking for something like 5 years and $80 million or so. Since that isn’t happening, he may be willing to gamble on a short deal with the hopes of cashing in next year or in 2014. I could see the Yankees biting on something like 2 years and $25 million or so. I hope they don’t, but I could see it and I bet that’s something Scott Boras has concluded as well. But, until Kuroda is off the market, I don’t see the Yankees signing Jackson.
Jan 13, 2012 @ 18:43:21
It would be SO nice if we could avoid having two big-ticket pitchers with ERAs over 5.00 !
Jan 13, 2012 @ 18:48:42
Mitchell
That would seem to be a pretty obvious goal for team building, but you NEVER know.
Then again, I think the Yankees do the AJ salary dump if somehow they end up with Jackson. If they don’t, I’m not sure my nerves will be able to take our rotation!
Jan 13, 2012 @ 20:44:03
Peter,
Kuroda for $11 mill for 1 year plus Pineda for Montero? I like both of these deals,
Montero is going to be a beast with the bat but he was a question mark with the glove plus we had three other Cs to play. Pineda is just 22 with a WHIP of 1.10. I had no idea what Noesi was ever going to be other than a decent arm.
I think we now have a six man contest for 5 slots. Hey, anyone want some cash plus AJ for a young OF prospect?
Jan 14, 2012 @ 00:49:50
Mitchell
Totally agree and you can read above for my longer take. It boils down to this for me- Yankees don’t believe Montero can catch. Monster bat, but tons of value disappears if he can’t catch.