Yanks will need to unlock wallet when lockout ends
Newest Met Scherzer impressed by Cohen’s commitment to win
IREMEMBER when Bubba Crosby was going to be the center fielder, until it was Johnny Damon. I remember when the Yankees spent an offseason saying they would not sign Mark Teixeira, up to the moment they did. I remember when the plan after the 2013 season was to let Robinson Cano go and get under the 2014 luxury-tax threshold before $458 million was spent on Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann and Masahiro Tanaka.
So I will believe this is the Yankees’ plan — Joely Rodriguez and pray for rain — when a lockout ends in February or March and the Yankees do not go on an issueaddressing spree.
Carlos Correa, Freddie Freeman and Trevor Story will still be on the board whenever the sport resumes. When it does, a new collective bargaining agreement will be in place. Hal Steinbrenner — who is on the owners’ negotiating team — will know exactly the costs to take his team to various payroll levels and can make more clear-eyed decisions.
One of those decisions should be to spend. A lot. Not because there is a new deep-pocketed owner in Flushing stealing headlines. And not because of the ghost of his father.
But because it is a strength of the team. You wouldn’t tell a heavyweight contender with a viscous overhand right not to throw that punch. Until there is a salary cap — and I assume as long as there is a players’ association there will never be a salary cap — then one of the Yankees’ strengths should be spending, their overhand right. Sometimes I think they are ashamed of it — as if it will detract from folks noticing how bright they are at assembling an annual contender.
If there is anything to replicate from what Steve Cohen is doing, it is that, when necessary, use the money as a blunt-force object to problem-solve. Your detractors are going to say you are attempting to buy a championship whether you are at a $200 million payroll or $260 million. So stop listening.
The 2021 Dodgers recognized the competitive advantage in a sport where every other team was treating the $210 million luxurytax threshold like an alligatorfilled moat. Their payroll was about $70 million more than any other club and they won 106 games.
The Yankees already project to spend about $220 million next year, yet don’t have a shortstop, starting catcher, center fielder or No. 2 starter. Their farm system over the years has proved excellent in getting players to the majors, but not developing difference-makers. Sixty-two players who signed their first pro contract with the Yankees appeared in a game last season (tied with St. Louis for second-most). If there were a dispersal draft of those players, Aaron Judge would go first. It is possible Garrett Whitlock, whom the Yankees lost to the Red Sox in the Rule 5 draft last year, would go second before Jordan Montgomery.
So maybe Oswald Peraza or Anthony Volpe are going to be shortstop answers. But, forgive another trip down memory lane, I remember when the Yanks were promoting a future rotation of Killer Bs: Manuel Banuelos, Dellin Betances and Andrew Brackman. In other words, maybe Peraza or Volpe is the next Derek Jeter. But until proven otherwise, they also may be the next Jorge Mateo.
The Yankees’ policy this offseason was to monitor the shortstop market, but not make a big signing. Right until this week, GM Brian Cashman was telling some agents he did not have a defined budget from Steinbrenner yet. Whether that was a bluff or reality,
the Yankees
tried a bit (a $25 million offer for Justin Verlander, for example), but were mainly bystanders as 45 major league free-agent contracts were agreed to through Tuesday for $1.73 billion.
The most (10 years, $325 million from Texas) went to Corey Seager. He was the best fit in this market for the Yankees: a highend offensive shortstop who bats lefty and profiles to be able to move to third if Peraza and/or Volpe are real. The Yankees did not want to add a third large contract when they already have two (Gerrit Cole, Giancarlo Stanton) and plans for one more (Judge).
But do they really have three? With what Miami is paying, Stanton is owed seven years at $159 million. That is $22.7 million per year, or less than Robbie Ray just got from Seattle on average. Also, not to repeat an earlier column, but will the Yankees be wise to carry the hulking righty bats of Stanton and Judge into their late 30s? But why even decide? Why can’t the Yanks have it all?
They have been carrying payrolls lower or commensurate to 10 years ago. In two of the past three 162-game seasons, the Yanks have had payrolls that sunk below the luxury-tax threshold. I will assume COVID did a number on the Yankees’ finances. But they are the Yankees. They can and should flex in this arena.
It will be fascinating to see the post-lockout frenzy. With Javier Baez going to Detroit, does Correa have a market that will pay him more than Seager? Does Story have enough of a market to, say, shun a lucrative one-year deal to play next to his pal DJ LeMahieu and go back into the market next year? Are the Braves re-signing Freeman, no matter what?
At this moment, the 11 largest free-agent deals this offseason belong to six teams who have not
made the playoffs in a 162-game season since at least 2016. The Yankees, Dodgers and Red Sox have been mainly quiet — the Dodgers have lost Seager and Max Scherzer. All of them will be heard from before a ball is
thrown for real in 2022.
For the Yankees, the question is how loudly — and how
much?
The Mets received an unquestioned ace to pair with their other unquestioned ace, a superstar who can make a difference on the mound and, they believe, in the clubhouse. More than anything, they have landed a prized piece who brings them closer to a World Series.
Max Scherzer receives what he views as a legitimate path to a title playing for an owner who will open his wallet to widen that avenue. All while enjoying a Port St. Lucie spring training that is “right in my backyard,” so his family in Jupiter, Fla., is onboard. Oh, and he’ll take that $130 million, too.
At least at the onset, this is a Max made in heaven.
The Mets introduced a new era and a new pitcher on Wednesday, when Scherzer, owner Steve Cohen and general manager Billy Eppler laid out why the biggest free agent in the game will be playing in Queens for the next three seasons for about $43 million per year, the richest contract in annual value in MLB history.
Scherzer, Cohen and Eppler were on a Zoom call recently, and the 14-year pro heard what he wanted to hear.
Cohen “looks at this as he wants to win a championship, and he’s going to do whatever it takes to win,” said Scherzer, the eight-time All-Star and 2019 World Series champ with
the Nationals. “You don’t hear that from owners too often these days. When you can finally hear an owner want to do what it takes to win, obviously that piqued my interest.”
As did that other thing: “Pitching with Jake.” Scherzer will be paired with Jacob deGrom for an unmatched top of the rotation that includes the NL Cy Young winners from 2016-19.
Scherzer called deGrom after meeting with the Mets’ honchos to get a sense of New York and to see how his friend was doing. Mad Max hung up the phone feeling pretty happy with deGrom’s answers.
“The dream of pitching with him — we can do some great things together,” said the 37-yearold Scherzer, who has been partnered most recently with Walker Buehler with the Dodgers and previously with Stephen Strasburg (Washington) and Justin Verlander (Detroit).
To make that dream a reality, Cohen was willing to jump from a payroll that began last season around $195 million to, so far, about an estimated luxury-tax payroll of just over $266 million for next season (per Spotrac), which figures only to rise.
The richest owner in the sport opened his Mets tenure last year by saying he wanted a title within three to five years, and his wallet is allowing that vision to become more realistic.
“I talked about sustained winning and winning championships, and I mean it,” said Cohen, who has sold his aspirations and completed significant free-agent contracts still without an actual manager for the team. “I think the Mets today are closer to that than we were then.”
Of course there is the drive and the domination that Scherzer, with a career 3.16 ERA in more than 2,500 innings, brings to the mound, but the Mets made clear they value his presence in the clubhouse, too. Though the results can be comparable, Scherzer’s style is distinct from deGrom’s, who is more methodical and easy-natured as he pitches.
Scherzer, who can be animated and has two different-colored eyes that bore into hitters, has a reputation for demanding the ball and embracing being a leader. He was on the introductory Zoom call from Texas, where he is an MLB Players Association representative in talks with the league before the presumed lockout.
Between his arm and his guidance for a club that now carries World Series goals, Scherzer will be asked for plenty from the Mets and will be compensated plenty in return.
The megadeal might be unprecedented, but Scherzer has embraced the expectations in the past. He’s pitched on every stage and thrown two no-hitters. He boasts a career 3.22 postseason ERA in 128 2/3 innings. He posted a sparkling 1.98 ERA in 11 starts with the Dodgers after he was dealt from the Nationals at the trade deadline last season.
“The pressure of this is a privilege, it’s not a problem,” Scherzer said.
Meet the new Mets, from their owner’s vision to their ace’s intense irises.
“It’s a great day for the New York Mets,” Cohen said. “It’s even a better day for our fans.”