Yankees seek starter, eye Machado market
It was 10 years ago this week that Yankees GM Brian Cashman unexpectedly canceled his daily meeting with his team’s beat writers in Las Vegas and hopped a flight to Northern California to put the full-court press on CC Sabathia, whom he wound up signing to a seven-year contract.
That opened the door to the acquisition later that month of A.J. Burnett and, a month later, Mark Teixeira. The following October, the Yankees were parading down Broadway having won the 2009 World Series.
Who says nothing ever happens at baseball’s annual winter meetings?
Beginning Sunday, just about everyone who has ever swung a baseball bat, seen a baseball game or even just worn a ball cap will converge upon Las Vegas for the first time since that fateful misdirection play for this year’s winter meetings, a gathering at which either everything, or nothing, can happen.
“The whole thing is a waste of time,” one team executive, who is not going, told me.
And in fact, it often seems to be. During the day, MLB executives, GMs, owners and managers are holed up in mysterious “meetings,” at which it is assumed the future of the game is being shaped. Issues involving the CBA are discussed, as well as possible rules changes; last year, the topic of the day was pace of play, and this year it is said to be the defensive shift. Talk is somehow baseball will try to legislate where players can stand on the field.
The past few Decembers have been quite busy for Hal Steinbrenner, Cashman and their staff. Over the past 10 years alone, the following Yankees were either signed or acquired during the annu- al winter meetings, or right after them: A.J. Burnett, Curtis Granderson, Freddy Garcia, Kevin Youkilis, Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, Nathan Eovaldi, Chase Headley, Andrew Miller, Didi Gregorius, Aroldis Chapman, Starlin Castro and, last year, Giancarlo Stanton.
Who will it be this year? According to the proverbial source in the know, Cashman’s Christmas list is limited to another starting pitcher and, as the source told me, “keeping an eye on the (Manny) Machado market.”
L e s s i mp o r t a n t , it seems, is a search for a regular first baseman — the Yankees seem satisfied with Luke Voit and are willing to give Greg Bird another look — and earlier this week, Cashman squashed a report that he might be looking to move Gary Sanchez.
The main order of business seems to be adding another starter to a rotation that shapes up as Luis Severino, James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka and Sabathia. With Patrick Corbin and Eovaldi off the board, the Yankees are looking at either J.A. Happ, who pitched well for them in 11 second-half starts, and Dallas Keuchel, who had pitched well against them until this past year, in the free-agent market. They are also exploring the possibility of trading for either Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer, both of whom are said to be on the block in Cleveland.
But the big issue this week will be how Manny dollars will it take to sign Machado, and is Steinbrenner willing to spend them? According to Yankee insiders, the club is unlikely to bid on Bryce Harper; one team official told me, “We think Stanton is a better player than Harper anyway.”
Having shed some big contracts the past couple of years, the Yankees likely would have to blow past the $206 million luxury tax threshold to sign Machado. But having stayed under the line last season, the penalty of 20 percent of every dollar over $206 million probably won’t be much of a deterrent.
If Cashman suddenly cancels a news conference and books a flight to Miami, don’t be surprised. What happens in Vegas usually stays in Vegas. But not always.