Voit could go from cornerstone to trade block
Luke Voit was the king this season. The Yankees first baseman, playing with plantar fasciitis for most of the season, broke out to become not only the Bombers’ biggest power hitter, but the home run king of the 2020 MLB season.
Voit, who hit 20 homers in the coronavirus pandemic-shortened 60-game season, was considered a finalist for the first-base Silver Slugger Award, which went to Jose Abreu of the White Sox Thursday night.
Even after a fairly remarkable season, one in which Voit grew into a face and voice of the Yankees, he never seemed to get treated like the king.
Voit headed into the offseason with uncertainty.
He wasn’t even a favorite to win the Slugger, with Abreu getting an MVP Award nomination after hitting .317/.370/.617 with 19 homers. And suddenly, Voit is being mentioned in possible trade scenarios in order for the Yankees to re-sign DJ LeMahieu and move Gleyber Torres to a better fit defensively.
Hanging on to LeMahieu is obviously a priority for the Yankees this season. After winning the batting title this season — his second — and as the Yankees MVP the last two seasons and one of three finalists for the American League MVP award, which will be announced Nov. 11, LeMahieu will command about $20 million per year in free agency this winter. He did win the Silver Slugger at second base, topping Rays’ second baseman Brandon Lowe.
Voit, who was not even the headliner in the deadline trade the Yankees made to acquire him in 2018, has never had anything handed to him. After his breakout season in 2018, he came into spring training the next year having to battle with Greg Bird for the starting spot.
But this season, with Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge both injured and unable to stay on the field for half the season, and with Gary Sanchez struggling offensively, Voit stepped into the power void and he delivered.
Still, Voit never got top billing, except inside that clubhouse.
“I don’t think he gets third billing,” Giancarlo Stanton said when asked about Voit being in the shadows of Judge and himself. “I mean, he’s the home run king of the season. So he’s come into his own very well and he’s a huge part of our lineup. Being able to see him, day in and day out throughout the season, put up these numbers and just wear pitchers down has been fun to watch.”
Voit, who will turn 30 in February, went from an afterthought in the July 2018 trade that sent Chasen Shreve to the Cardinals and brought back Voit and international signing pool money, to being a cornerstone of the Yankee lineup.
Since coming to the Yankees, Voit has hit .279/.372/.543 with 57 home runs and 147 RBI in 213 games. Through a sports hernia that required surgery last winter and the plantar fasciitis that had him hobbling around the bases on his 20 home run trots this season, Voit has become a more professional hitter.
“I think it’s just he’s polished up his approach that I think has come with experience now at the big-league level,” Aaron Boone said last month. “And, you know, he’s got a very specific routine that he does to get ready for the game as far as his pregame work. He never really hits on the field anymore. He does all his stuff behind the scenes in the cage. But I just think we’re seeing the growth of a really good hitter that’s gone to another level and now having an MVP season. It’s hard to imagine where we’d be without Luke Voit.”
Th a t , however, is something the Yankees may think about this winter. Having missed the World Series for the 11th straight year, the Bombers go into 2021 with holes in their lineup and a budget limited by a shortened season without fans. Voit would no longer be an afterthought in any deal and could possibly help the Yankees address their concerns at shortstop, catcher or their rotation.
or the Nets, at first glance, Garrett Temple is non-disposable.
Temple checks several boxes for the Nets as they transition from playoff pretender to championship contender: He’s a defender, both with his body and his voice. He’s a veteran, having just finished his 10th NBA season. He spaces the floor, a threat to nail it from deep shooting 33% from three-point range last season, and he’s close with Kyrie Irving, who vouched for his teammate after a breakout game last year.
Not to mention he’s been a leading voice for social change on the Nets roster.
“We know who Garrett Temple is in this league,” Irving said in November.
To sum it up best, Temple knows his role, and he plays within it.
The Nets, however, might decline the $5 million team option on Year 2 of Temple’s contract, according to SNY. Teams around the league are monitoring Temple in the event he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
The move would be an unpopular, but necessary, one for the Nets to make if that does happen.
Temple played an integral role in turning around an awful Nets defense back in November, according to his teammates. His insertion into the starting lineup when Irving and Caris LeVert suffered major injuries, which cost both more than 20 games, helped save a Nets team that had freefallen from an above-.500 record. That team had been marred by injury.
The Nets hope those woes are in the past. A look at the Nets’ projected 2020-21 roster shows just how crowded the guard spot is. Irving only played in 20 games but averaged 32 minutes in those games. That number only projects to decrease in blowout games decided by the third quarter.
Joe Harris played just under 31 minutes a night. LeVert played about 30, and Spencer Dinwiddie averaged 31, a number that could decrease when Irving returns to the starting lineup. There are combinations that could create opportunities for Temple to see extended minutes, including minutes where two of Irving, Dinwiddie and LeVert share the floor together.
The bottom line, however, is that Temple is at least the fifth guard in the rotation: behind Irving, LeVert, Dinwiddie and Harris. After last season, possibly behind Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, too.
Aside from LeVert and Harris, Luwawu-Cabarrot — a lanky 6-foot-7 and has the tools to become a multiple-position defender — was a revelation in the Orlando bubble. He averaged 16 points per game in the playoffs — in a four-game sweep by the Raptors — and just under 15 points through the eight seeding games in the Orlando bubble. Luwawu-Cabarrot also shot just under 39% from three last season, including 46% (23-of-50) in Orlando bubble seeding games.
Temple has a higher defensive I.Q., but Cabarrot’s offensive combustibility, youth, defensive potential and contract give him an edge.
Cabarrot will make $1.8 million next season — a steal if his bubble production is indicative of his play next season. Temple’s salary nearly triples Cabarrot, and then you have to account for the luxury tax.
The luxury tax line was implemented to deter high-spending teams from spending even more. The tax line was initially projected at $139 million but it is expected to drop lower — in conjunction with the salary cap — due to a combination of factors, including the league’s tense relations with China and dropoff in revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Nets already have $132 million in guaranteed salaries committed to next season, and that doesn’t include re-signing Joe Harris, who will easily command a contract paying in excess of a $12 million annual salary.
The luxury tax line in the 2019-20 season sat at $132.6 million, meaning if 2020 s tax figure regresses to last year’s, the Nets could start the season in the tax.
If the Nets fall anywhere from $10-14.9 million above the tax level, they will have to pay $2.50 for every dollar they spend on a player. That means Temple’s $5 million option really costs Brooklyn $17.5 million, or an additional $12.5 million in taxes.
That tax bill will increase to $3 for every $1 spent if the Nets end up $15 million or more above the tax line, and they can’t afford to lowball Harris: He’s coveted by a number of teams willing to pay good money.
Nets GM Sean Marks said earlier last season that the franchise is “married” to paying the tax, but they’re paying the tax for a championship contender. He also said re-signing Harris is priority No. 1.
Temple is a key piece to the team, but is he worth $17.5 million or more? More importantly, is his production and presence integral to the championship aspirations the Nets have this season?
Role players are key, especially on a team with as many stars and capable play-makers as the Nets. Role players have also become more expensive — like Danny Green, who signed a two-year, $30 million deal with the Lakers last season and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who opted out of his $8.5 million player option after winning a championship in Los Angeles because his services as a reliable 3-and-D wing can earn him more money.
Temple, though — as good as he was — was not Green or Pope for the Nets last season, not with his efficiency from three and not with his defensive versatility. He was also asked to play outside of his role due to Nets injuries. The return of Irving and implementation of Durant shifts the rest of the roster back into its place.
There also aren’t many viable replacements for Temple’s production, especially at a lower salary. Ex-Knicks wing Courtney Lee could be one of them.
The other, quite frankly, is already on the Nets’ roster.