Re-signing vets sign of strength for Cash
CARLSBAD, Calif. — Really, Yankees? You’re bringing back Brett Gardner and CC Sabathia for 2019? Why not go after Jerry Hairston Jr. and Eric Hinske, too, to give it more of a “2009 celebration” vibe? It’s almost as if you don’t realize you went 70-92 this past season. Wait, what? (Does some Googling.) Oh, you went 10062? Then carry on. As Reverend Lovejoy learned in a 1997 episode of “The Simpsons,” constancy doesn’t rally the mass- es. To the contrary, it often infuriates them. But constancy can work well for these Yankees with these two moves, their opening salvos of this Hot Stove campaign. Because despite how poorly the Yankees’ final week went, this group doesn’t need to be blown up. It simply needs to be strengthened.
The Post’s Joel Sherman broke the story Tuesday that the Yankees and Sabathia agreed to re-up on a one-year, $8 million deal, pending a physical. That news comes in the wake of last week’s announcement Gardner would return on a one-year deal for $7.5 million. Both veterans agreed to pay cuts — Sabathia made $10 million and Gardner $11.5 million in 2018 — and their comfort with that reality reflected how much they wanted to stay.
“Since we know the players, we know what we’re getting,” Brian Cashman said of Gardner and Sabathia on Tuesday at the general managers’ meetings. “First and foremost, we feel like they’re productive players and they can have a positive impact on that win column for us. Knowing them more so than a player that we don’t have access to that’s playing somewhere else and doing something positive somewhere else. Those are the more difficult calls to import because there’s a little bit unknown. These are known commodities.
“We know exactly who they are in that clubhouse, who they are dealing with that press and our fans and obviously competing on the field of play.”
Competing on the field of play, both the big lefty and the speedy outfielder provided considerable value overall in 2018, although both faded late in the season. Fatigue very likely factored in for both. So the challenge comes in better regulating their reps for 2019, with the hope that at least two more starting pitchers (my money goes on Patrick Corbin and J.A. Happ) are signed to bolster the rotation and Jacoby Ellsbury and Clint Frazier get healthy to help the outfield. The diminished salaries for Gardner and Sabathia both increase payroll flexibility and diminish the veterans’ required return on investment.
In 2018, rookie manager Aaron Boone showcased his imperfections, yet also kept together a younger, injury-prone group that never quite rediscovered its early mojo yet grinded to the American League Division Series, where the Yankees arguably gave the Red Sox a bigger scare than did the Astros in the AL Championship Series or the Dodgers in the World Series.
The team’s culture served as a strength. Said Cashman: “We had a great camaraderie in that clubhouse. We had a very tight-knit group of players that enjoyed playing with each other and had a lot of success playing together, too, on top of it. So we like the culture we h ave .” The Yankees like it so much that Cashman confirmed al l of Boone’s coaches will return in 2019; I would’ve found Boone a more experienced bench coach after his October to forget.
It’s ridiculous to postulate the Red Sox stand miles and miles ahead of the Yankees. The Yankees finished eight games, not 80, behind Boston in the AL East.
“I think first and foremost, it’s hard to improve on a 100-win team. Gravity usually pulls you back,” Cashman said. “So we just have to continue to reinforce.”
Gardner and Sabathia at lower salaries reinforce. While there’s plenty more to do, the Yankees moved forward by going back into their own recent history.