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Friday, December 16, 2022
The Yankees have been unable to find takers for Josh Donaldson and Aaron Hicks. Donaldson played a great third base, but his patented bat speed is a question. Donaldson’s presence and pay were one reason Carlos Correa couldn’t work for them.
The Mets may like to find a taker for James McCann and Darin Ruf, good players before they got to Queens. …
The Yankees want to bring back Andrew Benintendi but not at five years. …
jimfurtado
Posted: December 16, 2022 at 07:41 AM | 32 comment(s)
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1. DL from MN Posted: December 16, 2022 at 07:56 AM (#6109696)More seriously, it would be pretty funny if the Twins unloaded Donaldson to make room to sign Correa, then took Donaldson back (plus prospects) into that same budget "slot" when Correa left a year later.
That doesn’t compute to me. If they wanted Correa they could have gone after him, same as last year. Seems more like the Yankees don’t want to pay huge prices for a shortstop when they have Volpe and the Oswalds nearly ready to step in.
Yankees struggling to unload Gerrit Cole, Aaron Judge
They want to clear some of his salary.
Yankees struggling to unload Gerrit Cole, Aaron Judge
Or maybe one from December 2024: Rangers struggling to unload Jacob DeGrom
All long range contracts are a gamble. You win some and you lose some.
Also Cole will be an FA in Dec 2028 unless the Yanks have extended him.
The Yanks will regret getting rid of Hicks. I don't have a clue what you folks are so up in arms about. Has anybody looked at the CF market? Do you really want Judge running out there 162 games? They might also regret getting rid of Donaldson -- they'll obviously have to eat some money to move him but it shouldn't be too hard to find somebody to take him on for $10 as 3B/DH/1B although there are some warning signs in the EV column.
Wait, it's hard to trade a guy who hit .220 and is making $20 million?
and a $8 M buyout. But nobody will particularly care if he hits 220 -- he did that in 2020 with a 132 OPS+. The issue is that the walk rate also dropped by about 5% and the ISO dropped by 100. Donaldson at 220/330/420 would be a quite useful player (about a 115 OPS+ with solid defense); at 220/310/370 (and maybe dropping) then ... well still an above-average 3B last year.
Personally, I agree. I'd keep both, if Donaldson looks washed up after a month or two, drop him, bring up Volpe, or if Volpe is struggling in AAA, give 3B/SS to one of the Oswalds. Hicks is good when he's on the field, between Bader and him you should have a solid CF for the year. I still think they sign Benintendi, but that pushes Hicks to a 4th OF, and Cabrera to a UTL role. Maybe Conforto on a one year deal is a better way to go
Donaldson only has 1 year left on his contract. With the uncertainty about LeMahieu’s foot injury, the Yankees may need some 3rd base help. There was a report that Donaldson was already working out twice a day, so he will likely have the vaunted ‘best shape of his life’ advantage in 2023.
The Yankees haven’t re-signed Benintendi, or someone to take his place, so getting rid of Hicks seems premature, at best. He’s only 33 and the chance he bounces back somewhat in a reduced role are better than getting anything in trade, including meaningful salary relief, IMHO.
Not my money, but the Yankees might save more by hanging onto the prospects and taking the 1-year hit, at least to the trade deadline when there might be a better market for the guys they’re looking to move.
Salary, particularly the luxury tax. If they trade either of these guys to a team who isn't over the CBT, that's a net gain collectively for the two teams. Put another way, they're each better relative to their contracts for a team that isn't over the CBT.
They aren't looking to get rid of Judge or Gerrit Cole to reduce payroll. Moving Josh Donaldson to a different roster saves them $45M.
No, because if you can ditch 50% of Donaldson's $28M, you effectively save almost all of it. Same with Hicks. The other players contracts don't affect the savings one bit. The tax is paid on the margin.
Sure, but getting rid of inefficient salary save you money without hurting team quality. Hicks and Donaldson can be replaced.
For Hicks it's a bit trickier because he's younger and has more years but since he's kind of cromulent he might very well take a 6 year deal now.
Yes and no. Per Fangraphs, good D propped him all the way up to 1.6 WAR.
Harrison Bader is the starting CF.
B-R has him at 2.5, largely down to his defense. The vagaries of WAR strike again, I guess.
Yes. call him average, but old and likely to decline.
yes.
at the time of the odd-looking trade, NYY broadcaster (and ex-newspaper beat guy) Michael Kay noted that Cashman was intrigued (or more) by the fact that the previous 10 WS winners all had stellar CF defense.
I found that a little weird, coming from a GM whose team hasn't even gotten that far since 2009, but here we are.
Bader is an interesting player and a claim could be made that NYY has overrated him.
but he is a hill they are willing to die on, so it makes no sense to question "getting rid of Hicks" unless you see Bader as a completely useless player.
that's doubtful, given his defense and baserunning plus a hint of more offensive upside.
personally I think Bader is a nice upgrade on Hicks.
EDIT: In old-school BPro-speak, it's a beer or tacos situation. (I think that was a BPro writer.) Especially from the fan's perspective, the answer to "Bader or Hicks?" is "both."
Donaldson I'd be more amenable to dumping, but with DJ's uncertainty I could see value in keeping Donaldson around as a bench bat / 3b option.
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