Originally Posted by
dayners81
great post.
While i think Merrifield could be moved this yr because he;s pretty expensive for the Royal, I don't think Marte will be traded.He's only 24 and signed very cheaply through 2025, unless the Dback got a monster offer for him i don't see them moving him. I was hoping the Marlins wouldn't have picked up his brothers option though. I though he would have made a strong addition to our outfield without costing a ton. With as often as Judge and Hicks get injured, Talkmans serious regression back to an MLB average player, our lack of outfield depth in the upper minors i would really like to see us add a stronger OF option thats capable of playing all 3 CF position.
I completely agree the Yanks are in a unique position to add those 2 and 3rd tier players that are going to see massive pay cuts. Just as an example, not that i would be a huge fan of signing either Paxton or Kluber but if Robbie Ray who was healthy all last yr only got 1yr8m, what kind of contract are those guys looking at. 1yr 4-5m with heavy incentives? Usually the guys that sign 1st tend to get better deals, what are guys who are going to be forced to sign later going to get. We haven't even seen the teams non tender players yet and with the expectation there is going to be a record amount of those the market is going to likely be flooded. I think players are likely going to get desperate in January and be forced to expect minimal deals with heavy incentives, veteran minimum or even MILB deals with a ST invite with an opt out. FA outside of the very top of the market are going to be cheap.
The one area that they Yanks could massively improve their team within the current market is the BP. Like u mentioned a top 3 AL reliever like Hand had zero interest at 1yr 10m, which would literally be a steal any other yr In a normal yr i would bet 25 plus teams would have jumped all over that deal if for no other reason to flip him.
As we saw in the playoffs, we could desperately use upgrades in our BP. I this market i shouldn't be incredibly expensive to get 2-3 high quality BP arms and we should be able to do it for somewhere between 12-20m. IMO this is probably the most cost effective way to upgrade this team this winter.
I also think there is a chance to pick up other quality player but unless Hal ok's spending over the 210m mark i'm not sure they will capitalize on it.
From everything i'm hearing from my source after DJ their top priority will be fixing the rotation and BP. IMO, in this market and what is currently available starting pitching wise, the BP will be a much easier to fix on the FA market