New York Yankees News and Notes

How much do you buy into the idea that they Yankees are looking to keep payroll down for the 2014 season. It's About The Money seems to believe it pretty strongly:

When you add up the revenue sharing refunds with the savings on the luxury tax and the decrease in payroll, ownership will stand to make in excess of $50 million annually in exchange for staying under the $189 million threshold. .....In other words, get ready for some lean winters, and start praying to the deity of your choice that the front office crew has a dramatic turnaround in their track record of developing starting pitchers.

In my book, it's dubious to count money saved in decreased payroll as an incentive - "you'll save $5 by not spending $5 dollars" is stating the obvious. It would be better to say the Yankees will save around $30 million in revenue sharing and luxury tax by spending $20 million less on payroll for 2014, but when you put it that way, I think the argument becomes a lot weaker.

There is no precedent for the Yankees holding back due to finances. Sure, they've gotten wiser these past few seasons, but avoiding overpriced mediocre free agents is a seperate issue. When the Yankees have a need, and an elite player is available to fill it, money has never been an object. I don't expect that it will be going forward.

• On a lighter note, this would never work if you or I tried it, especially if this is what's in the gift basket.
• The Yankee Analysts takes a closer look at maximizing A-Rod's playing time in 2012 and beyond, primarily by DHing him 5-6 times a month, as opposed to the 8-10 times a year he's been doing it the past few seasons, thus proving my tagline correct.
• Per Jon Heyman, who's faily well connected, the bidding on Yu Darvish is sky-high. So that brings us to today's poll: