That magical goal of 189 million is still a topic of debate. Is it etched in stone? Both Hal and Brian have stated goal is to field a championship team for 2014. Yet with Alex Rodriquez status up in the air, it has complicated that stated goal. What amount of A-Rod's expected salary of 31 million will be on the books for 2014? I believe the best option for the Yankees would be to assume that A-Rod will get at least 50 games. This is the punishment for being caught for the first time. That in itself would be around an addition 8 million dollars for the 2014 season. The Yankees have around 75 to 80 million to spend on free agent talent and maintain that goal of 189 million. They most likely will have an additional 8 million or more to spend depending on Alex's appeal. That gives the Yankees 83 to 88 million to spend on free agents.
I have put together a spread sheet that I believe would allow the Yankees to meet their goal of 189 million and a championship team. What I have done is consider all articles I have read about the free agents and their predicted salaries. I put the most credibility in Jon Heyman's article of the top 65 free agents. Mainly because he had the opinion of an agent, a general manager and his opinion. This allows one to do an average or a statistical mean for the salary and years of a players contract. One thing I also did, was what ever the salary average per year was. I divide that by 2 to give an optional or buy out year, for a player's final year of a contract. This of course would allow the Annual Average Value to go down for luxury tax purposes. Another thing to look at on this spread sheet is the "Options" that I believe the Yankees are considering.
Another issue was the state of the Yankees minor leagues. Keeping as many first round draft pick(s) as possible is something that insure the teams future. Kuroda's one year contract is another plus. That is because the 2015 free agent class may have two to four front of the rotation starters. In two to three years we should start to see some of our lower level talent make their way to the Bronx. That is why the final year is or could be a buy out year of a players contract.
This so called "Options" will allow one to get an idea of what that player might cost the Yankees if he was added to the payroll. Keep in mind an addition of a player will or could cause a subtraction of another players salary all ready considered to reach that 189 million goal. The first spread sheet is in priority order based upon what I envision the Yankees needs to be. The second is grouped per position of the players being considered.
2014 Free agent options for Yankees | ||||
Player | Position(s) | Years | AAV | Total Contract |
Robinson Cano | 2B | 9 | 24 | 216 |
Curtis Granderson | OF | 5 | 11.6 | 58 |
Mashiro Tanaka | RSP | 6 | 10.83 | 65 |
Hiroki Kuroda | RSP | 1 | 15 | 15 |
Boone Logan | LHRP | 4 | 3.5 | 14 |
Jarod Saltamacchia | C | 4 | 8.75 | 35 |
Johnny Peralta | SS/3B/DH | 3 | 7.66 | 23 |
Edward Mujica | RHRP | 3 | 5 | 15 |
TOTAL | 86.34 | 441 | ||
Options | ||||
Player | Position(s) | Years | AAV | Total Contract |
Sin Soo Choo* | LF/RF | 6 | 16.66 | 100 |
Carlos Beltran* | RF/LF/DH | 3 | 10 | 30 |
Brian McCann* | C/DH | 6 | 14.66 | 88 |
Carlos Ruiz | C | 2 | 6 | 12 |
Stephen Drew* | SS/3B | 4 | 10.75 | 43 |
Brenden Ryan | SS/3B/2B/OF | 1 | 3 | 3 |
Eric Chavez | 3B/1B/DH | 1 | 3 | 3 |
Mark Reynolds | 3B/1B/DH | 1 | 4 | 4 |
Paul Maholm | LSP | 3 | 3.66 | 20 |
Jason Vargas | LSP | 4 | 8.75 | 35 |
Scott Kazmir | LSP | 3 | 8 | 24 |
Josh Johnson | RSP | 2 | 8 | 16 |
Matt Garza | RSP | 6 | 14.66 | 88 |
Ervin Santanna* | RSP | 6 | 13.83 | 83 |
Ubaldo Jimenez* | RSP | 5 | 14.6 | 73 |
Ricky Nolasco | RSP | 5 | 11.6 | 58 |
Phil Hughes | RSP | 2 | 7 | 14 |
Grant Balfour | RHRP | 3 | 6.66 | 20 |
Javier Lopes | LHSP | 4 | 5.25 | 21 |
Scott Downs | LHRP | 2 | 4 | 8 |
*signing could result in loss of draft pick
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