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MLB Trade Rumors | Mark Polishuk: After the Yankees reset the luxury tax this season by maneuvering under the $210 million Competitive Balance Tax threshold, one has to wonder if they will spend a bit more this offseason: they did a similar thing in 2018.
The main difference, though, is that there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the new CBT rules. At the moment, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts and Roster Resource, the Yankees’ current 2022 CBT number is “roughly in the range of $221.1MM to $223.7MM. If ownership and the front office don’t overly care about blowing past the tax line once, this might not be an issue (and again, we don’t know what the tax threshold will be in 2022, or if the CBT will continue to exist in its current form).”
However, the writer explains, we shouldn’t expect a full-fledged spending spree given the way owner Hal Steinbrennner has handled finances lately.
NY Post | Mike Vaccaro: Yankees’ announcer Michael Kay immortalized, 20 years ago, Bombers shortstop Derek Jeter with two words that would go a long way in building his Hall of Fame legacy.
It was October 31st. With the Arizona Diamondbacks up 2-1 in the 2001 World Series and 3-1 in the game leading to the bottom of the ninth inning, the Yankees tied the game with a Tino Martínez’s two-run shot. In the bottom of the tenth, it was already past midnight, and Jeter took over with a game-winning, series-tying blast.
“I saw a guy in the stands hold up a sign when the clock hit midnight that read Mr. November,” Kay recently stated. According to Vaccaro, that was the two-word slogan he had thought up earlier. “Then,” Kay says, “when Jeter hit the home run, it just came out.”
NY Post | Joel Sherman: Postseason performance is often highly regarded in contract negotiations between teams and pending free agents. Player such as Kris Bryant, Kenley Jansen, and Eddie Rosario could have secured a few extra million with their scintillating October play. Some of the stars who have been hot in the playoffs, like Carlos Correa and Chris Taylor, may even fit in the Yankees’ 2022 roster.