Yankees re-sign Anthony Rizzo: Checking on media reactions to the deal

On late Tuesday afternoon, we got an answer to one of the key questions surrounding the Yankees’ offseason. While, no, it didn’t answer that question, it did resolve another important one. The Yankees now have their first baseman for the next two years, and possibly a third, with the news that Anthony Rizzo is back.

Shortly after he declined the qualifying offer, reports began to emerge that Rizzo and the Yankees had worked out a deal. The first two years of the deal are worth $17 million each, and the third would be as well should the Yankees decide to pick up their club option. If not, Rizzo would be owed $6 million as a buyout, guaranteeing him at least $40 million.

Considering that the Yankees traded for him and signed him ahead of last season, Rizzo was a guy that they obviously saw as a fit, and nothing about 2022 seemed to change that notion.

This past season, his first full one in New York, Rizzo matched his career high in homers. That makes sense considering that he’s a lefty with good power playing home games at Yankee Stadium. On the other hand, he did put up one of the lower batting averages of his career, after being a decent contact hitter with the Cubs earlier in his career. However, there are new rules coming into effect next year, one of them banning the shift. That change has the potential to help Rizzo add some hits.

While Rizzo’s not exactly a new addition to the team that lost to the Astros in less than stellar fashion, he was still one of the best hitters on the team. Taking him out of the lineup would’ve potentially been a blow. To add on to that, one of the other teams rumored to have been looking at him were the team that just owned the Yankees in the ALCS.

Now, you never want to sign a player just for the sole purpose of keeping them off an opponent, but opting to no re-sign Rizzo and then losing him to Houston would’ve felt like a blow. There are still options out there at first base for the Astros, but Rizzo would’ve been a good acquisition for them.

As alluded to, Rizzo and first base was one of the lingering questions going into this winter, but it’s still not the big one. That remains Aaron Judge. However, that does lead to questions about whether or not Rizzo being back has any implications on Judge.

On a purely monetary front, this deal, or others, wouldn’t have any impact on their offers to Judge, at least according to Hal Steinbrenner.

There are potential implications with Rizzo and Judge that go beyond just the money.

The two demonstrated their “dudes rock” bona fides by buying and wearing matching shirts earlier this year.

At the end of the day, Rizzo remaining a Yankee will not be the deciding factor for Judge. All of that will come down to the contract offers he receives. The percentage that this matters to the Judge negotiations is almost certainly very, very small. Still, bringing Rizzo back into he fold certainly isn’t a negative. Other Yankees’ players seemed fairly happy with the news.

Re-signing Rizzo seems to be a pretty solid move for the Yankees. He was good at the plate and on defense for them last season, and vibes-wise he seems like a perfect fit. There’s still a lot that the Yankees need to figure out this offseason, but this appears to be a solid start.