Around the Empire: Yankees news - 1/8/23

New York Post | Dan Martin: It appears the two most recent additions to the Yankees are already stirring up some discussion. Brian Sabean and Omar Minaya — two of the most respected pro scouts in baseball — were brought in as senior advisors to the front office, but Brian Cashman pushes back against the notion that he added them to counterbalance the analytics side of operations. There are some who feel the Yankees have become too data-driven in recent seasons, however the Yankees GM as well as majority owner Hal Steinbrenner feel that the organization strikes a good balance between analytics, scouting, and player development, with Cashman reiterating that he brought Sabean and Minaya onboard to add more voices to the room.

MLB Trade Rumors | Mark Polishuk: Masahiro Tanaka hit the free agent market this winter, but closed the door on a return to MLB by signing a one-year, $3.6 million deal to remain with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of NPB. He played his first seven seasons of professional baseball with the Golden Eagles prior to his seven-year, $155 million move to the Yankees in 2014. Upon becoming a free agent in 2021, Tanaka expressed a desire to remain in New York, but found himself a victim of the Yankees’ tax reset plans and ended up returning to Japan. Over the last two seasons with the Golden Eagles, Tanaka went 13-21 with a 3.16 ERA.

MLB.com | Adam Berry: Looking ahead to matchups between the Yankees and Rays next season, Tampa Bay will be relieved that the balanced schedule reduces their head-to-head load to 13 games, as New York was the only team in the division to defeat them in the season series. Despite losing key contributors Corey Kluber, Mike Zunino, and Kevin Kiermaier and making just one addition — Zach Eflin, three years for a club-record $40 million — FanGraphs projects the Rays for the fifth-most WAR behind the Yankees, Mets, Padres, and Braves. Out of their 19 matchups in 2022, 14 of the contest were decided by two runs or fewer, so expect an equally-close slate of games in 2023.

New York Post | Joel Sherman: This winter has highlighted the dichotomy in organizational philosophy between the Yankees and Mets since Steven Cohen took on ownership of the latter. Cohen is focused on building the most dominant left side of the infield in baseball with his again-delayed pursuit of Carlos Correa to pair alongside Francisco Lindor while the Yankees are betting on Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe to become cornerstones of their infield. It reflects the divergence in attitude towards payroll and the future — Cohen spending at unprecedented levels in an all-out win-now assault while the Bronx outfit hopes their two youngsters can provide surplus value to balance out the handful of nine-figure deals on the books.