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Fangraphs regularly has chats about the goings on in the baseball world. Jeff Sullivan, and Paul Swyden, spoke about issues that have become central to the Yankees' offseason.
Unsurprisingly, most of the talk was about Masahiro Tanaka.
While Sullivan doesn't believe the Yankees will make the playoffs in 2014, the addition of Tanaka could be enough to prove the difference between a third-place and a second-place finish.
He believes that the Yankees are undoubtedly the favorites to land Tanaka, if he does end up posting.
How much will he end up making, though? And will the Yankees be able to afford him if they're sticking with Plan 189?
A contract of $110 million over six years would amount to an AAV of just over $18 million. The only way they can afford that is if Alex Rodriguez gets suspended, and even then it's doubtful they can get under budget.
I would like to think they would go over if it meant signing Tanaka. They recently said that if they were to go over, they would go way over, or not at all. The 2014 Yankees are a better team with him than without him, but I don't think anyone really knows what they're doing at this point.
What's going to happen with A-Rod anyway?
The Fangraphs team seems pretty confident that Rodriguez will at least get a shortened suspension, which is very feasible. After losing Robinson Cano and replacing him with Brian Roberts, the Yankees' offense might really need A-Rod's bat. If he stays healthy he can only strengthen the lineup.
Speaking of Roberts, Sullivan doesn't expect much from him:
As it stands, the Yankees might be looking to platoon Brian Roberts and Kelly Johnson at second base. But then who platoons at third base? It makes sense that they will try to add someone anyway they can, but right now nothing looks close to happening.
And if you were wondering:
Shots fired!
What do you think about what they had to say?
