November 21, 2024

85 thoughts on “Yankees.com: Cole opts out; Yanks can void it by adding $36 million to contract (source)”

  1. We’ll probably be disappointed that the announcement will just be that the Yankees voided his opt out by giving him the extra year. Only the Dodgers can do creative accounting shenanigans.

  2. From FanGraphs:

    Weirdly, I think he’d actually get less than what was left on the deal he opted out of, though I think his remaining contract is quite close to market value, and thus that he isn’t taking a big risk by doing so. The Yankees are the ones bearing the risk here, which is likely why he made this decision.

    1. Passan Right-hander Gerrit Cole is remaining with the New York Yankees on the four-year, $144 million deal that he had opted out of, sources told ESPN. Discussions on a potential contract extension will continue. Essentially, it’s the same as if Cole did not opt out

    1. Especially when the best strategic move for him might very well be to take a pillow contract so that he can take another crack at a good platform reason. He’ll still be on the right side of 30 next offseason.

    2. i think that top free agents list mentioned that he was getting beat by fastballs and the bat speed was way down. obviously he looked great in the post but if that was true in april and may wouldn’t they try to fix it?

    3. He’s lost some bat speed, certainly, and it shows against four-seamers — 63 percent of the time he put that pitch in play, it was to the right side of the field, and he hit four times as many of those fastballs to right field as he did to left. His .257/.330/.378 line with below-average defense was only worth 1.7-1.8 WAR in 2024, making him a below-average regular. Maybe some team can get him to pull the ball again and get back to some power — if it can help stem the drop in his bat speed, too.

    1. Judge AAV is 40, that was two years ago, so 46 AAV for Soto, entering his prime years, is not unreasonable. I don’t like the ever spiraling numbers in MLB, but it is what it is. I believe Boras said they weren’t interested in deferments, but that may simply be a negotiating ploy.

  9. They have Gleyber at #20 FA making 2/36m with Mariners and Royals as most likely landing places.
    Holme 3/30, Kahnle 2/13 and Rizzo nowhere to be found. Verlander 1/12?

    3. With Scherzer, you could even give him the Clemens treatment and only bring him back to pitch in the second half. He’d probably still be worth, like, $8 million.

  10. Apparently, it sounds like Cash just outright called Cole’s bluff, and Cole backed down, and now the whole “We’re discussing extensions” stuff is just a smokescreen to soothe Cole’s ego over the Yankees calling his bluff, as Cash has said that they’re NOT actually discussing an extension. Wow.

    1. Yeah, Cole was unlikely to get a better offer on the open market. But the Yankees also wanted to be able to focus on addressing the many holes in the offense – if they were OK with more uncertainty, they probably could have played even harder. Ultimately though, I think Cole wanted to stay on the team and the Yankees wanted him to stay.

    1. That looks awful.
      Why would they need an animated version instead of the actual play? It reduces my level of trust.

    3. That’s what I was saying in the moment. I don’t even know if Cole beats Betts to the bag, but I’m pretty sure Rizzo does.

    4. That’s a pretty damning angle. I thank Rizzo for his service as a Yankee and that he remains an ambassador of the game. Other than that, enjoy retirement.

      The best Yankee 1B over the last decade by WAR or wRC+ has been Luke Voit. Let that sink in and also know that they’ve had 44 different players for at least 1 game at the position and the list includes such luminaries as Ji Man Choi, Chris Parmalee, Brendan Ryan, Dustin Ackley, Jay Bruce, Matt Holliday AND Matt Carpenter, Billy Butler, Scott Sizemore, Kelly Johnson, etc.

    6. I really think the brain injury was clouding his reaction time. He was just slow to react to EVERYTHING. Plays that didn’t require instant reaction time he still made flawlessly, but anything that required quick thinking he seemed to fuck up.

    7. He might come out of it. He was really HITTING much better. I’d have thought that to be harder, and require far MORE in the way of reaction time, than fielding.
      But for whatever reason, it didn’t work that way.
      Still, if the HITTING came around, I really bet the fielding will be back by next spring, if he plays.

    8. Yeah, that’s the killer thing about it, he probably WILL recover for at least one more decent season, but how could you possibly trust him to do it here? I actually wouldn’t hate bringing him back on a small money deal, but I get why it might make more sense to just make a clean break.

      Jazz 2B
      Soto RF
      Judge LF
      Dominguez CF
      Stanton DH
      Wells C
      Volpe SS
      Rizzo 1B
      Waldo 3B

      Really isn’t a bad lineup next season, and if you can upgrade from Waldo (or at 2B, with Jazz staying at 3B), then you’d really be cooking with gas.

    9. If you get something clearly better, you can’t.
      But I actually think you can see him recovering and that he’d be pretty good next year. That would be my guess. It’s a risk, though, I certainly agree.
      If you actually get someone really good to man first base, that’s another story.

    10. I was into Walker before he got a QO. I’m not sure he’s good enough to be worth losing a draft pick. I wouldn’t be thrilled about Rizzo returning, but the alternative is probably Weekend at DJLM’s, so…

      I would also not be happy with a roster that has Waldo as a fulltime starter.

    11. I was into Walker before he got a QO. I’m not sure he’s good enough to be worth losing a draft pick. I wouldn’t be thrilled about Rizzo returning, but the alternative is probably Weekend at DJLM’s, so…

      I would also not be happy with a roster that has Waldo as a fulltime starter.

      Yeah, I put Waldo in there as a placeholder, I think they will do something different at third and second, even if it’s something as simple as giving second base to Durbin, a la giving shortstop to Volpe. I really think Jazz could be an interesting leadoff hitter. A walk or a single is almost an automatic runner in scoring position for Soto and Judge with his speed.

  12. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=okamot002kaz

    this guy might get posted. he’s not a flashy star but he would be a dependable 3b/1b. move jazz back to second. cabrera gets lots of at bats to spell all three. or see what else is available. obviously everything depends on price but all of the japanese talent i’ve seen plays better baseball than our farm products.

    of course we are only a couple months away from dj coming back in the best shape of his life though.

    1. The relatively low ba/obp numbers are a bit concerning – I just don’t think he his enough to be anything better than a utility guy, and without up the middle defense, does he really have an mlb role?

  13. YUK
    Cashman said the Yankees’ deadline on Aaron Boone’s option was 10 days after the World Series. No decision made yet. Called Boone a “great manager,” didn’t rule out the possibility of an extension rather than just picking up the 2025 option.

    1. Between how excitedly they talk about bringing Boone back and how “we’ll do our best” about bringing Soto back they are, I don’t have a great feeling about this winter.

    2. Does this improve your outlook on the offseason?

      “Brian Cashman said the Yankees’ director of speed development and baserunning, Matt Talarico, is currently interviewing for three different MLB jobs.

      “I think we’re considered one of the best in the business with our baserunning program.” “

    3. Baserunning?
      That’s some Trump-level stuff there.
      I mean, he can’t not know how Yankee baserunning looks to… to everyone.
      How is it possible that that statement was ever made?

    4. We’re in a post-fact society. Companies now have internal confidential communications and public relations which are not grounded in anything considered factual.

    5. A lot of truth to that, Chris. But not utterly so.
      They don’t deny that they lost the WS. Because everybody just saw it.
      And the results of their baserunning “program” has been remarkably, unusually evident, and the subject of much discussion.

    7. Not defending, but this sounds like more of an overall organizational position, so he might be really good when it applies to developing and teaching speed/baserunning in the minors.

    8. I’m sure that it’s closer to what Clay posted. They may be able to improve their baserunning better than anyone else, but the players at the MLB are mostly so bad that it the staff can only get them to a certain level, but it’s a level that the metrics show is better than what could be expected.

    9. It’s interesting that even we can manage to think ourselves from the fact that they have what is surely the worst baserunning in the league to possibly accepting the idea that they have a really good baserunning staff.
      Color me unconvinced.
      If the staff were that good, they might not be able to do as well with the MLB players, but there’s no way it would be THIS bad.

    10. I was shocked to learn from a poster here that Gleyber is in the bottom 1% of baserunners in all of baseball in terms of speed (Stanton has to be even lower, right?).

    11. Gleyber isn’t that slow, his sprint speed was 29th percentile this year. His base running value was 6th percentile though.

      Stanton’s speed is 3rd percentile, which make me curious as to who is slower than him.

    12. Stanton was the 20th!!!!! slowest running in baseball this year.

      Behind:
      Mike Ford (former Yankee) – DH
      Martin Maldonado – C
      Omar Narvaez – c
      Yasmani Grandal – C
      Daniel Vogelbach – DH
      Jacob Stallings – C
      Wilmer Flores – 1B
      Triston Casas – 1B
      Rowdy Telez – 1B
      Chadwick Tromp – C
      Willie Calhoun (Former Yankee) – DH
      Tucket Barnhart – C
      Victor Carantini – C
      Elias Diaz – C
      Curt Casali – C
      Jhonny Pereda – C
      Jose Trevino (Current Yankee!) – C
      Anthony Rizzo (Current Yankee!) – 1B
      Salvador Perez – C

      and tied with Matt Carpenter (Former Yankee) – DH

    15. Amazing. Well, doesn’t that sort of lead towards the belief that maybe the Yankees’ baserunning coaches just didn’t have anything to work with? Soto seems to be a terrible baserunner, as well.

    16. Nah, I still think they suck at teaching/managing baserunning at the ML level. They have for years.

    17. Brian, the problem is NOT that they get thrown out doing their best to steal, right?
      They get picked off first when they’re not TRYING to run and have no lead.
      They get picked off second.
      They pass bases and get caught in the most embarrassing of run-downs.
      That’s not because they’re slow, it’s because they’re doing stupid things, often INCREDIBLY stupid things.
      It’s a matter of knowing how to run the bases, not a matter of speed.
      So – no, it’s not that the baserunning staff has little to work with.

    18. But pickoffs are almost uniformly cases where dudes had brain farts, no? Do you think Anthony Rizzo got picked off second because he didn’t have a coach tell him to not get picked off of second?

    19. I think it hasn’t been drilled into them enough. Or well enough.
      Yes, I think if you’re well trained, that happens less.
      I mean if it were just Rizzo, and just once, sure, I’d agree.
      But it’s not, and it wasn’t, right?

    1. Agree to disagree. How many times were they bounced out in short series? No WS titles. I am not impressed.

      Joe Torre:
      76 and 47

      4 World Series titles: 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000.
      6 American League (AL) pennants: 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2003.
      Playoff Appearances: Every year from 1996 to 2007.

      Joe Girardi
      28 and 24

      1 World Series title: 2009, when the Yankees defeated the Philadelphia Phillies.
      3 playoff appearances: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2017.
      ALCS appearances: 2009, 2010, and 2017.

  15. Kirschner Scott Boras when asked if he’d consider a deferred deal for Juan Soto:

    “I don’t think the tax considerations are the focal point when you’re talking about a business opportunity where you can make literally billions of dollars by acquiring somebody like him.”

    1. I’d like to see how Boras figures Soto will make any team ‘billions’ of dollars. Hyperbole is Boras’ stock-in-trade.

  17. I clicked on some YT vid about the collapse/yanks. The author makes some interesting points

    – no series wins against a non al central team in last 6 postseasons
    – @6:13 if Judge was paying Teoscar even he probably catches the ball
    – “CLAY HOLMES IT THE BEST RELIEVER IN BASEBALL”

    there are some other gems that would be nice for Hal to hear.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crK7pix7zsU

    1. – no series wins against a non al central team in last 6 postseasons

      I don’t know how that’s really a knock. We know that a dominant Astros dynasty beat them a bunch of times, and an amazing Red Sox team beat them once (the remaining year was the awful 2021 Wild Card loss where they somehow stuck with an injured Cole to start that game like morons. That Red Sox team DID make it to the ALCS that year). The problem was that they were never the best team in the AL. They were the best team in the AL this year, and they made the World Series. The goal should just to be the best team, not “make sure to play central teams in the ALCS.”

      if Judge was paying Teoscar even he probably catches the ball

      I definitely agree with that one. I said it when it happened. A good center fielder probably makes that catch. Judge should really not be playing center next year, the Martian should, and the Martian should. The Martian is young enough that he should improve on his reads.

  18. Yankees have checked in on Alonso and Bregman. Neither appear likely to be signed by NY. I could see Alonso being a consolation prize for Soto, maybe. Who knows. The Mets have a lot of money to spend.

    1. I’ll give them this much, if there ever was a year to lose a Hall of Fame-level player like Soto, this is the year, as you really could replace a good chunk of his ability with a few choice free agents.

      Bregman 3B R
      Judge RF R
      Dominguez LF S
      Alonso 1B R
      Jazz CF L
      Stanton DH R
      Wells C L
      Volpe SS R
      Durbin 2B R

      That’s not a bad lineup, and it is probably a MUCH better defensive lineup than this past season.

    3. That’s not to mention that Soto is coming off his highest bWAR ever, while Alonso is coming off of an off year, so presumably Alonso and Adames combined will make less than Soto, I imagine, on much shorter contracts.

    4. Obviously, of course, you still want to re-sign the Hall of Famer, no doubt. That’s the top plan, for sure. It’s just that there are some actually good players out there, unlike when Judge was a free agent, and there was no way to replace his value.

    5. Jazz is not a good CF – really not a fan of any plan that moves him out of the IF. I do like him at 3B quite a bit.

    6. I agree that Jazz is MUCH more valuable in the infield, it’s just that the outfield free agents are less interesting, with Santander being the only vaguely interesting guy, and he’s a terrible outfielder who can only play right field. The best center fielder on the market might very well be Harrison fucking Bader!

    7. Brutal scouting on Alonso.

      I understand that Alonso is a fan favorite and may be beloved in the Mets’ clubhouse, but he’s entering free agency off the two worst years of his career and he is the type of player who ages very poorly. Alonso has hit .229/.324/.480 over the last two seasons and struck out just under 25 percent of the time, while his batted-ball data is almost all trending the wrong way. He just posted the highest groundball rate of his career in 2024, while his hard-hit rates are all at or near career lows, and he has become very vulnerable to breaking stuff.

      He’s also a very poor defender at first, which has been the case since he was a prospect, with Statcast crediting (debiting?) him with minus-18 runs on defense over his career. Slow position players who are poor defenders and rely on power for most of their value tend to age more poorly than other categories of position players, and Alonso might be the ne plus ultra of such players, even though he’ll only be 30 next season. He’s a 2-3 win player as is and might be half that in five years, so while he’d be great to sign on a short-term deal, even for $20-25 million, I think any longer deal is going to end up paying him for past production rather than future.

      https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5874781/2024/11/01/mlb-top-50-free-agent-ranking-keith-law/

    9. They don’t need a RH bat with so much swing and miss, and he’s awful at 1st base. The DH spot is Stanton’s.

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