While the Red Sox prepare to face the Cardinals in the World Series the Yankees will hold organizational meetings this week intended to lay a floor plan for filling many needs so they don’t spend a second straight October watching the postseason.
Hal and Hank Steinbrenner and executive vice president Felix Lopez will be joined in Tampa by, among others, club president Randy Levine and general manager Brian Cashman.
A recent meeting of the Yankees’ pro scouting department included discussions of free agents and potential trade candidates.
Among the free agents on the Yankees’ radar are Japanese right-hander Masahiro Tanaka, Reds outfielder Sin-Soo Choo, Braves left-hander Paul Maholm, Braves catcher Brian McCann and Red Sox shortstop Stephen Drew.
Of that group, the Yankees have targeted Tanaka as a priority. The posting process can’t begin until after Nov. 1. Though Tanaka, considered the best pitcher in Japan, could command a contract in the neighborhood of $60 million for five years, the posting fee — which will likely cost upwards of $60 million — does not count against the salary cap.
Clouding the issue of what the Yankees can do in the free-agent market is what Robinson Cano will do and how long will Alex Rodriguez be suspended.
Until the Yankees learn those answers, they won’t know how much money they have to spend as they attempt to keep next year’s payroll under the $189 million luxury-tax threshold.
Cano has asked for a 10-year, $310 million deal, something the Yankees aren’t interested in. Rodriguez is facing a 211-game suspension for being involved in the Biogenesis scandal. He is currently appealing and the hearing won’t be concluded until at least late-November. A final ruling could take another 25 days.
The Yankees are expected to offer free-agent Curtis Granderson a $14.1 million qualifying offer. If he accepts it, that could start the process of looking for a team to take Ichiro Suzuki out of The Bronx because retaining Granderson would give the Yankees an outfield of Alfonso Soriano, Brett Gardner and Granderson.
Even if Granderson leaves, that doesn’t mean Suzuki stays. The Yankees could sign Choo, which would make Suzuki expendable.
If Granderson turns the offer down and signs with another team — the White Sox appear to be interested — the Yankees would get a draft pick for losing him.
Speaking after the end of the disappointing season that was sabotaged by a staggering amount of injuries to key players, Hal Steinbrenner admitted to being concerned the minor league system wasn’t ready to provide capable replacements for the injured stars.
He vowed to turn over every stone looking for reasons. While firings aren’t anticipated, it’s not out of the question people will be reassigned. Mark Newman heads the player development program and Damon Oppenheimer is in charge of amateur scouting. Neither is expected to attend the meetings.
Oppenheimer has been criticized for several high picks recently, but his 2013 draft was recently ranked third among MLB teams by Baseball America.
As for McCann, a seven-time All-Star who turns 30 in February, he could cost $15 million a season for four to five seasons.
Signing him would mean the Yankees admitting they were wrong not to bring Russell Martin back before this season. Martin, who wanted to return, said he never was contacted by the Yankees following the 2012 season. He signed a two-year deal for $17 million with the Pirates.
Bringing McCann aboard would also be an admission the Yankees don’t believe any of their catching prospects are close to being ready for everyday big league work.
Gary Sanchez, who the Yankees gave $3 million to in 2009 and is the organization’s best position prospect, turns 22 in December and played at Tampa (Single-A) and Trenton (Double-A) this past season.
J.R. Murphy and Austin Romine played in the big leagues in 2013, but don’t possess the offensive potential of Sanchez.