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It is not quite wait until next year yet for the Yankees. They are just close enough to a wild-card spot with just enough games against divisional foes remaining to continue a playoff chase that falls somewhere between long shot and delusion.
So they will not be dealing any veterans before the Aug. 31 playoff-eligibility deadline like the Mets did in moving Marlon Byrd and John Buck to Pittsburgh.
But let us not kid ourselves. The Yankees front office could insist the entire organization is invested in only the here and now. However, it is thinking plenty already about next year’s club.
Except here is a key: One of the most important factors in how the 2014 Yankees are constructed and the time frame in which the organization could do the heavy lifting is completely out of its control.
It remains a possibility Alex Rodriguez wants to play the rest of this season and then will be more amenable to working out a settlement of what is his pending 211-game suspension. For now, though, his side has vowed to fight to conclusion and so has the Commissioners Office. And that conclusion, both sides plus the players’ union concur, will not come before November and possibly not even December.
And the later the date, the worse and worse for the Yankees.
Look, it is possible the Yankees are going to blow up plans to get under the $189 million luxury-tax threshold for next season. In 2008, the Yanks didn’t make the playoffs for the only time in the last two decades and responded by spending $423.5 million on Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. But they did have the pressure point of opening a new stadium in 2009 with exorbitant prices, which pushed them to field a no-doubt contender loaded with stars.
This time around there is no such overt pressure point. I am hearing even the more financially aggressive members of the organization talk about the significant long-term value of getting under $189 million next year, which — among other things — would save $40 million-ish in 2014 payroll and $20 million-ish in tax.
It also means the next time the Yankees go over the threshold the tax would re-set at 17.5 percent rather than 50 percent. And so, for example, if Clayton Kershaw or Max Scherzer or both actually get out into the free-agent market after the 2014 season, then you would see the Yanks flexing $400 million-ish in muscle again, because the penalty would be so much less.
No single action would make getting under the $189 million goal easier than if Rodriguez’s suspension is upheld in full or even is minimized to just next year. That not only would erase $27.5 million from the ledger. But also the threat of a $6 million bonus should Rodriguez pass Willie Mays’ 660-homer mark next season. That’s right — there are scenarios in which Rodriguez could cost the Yankees zero next year or $33.5 million, which is 17.7 percent of the whole $189 million by itself. Or maybe something in between, if arbitrator Fredric Horowitz lowers the penalty to, say, 50 or 100 games.
The Yankees need to know what that figure is going to be before they can decide what they can afford under the $189 million. And if the decision, for example, does not come until
Dec. 1, the Yanks might just be in a state of suspended animation for a month of the offseason, frozen from making moves while their competitors will have no such handcuffs. Heck, they wouldn’t even know if they needed to acquire a full-time third baseman or not.
When asked about this yesterday, general manager Brian Cashman held to his policy of not discussing any item having to do with A-Rod, even if it is just superficially about Rodriguez and more about crafting a future payroll.
Clearly, however, the Yankees very badly will be rooting for two outcomes — Rodriguez’s full suspension to be upheld and for that ruling to come faster than anticipated.
Time could be running
out on senior managers
With the firing of Charlie Manuel by the Phillies, Joe Girardi is now tied with the Reds’ Dusty Baker for eighth in tenure in their current managing jobs.
The two far-and-away leaders are the Angels’ Mike Scioscia, hired after the 1999 season, and the Twins’ Ron Gardenhire, hired after the 2001 campaign. Both are hardly on stable ground to retain their jobs.
If they are axed, then the leaders would become the Rays’ Joe Maddon and the Tigers’ Jim Leyland, both hired after the 2005 season. The Padres’ Bud Black, Giants’ Bruce Bochy and Rangers’ Ron Washington were hired following the 2006 campaign, and Girardi and Baker following 2007.
The firing of Manuel also means Terry Collins is tied with the Braves’ Fredi Gonzalez for longest tenure in their current jobs in the NL East — both hired after the 2010 season. Washington’s Davey Johnson assumed his position during the 2011 season — and it already has been announced that he is leaving after this year. Mike Redmond was named by the Marlins after last season, and Ryne Sandberg replaced Manuel this month.
Hunter hits the target
Torii Hunter has only enhanced his reputation as a clubhouse gem and clutch player this year — his three-run, walk-off homer yesterday carried Detroit over Oakland.
You might remember the Yankees were interested in signing Hunter as a free agent last offseason. But they worried about his age (38 in June) and the deal breaker was he wanted a two-year deal, and the Yanks wanted to avoid putting a significant amount of money onto their 2014 payroll with the goal of getting under the $189 million luxury-tax threshold.
Hunter received a two-year, $26 million deal and has been a high-end performer (.308 average with 16 homers and 70 RBIs).
Had the Yankees had him in right field and his righty bat from the outset of this season, would that have kept them from signing Ichiro Suzuki, and trading for Vernon Wells and Alfonso Soriano?
That trio, by the way, comes at the price tag to the Yankees of two years at $33.7 million — though the way the Wells trade was structured he costs zero toward the 2014 Yankees’ luxury-tax payroll.
As for avoiding age, the Yankees did get rid of Raul Ibanez, who is the oldest regularly used outfielder in the majors. But Suzuki is the second oldest, Hunter the third oldest and Soriano the fourth oldest. Plus, Wells, is 34.