TAX TROUBLE: The Yankees’ commitment to get under the $189M luxury-tax threshold before the 2014 season could cause them to lose Nick Swisher (right) and Curtis Granderson to free agency in the next two offseasons (
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Melky Cabrera made the NL All-Star team and Austin Jackson really should have made the AL squad.
Both were homegrown Yankees who were traded following the 2009 championship season to try to keep the titles coming — Cabrera as part of the Javier Vazquez deal and Jackson as the centerpiece for Curtis Granderson. In 2012 both are flourishing like never before.
Cabrera was third in the majors in hitting (.352) and Jackson’s .933 OPS was fourth best among AL outfielders (Granderson was ninth at .857), heading into last night’s games.
We highlight the rise of Cabrera and Jackson because, while starting pitching is currently the main worry with CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte both on the DL, the Yankees have an outfield deficiency looming.
Nick Swisher is a free agent after this season and Granderson after 2013. And if the Yankees adhere to their vow to have a payroll under the $189 million luxury tax for 2014, then there is pretty much zero possibility they will retain Swisher and a lot less of a chance than they want to portray of keeping Granderson long term.
To revisit some math: It will cost approximately $85 million toward the 2014 luxury tax payroll for just Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira plus the roughly $10 million every team is charged for items such as insurance. The Yankees almost certainly would prioritize re-signing Robinson Cano (also a free agent after ’13) over Granderson and, with Scott Boras as his agent, Cano will end up no less than $20 million toward the cap — probably more. And Granderson is a major player with the union, so I do not see him taking a big discount to stay.
Thus, shoehorning even $40 million annually for Cano and Granderson would mean the Yanks have five players signed in 2014 for $125 million and have to put together the rest of a roster on about $60 million. Not impossible. But not likely.
What further hurts the Yankees is that none of their better outfield prospects (Zoilo Almonte, Ramon Flores, Tyler Austin, Slade Heathcott and, especially, Mason Williams) are near-major league ready, which moved Brian Cashman to say immediate outfield solutions are “not coming from within.”
Nevertheless, Cashman said he is not emphasizing finding future outfield help in this month’s trade market. In fact, the Yankees GM projected a not-worried attitude, noting the organization has done a good job of, for example, transitioning in center from Bernie Williams to Johnny Damon to Cabrera/Brett Gardner to Granderson, and in right field going from Paul O’Neill to Gary Sheffield to Bobby Abreu to Swisher. In fact, the trades for Granderson and Swisher are arguably Cashman’s best.
There is generally a downplaying of Swisher because of his postseason failures and zany persona. But his .850 OPS since joining the Yankees ranks tied with Rickey Henderson for 25th all-time in franchise history (minimum 1,500 plate appearances). That is just behind Cano and Dave Winfield (both .851) and just ahead of Jorge Posada (.848).
“He’s done a hell of a job,” Cashman said of Swisher. “He’s underappreciated for what he’s brought to the table here.”
His departure would make Mark Teixeira the only switch-hitter left in the lineup, though the Yankees could sign the switch-hitting Cabrera, who is a free agent after this season. But I sense the organization does not want to reunite with Cabrera. Plus, with the $189 million in mind, they are more likely to look for one-year stopgaps.
They could shift Gardner to center, move Granderson to right and hunt for a left fielder. Or maybe a veteran such as Torii Hunter (a free agent after this season) would agree to a one-year deal to replace Swisher, biding the Yanks time to figure out how to potentially replace Granderson’s tailor-made lefty might for their Stadium.
“It’s for the offseason,” Cashman said about looking to fill outfield holes. “You would like to have security and a comfort level (about the future outfield). But we are not going to find that now, so why worry about it?”
Yanks took their shot at Sheets
The Yankees watched Ben Sheets throw near his Louisiana home recently and were impressed enough to offer the four-time All-Star a minor-league contract, The Post has learned. The Mets did not watch Sheets and had no interest in signing him.
The Yanks were willing to take the low-risk gamble to potentially deepen their rotation pool, especially with Andy Pettitte out until at least late August. Sheets, however, took Atlanta’s minor-league deal because it provided him an NL team in a pitcher’s park close to his home that had immediate need. The Braves lost Brandon Beachy for the season and are going through growing pains with Randall Delgado and Mike Minor.
Sheets, who makes his first start at Double-A tomorrow, last pitched in the majors for the A’s in 2009.
Qualls was right option
Before obtaining right-hander Chad Qualls, the Yankees had planned to call up Justin Thomas to join fellow southpaws Boone Logan and Clay Rapada. Thomas was holding lefties to a .184 average at Triple-A. Without CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte in the rotation, the Yankees wanted to add southpaw depth, especially with the lefty-leaning might of the Rays and Red Sox remaining on their first-half schedule. But Thomas became unavailable anyway because he was hit on the calf by a splintered bat.
* For the first time since 2001, the Red Sox have just one All-Star (David Ortiz). Interestingly, two of the biggest snubs were players Boston traded last offseason: Houston’s Jed Lowrie (NL-shortstop-leading .821 OPS) and Oakland’s Josh Reddick (18 homers).
* As Larry Stone of the Seattle Times pointed out, Jesus Montero had one homer and one RBI in June (for the record, 372 players had at least two RBIs). Yes, Montero hits in a bad lineup and in a pitcher-friendly home park. Still, his OPS was down to .669. Plus, Hector Noesi is 2-10 with a 5.69 ERA (0-3 with an 8.15 ERA in seven starts away from Safeco). Obviously with Michael Pineda and Jose Campos hurt, the Yanks can’t currently look good in this trade. But the struggles of the Mariners duo mitigates some of the sting.