The Yankees signed Brett Gardner to a four-year, $52 million extension on Sunday. Some thoughts:
1. The Yankees generally do not sign players to long-term deals before free agency. Every once in a while they will do so with a Robinson Cano or try with a Russell Martin.
But their philosophy has been to go year to year with players, which allows them to learn as much as possible before having to make a significant investment. They have been able to do that because their finances allow them to pay big arbitration numbers, and they have long held the belief that they could simply outbid any club in free agency to keep what they wanted.
But as Cano’s signing with the Mariners underscored, the Yankees no longer can assume they will win any bidding process. Plus, Hal Steinbrenner has shown a desire to be more cost conscious. So it is possible the Yankees will be more open-minded about buying out arbitration and free-agent years earlier on long-term deals – if they ever actually develop more players worth such an investment.
However, I was told the Yankees have yet to engage David Robertson in talks on a multi-year contract. Robertson is one year from free agency. And he offers a complicated case. The Yankees have come to believe that if the name is not Mariano Rivera, a team should not pay huge dollars for relievers because they are the easiest commodity to find in the market. Conversely, you have a question about how Robertson would even sell himself.
He has been one of the best setup men in the majors for several years. But he will try to close this season and, if he is successful, he can expect to be paid in a different financial level than even an elite setup man.
2. For years, the Yankees have been telling anyone who would listen that they love Gardner because he is a leadoff-hitting center fielder. But they kept finding ways to keep him out of center (Curtis Granderson, Jacoby Ellsbury) and out of the leadoff spot.
He has spent a lot of time as the ninth-place-batting left fielder. And it seems that is the way it will be for at least another season with Ellsbury in center and Joe Girardi likely to go with Ellsbury/Derek Jeter as the Nos. 1-2 hitters.
But this contract represents that the Yankees do actually value Gardner. They paid him similarly to what Cleveland gave Michael Bourn (four years, $48 million) last offseason. Bourn’s market was hurt by having the qualifying offer put on him, something the Yankees almost certainly would have done next offseason, when Gardner was due to be a free agent.
The question on Gardner is this: He turns 31 in August (he is three weeks older than Ellsbury). His legs give him above-average value at the plate, on the bases and on defense. When he has played often – 2010, 2011, 2013 – he has been a major asset. How much will he play as he moves toward his mid-30s, and what is his value if his legs begin to falter?
The Yankees could be facing a situation from 2016-18, for example, in which two players with limited power and declining speed (Ellsbury and Gardner) are on the payroll to play the outfield. That is the risk. The reward is if Gardner stays healthy, plays as he has in his best years and teams with Ellsbury for two speedy players with on-base skills that energize the Yanks on both sides of the ball.
2. The Gardner contract underscores that the Yankees’ last best chance to get under the luxury-tax threshold any time soon was this year, and even Steinbrenner has admitted that quest has come and gone.
Gardner’s extension means the Yankees already have 10 players signed for next year for $146,712,857. The threshold next season is again $189 million. Remember each team is charged roughly $11 million for items such as pension and insurance while budgeting about $5 million for in-season call-ups. Thus, the Yanks really are at about $162 million already for next season without addressing the free agency of Robertson and the potential arbitration of several players, notably Ivan Nova. Plus, you know, they still have to round out the rest of the roster.
This year, the Yanks had the benefit of losing all but $3.156 million of the $27.5 million that Alex Rodriguez costs toward the payroll for luxury-tax purposes. It is possible the Yankees will try to find a way to void the rest of the deal after Rodriguez’s suspension. But that is unlikely, and even if Rodriguez can’t play because of his problematic hips and insurance covers a big chunk of his salary, it does not erase the salary for luxury-tax purposes. A-Rod looks as if he will be on the luxury tax payroll through 2017.
And if the Yankees actually bring back Rodriguez and he hits six homers to get to 660, he would receive a $5 million milestone bonus for reaching Willie Mays’ level that also would count toward the payroll.
In addition to A-Rod, Gardner and Ellsbury, the Yankees signed for next year are CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, Masahiro Tanaka, Brian McCann, Carlos Beltran, Matt Thornton and Brendan Ryan.
The Yanks had hoped to get under $189 million this season because they believed it would save them around $100 million in a three-year period. Most notably, it would have meant they paid nothing in tax this year and reset from a 50-percent tax to a 17.5 percent tax the first time they went over again.
The Yanks began the offseason hoping to find a way to stay under the $189 million while reviving the roster after a playoff-less season with dramatic decreases in TV ratings and attendance. However, the free-agent prices were higher than they anticipated for the players they craved and the posting system to get someone such as Tanaka changed in a way that would hurt the possibility of staying under the threshold. Thus, Hal Steinbrenner authorized exceeding the threshold in an attempt to win in 2014.