While the Yankees and their fans would like the World Series between blood rival Boston and St. Louis to go by in a blur so a disappointing baseball season can be put to rest, the end of the World Series marks the beginning of a crucial time for the Yankees.
Led by Hal Steinbrenner, the Yankees’ brass met Monday in The Bronx to develop a plan to improve a club that won 85 games and didn’t make it into the postseason for the first time since 2008. The meetings continue today.
Immediately after the World Series is completed, the free-agent market opens and the Yankees have Brian McCann, Shin-Soo Choo and Stephen Drew on their radar.
Five days after the final out, it will be announced which players eligible for free agency have accepted or declined a $14.1 million qualifying offer. In the same time period, the Yankees will learn whether Derek Jeter exercises his $9.5 million option for next season. Starting Nov. 1, the posting process on Japanese ace Masahiro Tanaka is slated to begin.
The Yankees, who scouted Tanaka extensively this past season, have targeted the Japanese right-hander as a key to rebuilding a rotation that lost Andy Pettitte, will lose Phil Hughes and likely lose Hiroki Kuroda. The posting fee, which doesn’t count toward a club’s payroll in regards to the $189 million luxury-tax threshold, could be as high as $60 million.
Jeter, who turns 40 in June, and is coming off a lost season due to injuries that limited him to 17 games and none after Sept. 7 when the Yankees were fighting for a playoff spot, will likely pick up the option instead of the $3 million buyout that would allow him to become a free agent.
However, the qualifying offers aren’t as cut and dried.
Robinson Cano, who had to be hoping the deep-pocketed Dodgers would be in play for him, will get one, so if he leaves the Yankees get a draft pick as compensation.
Curtis Granderson isn’t in the same light.
From the Yankees’ side, it is logical for them to make Granderson the $14.1 million offer.
If healthy, which he wasn’t last season when he broke his right wrist and left pinky, the left-handed hitting Granderson would be a lock to hit 35 homers playing half his games in Yankee Stadium and its very friendly right-field seats. And the offer would serve as protection if Granderson leaves because the Yankees would get a draft pick.
While Granderson’s agent, Matt Brown, told The Post on Oct. 2 his client wants to remain a Yankee, other teams could make him a multi-year offer. The White Sox, in Granderson’s hometown of Chicago, are reported to be interested.
“That’s his first choice,’’ Brown said of the 32-year-old outfielder remaining with the Yankees. “He absolutely wants to stay there.’’
If he accepts the qualifying offer, Granderson would be taking a $900,000 pay cut. However, he may figure a strong year would set him up for a lucrative free-agent deal following the 2014 season.
As for Cano, Dodger executive Magic Johnson caught the attention of MLB and the Players Association when he said the Dodgers didn’t have the money to sign Cano and pay Clayton Kershaw.
Now the Dodgers have inked 26-year-old Cuban defector Alex Guerrero to a four-year, $28 million deal. He was a shortstop in Cuba, but could be moved to second base.