MLB

Yankees owner isn’t in rush to pay Japanese ace Darvish

MILWAUKEE — Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner has the image as the prudent son — though in comparison to George Steinbrenner even a Kardashian might look financially circumspect.

It is not that Hal refuses to open the family vault. After all, he has now done it twice for CC Sabathia.

It is just that Hal is less impetuous than his father. He needs one of his lieutenants to make a persuasive case filled with data and reason. He is not an impulse shopper like his dad.

Thus, when it comes to Japanese ace Yu Darvish or Cuban five-tool center fielder Yoenis Cespedes, Hal is going to need to be sold beyond the normal standards to put aside the greater unknowns and invest heavily.

“Look, it’s difficult when you don’t have as much film on a player to watch,” Steinbrenner said upon arriving for an owners meeting at the Pfister Hotel. “You don’t have as many scouts that have laid eyes on that player before. There is no doubt it’s difficult. But I had never heard of El Duque [Orlando Hernandez] until he came. There certainly have been players that came out of those countries who have been great. But you’re right, there is just less intel and less to go on, so you really have to rely on the guys who have seen him down there. But there’s no doubt it’s a difficult decision.”

Hal was insistent that decision, when it came to Darvish, would not be prejudiced by the disaster that ensued after the Yankees won the post for Kei Igawa.

“We are going to look at each person as an individual,” he said. “That [Igawa] is not going to affect it. At least not for me.”

But general manager Brian Cashman admitted to being more hesitant based on accumulating knowledge, including the Igawa debacle. For example, he said the Yankees have had trouble transitioning pitchers from the NL to the AL East, and that becomes even tougher when you are doing that with a player from Japan who also is changing — among other things — culture, training regimens and travel familiarity.

“When you have to look ownership in the eye and ask them to put big iron in the middle of the table, it becomes tough to do when the cost of the [foreign] player goes higher and higher,” Cashman said.

What makes this fascinating is that Yankee scouts are very impressed by Cespedes as a raw talent and Darvish as a high-end starter whose stuff can translate from Japan to the United States rather seamlessly. So the chain would have to be those scouts selling Cashman well enough that the general manager felt confident enough to advise the Steinbrenners to spend the dough. Which is unlikely.

The anticipation is Darvish will cost no less than $80 million — at least $30 million to win the post to negotiate exclusively with the righty and another $50 million to sign him — and Cespedes is expected to gain more than the $30 million that was necessary for Cincinnati to lure Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman two years ago.

Cespedes would be a forward-looking luxury item because Hal views the everyday lineup as a strength. As for pitching, Hal said, “we still have work to do” even after re-signing Sabathia to an extension that he explained, “needed to get done.”

Echoing Cashman, Hal prioritized a starter and a lefty reliever. As for the offense, Hal recognizes that the team’s most expensive player needs to be better than he was during the regular season and playoffs.

“We all need Alex [Rodriguez] to be Alex,” Hal said. “The fans expect it. The fans want it. Alex expects it. Nobody is harder on himself than him. He will show up in spring ready to play. He will be in shape. And he’ll be doing his work. He knows he needs to do better than that.”

Detroit’s GM: Reyes is not a good fit for Tigers

The Tigers were expected to be an aggressive suitor for Jose Reyes. Their baseball department sees him as an ideal leadoff hitter to push the on-base-challenged Austin Jackson to the bottom third of the lineup. They could move Jhonny Peralta to third base since his power bat profiles there any way and Detroit no longer believes Brandon Inge is an everyday player.

But though outside officials keep expecting Detroit to pursue Reyes because of the win-a-title fervor of owner Mike Ilitch, Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said Reyes is a near-impossible fit in the organization’s financial parameters. Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander are both signed for more than $20 million through 2014 with Cabrera’s contract stretching into 2015. Reyes probably will command $17 million to $20 million on at least a five-year contract.

Thus, Detroit would be in a situation for at least the next three seasons in which four players — Reyes, Cabrera, Verlander and Victor Martinez — made more than $70 million, and Tiger officials believe that would make it too much of a financial land mine to assemble a quality overall roster.

The Tigers also do not feel pressure to land Reyes because even without him they are the dominant AL Central team. Detroit, like the Yankees, is the rare team that could play with its current roster and feel it has a strong chance to make the playoffs.

That implicates the weakness of the rest of the division, especially because White Sox general manager Kenny Williams is now openly talking about rebuilding. Of course, Detroit also is not going to stand pat, wanting to address that leadoff spot — possibly with a second or third baseman — plus the Tigers need a backup catcher and want to find a low-cost veteran starter to serve as a placeholder until touted prospect Jacob Turner is fully ready to join Verlander, Doug Fister, Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello in the rotation.

Nevertheless, when I ran all of this past an AL executive he made reference to Ilitch’s willingness to have big payrolls in the past and his ownership of Little Caesars to say, “He will just sell a few more pizzas. If he thinks Reyes helps them win a championship, money will not be a factor.”

* The Brewers also remain a potential landing spot for Reyes. Milwaukee is taking one more look if it can fit Prince Fielder into its payroll. But that remains very, very unlikely. But one reason the Brewers did not pick up the option on Yuniesky Betancourt is that they wanted to consider free-agent shortstops Reyes, Jimmy Rollins and Clint Barmes.

* Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said he was told by agent Scott Levanthal that Eric Chavez wants to play next year. Cashman said he liked Chavez on and off the field, leaving the possibility of a return.

Cashman said all free-agent talks remain “preliminary” with no offers exchanged. He also has yet to approve any free-agent visits despite the request by C.J. Wilson to come to New York to meet with Yankees officials.

The Yankees remain lukewarm on Wilson based mainly on a belief that he is a No. 3-ish starter who will command much more than that.