Now It’s My Turn
by Cary Greene
November 24, 2021
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Many fun articles come out this time of year as writers enjoy the offseason and dream about baseball and their favorite teams. I’ve never put my mind to the task of creating an overall plan but, after reading many of the SSTN articles, I think I’ll take a crack at it.
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Previous Articles in this Series:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
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Now I turn my attention towards the bullpen and I reunite with David Robertson. He could wind up being a huge addition and a key member of the bullpen during out big championship drive. He has the high-leverage experience and he loved his time in New York. Reuniting with Robertson for one year is easy and besides, it was simply too hard to watch him pitch successfully in the postseason this year.
Yankees Get: RH-RP David Robertson, +$2.5 million added to payroll
In one of my final moves, I sign Corey Kluber, hoping that he works out. All it cost me was a dollar and a dream! Actually, it might take around $12 million, maybe slightly more.
Yankees Get: R-H SP Corey Kluber, +$12 million added to payroll
Lastly, I polish off my offseason by signing Corey Seager to play shortstop until/if Anthony Volpe is ready to play at the major league level. This is a big, splashy signing and the Yankees get a clubhouse leader, a proven big game performer and above all, a winner. Not to mention, his left-handed bat slides right into the middle of the Yankee lineup. Seager makes markedly harder contract than Trevor Story and Seager is just a better long term fit.
Yankees Get: L-H SS Corey Seager $310 million for 10 years, AAV $31 Million
My new lineup looks pretty good doesn’t it? I added $92.7 million in payroll to completely fix the offense and add an ace to the rotation. I have blazing speed at the top of the order, power in the middle of it and batsmanship at the bottom. I also have a pretty solid bench.
Starling Marte CF
Ketel Marte 2B
DJ LeMahieu 3B-2B-1B
Aaron Judge RF-DH
Corey Seager SS
Giancarlo Stanton DH-RF
Anthony Rizzo – 1B
Salvador Perez C
Andrew Benintendi LF
Bench
Kyle Higashioka C
Aaron Hicks OF
Gio Urshela SS-3B
TBD
* I’m keeping Gio Urshela because I plan on flexing LeMahieu around and I happen to think Urshela is a splendid and versatile player and that he proved that this past season. If Seager gets injured, I’d want a phenomenal plan b and Urshela could provide that. Remember, I’m 100% in on a championship.
I added $20.5 million to bolster the starting rotation, which now looks like this:
Gerrit Cole
Sean Manaea
Luis Severino
Jordan Montgomery
Corey Kluber, Nestor Cortes Jr or Luis Gil
My Bullpen is largely the same as it was this past season, except for the addition of David Robertson who can bolster the high-leverage team. I’d have loved to trade Aroldis Chapman and try Jonathan Loasiga out as the closer and I believe Albert Abreu will emerge this coming season and become a valuable arm. Abreu’s learning curve has been steep but reading into his season gives me much hope.
Chad Green has the eighth inning nailed down and the addition of Robertson takes a lot of pressure and stress off the back end of the bullpen. The Yankees have Gil capable of stepping in while Cortes Jr has already proven to be both durable and capable as well. Lucas Lutge is also back and Stephen Ridings may become a part of the mix as well.
I did give up on Clarke Schmidt which might be a huge mistake but I’m just not convinced his health will hold up long term. We’re in win-now mode and the front of my rotation is now a lot more formidable with Manaea.
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