What the Yankees Offseason Plan Should Have Been
…Late February Thoughts by Cary Greene
February 23, 2024
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Every offseason, I crunch the CBT numbers for all of the teams I follow (the Yankees, the Pirates and the A’s) and I also look at many other teams who are viewed as contenders. This gives me a glimpse into what each ball club’s offseason plans might look like. When I zero in on the Yankees, I form my own plan each offseason, based on the moves I think the Yankees should make. Going into the offseason, I felt that any players the Yankees added needed to have projectable durability. If Cashman could manage to add players who didn’t have significant injury histories or concerns, if each new player had a clean bill of health, then this might serve to right the Yankees ship and change the franchise’s fortunes.
It seems like Cashman has added a nice group of durable players with clean bills of health. He added a legitimate 4th outfielder in Trent Grisham, who is an absolute ball hawk defensively. He also added a durable left fielder in Alex Verdugo and a durable right fielder to boost the middle of the lineup’s production in Juan Soto. Of course, Cashman gave up a ton of pitching depth to accomplish all this, most notably parting with Mike King, Jhony Brito, Randy Vasquez, Drew Thorpe and Kyle Higashoika. Understanding that a GM has give in order to get, most Yankees fans were okay with these goings on.
Looking to boost the Yankees rotation, Cashman also signed Marcus Stroman to help bolster the rotation and he made some under the radar moves as he usually does, signing some extra pitching depth in Cody Poteet and Luke Weaver.
Cashman actually stayed quite active this offseason, making a series of lesser moves and though he didn’t make any major splashes, he did a fair amount of shuffling the Yankees deck of cards. He acquired Jorbit Vivas and lefty reliever Victor Gonzalez from the Dodgers, while giving up the Yankees 2021 First Round Draft Pick Trey Sweeney in the process. He also claimed Jordan Groshans off waivers from the Marlins while DFA-ing lefty reliever Matt Krook, to provide some depth.
In all, the Yankees have invited 66 players to Spring Training this year. 11 of these players were signed to Minor-League contracts, three are non-roster invitees (fan favorite Greg Allen and lefties Anthony Misiewicz and Tanner Tully) and another ten are currently in the Yankees system (C Josh Breaux, infielders T.J. Rumfield, Caleb Durbin and Jeter Downs, catchers Ben Rice and Josh Breaux, outfielders Spencer Jones, Oscar Gonzalez and Brandon Lockridge and righties Chase Hampton and Will Warren. Two other righties, Joey Gerber and Art Warren, were signed to multi-year Minor League contracts and were invited to Spring Training.
An excellent press release from the Yankees which goes in depth on all of the Yankees 2024 Spring Training Invitees can be found here, on the Yes Network site.
Lopping off a ton of mostly dead wood this offseason, Cashman was quite the lumberjack this winter as he parted ways with a number of players the Yankees had counted heavily on over the past few seasons. Gone is former Yankees ace Luis Severino, who was often injured and struggling badly to perform. Also vamoosed are Josh Donaldson, Isaiah Kiner-Falefa, Wandy Peralta, the aforementioned Kyle Higashioka, Domingo German, Billy McKinney, Franchy Cordero and Jake Bauers.
Cashman’s roster was also pillaged, as the Yankees lost three valuable pitching prospects in the 2024 Rule 5 Draft, The Yankees were rocked by the A’s, who selected Mitch Spence with the first pick and were also submarined by the Royals, who nabbed Matt Sauer. The Rangers also swooped in to take Carson Coleman with the 23rd pick.
We’re now at that juncture in the offseason where we, as Yankees fans, try to evaluate the moves Cashman made and we often wonder, “Did he do enough?” That’s a very open ended statement of course. Some fans are content making the playoffs, while others like me expect championships and want to see the Yankees become a dynasty again. In any event, one thing is certain to me as I’ve sat by the fire, trying to stay warm this winter.
Most of the moves Cashman made were ones that I could have never predicted or imagined, not even in my wildest imagination. A lot more has happened this offseason than many casual Yankees fans might realize. Cashman has yet to punctuate his offseason moves by making one last major signing, but he certainly can’t be accused of being too inactive this winter! Even though there are several star players still available, most of them are holding out for contracts that seem to be, so far anyways, a bit too big for whatever (if any) budget Cashman has remaining.
One also can’t accuse Hal Steinbrenner of not spending this offseason either. According to Sportac, the Yankees have the highest payroll in baseball for this season - $290,541,666 - with Hal Steinbrenner set to foot a $42.8 million dollar luxury tax bill on top of the $290.5 million and change he’ll be doling out to field a team he hopes will make the postseason this year.
If we look at the major acquisitions only - Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo, Trent Grisham and Marcus Stroman - the lion’s share of the money spent this season ($64.2 million) was allocated to these four players. That makes this group a very significant one and that’s why the media has well scrutinized that addition of each player. Cashman has coverage at each position on the diamond and he has some depth to provide backup in case of injuries. Cashman also has a starting rotation in place, one he believes will be successful.
Personally, I don’t hate Cashman’s plan, in fact, I rather like it - so I’ll kick start our discussion today by asking these questions of our readers: Did Brian Cashman do enough? –and– Do you like the moves he made?
I’ll lead off with my answers. I’ve already admitted I like the moves Cashman made. I think the Yankees could be very good this season and as many of you know, I’m all about pitching, so I think this team can go as far as their rotation will take them. If Nestor Cortes can come back strong and if Carlos Rodon can return to form, the Yankees are every bit a playoffs team. However, I don’t think Cashman did enough. I don’t think the Yankees, as currently constructed, are the kind of team that, against elite pitching, can eke out runs in the postseason.
At least Cashman has built a well balanced lineup this offseason, with his focus on getting more left-handed. I think Cashman has overlooked the leadoff spot in the lineup and I believe if he would have gotten more creative, he might have either been able to provide a better answer than Trent Grisham in center field or, perhaps he would have been able to move Gleyber Torres as part of a larger deal. Cashman should have targeted an elite or plus-plus leadoff hitter, someone capable of starting for the Yankees. This would be easier said than done, I’m quite sure, but if Cashman would have put a focus on accomplishing this, he would have created a very dangerous lineup.
Ideally, a healthy DJ LeMahieu should bat second in a lineup capable of making the World Series. His greatest skill is his batsmanship. A good base runner he isn’t, but if Cashman put a good base runner in front of LeMaheiu, with Soto and Judge to follow and with Rizzo and Torres protecting the big boppers, the Yankees would be a very different team and the lineup would be lengthened significantly.
As things stand though, I do think that if Jasson Dominguez can return at some point in the second half of the season and if Anthony Volpe can take a step forward offensively, the Yankees are possibly going to become a dangerous team if they make the playoffs. A healthy Dominguez changes the entire complexion of the Yankees lineup, so if he’s able to return, Aaron Boone could bat him in the leadoff spot. I can’t even imagine how a switch-hitting speedster, with power, would transform the Yankees lineup but I do know one thing - it might be otherworldly!
Over the first half of the season, it would be great for the Yankees if both Volpe and Austin Wells could also each improve on their rookie seasons. If this were to happen - watch out! The Yankees lineup would become amazing.
One thing I don’t like at all about the team Cashman has built is that Juan Soto, who will be a costar in this year’s Aaron Judge movie, is only a one-year rental player. He’s one of the best hitters in the game and I think Yankees fans are going to like him a lot. But his impending free agency is going to become a serious distraction for this team as the season goes along. I also think that if Hal Steinbrenner really wanted to go all in and try to win a World Series, that he should consider opening his checkbook for another quality starter like Blake Snell - assuming Jordan Montgomery isn’t an option.
Nonetheless, with a focus on the season in front of the Yankees, I like the direction the team is headed in, I’m feeling jazzed up for spring training! I’m okay with the plucky Marcus Stroman in the rotation (he induces a lot of ground balls by the way) and I’m so glad that baseball is in the air again and we’re getting close to the start of the season!
Thanks for reading everyone and don’t forget to share YOUR thoughts in the comments section below!
