There are legitimate complaints about New York's baseball team. But what I don't understand is that it seems to have a long life and is cheap.
They may be incompetent and underspend. There is something to be discussed there. But is it cheap?
Literally on Friday, a Yankees fan came up to me on the street and said they cheapened, that's why they signed Marcus Stroman to a two-year, $37 million contract. I just shook my head. This is because once this way of thinking becomes fixed, no matter how many facts there are, I don't think it can be overturned. Still, I'll try it here anyway.
After offering Yoshinobu Yamamoto $300 million, they pivoted to Strowman. Taking into account posting fees and luxury tax implications, the total would be approximately $370 million. Yamamoto preferred the West Coast, and the Dodgers signed the right-hander for 12 years, losing out for $325 million. This was the largest contract ever given to a pitcher, eclipsing Gerrit Cole's $324 million deal with the Yankees.
The Yankees also had the largest free agent contract in history with the $360 million deal for Aaron Judge, but the Dodgers also eclipsed that with a 10-year, $700 million deferred contract for Shohei Ohtani. . Judge signed last offseason, the same deal as Carlos Rodon, who at the time was the 11th-highest-paid pitcher in history at $162 million.
Again, you could argue that it's a stupid use of money. If you've been reading this space, seen me on TV, or listened to my podcast, you know that I hate signing autographs. You know I'm not a fan of the Strowman deal either. But in reality, the Stroman deal will cost the Yankees more than $300 million in payroll costs for luxury tax purposes. Remember when Hal Steinbrenner said he didn't need a $200 million salary to win, and then he changed that statement to $300 million?
Well, he's over that anyway, and I doubt the Yankees ended up with around $305 million. I believe they will continue to monitor the market for pitchers such as Dylan Cease (trade) and Blake Snell (free agency) to see if they fall to a more comfortable level. I think they will add at least one relief pitcher.
You see, there have been times when the Yankees have danced too much with the luxury tax — like when they extended DJ LeMahieu's contract to six years instead of a four-year deal and increased his annual salary. However, investments in general, not just salaries, are doing well.
As Jameson Taillon said on his “Foul Territory” podcast last week, the Yankees “are an organization that treats its players and their families the right way. They always stay in nice hotels. They always have maximum access to resources. Masu.”
Steve Cohen is trying the same thing with the Mets. Both New York clubs know they have to overcome factors when acquiring free agents, including high city and state taxes, traffic and perceptions about how safe it is to live here, and a hostile media and fan base. I understand. And that often means 1) paying a premium to have someone come, and 2) creating a comfortable environment for the players and their families so the word gets out that this is a top-notch place to play. means.
Let's remember that even in this “austerity” offseason, the Mets matched the Dodgers' acquisition of Yamamoto. The fact that he wasn't asked for a higher level screamed that once he reached this range, Yamamoto would go his own way in Los Angeles.
Cohen has experimented with spending at the top level in recent years as a way to camouflage the multi-year work required to build an infrastructure like the Dodgers'. This infrastructure is meant to provide a regular supply of meaningful players from the system and to be available for trade. Midway through last season, Cohen did something other owners wouldn't have considered — taking on a lot of dead money over several years with Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, thinking things weren't going well. They canceled their plans and basically tried to buy more. Trading outlook.
Whether these were good or bad moves is debatable. But they weren't cheap moves. Scherzer, Verlander and James McCann carry roughly $62 million in dead money for luxury tax purposes for the Mets this year. This amounts to close to 20% of their salary. By the way, that annual salary will be the largest this year, and in 2023 it will be the second largest in history behind the Mets (in 2024, the Yanks and Dodgers are currently tied for second place).
Even if the trade saved some money, Cohen's bill in 2023 between salary and luxury tax was $475.5 million. This season will probably approach or exceed $400 million. And do even the most skeptical Mets pundits believe that Cohen won't make any payroll increases if the Mets are in contention in July? Do you really believe that President of Baseball Operations David Stearns is from Milwaukee and only wants to make small market moves?
Stearns was born and raised in New York as a Mets fan. He was pushing Yamamoto. Incidentally, the person responsible for the Dodgers' acquisition of Ohtani and Yamamoto was Andrew Friedman, the baseball operations manager who came from Tampa Bay 10 years ago.
They are smart and competitive people. They will try to get better using the tools available to them in Milwaukee, Tampa Bay and New York. Do you think Mr. Stearns is actually going to say to Mr. Cohen, “No, I don't want to spend the money”?
The difference with Friedman is that he has done a great job of incorporating players in everything from the waiver wire to the largest contract in history. Let's see if Stearns can emulate that. The Yankees and Brian Cashman have made more mistakes at the top level than the Dodgers.
But it wasn't about pay. The argument that the Yankees and Mets should spend more feels like it's coming from a minority of people who never feel like they get enough praise — even more with every new addition. It just creates demand.
And as it turns out, the New York club doesn't have a salary problem. They had trouble making decisions.
