Brett Gardner resigns with Yankees - 1-year, $7.5M

[reillymcshane]

Do I really care? No. But it's the start of the Hot Stove season. So it's exciting.

 

Long time Yankee Gardner has his $12.5M option declined ($2M buyout), then resigns with the Yankees. So he essentially gets $9.5M for 2019. The Yankees save $3M.

 

After last season's FA disappointments, I'm betting you'll see a lot of second-tier players sign quickly - taking the best deal they can find instead of hoping something emerges later.

 

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/25136729/brett-gardner-new-york-yankees-agree-one-year-contract

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Expensive bench player when they inevitably sign Harper to patrol CF.

[3and2Fastball]

Expensive bench player when they inevitably sign Harper to patrol CF.

 

I'm wondering if the Yankees will sign both Machado & Harper? I kinda figure Machado will be a Yankee. The problem is they still won't have enough pitching. Is it possible they sign Harper and/or Machado and a top pitching free agent like Corbin?

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Expensive bench player when they inevitably sign Harper to patrol CF.

 

I'm wondering if the Yankees will sign both Machado & Harper? I kinda figure Machado will be a Yankee. The problem is they still won't have enough pitching. Is it possible they sign Harper and/or Machado and a top pitching free agent like Corbin?

 

They tried to go "super lineup" this year by acquiring Stanton, and couldn't get past the Red Sox. I think they go "super-er lineup" this year, and make a play for both Harper and Machado, along with a couple big name starting pitchers like Corbin, Kuechel or Kershaw (if he opts out). It was obvious to me that they basically sat out free agency last year with an eye on this year's crop. I think Stanton fell into their laps, though, and they couldn't say no.

[KeithStone53151]

Yeah he's an expensive bench player regardless of if they get Harper. He's not starting very often on that team.

[sveumrules]

9.5 million is actually kinda cheap for a Yankees bench OF.

 

Jacoby Ellsbury got 21 million to play zero games last year & still has over 47 million due the next two seasons.

[502 to Right]

Expensive bench player when they inevitably sign Harper to patrol CF.

 

 

As someone who dislikes the Yankees I sure hope they sign Harper and play him in CF. His defense will be abysmal and he will get paid well in excess of the value he brings to the team. Win-win.

 

If I was a GM I wouldn't touch Harper with a 10 foot pole.

[CrewFanBrewMan69]

Expensive bench player when they inevitably sign Harper to patrol CF.

 

 

As someone who dislikes the Yankees I sure hope they sign Harper and play him in CF. His defense will be abysmal and he will get paid well in excess of the value he brings to the team. Win-win.

 

If I was a GM I wouldn't touch Harper with a 10 foot pole.

Yankees need infield help and pitching. I don’t think they get Harper, but good for us I think he’s going to be a Cub and will be another bloated contract for them.

[tmwiese55]

Expensive bench player when they inevitably sign Harper to patrol CF.

 

 

As someone who dislikes the Yankees I sure hope they sign Harper and play him in CF. His defense will be abysmal and he will get paid well in excess of the value he brings to the team. Win-win.

 

If I was a GM I wouldn't touch Harper with a 10 foot pole.

Yankees need infield help and pitching. I don’t think they get Harper, but good for us I think he’s going to be a Cub and will be another bloated contract for them.

 

Yanks infield is Torres, Didi, Andujar. All young guys who did well and cost controlled for years. I know Didi is hurt for next year but all 3 IF spots are filled long term. Their OF currently has one good player in whichever of Stanton/Judge plays then two openings. Gardner is just blah at this point. Their lineup is very RH heavy as well so a lefty slugger in the middle would fit well.

[Devinep]

 

 

Yanks infield is Torres, Didi, Andujar. All young guys who did well and cost controlled for years. I know Didi is hurt for next year but all 3 IF spots are filled long term. Their OF currently has one good player in whichever of Stanton/Judge plays then two openings. Gardner is just blah at this point. Their lineup is very RH heavy as well so a lefty slugger in the middle would fit well.

 

Aaron hicks isn’t a good player? Or Clint Frazier? Also Andujars awful defensively and may have to move to 1B/DH. If lus yes, if didis hurt next year it opens up IF time

[CrewFanBrewMan69]

 

As someone who dislikes the Yankees I sure hope they sign Harper and play him in CF. His defense will be abysmal and he will get paid well in excess of the value he brings to the team. Win-win.

 

If I was a GM I wouldn't touch Harper with a 10 foot pole.

Yankees need infield help and pitching. I don’t think they get Harper, but good for us I think he’s going to be a Cub and will be another bloated contract for them.

 

Yanks infield is Torres, Didi, Andujar. All young guys who did well and cost controlled for years. I know Didi is hurt for next year but all 3 IF spots are filled long term. Their OF currently has one good player in whichever of Stanton/Judge plays then two openings. Gardner is just blah at this point. Their lineup is very RH heavy as well so a lefty slugger in the middle would fit well.

Didi is going to have to miss a big chunk of the year and is a FA after the year, they don’t have any other SS options as Torres is very fringe there, Andujar is moving more towards a LF/1B/DH guy, they need a middle infielder in my opinion and a guy who can handle SS. Their OF is way more set and have prospects coming. Judge, Stanton, Hicks, Frazier, Gardner, the corpse of Ellsbury is around for 2 more years, McKinney, etc.

[Lathund]

If I was a GM I wouldn't touch Harper with a 10 foot pole.

 

If I was a big-market GM I'd be all over Harper. Mind you that means GM of a team that could withstand multiple years above the luxury tax, and that would still have flexibility to make other moves. Which pretty much limits it to Yankees, Phillies and Dodgers I guess.

 

Now this isn't a logic I extend to free agents in general, but Harper (And Machado, if he wasn't such an *******) is a bit unique in that he's hitting free agency at such a young age. Even with a 10 year contract, you're only expecting the last couple of years to be bad. But even that isn't really the argument here; value-wise it still won't be a very good contract even in a somewhat optimistic scenario, and it carries a ton of risk. The reason it still makes sense is because of how hard it is to acquire top talent in this game, due to the draft and the long developmental cycle, the 6 (7 really) years of team control, the prospect premium for trades etc. You simply don't get the chance to sign a player this good who's only 26 very often. It's a rather unique opportunity to add a player this good for his prime years. Even a fairly pessimistic aging curve would suggest you're getting 5-6 highly productive years. When you're already a good team, it's hard to add quality beyond that. Paying a large premium, if you can afford it, for an extra "guaranteed" (In the sense that anything ever is) win or two is one way to do it.

 

I think Harper will end up either re-signing in Washington or with the Phillies. Philies have a low payroll, and yet are willing to run one of the highest in the game. There's also no other team for whom Harper is a bigger upgrade. The other teams in contention already have good outfields. Outfields that would be better with Harper, but not to the extent that the Philliies would improve with him. They might even sign both him and Machado, tho that's too much to invest into two players really.

[tmwiese55]

Yanks infield is Torres, Didi, Andujar. All young guys who did well and cost controlled for years. I know Didi is hurt for next year but all 3 IF spots are filled long term. Their OF currently has one good player in whichever of Stanton/Judge plays then two openings. Gardner is just blah at this point. Their lineup is very RH heavy as well so a lefty slugger in the middle would fit well.

Didi is going to have to miss a big chunk of the year and is a FA after the year, they don’t have any other SS options as Torres is very fringe there, Andujar is moving more towards a LF/1B/DH guy, they need a middle infielder in my opinion and a guy who can handle SS. Their OF is way more set and have prospects coming. Judge, Stanton, Hicks, Frazier, Gardner, the corpse of Ellsbury is around for 2 more years, McKinney, etc.

 

 

 

Oh yea forgot about Hicks being ok (but he's still nothing too good though) and yes I don't know their prospects. I guess if they view Andujar as preferred to play LF instead of 3B then Machado can make sense to go to 3B (after filling in at SS this year). I was remembering back to the deadline when people like Moose were getting kicked around to NY and I thought, why the guy playing there now is good and he's basically free. Still have the whole lineup being RH though and in a park built for a lefty power hitter. Moreover, Harper is just a better hitter than Machado. You can argue Machado a better player due to playing 3B/SS but really go look at Machado's hitting history and he's not anything ridiculous.

[502 to Right]

If I was a GM I wouldn't touch Harper with a 10 foot pole.

 

If I was a big-market GM I'd be all over Harper. Mind you that means GM of a team that could withstand multiple years above the luxury tax, and that would still have flexibility to make other moves. Which pretty much limits it to Yankees, Phillies and Dodgers I guess.

 

Now this isn't a logic I extend to free agents in general, but Harper (And Machado, if he wasn't such an *******) is a bit unique in that he's hitting free agency at such a young age. Even with a 10 year contract, you're only expecting the last couple of years to be bad. But even that isn't really the argument here; value-wise it still won't be a very good contract even in a somewhat optimistic scenario, and it carries a ton of risk. The reason it still makes sense is because of how hard it is to acquire top talent in this game, due to the draft and the long developmental cycle, the 6 (7 really) years of team control, the prospect premium for trades etc. You simply don't get the chance to sign a player this good who's only 26 very often. It's a rather unique opportunity to add a player this good for his prime years. Even a fairly pessimistic aging curve would suggest you're getting 5-6 highly productive years. When you're already a good team, it's hard to add quality beyond that. Paying a large premium, if you can afford it, for an extra "guaranteed" (In the sense that anything ever is) win or two is one way to do it.

 

I think Harper will end up either re-signing in Washington or with the Phillies. Philies have a low payroll, and yet are willing to run one of the highest in the game. There's also no other team for whom Harper is a bigger upgrade. The other teams in contention already have good outfields. Outfields that would be better with Harper, but not to the extent that the Philliies would improve with him. They might even sign both him and Machado, tho that's too much to invest into two players really.

 

My issue with Harper is that he just put up a 1.3 WAR season in his contract year. Ugly. I'm not betting 10+ years and $300+ million on that. Other than his 2015 season, Harper has been very overrated.

 

My other concern with Harper is the neck problems he's had. That kind of thing doesn't go away but instead gets worse. I wouldn't be surprised if he went the Prince Fielder route.

[MrTPlush]

Meh I big market will show him the money. He was just 25 this yea

[502 to Right]

Meh I big market will show him the money. He was just 25 this yea

 

Quite frankly, I hope it's the Cubs.They can absorb a lot of payroll disasters but this one could actually hurt.

[Oxy]

Meh I big market will show him the money. He was just 25 this yea

 

Quite frankly, I hope it's the Cubs.They can absorb a lot of payroll disasters but this one could actually hurt.

 

I agree. The guy is obviously a well above average player, but on the whole he isn't nearly the first ballot HOF type that he is portrayed as.

[502 to Right]

The last three years Harper has put up a WAR of 1.5 (2016), 4.7 (2017), and 1.3 (2018). What idiot GM is going to give this player $300+ million? We shall see.

 

As evidenced by the Albert Pujols, Chris Davis, Eric Hosmer, Jason Heyward, Robinson Cano, Pablo Sandoval, and Miguel Cabrera signings, clearly someone will.

[tmwiese55]

He's only 25-26 years old though, those contract were all to old players. Sure he hasn't lived up to the hype everyone expected but he's still going to get paid. He has a career 900 OPS and have a near 400 OBP last year. Worth 35-40 mil per year, yea probably not but I'm not about to root for our prime rival to add him to their team. They have the money to do it and he's a great player. Just hope he goes to the Yanks so we don't have to worry about it.