Yankees re-sign Hiroki Kuroda

Well the Yankees are bringing back Hiroki Kuroda for another year. The report is that its for $15 million, which is just perfect for Kuroda, he also has several incentives that can add up to $1 million. Now we turn to see if Pettitte will return as he said he would make his decision soon and I would expect he will get a similar deal to Kuroda which would solidify the top of the rotation.

What to do with Eduardo Nunez

This could end badly

 Last season Nunez came in as the backup infielder after filling that same role in 2011. However the real issue is that Nunez can't field and that's not what you want from your backup, so after a multitude of errors Nunez was sent down in May. He promptly got hurt and ended up not playing for most of the year and his defense hadn't improved in the limited action there. The Yankees like Nunez as he has speed and a decent bat, the problem of course is that his defense is horrible even though his range is good, its just that his throwing is atrocious. Cashman and co need to decide what to do with him as his defensive problems are unlikely to go away, he could suddenly figure it out between now and opening day but his minor league track record suggests otherwise. Also the Yankees decided that they did not want him playing other positions than shortstop despite playing all over the field beforehand. Generally the plan for speedy infielders who can't field is you move them to the outfield.

The big problem now of course is Derek Jeters injury as we have no idea how many games he will be able to play at short. It is possible that the 38 year old shortstop who had limited range before hand may not be able to play the position in more than a limited role. If Jeter has to significantly reduce his playing time at short then Nunez could step in and possibly have to be the primary shortstop. He could also spend some time at DH and with those combined he should be able to play everyday, Cashman wants Nunez to play everyday and this is the only way he would be able to  play in the majors and for the Yankees everyday. The Yankees could also trade Nunez but with that they run the risk of nobody being able to play shortstop when Jeter retires or if he is misses a significant amount of time next season. The off season is just beginning and what the Yankees think Nunez can do for the Yankees is going to be a big part of that. It is good to keep in mind that Shortstops who can hit are in demand and a number of teams are looking for shortstop help this off season.

Pondering Phil

Phil Pondering Pitching

As a prospect Phil Hughes was supposed to be the next Yankee ace, but that never came about. But this last season Phil put together his most complete season as a starter by being solid all season, not including early April. He wasn’t an ace, but he was definitely a very good mid rotation pitcher in the toughest division in baseball and a less than friendly home stadium. However Phil Hughes home run rate bordered on comical as he gave up 35 home runs in 32 starts of the regular season and gave up two more in two starts in the postseason for a total of 37 home runs in 200 innings and that’s with giving up 92 earned runs all year.  Obviously his home run rate of 1.6 HR/9 and 2.2 HR/9 in Yankee Stadium makes it seem that he cannot survive long term as a Yankee starter as hitters parks and fly ball pitchers typically don’t mix.  Despite the homeruns it cannot be forgotten that Phil Hughes is just 26 and as he enters his last year of arbitration a decision about Phil’s Puture in Pinstripes needs to be made. There are three possibilities for Phil; the Yankees can sign Hughes to a multi-year deal, they can trade him or they can simply let him hit free agency after the 2013 season. All three are valid options and you can justify each of them as beneficial to the Yankees.

Multi-year deal

As I said Phil Hughes’s Home run rate is not sustainable long term in Yankee stadium unless something changes, but a three year deal in the $22-28 range would likely benefit both sides. The deal would provide security in the middle of the Yankees rotation without hurting the Yankees financial flexibility of the $189 million budget. As much as the Yankees would like to go cheap with a starter, they will probably need Hughes for the next several seasons or at least a pitcher like Hughes who can eat innings. Even if Nova bounces back and Pineda comes back healthy then the Yankees would still need to fill two rotation spots and it would be much easier if they had a guy like Hughes who can be effective and eat innings. The Yankees would be banking on Hughes maintaining his success from 2012, but even if he doesn’t and he is forced to shift to the bullpen Hughes does have a history of being a very good late inning reliever. There is also little evidence to suggest that his performance is not sustainable as his struggles in 2011 have been attributed to his heavy workload in 2010 and injuries. In 2012 Hughes didn’t falter down the stretch like he did in 2010 and the possibility of keeping a solid innings eater for the next three years seems to be worth the risk.

Trade

The Yankees have several holes that need to be filled this offseason and trading Hughes for an outfielder would fill their right field need. Numerous teams would be interested in Hughes as teams need pitching and a team like the twins has outfielders to spare, with a desperate need for consistent starting pitching. Unfortunately with only one year of team control left the Yankees would not get a significant piece without including more pieces to get a young cheap player, otherwise they would be targeting players like Josh Willingham or Corey Hart who are in their thirties and have a limited amount of team control left. Quite frankly I think that if the Yankees traded a starter it would more likely be David Phelps as he had some success last year and still has at least six more seasons of team control left and trading him would not leave a gaping hole in the Yankee rotation.

Let him walk

This is Hughes’s last season of arbitration after which he will be a free agent and could definitely benefit from moving to a more pitcher friendly park. If he can carry over his success from 2012 to 2013 most teams would be interested in Phil when he hits free agency. The Dodgers and Angels both could be interested and Hughes is a Southern California native so he may want to go and pitch close to home. One big team that should also be accounted for is San Francisco who could potentially be saying goodbye to Barry Zito and Tim Lincecum after 2013 and Phil would thrive in AT&T Park. The Yankees also may not want to commit more money to Hughes as they try and get in their $189 million budget and they could feel confident in their young pitching being able to plug the holes without Hughes. However in this scenario the Yankees would get nothing for Hughes as they would not give him a qualifying offer and so when he left they would receive no draft compensation as they would have under the previous model.

As I said there is validity to following any of these models, but in my mind the best option would be for the Yankees to sign Hughes to a short term extension as it will provide security for Hughes and the Yankees and take one less worry out of the near future.

Mariano Rivera wants to return for 2013

He's back

Via George King: Mariano Rivera has informed the Yankees that he wants to pitch again next season. “Rivera contacted us and wants to play,” said Brian Cashman, who admitted to not being surprised by the decision.

Rivera, 43, blew out his knee in early-May and said he wanted to pitch again the next day, but a few weeks ago he told Cashman that he was having second thoughts. The two sides will discuss a contract in the coming week according to King, and this sounds like something that could happen relatively soon. Then again, the Yankees and Rivera have a history of contentious negotiations. Another one-year deal in the $10-15M range is likely in the cards.

This is welcome news and now we only have to worry about how he will pitch after his injury and most of a year off.

Yankees free agents

The Yankees have a total of 14 players hitting free agency, with the key free agents being Russel Martin,  Nick Swisher, Hiroki Kuroda and depending on the status of Mariano Rivera, Rafael Soriano. The last three of these guys will receive a qualifying offer, but the only one with any chance of accepting the $13.3 million dollar qualifying offer would be Hiroki Kuroda, as Soriano and and Swisher will receive large muti year deals. The Yankees seem likely to move away from Swisher, despite him being the best Right Field option for the Yankees and as I said before the Yankees will only look to retain Soriano if Mariano Rivera retires and even then he may be looking for a deal bigger than the Yankees are willing to provide, considering they have several internal closer options.
Russel Martin is an extremly critical retention for the Yankees and he will likely get a multi year deal from them, because he and and AJ Pierzynski are the only everyday catchers on the market. The Yankees have also expressed intrest in brining back Ichiro Suzuki and Raul Ibanez on short term deals, but I don't know how much playing time Ibanez would get due to the rotating DH for the veteran Yankees. Some people really want Ichiro to return, but he should be the Yankees B or C options due to his age.
Andy Pettitte joins Mariano Rivera as someone who is going to either sign with the Yankees or retire and it remains to be seen what either will do at this point.
There is also a chance that the Yankees will retain Eric Chavez and Jayson Nix, but after that none of the Yankees free agents are likely to be retained on anything more than minor league deals and i personally doubt that Nix or Chavez will return. If the Yankees do not retain any of their free agents then there will be a number of holes to fill, that will require a venture into free agency as they will not be able to fill them internally.