[ad_1]
If you woke up this morning expecting to see another Yankees roster move to make room for both DJ LeMahieu and Corey Kluber, it probably made sense. If you woke up this morning thinking the Yankees would eventually move reliever Adam Ottavino, that follows the breaking news as well.
If you woke up this morning expecting the Yankees to accept the Red Sox on an Ottavino trade, well, I want tomorrow’s lottery numbers from you as soon as possible. This is their first transaction since Stephen Drew’s infamous trade deadline swap in 2014.
Lindsey Adler from Athletic broken the startling news that Ottavino was shipping to Boston around noon on Monday, and Joel Sherman from New York Post reported that to make sure that Boston took everything but $ 850,000 of his remaining contract, candidate Frank German would head to the Red Sox alongside Ottavino. The German was only considered No. 24 in the Yankees’ system by MLB Pipeline, so it’s not a big loss, but why was he tied up? To help free up extra payroll space, of course.
Ottavino owes $ 8 million this year. Account $ 9M for luxury tax purposes. So getting out of most of it gives the NYY more maneuverability to try and go for more SP, another RP, LH bat, or SS depth. Ditched the prospect of leveraging most dollars and creating flexibility.
– Joel Sherman (@ Joelsherman1) 25 January 2021
Captivating.
To those who have wondered if the Yankees really intended to stay below the $ 210 million threshold to avoid CBT penalties, this should be your final confirmation. It is a clear and simple payroll clearing movement. It doesn’t matter that Ottavino was good in 2019, or that a few bad months in full-season disguise have clouded his reputation. Never mind that there is an easily predictable scenario where Ottavino sculpts the Yankees’ heavy roster in crucial games next summer! Hal Steinbrenner wanted to find a way to move the money, the potential consequences are damned.
I know the Yankees needed to find an extra spot on the roster, but sending a potential weapon to a division rival seems like a questionable way to do it. It doesn’t help that we already get the ‘Ottavino couldn’t handle New York’ tale, even though the dude is literally from Brooklyn (like Noted by Jon Heyman).
Either way, kudos to the Steinbrenner family for saving money. Ideally, Ottavino proves his 2020 being is the one he’s going forward, and Brian Cashman is able to redistribute his payroll space to more essential roster items that go beyond re-signing. Brett Gardner. We’ll see.
[ad_2]
Source link