Let's Take a Breath

It's been a rough week to be a Yankee fan. That makes approximately 56 weeks in a row. So be it. Cubs fans have had it hard for roughly 5464 weeks, so we can have a little perspective.

Signing Brian McCann was definitely a plus. The Yankees didn't actually have a starting catcher last year, so adding one who can hit and hit for power in a lineup starved for it was worthwhile. Did they pay too much for too many years? Sure. Come 2017 there will be eight designated hitters on the Yankees and even Mr. Rod will be gone. Thank goodness.

Jacoby Ellsbury was another story. In an outfield crowded with older players, having Ellsbury, who isn't old but is so injury prone he might as well be, is odd. So were the years and the millions but hey, it's not my money, and he is the kind of player the Yankees could have used last year. I think he'll be a very nice pickup. For the first half of his contract.

Let's remember that the last Red Sox champion to come to the Bronx was Kevin Youkilis, but that was only to pick up his dry cleaning.

Then came Friday.

Losing Robinson Cano is a tremendous blow to this team. A slick fielding, power hitting second baseman who hits for average and never misses a game? There's only one of those in baseball, and we had him for nine years. Now someone else gets him for 10.

That said, I think the Yankees were right to not offer Cano the kind of contract he ended up signing. Ten years is too long for a player who'll be 31 next season. Will it hurt not to have the next five years of Robinson Cano? It surely will, and there will be moments we'll curse Hal Steinbrenner for his lack of foresight. Will it hurt not to have the five years after that? It's possible, but it's not likely.

Derek Jeter is a first-ballot Hall of Fame player who will be 40 this coming season. He's signed for one year. At half the money Cano will be getting when he turns 40. When Jeter's deal was announced, it was categorized in the press as "overpaying."

You can't blame Cano, either. If someone waves $240-million in your face, are you going to turn it down? Sure, he could have taken a "hometown discount" for only $175-mlllon, but the gap between what the Yankees offered and what the Mariners did was not small. It amounted to a $65-million difference. Who says no to that?

The loss of Curtis Granderson? Yeah, I'll miss the 40 home runs and the postgame interviews. The 200 strikeouts and the odd angles he'd take on fly balls? Not as much. Enjoy him, Mets. He seems like a very nice guy and he certainly can connect every now and again. 

So the Mets get Granderson and the Yankees get Carlos Beltran. This would count as irony from the baseball gods, if there were baseball gods. Beltran is Nick Swisher with bad knees, but one who can really hit in the postseason. The trick is getting there in the AL East with a rotation of a weakened CC Sabathia, an inconsistent Ivan Nova, a tiring Hiroki Kuroda and we're assuming two other guys because you can't expect those three to pitch all the time. We hear David Price is available for trade, and there is a negative 30 percent chance he'll be a Yankee.

Someday we'll understand the posting system in Japan, so we'll know why it's unlikely the Yankees will end up with Mr. Tanaka. Funny how nobody felt the posting system was unfair to smaller teams when the Rangers were the favorites to get Yu Darvish.

So begins the still-overpriced-but-not-as-much era of Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Brian McCann. And the Winter Meetings haven't even started yet.

I'm afraid we can assume that Brett Gardner's days in the New York outfield are numbered, and it's not a high number. He's the best trade bait the Yankees have, unless there's a great market for Eduardo Nunez that I'm not aware of. And there are still glaring needs in the starting rotation and let's face it, at third base, which will be the Mr. Rod Memorial base this season.

Oh yeah, and we could use a second baseman, too. Anybody know if there's one available?

Your work is cut out for you, Mr. Cashman.