It’s been an interesting offseason for the Yankees.
New York was virtually absent in conversations surrounding big-ticket free agents Bryce Harper and Manny Machado and instead decided to pass out cash to proven commodities already on its roster.
In addition to a handful of mid-tier signings like Adam Ottavino and Zack Britton, general manager Brian Cashman locked up Luis Severino (four years, $40 million) and Aaron Hicks (seven years, $70 million) with substantial extensions.
With a talented core of players in-house, team owner Hal Steinbrenner hinted at the real possibility of more extensions on the “The Michael Kay Show” on Monday saying: “More to come … stay tuned.”
💙 of the order. pic.twitter.com/aybEXjtqJi
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 19, 2019
The Yankees reportedly have begun extension talks with both shortstop Didi Gregorius and reliever Dellin Betances.
Betances, 30, is coming off an up-and-down season in which he posted a 2.70 ERA while striking out 115 batters in 66 2/3 innings, but he is a vital cog in the Yankees bullpen. While Gregorius, 29, started 130 games during the regular season last year, hitting .268/.335/.494 with 27 home runs and 86 RBIs.
Key cogs like Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres are likely next in line for new deals after Betances and Gregorius.
Judge appeared on the show Monday and indicated there have been no talks between him and the club regarding an extension. But considering Judge’s age (26), monstrous production and meager salary to date (scheduled to make $684,300 in 2019), the club will likely hand the towering outfielder a nine-figure contract — something Steinbrenner actively avoided this offseason with Machado and Harper.
“These are two incredibly talented players,” Steinbrenner said. “We talked about it and discussed it and opinions varied on both players, but I really felt our need — if we’re going to go out and spend hundreds of millions of dollars — our need was pitching. Because in my opinion — and people might disagree with me — that’s the reason we didn’t make it to the ALCS — or the biggest reason we didn’t. …
“We were active. But, again, we were active not spending all that money on one individual, but spending it on numerous parts in a real area of need as far as we were concerned.”
These new spending habits have taken some getting used to for Yankees fans, but the new approach may be what keeps New York in the World Series conversation for the next several years.