The Yankees took a U-turn from silence to familiarity. They returned to their comfort zone — spending money, enlisting stars and being the talk of the game.
After an offseason of leaning on the snooze button and watching the Mets advance toward their corner, the Yankees woke the game up Friday with the revelation they had retained DJ LeMahieu, then sent all to bed with the news they were in agreement with Corey Kluber.
The shape of LeMahieu’s contract and Kluber’s body provide not just a little risk. But the Yankees are a now team. And right now LeMahieu is one of the best players in the world. And for 2021, the Yankees have invested that Kluber still retains a measure of his 2014-18 self, when he was a mix of Greg Maddux’s precision and Roy Halladays’ multi-pitch power. If so, the Yankees have filled their greatest need this offseason — a No. 2 starter behind Gerrit Cole.
But nothing could have happened until they first finalized a deal with their No. 1 priority.
The Yankees’ offseason plans revolved around LeMahieu. They wanted him back. He wanted to be back. It was a marriage in which no one could offer an objection against continuing. Except that both sides had financial aims — notably the Yankees’ fervor to be under the $210 million luxury-tax threshold for 2021.
LeMahieu had designs to crack $100 million. But much was working against him: 1. The pandemic lowered revenues around MLB last year, with projections for more of the same in 2021, leaving many clubs either out of the top of the market or expecting discounts. 2. Even those interested in LeMahieu believed it was futile because in the end the Yankees would step up to get him. The Mets, for example, were not engaged in any significant way. 3. Yet there were the Yankees holding tight even amid the threat of losing LeMahieu, as vital a piece to their winning as anyone.
The LeMahieu camp made $90 million a must. But how to shape it? For the Yankees’ purposes, extending it over six years was better than over four or five. Because for the tax, the annual average value is what matters. Over six years, $90 million is $15 per season rather than $18 million for five or $22.5 million for four. So for tax purposes, LeMahieu now counts $2.5 million less per year than Aroldis Chapman.
LeMahieu will turn 33 in July, so this contract takes him past age 38. But the Yankees are really paying for four years of value over six to meet a current financial objective and retain a player who has finished fourth and third in the voting for AL MVP in his two years in their uniform. His presence all but assures a continued excellence for the lineup and an overall steadiness and professionalism for the team.
And with LeMahieu now a fixed cost, the Yankees had a better idea of their budget for the rotation. Even while they idled, the Yankees only lost out in the market on one pitcher whom they greatly valued, and they always believed they would lose Charlie Morton (who signed a one-year, $15 million pact with Atlanta) anyway for geographic and comfort reasons.
They were never going to the top of the market for Trevor Bauer. As badly as they need sure innings, the best in that area are probably free agents J.A. Happ and Rick Porcello. Much of the rest of the market is filled with broken toys, and within that subset Kluber is a two-time Cy Young winner. He has, however, only made eight starts the past two years, just one for one inning last year before a shoulder injury.
But the person leading Kluber’s rehab this offseason is Eric Cressey, who also is the Yankees’ director of health and performance. The Yankees were always going to have greater insight into Kluber’s recovery and potential than any team. Still, that they decided on this path says that they thought Masahiro Tanaka was too expensive, wanted too many years or was not a good health risk.
Kluber is just a one-year gamble. And it is a gamble. Behind Cole, the Yankees can’t be sure of anyone from among Deivi Garcia, Domingo German, Michael King, Jordan Montgomery and Luis Severino providing certain innings. Kluber, who will turn 35 in April, doesn’t either. The Rangers enlisted him with excitement last year after Kluber’s great Indians run and got the one inning.
Maybe Kluber won’t even reach the starter’s gate. Or maybe he will be a bridge for the first half until Severino returns after Tommy John surgery. Or maybe — just maybe — he rediscovers himself. Those 2014-18 numbers play very similarly to what Jacob deGrom has given the Mets the past five years.
It should be remembered that the Yankees ultimately did not go with Tanaka in Game 2 of the Division Series against the Rays, using the ludicrous Garcia/Happ combination. Kluber in the right condition starts Game 2. Period. And the Yankees are playing for championships and will take risks to try to earn one.
They reminded all that is their quest after what had been a sleepy offseason. They agreed to terms with two famous names: perhaps the majors’ best leadoff man and an intriguing No. 2 starter. Finally, on a Friday in January, they were the Yankees.
