The free agent Yankee closer was said to be seeking a four-year $50 million deal equivalent to what the Phillies paid Jonathan Papelbon in 2012 – a figure the Yankees insisted they had no intention of approaching.
He and Kyrie Irving donned “I Can’t Breathe” warmup T-shirts, given to them by Jarrett Jack, in support of those remembering Eric Garner’s death.
SAN DIEGO – While most of the baseball world has breathlessly waited for Jon Lester to decide where his next $150 million is coming from, the Yankees had been finding the Houston Astros, of all teams, to be the biggest impediment to their offseason game plan – when in reality it turned out to be the Chicago White Sox who proved to be their biggest nemesis with a stealth signing of David Robertson late Monday night.
The quiet of the first day of the winter meetings was abruptly ended by the White Sox, who got frontline starter Jeff Samardzija from the Oakland A’s for infielder Marcus Semien, outfielder Trayce Thompson and pitcher Chris Beck. They then followed up with a stunning signing of Robertson for a reported four years, $46 million. Up until then, the Yankees had been more concerned about the Astros for frustrating their plans of retaining both Robertson and third baseman Chase Headley by making both substantial offers out of the Bombers’ comfort zone.
That would be those same Houston Astros, who tore it down to the bare bones three years ago and have operated with miniscule payrolls of $27 and $44 million respectively the past two seasons, have apparently been making wild pitches for all the free agents the Yankees have targeted, in hopes of expediting their five-year rebuilding plan. After Andrew Miller signed on with the Yankees for four years, $36 million last week, it was revealed the Astros had held up that process with an offer of four years, $40 million with a team option that could make it five years for $50 million. And just prior to the Winter Meetings a wild rumor swept through baseball of a five year, $65 million offer from a phantom team for Headley. But according to sources, the offer was more than just rumor and the phantom team was – once again – the Astros.
And then there was the Robertson situation. The closer was said to be seeking a four-year, $50 million deal equivalent to what the Phillies paid Jonathan Papelbon in 2012 – a figure the Yankees insisted they had no intention of approaching. Still, it’s a wonder why Robertson apparently settled for considerably less from the White Sox.
Meanwhile, what’s with the Astros gumming up the works with everyone with everyone with their over-reaching offers for the premium free agents like Robertson, Miller and Headley? For one thing, they reorganized Root Sports regional network TV deal is projected to now bring them $58.5 million in annual revenues, enabling them to bump their payroll an additional $20 million to nearly $70 million for 2015.
But for another, owner Jim Crane is said to be getting impatient with GM Jeff Luhnow’s five-year plan — which has produced 310 losses in the first three years and had a series of embarrassing road bumps last season. Luhnow, the preeminent preacher of analytics gospel, was Crane’s fair-haired boy when he was hired away from the Cardinals in December 2011, but that all began to change when Nolan Ryan joined the Astros as a special executive advisor to the owner last February.
“Luhnow is under a lot of pressure in Houston now,” the source said, “and that’s why the Astros are throwing around all these high end offers, hoping that one of them will stick. The owner is tired of the losing and he wants to see substantial results next year. In their minds, having an established closer would go a long way toward that, which is why they bid as high as they did for Miller and why they may be one team who’ll give Robertson the four years, $50 million.”
According to one source familiar with the inner workings of the Astros, Crane leans more and more heavily on the advice of Ryan and Astros’ icon Craig Biggio, who also works as a front office advisor. Both Ryan and Biggio are old school baseball guys and hardly proponents of sabermetrics. Biggio was thought to be a leading candidate to manage the Astros after Luhnow fired Bo Porter, but apparently either declined to interview or wasn’t even considered as Luhnow instead chose A.J. Hinch whose previous managerial tenure with Arizona in 2009-2010 was a disaster. Under Hinch, the Diamondbacks were in last place for 135 of his 239 days on the job and he lost the players, who perceived him as a puppet for GM Josh Byrnes.
Last year, was particularly ugly for Luhnow, starting with the decision to have top prospect, outfielder George Springer, start the season at Triple A, which some people felt was a payback for Springer rejecting a seven-year, $23 million contract offer the previous September despite not having played a single game in the big leagues. Then there was the June draft fiasco after taking San Diego high-school lefty Brady Aikens with the overall No. 1 pick, the Astros reneged on their initial $6.5 million bonus offer to him, reducing it to $3.2 million after what they termed “an abnormality” in his elbow showed up in his medical exam. In late June, Luhnow and his analytics gurus celebrated their draft acumen in a Sports Illustrated cover story declaring the Astros 2017 world champions – and then they failed to sign Aikens.
Finally, there was the nasty firing of Porter in September – less than two years after Luhnow told the Daily News’ Andy Martino in March 2013: “People know Bo is going to be here a long time. He could be one of those guys who is the Astro manager for decades, not just years.” But it soon became evident that Porter was not buying into Luhnow’s obsession with analytics and it was reported that the GM was overheard, game after game, criticizing his manager from above. But in selecting Hinch, Luhnow bypassed Mike Maddux, Steve Buechele and Tim Bogar, all of whom were coaches or managers in the Texas Rangers organization under Ryan.
“Luhnow knows Nolan and Biggio have the owner’s ear,” the source continued, “and the Astros better have a marked improvement next year. They’re acting desperate right now.”
And that desperation looms as the Yankees’ biggest threat to bringing back their closer and their third baseman from these winter meetings.
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