Elmgrovegnome wrote:Desperate? I don't think any 100 win team is desperate, but they do need to counter Boston's offensive output.
I would have preferred Harper too, but it was mentioned by seasons end that there was no indication that the Yankees had any interest. By your own logic should a team with Stanton, Hicks, and Judge be desperate for another outfielder?
The age of both Harper and Machado is what makes them so attractive. Who knows what the team will look like six years from now. Locking one or both up long term is nearly guaranteed production for six years or more. Judge and Stanton have been pretty consistently good from year to year. Sanchez is suddenly a concern. I personally hate the idea of trading Andujar. His offensive production was the most consistent all season. I think Machado is a slight drop off from Andujar. But if it lands them an elite pitcher it would be worth it.
You mentioned the deep farm system. It's not so deep anymore. Cashman traded away the top prospects that aren't in New York. Most of the Yankees top farm prospects are in A ball. That is a long ways from the majors and most of the time only a few are still major league prospects by AAA, if they get that far.
Yes I am well aware of that. I mentioned that we could use Sonny Gray to bolster some of the depleted farm system, although it might not get us much but still its one of our tradable chips. What I meant was that we have the luxury of having players such as Judge and Gary and Miggy and Gleyber coming up from the farm system and costing us peanuts.
I agree at team with Stanton - Hicks - Judge should not be desperate for a Harper but I also see it a little differently. I don't see Stanton as a every day outfielder and certainly not going forward. Which is why I feel Harper is a "better fit" as compared to Manny who is the better player but we already have Didi (who we will extend) and Andujar who could very well improve his defense to at least average levels.
To your point about Machado and Harper....... you're echoing my sentiment that a 100 win team shouldn't be desperate and what that means is we should not go crazy with offering a Machado or a Harper a huge contract we feel would hamper us down the road. Doing that would be the deifiniton of "desperate". You are right nobody knows what the team will look like in 5 years but we have a good idea about its offensive production with the players we ALREADY have here. If you are guaranteeing production from Harper and Machado why not with Judge, Gleyber, Andujar and Stanton?
Now if we were talking about going over the top to get an elite pitcher then i would sing a different tune. Even if the last 2 years of that pitcher's contract was painful i would do it to bring us a WS in the first 2-3 years of said contract. I don't see Machado and Harper being as "must haves" as an elite pitcher would be. I am not against spending big money. I wouldn't mind as long as it fills the actual real needs of this team and pushes us closer to the WS we want.
Manny, as good a player as he is, can't be said to be the differnce maker between us and Boston. Just as a hypothetical, De Grom would be because its a major area of weakness for us and in the post season picthing is king, hence my comfort level with offering that kind of player a contract that we might be uneasy with because in the short term if does move us much closer to the WS than Machado would.