Out of all the candidates to take over for Derek Jeter the easiest one coming into the offseason was JJ Hardy. Well, Hardy resigned before the offseason even started. Now onto the others, Hanley Ramirez is going to cost way too much for a player who gets hurt way too much.
Asdrubal Cabrera is a possibility. I think he would be a good fit, coming off a trade to Washington midseason. He will cost a draft pick which is always good in my eyes. I just don't know how much he is going to cost. I would imagine something like Hardy got, 3 years, $40 million. Hardy obviously could have gotten more on the open market but stayed with his Orioles on a hometown discount. Cabrera has fallen off the map after year in 2011 where he hit 25 home runs, drove in 92 runs and hit .273. His production had steadily dropped off since then but he is only 28 so it's not a stretch to say that he can still regain that form.
Another big name is obviously Troy Tulowitzki, he is the "Big ticket item" and according to BYB the Rockies "Know what they want" and "It's up to the Yankees as to how much they feel Troy is worth" basically what that means is the ball is the Yankees court. I don't know how I would feel about Tulo being in pinstripes. Yes, he is a great player and one of the top 5 in the WHEN HE'S HEALTHY. That's a big part of it he's only played 130 games or more three times in his career. For me it's a no as a writer looking at it objectively. It's too much money and to big of prospects to give up.
Now, the starting shortstop of the New York Yankees in 2015 (if it were up to me) Jimmy Rollins. You're thinking JIMMY ROLLINS?!?!?! Has he lost his mind? Well it makes more sense than you may think. He hit 17 home runs in 2014 at age 34. He hit only .243 yes, but got on base at .323 clip and he played solid defense. He's only signed through 2015 and he is way cheaper than any of the other options. Rollins is a pro, he's a vet who could handle being the replacement for Derek Jeter. Now, this is all apart of a bigger plan of mine, Sign the Cuban SS Yoan Moancada and have him in AA and maybe AAA to develop so he's ready at some point next year to take over. The Rollins deal works if they sign Moancada and even if it doesn't, it's as simple as not giving up the only good prospects they Yankees have really tried to develop, and they're not on the hook for a ridiculous amount of money i.e. Tulo, Hanley, Elvis Andrus.
Thats basically what I think, not that it matters but I believe it makes a lot of sense to carry out the offseason this way.
All stats were from Baseball-Reference.com
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