If you’re a part of the vast majority who wants the New York Yankees to make a big splash addition to their starting rotation, don’t hold your breath.
According to NJ.com’s Bob Klapisch, who has been plugged into the Yankees for five decades, free agent and reigning Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell’s odds of landing in the Bronx are low. Klapisch’s Yankees source was clear that it is “not happening.”
Despite what Yankees managing partner Hal Steinbrenner told reporters earlier in the week that the team is not done adding, Snell would cost the club too much in tax penalties at a rate of 110 percent, which would double the figure of the contract for New York.
And as Klapisch’s Yankees person specified, Steinbrenner’s comments were more in reference to acquiring another reliever or making a big trade at the deadline this summer.
That said, top ESPN baseball insider Jeff Passan is predicting Snell winds up with the Yankees or Los Angeles Angels, but this could be an educated guess based off who he has spoken to around the league, as well as process of elimination based off fit and financial flexibility. The Yankees have the money, for example, to throw $30 million for one-year at Snell, but the team would have to pay a total of $63 million because of the tax.
But there is no denying that the Yankees have a window of opportunity here that could close fast, as they may lose superstar Juan Soto and second baseman Gleyber Torres in free agency next winter, their two best hitters not named Aaron Judge.
The Yankees signaled they were all-in when they acquired Soto from the San Diego Padres in December, but they haven’t operated in this fashion since then. The only other move of significance they have made, beyond trading for Alex Verdugo, was signing starter Marcus Stroman to a two-year, $37 million deal.
New York’s rotation has a chance to be very strong this season with reigning AL Cy Young winning ace Gerrit Cole, a bounce-back year from Carlos Rodon and a healthy Marcus Stroman. But signing Snell, while difficult, puts them over the top as serious World Series contenders, and gives them the best rotation in baseball.
