If you woke up this morning expecting to see another Yankees squad moving to make room for DJ LeMahieu and Corey Kluber, it probably made sense. If you woke up this morning expecting the Yankees to possibly move the appeaser Adam Ottavino, that also follows the recent news.
If you woke up this morning expecting the Yankees to accept the Red Sox in an Ottavino deal, well, I want tomorrow’s lottery numbers from you as soon as possible. It is the first trade since Stephen Drew’s infamous 2014 trading deadline swap.
Lindsey Adler’s The Athletic it broke the surprising news that Ottavino was leaving for Boston at lunch on Monday, and Joel Sherman of New York Post reported that in order to ensure that Boston took over anything but $ 850,000 of his remaining contract, casting prospect Frank German would go to the Red Sox alongside Ottavino. German was only considered prospect number 24 in the Yankees system by the MLB Pipeline, so it’s not a big loss, but why was he included? To help free up extra payroll space, of course.
Ottavino owes $ 8 million this year. Account $ 9 million for luxury tax purposes. So getting out of most of it gives the NYY more maneuverability to try to go for more SP, another RP, LH bat or SS depth. He gave up on the prospect to withdraw most of the $ and create flexibility.
– Joel Sherman (@ Joelsherman1) January 25, 2021
Captivating.
For those who wonder if the Yankees really intends to remain below the $ 210 million limit to avoid CBT penalties, this must be your final confirmation. This is a clear and simple payroll movement. It doesn’t matter if Ottavino did well in 2019, or that a few bad months disguised as an entire season clouded his reputation. It doesn’t even matter that there is an easily predictable scenario where Ottavino will split the Yankees’ weight line in important games next summer! Hal Steinbrenner wanted to find a way to move some money, damn the potential consequences.
I know the Yankees needed to find an extra spot on the squad, but sending a potential bullpen gun to a division rival seems like a questionable way to do that. It doesn’t help that we’re already receiving the narrative “Ottavino couldn’t handle New York”, even if the guy is literally from Brooklyn (like noticed by Jon Heyman).
Anyway, congratulations to the Steinbrenner family for saving some money. Ideally, Ottavino proves that his 2020 self is really who he is advancing, and Brian Cashman is able to redistribute his payroll space to more essential line-up pieces that go beyond rehiring Brett Gardner. We’ll see.