The NY Yankees have a number of targets at the winter meetings and Chase Headley could be at the top of the list along with Max Scherzer, James Shields, David Robertson and Jon Lester, as the team has signed Andrew Miller and traded for Did Gregorius and now Brian Cashman could look at adding another arm to the rotation along with retaining his closer and third baseman from 2014.
The Yankees made significant moves in acquiring Didi Gregarious and signing Miller and now they have the winter meetings coming up this week. According to Hardball Talk and the NY Post, the Yankees will be looking hard at Chase Headley, who they traded for last season, along with closer David Robertson. The team is comfortable having Miller or Delin Betances close this season, but they would love to bring back Robertson after he replaced Mariano Rivera so well last season.
The team doesn't want to give a major deal to Robertson, as he is asking for four years and significant money, but the Yankees also don't want to lose a home grown player again. The team allowed Robinson Cano to leave to Seattle last season and now Robertson could be on his way out as well. Chase Headley is one of the top third base options on the market and the Yankees will be battling with the Giants for his services. The Giants lost Pablo Sandoval to the Red Sox in free agency and now they could look at Headley as an option.
The Yankees missed the playoffs again last season and that came after the team spend half a billion dollars in the previous offseason. Cashman and the Yankees have money to spend, but they do not want to go crazy on contracts this offseason. The Yankees have some glaring needs and the only way to fill them could be with big money deals and therein lies the challenge for Cashman. Headley will be getting attention and that could drive his price up, while Robertson has suitors and could sign elsewhere for up to $40 million over four years.
Last year the Yankees dealt with a ton of injuries, including to Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova as well as Mart Teixeira and they need better performances from top players. Jacoby Ellsbury was solid, but other signings like Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran did not play up to expectations. Cashman and the Yankees likely will not pay big for Scherzer, Lester or Shields, but Joel Sherman writes that the baseball world should never count out the Yankees when it comes to big contracts.
The Yankees finished last season with 84 wins and while they were close in the wild card race, they were not a true playoff contender. The team had issues scoring runs last season and that will likely be an issue this season even if the team signs Headley. Getting A-Rod back is a major question mark as well and now Cashman has to find a way to add some value without giving up too much. The team is also is excited about Gregorius coming in to replace Derek Jeter after the three way trade with the Diamondbacks and Tigers.
