Small Market Yankees Expected To Get Below Luxury Tax In 2021
George Steinbrenner continues to roll in his grave over and over. When George owned the team, they were the big bad Yankees. Since Hal, George’s son, took over, the Yankees are now trying to out Rays the Rays. The Yankees fan base has gone from wealthy yacht owners to scrawny losers who only hear stories of their grandparents’ old days.
After losing in the ALDS to the low revenue Tampa Rays, you would expect New York to strike big this offseason. Except George isn’t alive anymore. The Yankees are more interested in outmaneuvering the Rays. New York is likely to get below the luxury tax this offseason. HAHAHAHA!
VIA Joel Sherman of the New York Post:
“Therefore, I am going to speculate that Hal Steinbrenner will order a payroll that drops beneath the $210 million luxury tax threshold for next season. So you can scratch off signing J.T. Realmuto and Trevor Bauer in free agency and trading for Francisco Lindor, especially since re-signing DJ LeMahieu likely will be a four-year, $100 million-ish proposition. And the Yankees pretty much have to do that. LeMahieu has been their best player the past two years and represents what they have too little of — soundness on both sides of the ball with the ability to deliver high-end offense against all types of pitching.”
Of course, much of this is media speculation, but Sherman is as locked into the Yankees as it gets. I’m not sure there’s a reporter more in tune with the team he covers. Sherman is very well respected and often appears on MLB Network despite primarily covering the Yankees for the New York Post.
The expectation seems to be re-signing DJ LeMahieu and then really start to cut costs. Sherman even brings up the possibility of trading Gleyber Torres and Luke Voit. As crazy as it would be to trade Torres, there’s no denying that he’s a much better second baseman. LeMahieu occupies that spot.
New York has numerous impending free agents, many of whom are starting pitchers, such as James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka, and JA Happ. Based on Sherman’s report, they might not bring back any of them. It could just be a situation where Deivi Garcia takes a spot while reinstating Luis Severino and Domingo German back to the rotation.
It’s genuinely unique how the tides have turned. If you had told me the Yankees would have gone ten plus years without a championship and then would take cost-cutting measures after failing to reach the ALCS, I would have laughed in your face. The year is 2020, and the Yankees are using an opener in Game two of a playoff game. HAHAHAHA!
Instead, the fan base has turned into a bunch of losers. It’s a mentally weak team that has trickled down to its fan base. Whether it be crying about the sign stealing (which they also got caught for doing) or crying about a fan in Philadelphia, the small market Yankees are as embarrassing as it gets.
