Baseball contracts are guaranteed so the small market Yankees want you to know they’re poor and are refusing to pay Jacoby Ellsbury
Baseball has guaranteed contracts. When you sign that deal, you’re stuck with that player unless you trade him. When the Yankees signed Jacoby Ellsbury to a 7 year deal worth $153 million not including an additional team option with $5 million buyout, you’re stuck with him. With one year remaining on that deal, the Yankees finally released Ellsbury after getting almost no production. New York is still stuck paying him despite cutting him because baseball contracts are guaranteed. The small market Yankees want you to know they’re poor and they’re refusing to pay him.
The New York Post reported the following:
“On Friday, multiple sources told The Post, right after Ellsbury cleared release waivers, the Yankees sent a letter to the Players Association notifying them of their intention to convert Ellsbury’s contract from guaranteed to non-guaranteed, thereby liberating them from the outfielder’s $21 million salary for 2020 as well as a $5 million buyout of the $21 million team option for 2021. The basis of the effort is the Yankees’ contention Ellsbury, who missed the entire 2018 and 2019 seasons due to multiple injuries, received medical treatment at Progressive Medical Center in Atlanta for multiple years without the Yankees’ authorization. The exact time period is in question, hence the uncertainty about how much, if any, of the $127 million the Yankees already have paid Ellsbury will be in play.
The union, livid with the Yankees’ maneuver, made it clear it would challenge the team on Ellsbury’s behalf and hinted at a willingness to play offense as well as defense.”
“The Players Association will vigorously defend any action taken against Jacoby or his contract and is investigating potential contract violations by his employer,” the union said in a statement. “Until further notice, we will have no comment.”
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. This might be the most classic example of how the once mighty Yankees lost their way. The Red Sox paid Pablo Sandoval to go away when they cut him. Imagine if they would have said “you’re not getting paid we’re converting it to a non-guaranteed deal because you put on a bunch of weight and stopped trying”. Instead, the Red Sox paid him to go away and won a World Series anyway. There are countless examples of players getting released and not finishing their contracts. Homer Bailey, Matt Kemp, and Prince Fielder are just a few. All of whom got released and paid.
Talk about a move. Hey, we decided we’re converting this contract into a non guaranteed deal. That’s not a thing in baseball. I can’t stress enough how that’s not a thing. The Yankees want you to know that they have no money. The small market Yankees operate differently now. They hoard prospects and never win the big one. If only they had financial resources to pay Ellsbury… Sad.
I cannot wait for this hearing. I hope they televise it. Scott Boras is going to bend them over backward and hammer them. Oh, I cannot wait. It’s the Yankees claiming they are poor vs Scott Boras and the players union protecting a player who struggled to stay healthy. It’s almost as if the Yankees had no idea Jacoby Ellsbury was made of glass when he played in Boston. They just wanted to steal a player from the Red Sox. Oh, yeah that did happen. Nevermind.
