Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said today that he didn’t want to sign reliever Rafael Soriano – at least not for as much money as he got. Cashman has had a lackluster offseason, his big signings including Soriano and catcher Russell Martin. In the meantime, the Yankees’ rivals, the Boston Red Sox, have had a huge offseason, signing Carl Crawford and trading for Adrian Gonzalez.
The Yankee Universe is topsy-turvy. Cashman sought free agents Crawford and Cliff Lee, the top free agents on the market, to no avail. Shopping at the winter meetings is nothing new to New York, but losing out in bidding wars is definitely something fresh.
The Yankees have lost out this offseason in the same way that many tight-wad fantasy baseball players lose out in their respective drafts: they had a lot of money left over after the best players had come off of the board and as a result, they have invested their money poorly. Soriano is surely a huge pickup as a set-up man behind Mariano Rivera in the ‘pen, but is he at 31, worth $35M over three years?
For once the Sox have gotten the best of the Yanks in the offseason. Theo Epstein has led Red Sox Nation to victory on paper, and as long as everything pans out as planned, the Sox should win the AL East, over Cashman’s group.
People in the Bronx might disagree. The Yankees had a great season last year. They have fantastic players who are perennial All-Stars and who provide not only entertainment for the fans, but true value statistically as ballplayers. But the Sox have battled back.
It is important in baseball not to forget the past; especially the not-so-distant-past, for it leads to the future. With the Sox signings this offseason, and their having won 89 games last year, the Sox are looking more like the 2007 or 2004 version of Boston baseball than the 2010 kind. The Yankees are in for some competition for the AL East title this season, and that competition, with the loss of Crawford, Soriano, Carlos Pena and Matt Garza among others, will not be coming from Tampa Bay.
So Cashman regrets the signing of Soriano. Does he also regret the non-signing of Lee, Crawford, or any other marquee free agents in the winter of 2010? Whether he voices it or not, Yankee fans will understand their GM’s regret only a few games into the spring. Will the Yanks suffer for Cashman’s follies? Only time will tell.