It was reported earlier this month that the New York Yankees would not be pursuing any of the top-tier free agents such as Pablo Sandoval, Jon Lester or Max Scherzer. But things change, especially when you're the richest franchise in baseball.
The general managers meetings play a more significant role than many believe. It's no secret New York may need to bolster their starting rotation if they lose both Hiroki Kuroda and Brandon McCarthy in free agency. According to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, "Yankees and Scherzer's agent, Scott Boras, are said to have had a brief contact sometime since returning from the GM meetings, and word is the Yankees may 'revisit' their inclination not to make any big expenditures this winter."
Prior to the offseason, many speculated the right-hander would end up in New York because he's the most costly free agent, poised to land a seven-year, $189 million contract, according to ESPN's Jim Bowden. After all, he rejected the Tigers' six-year, $144 million extension prior to the 2014 season and then had another stellar campaign. There has been absolutely no news about Scherzer meeting with interested teams so far into the offseason, but it's certain he holds the upper hand after compiling a 55-15 record with a 3.24 ERA in 97 starts over the past three seasons. Based on what happened last year, the Yankees are also in need of a reliable starter.
Scherzer has proven to be a workhorse because he's made at least 30 starts per season since 2009. He's proven to get better with age as well, finding his groove at 28 years old when he recorded his first all-star season and won the American League Cy Young award. Many believe he would be a perfect fit in a battered Yankees rotation that includes CC Sabathia (coming off of season-ending knee surgery), Ivan Nova (coming off of Tommy John surgery), Michael Pineda (has made 13 starts in the past three seasons) and Masahiro Tanaka (suffered a UCL tear in July and returned less effective in September).
But the Yankees spent over $450 million last offseason in acquiring Tanaka, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran. They also have some talented young pitchers such as Shane Greene and Bryant Mitchell who could significantly contribute in the coming years. Acquiring Scherzer would both drastically increase their payroll and stunt the growth of these youngsters, but at the same time they have no time to waste with their current roster. They can't rely on everyone to be healthy next season and the rest of those on the team (A-Rod, Mark Teixeira, Martin Prado and those previously mentioned) aren't getting any younger.
So do the Yankees bite the bullet and work with they have right now or do they continue to spend and hope their problems go away? The former was the original belief, but with question marks surrounding the starting rotation and closer David Robertson wanting big money, the latter could quickly take over as the new offseason strategy.
