The Boston Red Sox landed Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez and are continuing to work on signing Jon Lester, while the New York Yankees have yet to make a move. In Kansas City, the Royals re-signed one of the crucial members of their bullpen.
Now that Boston filled needs with Sandoval and Ramirez, they have one of the most complete lineups in baseball. They also have a surplus of bats they'll look to trade for starting pitching. The Yankees have holes in their roster and no one of value to offer in a potential trade. So what does that mean? New York needs to sign impending free agents or even some high-priced free agents to compete.
According to Richard Justice of MLB.com, the Yankees must use free agency to solve their woes and match Boston's moves. Impending free agents Chase Headley, Brandon McCarthy and David Roberston are the team's first priority. Without them, New York has immediate needs at third base, in the starting rotation and at the closer role. They already have a hole at shortstop and don't have plentiful options to fill it.
The starting rotation is a concern due to injury issues with C.C. Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda. Losing McCarthy would leave them with poor depth. At third base, Alex Rodriguez is no lock to return and perform every day at the position, so Headley is needed or else they'll have to move Martin Prado to third and look for a second baseman. The free-agent market is thin at both positions. And without Robertson, they can either promote Dellin Betances to closer (and would have to sign a setup man) or keep Betances at setup man and sign another closer. Unfortunately, the free agent market is thin here too.
"Regardless of what senior vice president and general manager Brian Cashman does, there's going to be a large unknown quantity with the Yankees," writes Justice. "For them to contend, they're probably going to need healthy, productive seasons from CC Sabbathia, Carlos Beltran and Mark Teixeira."
To rely on healthy seasons from those three is irresponsible and imprudent. So although it seems right now they won't be spending this offseason, it might be best to explore some other options at pitcher (Jon Lester, Max Scherzer, James Shields, Francisco Liriano, Edinson Volquez, Ervin Santana, etc.) and in the infield (explore trades for Alexei Ramirez and others or sign free agents Jed Lowrie or Asdrubal Cabrera). Many are thinking New York needs to break the bank in order to contend, but there are actually many cost-effective options out there.
Speaking of cost-effective, the Kansas City Royals re-signed right-handed reliever Jason Frasor to a one-year, $1.8 million contract. Frasor was part of one of the MLB's best bullpen in 2014 after he was acquired from the Texas Rangers. He posted a 3-0 record with a 1.53 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 17 2/3 innings with Kansas City. In the postseason he was 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA and 1.31 WHIP in 5 1/3 innings.
Like the Yankees, the Royals have much work to do on their roster, with many speculating they could turn to big spending in free agency. The MLB Winter Meetings are approaching on December 7 and by then we could see what these two teams decide to do in terms of improving their rosters for 2015.
