Contrary to their past offseason activity, the New York Yankees have not made a big free agent acquisition before the 2015 season. With James Shields on the board and only a few weeks left before spring training, is this their chance to make a big move?
According to sources, Shields has "multiple offers" and is "expected to sign before the end of the week," writes FOX Sports' Jon Morosi. We wrote yesterday that the Yankees could be considering the right-hander because it's believed his price tag has dropped dramatically after a number of clubs backed off since he was initially asking for a five-year deal.
New York has stayed true to the speculation that they would not be signing a big ticket free agent, but Morosi's report also mentions that sources believe the Yankees have been in recent contact with Shields' agent. This is fairly big news since the market for Shields has been undefined for the entirety of the offseason because not many teams were known to be definitively interested in signing him, on top of the fact his value has fluctuated significantly.
Bill Madden of the New York Daily News said Shields' future deal is unlikely to be in excess of three years and will probably be worth a third of what he was initially seeking, which (we'd like to believe) would put the Yankees in play due to the concerns surrounding their starting rotation. New York has stacked up on bullpen arms this offseason due to the questionable state of most of their starters: C.C. Sabathia is coming off season-ending knee surgery; Masahiro Tanaka's elbow may not be healthy after he suffered a partially torn UCL in July; Ivan Nova won't be back until June as he recovers from Tommy John Surgery; and Michael Pineda has made only 13 starts over the past three seasons because of various injuries.
The 33-year-old Shields has thrown at least 200 innings in each of the past eight seasons and can provide stability at the top of the Yankees' rotation and help take some pressure off of their bullpen. Over the past two seasons, he's 27-17 with a 3.18 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 68 starts (455 2/3 innings).
However, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported on Tuesday night that he continues "to hear the Yankees are not in play for a significant free-agent starting pitcher such as Shields."
But will they resist temptation if Shields' worth dips below $50 million? Morosi notes that "no free-agent starting pitcher has signed a contract in excess of $50 million after Feb. 1 of a given year."
We'll be tracking Shields over the next few days.
