Stephen Drew, Chase Headley and Brandon McCarthy were all available to the Yankees at a price calculated as acceptable, to some large degree, because they will be free agents after this season and their previous teams had no long-term retention desires.
The Yankees have taken on this trio mainly for a pennant drive, but, yes, a test drive, as well. They get to see how each handles New York, the team’s culture and a playoff chase. And, oh yeah, can they play? The priority is October, but there is an eye on the business of November and beyond. There are definitely 2015 jobs available for Drew, Headley and McCarthy. Here is an early read on how the auditions are going:
Drew: You might have heard, Derek Jeter is retiring.
Trying to do some long-term planning last offseason, the Yankees made a multi-year offer to Drew to play third base in 2014 (in that scenario, they would not have signed Kelly Johnson) with the idea he would move to short in 2015. Drew, though, was still in a phase in which he believed he was worth far more, plus he was viewing himself as a shortstop only.
However, Drew’s market was hurt because Boston had put a qualifying offer on him. Thus, a signing team would forfeit either a first- or second-round pick to ink him. And Drew was the kind of player — good to very good, but not great — that has had his value depressed significantly due to being qualified.
Drew tried to wait out the process. If he didn’t sign until after Opening Day it meant he could not have a qualifying offer put on him following this season (a player must play the whole year with a team to be eligible to have a qualifying offer placed on them, so, for example, the Yankees will be unable to place a qualifying offer on Drew, Headley or McCarthy). Drew also was willing to wait until after June’s draft, when all draft compensation would vanish for signing him, as well. The only team that would not lose a pick for signing him before the draft was Boston, which did on May 23. Drew didn’t play his first game until June 2.
The two players who tried this wait-’em-out gambit — Drew and Kendrys Morales (first game June 9) — are Scott Boras clients who have hit atrociously this season. For example, 321 players had accumulated at least 175 plate appearances and Drew was 318th in batting average (.175) and 311th in OPS (.561) — Morales was 318th in OPS at .539.
What will have to be determined by interested teams such as the Yankees is whether the poor results are about strategy gone bad or fading effectiveness (Drew turns 32 next March). What they currently have is a worse version of Brendan Ryan (can field, but can’t hit). Boras is a hard-driving agent, and there will be a compunction to try to make up for wages not earned this year. So what is the price?
The Yankees love Drew’s glove, promise of lefty power and hard-playing style. He has proven as Boston’s 2013 championship shortstop that he can handle the heated Northeastern arena. But can he still hit?
Headley: You might have heard, Alex Rodriguez is coming back next year.
That is at least a theory. Who knows, though, if A-Rod’s now-39-year-old body with chemical damage — or withdrawal, or both — plus two hip surgeries and a lack of major league time can even respond? Plus, rhetoric aside, does he still really want to play, and will the Yankees actually have him in back in uniform?
AÂ returning A-Rod likely would DH at least as often as he plays third, so the Yankees need to cover themselves at the hot corner no matter what.
Martin Prado is signed through 2016. But his offensive numbers are not really those of a third baseman, and his best value is probably as a moving-around-the-diamond asset. Headley has played well at third and handled first base, too — vital now and moving forward with Mark Teixeira having become porcelain fragile.
Headley already has professed how much he likes being a Yankee. He has hit better here than he had earlier this season with San Diego. But the problem is going to be finding a price for him. He turns 31 in May and has a history of back problems. He finished fifth for NL MVP in 2012, though he never before or since approached that excellence. Who is he? And how much will it cost to find out?
The last attempt by the Padres came earlier this year when they offered a three-year, $39 million contract from 2015 to 2017, but the Padres believed Headley still wanted a pact more in line with Hunter Pence’s five-year, $90 million deal and Shin-Soo Choo’s seven-year, $130 million contract.
McCarthy: You might have heard, Masahiro Tanaka might need Tommy John surgery … and Ivan Nova already had it … and CC Sabathia needed knee surgery and his career is in peril … and Michael Pineda is following the Teixeira fragility model.
So all the reasons why the Yankees stole McCarthy from Arizona are why they would want him for stability or more in 2015.
There have been times when McCarthy has been a good major league pitcher, but never as good as he has been for his first six Yankees starts. Is he Shawn Chacon — a 2005 midseason acquisition who helped the Yanks make the playoffs and fell apart in 2006? Or has greater use of his cutter reinvented McCarthy to something better?
He turned 31 in July, and his injury history has meant he has topped 170 innings once in his career. His 146 1/3 innings this season are his second-highest total ever.
Had he continued as he was with the Diamondbacks, McCarthy was looking at a one-year contract for maybe $5 million in free agency. Now, he falls more into the reinvented Scott Kazmir (two years at $22 million) or Scott Feldman (three years at $30 million) forum. Will the Yankees shop in that venue?