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The race for Carlos Rodón officially ended earlier, when Jon Heyman first reported on Twitter that the Yankees would sign Rodón to a six-year, $162 million deal with a full no-trade clause. An average of $27 million a year without escape clauses.
Market news regarding Rodón has been circulating for a while, including the Cardinals, Twins and Rodón’s former club, the Giants, have all been rumored to be potential buyers. But Carlos Rodón’s asking price is not cheap. Taking advantage of this year’s gold rush in the free market, the goal has been extended from the initial rumored five-year target to regarding six years, with an average of $30 million per season. Later, there was even news that Rodón (Boras agency) tried to seek a 7-year long-term contract.
Perhaps because such a contract length is too risky for Rodón’s past health history, there is no particular team in the market that has shown an obvious and active pursuit of him. Except the New York Yankees. The Yankees’ interest in Carlos Rodón has always been on the table. And even following signing back cricket star Aaron Judge at a sky-high price, various media continue to report that the Yankees still have a high willingness for Carlos Rodón.
In the end, being able to hold on for 6 years and keep the average salary below 30 million is good news from the Yankees’ point of view.
But even if this is already a “relatively cheap” expense, the Yankees’ shots this winter are still impressive. Aaron Judge’s average of 40 million US dollars and Carlos Rodón’s average of 27 million US dollars in the two giant contracts have brought the Yankees’ current team salary to the $292M mark (according to Fangraphs statistics), directly breaking through the third tax line. The fourth tax line, commonly known as “Cohen Tax”, is only one step away.
Seeing the Yankees spending so much this winter, one can imagine that they must have been under pressure from all sides. Although the Yankees have usually remained at the top of the team’s salary list in recent years, their aggressiveness compared to other championship teams has always been considered “less bloody.” At the same time, the long-term failure to enter the World Series is also regarded by many supporters as a failure, requiring the team to come up with a more competitive lineup.
In addition to calls from fans, many media including official website reporter Bryan Hoch have mentioned Aaron Judge’s role in this. It is said that in the process of negotiating to extend the contract following the season, Aaron Judge once expressed to the Yankees that he hoped to “see the team’s progress”, while the small owner Hal Steinbrenner assured that the team would definitely have room to do other things following signing him. reinforcement.
Now it seems that the signing of Carlos Rodón is the small boss’s way of fulfilling his promise.
Of course, the Yankees will still make moves in the future. Offseason signings Kahnle, Judge and Rodón have yet to officially enter the roster, but there is only one vacancy left on the 40-man roster. Subsequent operations are necessary, and salary space for mid-season operations must also be reserved.
Aside from the cap space angle, left field has been one of the positions the Yankees have been clamoring to improve throughout the offseason. Compared with the past style of always keeping a second hand, this year’s Yankees who take a “if I want it, I will get it” route may really be able to continue hunting.
But no matter what the follow-up operation is, what is certain is that the Yankees’ starting rotation is star-studded today. The combination of Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Nestor Cortes, Luis Severino and Frankie Montas has the same ceiling compared to other rotations in the league. The performance of the starters last season was already good, and now they are even more threatening following joining Rodón.
In the past two years, Carlos Rodón has shown strong pressure, and his swing rate and strikeout ability are his signature characteristics. In the past two years, Rodón’s K% ranked first in the league, and in addition to his low hit rate, he is not easy to be bombed. The HR/9 value is only 0.72, ranking fifth in the league in the past two seasons.
In addition to the performance on the field, it is said that the Yankees also took a fancy to Carlos Rodón’s toughness and personality traits, and thought he was quite suitable for the Yankees. And Rodón himself has always regarded New York as one of his priorities.
While Carlos Rodón has health concerns from a shoulder injury, he’s still the youngest and strongest pitching option in free agency this winter. Therefore, grabbing this goal is not only a bonus to the actual combat power for the Yankees, but also a declaration.
The New York Yankees, who have failed to enter the World Series in the past 13 seasons, cast aside the shackles of the luxury tax and regained the true colors of an evil empire. This route is what the fans are happy to see, and it seems to be the only way to escape the curse of the US crown and reach the championship trophy.