Yankees To Sign Brian Roberts

[Johnnydollaz89]

The Yankees and second baseman Brian Roberts have agreed to a one-year deal worth $2MM plus incentives, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Morosi's colleague, Ken Rosenthal, reported last night that the two sides were likely to reach an agreement. Roberts is represented by Relativity Baseball (formerly known as SFX).
The 36-year-old Roberts played in 77 games last season -- his highest total since 2009. He's spent his entire career with the Orioles to date, finishing a four-year, $40MM extension this past season that saw him play just 192 games and slash just .246/.310/.359 due to injuries. Over the life of that contract, Roberts was sidelined for significant amounts of time due to an abdominal strain, two concussions (one of which caused him to miss more than an entire season's worth of games), hip surgery and hamstring surgery.
Prior to that onslaught of injuries, the switch-hitting Roberts was a consistent threat at the plate and on the basepaths. From 2004-09, he batted .290/.365/.438 and averaged 46 doubles, four triples, 12 homers and 35 stolen bases per season. He's spent his entire career with to this point with the Orioles, who selected him with the 50th overall pick in the 1999 draft as compensation for the loss of free agent Rafael Palmeiro.
As Rosenthal notes (on Twitter), Roberts' low base salary will allow the Yankees to pursue other infield options. Mark Reynolds remains a possibility, and the team has also expressed interest in trading for Dustin Ackley. New York was also linked to Brandon Phillips in a rumor that gained quite a bit of attention, but that doesn't appear to be a likely outcome at this point.

MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com

On the decline, injured over the last 4 years, meh signing.

 

[Cobiemonster]

Seeing him somewhere other than the Orioles is odd

 

[Nyfan1980]

Maybe they can get something out of him, they have done well with this in the past. They picked up Dean Anna who will be in the competition, he posted solid numbers in the minors, good OBP guy.

I don't like Mark Reynolds, bad defense at 3B.

Looks like the opening day lineup could look like this...

C-Brian McCann L
1B-Mark Teixeira S
2B-Brian Roberts S
SS-Derek Jeter R
3B-Mark Reynolds R
LF-Brett Gardner L
CF-Jacoby Ellsbury L
RF-Carlos Beltran S
DH-Alfonso Soriano R

 

[TDs3nOut]

Maybe they can get something out of him, they have done well with this in the past. They picked up Dean Anna who will be in the competition, he posted solid numbers in the minors, good OBP guy.

I don't like Mark Reynolds, bad defense at 3B.

Looks like the opening day lineup could look like this...

C-Brian McCann L
1B-Mark Teixeira S
2B-Brian Roberts S
SS-Derek Jeter R
3B-Mark Reynolds R
LF-Brett Gardner L
CF-Jacoby Ellsbury L
RF-Carlos Beltran S
DH-Alfonso Soriano R

That could be a strong lineup. Tex, Roberts, Jeter, Beltran, and Soriano are all getting pretty old, though.

 

[Johnnydollaz89]

That could be a strong lineup. Tex, Roberts, Jeter, Beltran, and Soriano are all getting pretty old, though.

Also a very injury-prone lineup, lot of risk there.

 

[$500 Million]

This is what happens when you have no farm system.

You roll the dice on old farts with one foot in the retirement home.

It is what it is.

 

[Nyfan1980]

That could be a strong lineup. Tex, Roberts, Jeter, Beltran, and Soriano are all getting pretty old, though.

They have a DH spot to rotate. I doubt Roberts stays healthy, we'll see if Dean Anna can be a legit 2B guy. The Yankees are going cheap on some guys now because they want to save money for a big spending on another SP, Tanaka if posted...

 

[$500 Million]

Going by what we have right now...

Batting Order

1. Jeter (R)
2. Ellsbury (L)
3. Beltran (S)
4. Soriano (R)
5. McCann (L)
6. Teixeira (S)
7. Rodriguez (R)
8. Roberts (S)
9. Gardner (L)

 

[Nyfan1980]

Going by what we have right now...

Batting Order

1. Jeter (R)
2. Ellsbury (L)
3. Beltran (S)
4. Soriano (R)
5. McCann (L)
6. Teixeira (S)
7. Rodriguez (R)
8. Roberts (S)
9. Gardner (L)

Ellsbury is going to lead off, hes one of the best lead off hitters in the game.

 

[$500 Million]

Ellsbury is going to lead off, hes one of the best lead off hitters in the game.

You're probably right but I have no historical point of reference on Jeter batting anywhere but top 3, it will be interesting to see where they put him, for now I just left him at leadoff.

 

[steveringo]

Going by what we have right now...

Batting Order

1. Jeter (R)
2. Ellsbury (L)
3. Beltran (S)
4. Soriano (R)
5. McCann (L)
6. Teixeira (S)
7. Nunez (R)
8. Roberts (S)
9. Gardner (L)

 

[$500 Million]

Thank you, mine was pre-suspension which is "right now" in the literal sense but whatever.

 

[steveringo]

Thank you, mine was pre-suspension which is "right now" in the literal sense but whatever.

Yeah, I was just making a joke....

But, it is something they should be thinking about.

It also seems like they are banking on Tanaka being posted... I just googled NY's 4th & 5th starters and got this list:

David Phelps
Phelps, 27, is likely the front-runner — along with Michael Pineda — to nab a back-of-the-rotation spot based off his recent experience in pinstripes. In 12 starts in 2013, Phelps went 5-4 with a 4.93 ERA. He even flashed a respectable 7.3 strikeouts per inning, though that was well down from the 11.2 average he showed in 21 relief frames. He very likely doesn't pack Pineda's upside, but is the closest thing to reliability the Yankees have.

Michael Pineda
Pineda, 24, is said to be healthy, according to Cashman. But, the general manager added, "'All good' means pitching seven innings and knocking the bats out of guys' hands at the big-league level." But is Pineda truly recovered from his shoulder injury? He hasn't pitched in in the majors since September 2011. Is Pineda the same righty who struck out 173 batters in his only full season? Pineda still has minor-league options, so he'll have to really impress.

Adam Warren
Warren, 26, left a good impression on Yankees brass at the end of 2013. He gave up two hits and no runs in five innings while earning a win in the final game of the season. It was only his second start of the season, though, and the third of his major-league career. Warren pitches to contact, and can get a strikeout here and there. But he'd need to show a lot more to leapfrog Pineda and Phelps.

Vidal Nuno
Nuno's another pitcher without much starting experience. Then again, that's what you're going to get this low on the list. He started three games for the Yankees in 2013 — his first year in the bigs — and had an impressive spring training. But the 26-year-old lefty suffered a groin injury in June and didn't pitch again. Maybe Nuno battles for a shot as long reliever with the pitcher that comes closest to the rotation.

David Huff
Another long-man candidate, lefty Huff spent four years bouncing between the the majors and the minors with Cleveland before the Yankees claimed him off waivers, and he ultimately ended up at Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Huff throws a low-90's fastball and a pretty good change-up, but there's a reason he's 29 and hasn't stuck around in the majors — he's just not an overwhelming talent.

Manny Banuelos
The 22-year-old missed all of 2013 with Tommy John surgery. If he's healthy, the Yankees will want to see him in Triple A, Cashman has said. He has 13 career starts there.

Jose Ramirez
Baseball America says Ramirez, 23, has the best fastball and the best change-up in the Yankees' farm system. That's big for the right-hander. But after impressing in nine starts at Double A Trenton, Ramirez posted just a 4.88 ERA with an ugly 1.59 WHIP in eight Triple A starts. Clearly he's got upside, but, FanGraphs wrote this interesting piece in late May asking whether Ramirez is best served out of the bullpen. It's a question that might not get answered until late 2014.

I know they have/had a lot of holes, but SP should really be their focus....

 

[$500 Million]

You're preaching to the choir on that one, they need help badly.

Right now everything is riding on Tanaka, if he doesn't post then things are going to get real interesting.

 

[Nyfan1980]

Yeah, I was just making a joke....

But, it is something they should be thinking about.

It also seems like they are banking on Tanaka being posted... I just googled NY's 4th & 5th starters and got this list:


I know they have/had a lot of holes, but SP should really be their focus....

They definitely need Tanaka. Cashman wanted to add 2 200+ inning SP, one was the return of Kuroda. The other is waiting on Tanaka. If we can get him our rotation will be.

1-CC Sabathia
2-Hiroki Kuroda
3-Ivan Nova
4-Masahiro Tanaka
5-Michael Pineda (hopefully hes ready to return to the MLB)

 

[steveringo]

Report: Masahiro Tanaka wants MLB move, Japanese team resists | SI Wire

Tanaka want to come, but Rakuten might not let him go. Is a Japanse player worth ore than $20m to their home team?

 

[Nyfan1980]

His team president said they would do what Tanaka wants. That would suck if they go against their word and honor what the player wants.

This new posting system is so stupid, small market squads don't have a chance to land a player like Tanaka anyways. The only reason they wanted this was so instead of a team like the Yankees sending $70 mil over to Japan and it not counting against the luxury tax, they want the team to have all that money spent on the luxury tax so they get theirs.

 

[steveringo]

This new posting system is so stupid, small market squads don't have a chance to land a player like Tanaka anyways. The only reason they wanted this was so instead of a team like the Yankees sending $70 mil over to Japan and it not counting against the luxury tax, they want the team to have all that money spent on the luxury tax so they get theirs.

Small market teams had no chance under the old system. They now have the same chance as any other team under the new system. Every team can afford a $20m posting fee. If they say they can't, they are lying.

If more than one team posts the highest bid, the player becomes a free agent to those teams and the negotiations begin... If the player signs with another team, the posting bid is returned.

If the player goes to the Yankees or Dodgers, it has nothing to do with the posting system. It has everything to do with cheap owners.

Report: MLB tops $8 billion in annual revenues for first time - CBSSports.com

MLB Team Values: The Business Of Baseball - Full List - Forbes:

 

[da55bums]

That could be a strong lineup. Tex, Roberts, Jeter, Beltran, and Soriano are all getting pretty old, though.

that could be a strong lineup, 5 years ago..

 

[Nyfan1980]

that could be a strong lineup, 5 years ago..

Or this year as well. I look at the numbers with players, not ages in baseball.