Yankees 2018 Roster and Luxury Tax Situation

sports.vice.com

Matt Linder

The Yankees, having been just one win away from reaching the World Series, have a lot to look forward to next year and the years to come.  They have a young core of extremely exciting and talented building blocks, including Aaron Judge, Luis Severino, Gary Sanchez, Didi Gregorius and Chad Green.  That's not even counting the top prospects on their way to the Bronx in the near future.  Even with all of the young players expected to perform strongly again in 2018, there are still some question marks that the front office needs to answer before the 2018 season gets under way.  

Many of these uncertainties stem from ownership's desire to get the team’s payroll under the luxury tax threshold of $197 million.  I will look at the Yankees roster going into next season, where they are set and where they may need to reinforce.  But first, I want to examine the team’s salary situation heading into 2018.

Let’s start with the contracts definitely coming off of the books in 2018.  I am writing this piece under the assumption that Masahiro Tanaka will opt-out of his current contract and become a free agent.  Here is a list of the expiring contracts:
-CC Sabathia: $25M
-Masahiro Tanaka: $22M
-Matt Holliday: $13M
-Michael Pineda: $7.4M
-Todd Frazier: $5M (other $7M of contract paid by White Sox)
-Jaime Garcia: $4M (other $8M of contract paid by Braves)
-Chris Carter: $3M
-Alex Rodriguez: $27.5M

When all added together, the Yankees have $106.9M coming off of their payroll for 2018.  However, that money will be needed to replace (or re-sign) players such as Sabathia, Tanaka and Frazier and also, pay arbitration eligible players. 

So, let’s take a look at how the salaries for next season break down position by position.  For arbitration eligible players, I am using MLBtraderumors.com’s projected arbitration salaries:

Starting Pitchers (3):
-Luis Severino: $551,000 (BARGAIN!!!!)
-Sonny Gray: $6.6M - Arbitration eligible for second time ($3.575M in 2017)
-Jordan Montgomery: $550,000

Relief Pitchers (8):
-Aroldis Chapman: $17.2M
-David Robertson: $11.5M
-Dellin Betances: $4.4M - Arbitration eligible for second time ($3M in 2017)
-Tommy Kahnle: $1.3M – Arbitration eligible for first time ($535,000 in 2017)
-Chad Green: $550,000 (BARGAIN!!!!)
-Adam Warren: $3.1M – Arbitration eligible for third time ($2.29M in 2017)
-Two up and down minor leaguers (Ex. Ben Heller and Jonathan Holder): $550,0000 each

Catcher (1):
-Gary Sanchez: $558,000 (BARGAIN!!!!)

First Base (1):
-Greg Bird: $550,000 (BARGAIN!!!!)

Second Base (1):
-Starlin Castro: $8.6M

Shortstop (1):
-Didi Gregorius: $9.0M – Arbitration eligible for third time as Super Two ($5.1M salary in 2017)

Third Base (1):
-Chase Headley: $13M

Outfield (4):
-Jacoby Ellsbury: $21.86M (YIKES!!!)
-Brett Gardner: $13M
-Aaron Judge: $550,000 (BARGAIN!!!!)
-Aaron Hicks: $2.9M – Arbitration eligible for second time ($1.35M in 2017)

Utility/Back-Ups (2):
-Ronald Torreyes: $560,000
-Catcher (Austin Romine): $1M

Miscellaneous Expenses:
-Brian McCann: $5.5M (Yankees agreed to pay part of his salary when they traded him to Houston)
-Player benefits: estimated $12M
-Cheap minor leaguers on the 40 man roster: $2M

So after breaking it down, position by position, where does that leave us?  22 filled roster spots, barring no trades (which I know is extremely unlikely) and around $137.5M in payroll.  How will the Yankees fill those two vacant starting pitching holes and the one position player hole?  Check back in a day or two to see what I think the Yankees should do to address those holes.

If you have any questions, comments or criticisms feel free to reach out to me at mattlinder2@gmail.com