Brian Cashman reversed himself and agreed to sign Rafael Soriano.
According to SI’s Jon Heyman, the Yankees have agreed to terms with Rafael Soriano to a three-year, $35 million deal. The deal comes as something of a surprise, since it wasn’t a week ago that Brian Cashman said he would not give up the team’s first round draft pick. They’ve done just that, and have given a relief pitcher $12 million annually.
River Ave Blues doesn’t like the move, except for one condition:
The one thing I will add right now: I dislike this move less if it moves Joba back to the rotation.
There’s no way that Joba will be the setup man with Soriano earning that much money. So either the Yankees want to make every game six innings, or they want to fill a hole in the rotation with Joba. Given that the back of the rotation could be weak, the six inning idea is the more likely option.
Given his value as rated by FanGraphs, the Yankees are really over-paying here. It almost makes me wonder if this deal is for real.
I think WAR probably underestimates the value of a top reliever (because of the leverage of his innings). Look at Soriano’s WPA last year.
They’re overpaying, but maybe not by much.
I think this means Pettite is definitely gone. And you know what I hope the Yankees give Joba another chance. They jerked him around and ruined his development. Give hime 1 more chance to show what he has got. Maybe he isn’t a number 1 but a good number 2 or 3 is fine.
Soriano replaces Kerry Wood in the bullpen. The Yankees bullpen improved dramatically when they acquired Wood. Joba is simply not a reliable set up guy, and having to use him and Robertson in the 8th is a recipe for disaster, since they would struggle to get outs in the 6th and 7th inning with only 3 bonafide starting pitchers who can go 7 innings.
As for overpaying, the Yankees have 100% more revenue than the league average team, as such, their value assessment is quite different than it is for a league average team, and they can overpay 50% more than lesser teams can pay.
Without Pettitte or a reliable alternative for the 4th spot, the Yankees needed to improve the bullpen. Soriano was the best available reliever. Also, they need insurance for Rivera since one of these days, perhaps soon, Rivera will show his age, it’s just a question of when and not if.
@pft: You’re judging Joba on small sample size and bad luck. His FIP and xFIP were over a run lower than his ERA in 2010. His strikeout, walk and home run rates are all good.