How The Yankees Should Handle David Robertson

David Robertson rejected the Yankees $15.3 million qualifying offer in favor of searching for a multi-year deal on the free agent market. The team will likely continue to negotiate with him but failing to reach an agreement on a new contract wouldn’t be a bad thing either. 

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In an attempt to avoid overpaying the closer, the Yankees need to make as minimal contact with Robertson and his agent as possible until he has tested the open market. Here’s why:

If Robertson tests the open market and doesn’t find the type of contract that he’s looking for, his price will have to drop, in which case the team can come to him with a smaller offer and possibly come to terms on a more agreeable contract. This is a distinct possibility because he isn’t one of the games top closers and there are cheaper alternatives on the free agent market.

Also, recent history has shown that very good (but not great) players who reject qualifying offers don’t always get what they are looking for. Just ask Stephen Drew.

Last offseason, Drew was coming off of a solid year in which he helped the Boston Red Sox win a championship with solid hitting and above average fielding at shortstop. He hit the open market in search of a multi-year deal worth a large amount of money.

However, because he received a qualifying offer from the Red Sox, whichever team signed him would have to surrender a draft pick in return. This was not a sacrifice that any team was willing to make, so he ended up resigning with the Red Sox in late May for significantly less than he was looking for (not to mention his poor performance in 2014 which won’t help his value this offseason.)

That isn’t going to happen to Robertson, but he might be disappointed in the offers he receives on the open market.

On the other hand, if Robertson does find a team that is willing to overpay for his services, the Yankees will get a sandwich pick (between the first and second round) in 2015’s amateur draft, which could help them rebuild their farm system.

Also, it’s not like they don’t have a closer waiting in the wings. Dellin Betances was the team’s best reliever last year (yes, better than Robertson.) He posted a 1.40 ERA, a 0.78 WHIP, a batting average against of .149, and a K/9 rate of 13.5 in 90 innings pitched. It seems like a safe bet that he’ll make a solid closer.

In either scenario, the Yankees benefit.