Revisiting How The Yankees Can Get Out Of The Luxury Tax

The New York Yankees have a money issue. It isn’t pressing because there is no salary cap in baseball, but there is a luxury tax, and boy do the Yankees know about that luxury tax. Since being introduced in 2003, the Yankees have paid it every year. In that time they have literally paid over a quarter billion dollars. The only other team to pay the luxury tax more than once and also has paid the second most dollars (through the 2013 season) are the Boston Red Sox at just under $19 million dollars.

The Yankees are in a position where they are stuck in the wrong tax bracket for at least a few more years to come. With players like Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia, and Alex Rodriguez making more than $20 million per season for multiple seasons, the Yankees can’t even try to trade the dead weight they have.

It’s no secret that the Yankees have a lot of talent that will be coming out of the minor leagues very soon including Rob Refsnyder, Aaron Judge, Gregory Bird, and Luis Severino, among others. Even Slade Heathcott looks healthy and will be starting the season in AAA. What the Yankees also have is a log jam at the major league level.

The NHL has a buyout, allowing you to cut a player and continue paying a player’s contract, but it does not go against the cap. If the MLB had that, the Yankees would have used it a couple times already. Based on the players being very close to coming up, the Yankees need space at first base, second base, and the outfield.

Second base is no problem. As soon as Refsnyder cleans up his defense a little bit, he will be in pinstripes for the long haul. Hit bat is already major league ready. Stephen Drew is nothing more than a Band-Aid on a position that has been terrible for the Yankees since that Robinson Cano guy left town.

Teixeira still has a hold on first base for no reason other than his $23,125,000 salary he is owed in both 2015 and 2016. He hasn’t batted .260 since 2009, his first year with the Yankees. In his early Yankee tenure, he still had a relatively high OBP despite his low average. However, last year he hit .216 with a .313 OBP in 123 games, not exactly a small sample size. He had injuries last season, but if a player is healthy enough to play they need to be healthy enough to produce. He is healthy now, but is turning 35 next week. If he continues to play like he has the last few seasons in 2015, it may be his last.

The Yankees outfield is very interesting. Left and center field are both extremely solid with Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury holding down two thirds of the outfield. Carlos Beltran is another Yankee who had a subpar 2014 because of injuries. Coincidentally, he’s also old. Beltran will turn 38 in three weeks and was mostly limited to DH duties in 2014. In 109 games he hit .233 with a .301 OBP. He was productive the season before in St. Louis with a .296 average and .339 OBP. 2015 is the second year of his three year, $45 million dollar deal. A healthy Beltran should still hit above .250, but his age is not helping matters. His contract is untradeable.

Gardner is a likely candidate to be traded at some point during his four year, $52 million dollar contract that runs through the 2018 season. Why? Because the Yankees actually made a contract extension that isn’t ridiculous for other teams to take on. Gardner just turned 31, plays above average defense, and is always a threat on the bases. His average dropped at the end of last year, but he also increased his home run total from 8 in 2013 to 17 last year, more than Ellsbury. In fact, Gardner had more runs and walks as well. They are nearly identical in doubles, triples, OBP and SLG. Did the Yankees hand out a contract worth more than $150 million dollars for a second Brett Gardner? 2014 says yes. Other than stolen bases, Ellsbury and Gardner were the exact same player last season. However, the Yankees are paying Ellsbury over $21,000,000 every season through 2020. If anyone should be traded, it’s Ellsbury.

Trading Ellsbury is not a popular sentiment. Many fans think he may be the next captain of the team. While he is obviously a great player, he is not worth anything near what the Yankees are paying him and that contract will look even worse by the end of it. While tougher to move, Ellsbury would still get bidders from other teams. Gardner could move back to center field, making room for Judge at a corner and getting the Yankees closer to being under the luxury tax. I would only recommend this move if the Yankees are clearly out of the playoff picture by the trade deadline and Beltran is at least an average ballplayer.

The Yankees have a lot of great youth on the way. They also have a lot of expensive over the hill pieces at the major league level. Eliminating those pieces and bringing in the youth will not only inject some new talent into this team, but it will keep more money in the team’s pocket for future investments.