Yankees Rumors: Nothing Imminent with Edwin Encarnacion

Prior to Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Union agreeing to a new five-year CBA on Wednesday, rumors spread that slugger Edwin Encarnacion was on the brink of signing with the Houston Astros. Turns out those rumors were pretty bogus.

When I read the linked article above and noticed the tweets saying Encarnacion was all but on his way to Houston, the first thing I noticed was I had never heard of anyone reporting those “rumors.” Any real baseball fan would tell you the same. But the problem is the casual person will see those posts on social media and run with it.

Shortly after 6 pm eastern time on Wednesday, FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi quickly debunked those rumors after speaking with Encarnacion’s agent, Paul Kinzer:

Edwin Encarnacion’s agent, Paul Kinzer, just told me there is “nothing imminent” at the moment for him with a free-agent contract. (1/2)
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 30, 2016

Edwin Encarnacion has multiple offers in hand, with multiple teams still involved, according to his agent, Paul Kinzer. @MLB (2/2)
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 30, 2016

But Morosi added the Yankees remain one of the finalists bidding for Encarnacion’s services:

Encarnacion’s agent, Paul Kinzer, declined to comment about teams, but #Astros and #Yankees believed to be among remaining suitors. @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 30, 2016

Just a few hours following Morosi’s tweets, MLB and the MLB Players Union agreed to a new CBA in a five-year deal. One key part of the negotiations included a team looking to sign a free agent who received a qualifying offer before hitting the open market no longer has to forfeit a first round pick in the following MLB Draft.

This has been something that has hindered the Yankees from signing free agents over the last few years as they’ve wanted to rebuild the organization from within.

Team that loses QO free agent will get pick only if player signs contract of $50M+. Pick it gets will depend upon that team’s market size.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 1, 2016

Club that signs QO free agent, if it exceeds luxury-tax threshold, will lose 2nd-rounder, 5th-rounder and $1M in int’l bonus money.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 1, 2016

This should make every team even more aggressive as the value of the pick that would be sacrificed in signing a free agent becomes much less valuable. Basically, the only thing that would shy the Yankees from signing a big money free agent is….well….the money.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman has done a tremendous job shedding salary from the payroll but still has $46MM owed to CC Sabathia and Alex Rodriguez who was released from his contract last season.

The new CBA's effects: The Winter Meetings are on, the Yankees and Red Sox are back in business, and baseball gets five uninterrupted years.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 1, 2016

Next: A Cheaper Option For The Yanks At DH

Still, the Yankees need protection in a lineup that will be filled with young and inexperienced hitters. It’s undetermined as to where Cashman will go with this decision but it’s fair to say the new CBA allows him to be more aggressive.

Prior to Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Union agreeing to a new five-year CBA on Wednesday, rumors spread that slugger Edwin Encarnacion was on the brink of signing with the Houston Astros. Turns out those rumors were pretty bogus.

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