Yankees insurance policy on Jacoby Ellsbury paying off

Making $21.1 million this season, Jacoby Ellsbury is the third-highest paid player on the Yankees. However, if he were never to don the pinstripes again, it appears the organization would be more than OK with that.

Jacoby Ellsbury’s 7-year, $153 million Yankees contract, which includes a full no-trade clause, may very well go down as one of the worst commitments in professional sports history.

With no end until the year 2021, when the club can buy him out at a cool $5 million, the Ellsbury saga has continued with one comical injury notification after the other.

Currently battling separate foot, hip and oblique ailments, the career .284 hitter has missed the entire season-to-date while being deemed, “unable to resume baseball activities.”

At one point, manager Aaron Boone actually addressed to media to inform them that Ellsbury had been sent home from the team’s minor league complex because he was under the weather.

In an effort to circumnavigate reality, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman recently told the press that Ellsbury is legitimately hurt and has been diagnosed by a doctor as such.

Who? Doctor Vinny Boombatz?

Obviously, Cashman can’t come out and say that the organization doesn’t want or need Ellsbury back in its stead — that would draw the ire of the MLB Players’ Association for sure.

But anyone with a pair of eyes and knowledge of the insurance policy that the Yanks hold on Ellsbury understands what’s really going on.

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Wallace Mathews recently wrote a piece for Forbes.com detailing how the policy, similar to the one the Mets have on their former captain David Wright, works.

In the fascinating article, Matthews says that both fans and reporters have begun to speculate whether or not Ellsbury and the Yanks have a “silent contract.” It amounts to Ellsbury saying nothing, in regards to whether or not he’s actually hurt and the Yanks stating that he is, and thus unable to join the 25-man roster.

This theory makes even more sense when you look at the money the organization is recouping from Ellsbury staying far away from the Bronx.

Navigating the waters of potential insurance fraud, should the Yankees start and stop Ellsbury’s rehab over the remainder of the season, they will receive $15,857,142 in return for his inability to perform his baseball duties.

Crunching the numbers, it works out to a manageable loss of $5,285,712 for a 34-year-old center fielder that was once assembled by Dr. Frankenstein himself. Unfortunately, none of the insurance money can be used to offset the luxury tax threshold, which adds to the acid reflux of Yankee fans everywhere when you consider his $21.1 million counts for 12.60 percent of the team’s total payroll. 

So for all intents and purposes, Ellsbury will stay a permanent member of the 60-day DL — and once in a while, we’ll hear something about an impending rehab assignment, only to be cut short by a bee sting or frostbite.

Next: Why is prospect Chance Adams struggling like never before?

Until next offseason, when rumors pop up about Ellsbury potentially waiving his no-trade clause for the chance to once again play in a major league game, the Yankees will continue to make the best of a bad situation.