Yankees discussing extensions with Didi Gregorius and Dellin Betances

We’re less than two weeks into spring training and so far the Yankees have already agreed to contract extensions with their ace Luis Severino and center fielder Aaron Hicks. According to reports they aren’t done yet and next up could be Didi Gregorius and Dellin Betances.

The Yankees sure are committed to keeping the great young core they’ve built over the past couple seasons intact for years to come. It started with Severino and Hicks and now both Didi and Betances could agree to extensions of their own in the very near future. With both players eligible to become free agents after the season it makes a lot of sense for the Yanks to sign them to long term deals so they’re unable to test the open market next winter.

Jon Heyman of the MLB Network reported on Tuesday that the Yankees are talking to both players but an extension with Betances is likely to get done first.

With Didi expected to miss the majority of the first half of the season recovering from Tommy John surgery, the Yankees don’t really need to rush into signing him to an extension just yet. Even though talks have begun I’m sure they’d like to have a better idea of how Didi’s recovery is coming along before talks really heat up. I don’t think they’re overly concerned with his health moving forward, but if an extension happens it might not get done until we get closer to his return to the field.

As for Betances, there’s more of a sense of urgency to get this done soon because I don’t think he wants these talks to carry over into the regular season. That could become an unnecessary distraction for him when the focus should be on the team and winning the division. Betances himself has already echoed that sentiment according to Pete Caldera of NorthJersey.com:

"“I’m just trying to focus on playing baseball and helping this team win,” Betances said. “That’s my goal.’’"

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With a little over a month to go before Opening Day Betances and his reps have plenty of time to talk extension so it wouldn’t surprise me if a new deal is agreed upon very soon. If not then the odds of Dellin entering free agency could increase because the Yankees rarely sign players to extensions during the regular season.

That being said the situation with Didi is different because he’s injured and won’t be out there playing every day. He could be an exception to the way GM Brian Cashman and company have handled things in the past when it comes to impending free agents.

Didi projects to garner a bigger deal than the one’s Hicks and Severino just got especially on an AAV basis, but he deserves that based on how productive he’s been since coming to New York. He’s also been in the league longer and has established himself as one of the best shortstops in baseball and one of the best all-around players on the team when healthy.

The good thing is as Heyman noted is the Yankees love Didi and he wants to be here long-term. He’s not going to come cheap but considering he is still recovering from TJ surgery the odds of him signing another team-friendly deal could be high.