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Yankees: 3 players who could be non-tendered in offseason

By Thomas Carannante |
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 07: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Gary Sanchez #24 of the New York Yankees celebrates his home run against the Washington Nationals with teammate Clint Frazier #77 at Yankee Stadium on May 07, 2021 in New York City. The Nationals defeated the Yankees 11-4. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 07: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Gary Sanchez #24 of the New York Yankees celebrates his home run against the Washington Nationals with teammate Clint Frazier #77 at Yankee Stadium on May 07, 2021 in New York City. The Nationals defeated the Yankees 11-4. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
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Miguel Andujar #41 of the New York Yankees (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
Miguel Andujar #41 of the New York Yankees (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images) /

Here we go! Time to speculate on things that probably won’t happen because the New York Yankees love to keep things as is rather than make drastic moves for the sake of moving on and finding a better solution.

Perhaps the way 2021 ended will change the front office’s thought process, though? Perhaps the Boston Red Sox overachieving, pounding us into the dirt in the AL Wild Card Game, and then swiftly advancing to the ALCS after handling the 100-win Tampa Bay Rays might make a difference of some sort?

We can sit here and give passes for 2018, 2019 and 2020, but we will NOT do that for 2021, and the Yankees shouldn’t either. They’re already likely bringing back manager Aaron Boone after it was already a foregone conclusion general manager Brian Cashman would return. If you’re going to do that, it’s time to shake up the personnel.

After all, it was owner Hal Steinbrenner who placed a majority of the blame on the players for what transpired over the last six months. If you believe that, it’s time to start sending people out the door.

At the very least, the Yankees could stand to part with some players who serve as a distraction, are blocked due to a logjam, or simply have an escalating arbitration salary that’s no longer worth footing the bill for.

And we’d go so far as to say none of these moves would affect the core of the current club should they make a few more additions and hope for a World Series run in 2022.

These three players could get non-tendered by the Yankees this offseason.

3. Miguel Andújar

Miguel Andújar, whose career was upended after he lost the AL Rookie of the Year award to Shohei Ohtani back in 2018, has no place on the Yankees. He cannot adequately play defense anywhere, and his bat is one that requires consistent playing time in order to catch fire. That’s not a dig, either. Baseball is incredibly difficult if you’re stuck as a part-time player and getting jerked around between multiple unfamiliar positions.

This offseason, Andújar is entering his first year of arbitration eligibility and is projected to make $1.75 million. The Yankees do not need him. They have plenty of other guys such as Tyler Wade, Estevan Florial, Greg Allen and Andrew Velazquez they’d likely rather keep on the 40-man and use in the infield/outfield.

Andújar rightfully believes he deserves to be an everyday player, so why not give him the chance and save nearly $2 million in the process to go after a reliever or something? If you couldn’t trade him in 2019, you certainly cannot trade him now, which is why it’s likely a non-tendering is the expected option here.

Plus, his projected salary is more than a $1 million raise for … playing in 45 games, batting .253 with a .667 OPS, and largely being a liability on defense. Nope. Pass.

Clint Frazier #77 of the New York Yankees (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Clint Frazier #77 of the New York Yankees (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

2. Clint Frazier

What’s wrong with Clint Frazier? Last we heard, manager Aaron Boone wasn’t optimistic about Frazier returning in 2021 due to a troubling vision/dizziness issue that forced him out of action back on July 30. Boone provided that update in August.

Not too long after, Frazier was transferred to the 60-day IL after leaving a rehab assignment prematurely with the Somerset Patriots. Never saw him again except on Twitter a few times when he was cryptically tweeting random lyrics.

But … is he really dealing with an injury? Or was he exiled like Jacoby Ellsbury? Frazier took to Twitter this week and vowed to clear up “a lot of inaccurate things reported” about his injury. We’d love to hear more from the man!

Then again, though we hope he gets better and rediscovers his form, there’s no need for him to serve as a distraction in the 2022 team, especially after all that’s followed him ever since he arrived in the Bronx in the Andrew Miller-Indians trade. We don’t need to get into it. We just want him to start anew without the obstacles he clearly faces in this organization.

Whatever happened, Frazier’s “Gold Glove” defense from 2020 disappeared after he was named the starting left fielder for the 2021 season. And so did his bat. He was one of the six worst players in MLB according to fWAR when he played his final game back in June, and the Yankees surely won’t convince themselves that a) they’ll be able to trade him or b) that he’s worth a projected $2.25 million in arbitration. With how cheap the Yankees have been, there’s almost a 0% chance they’ll continue their years-long experiment with Frazier.

Frazier had his chances, and now Joey Gallo is here, Aaron Hicks should return from injury, and Giancarlo Stanton can play defense after he wasn’t permitted to do so for a few years. And even if the Yankees find a way to get rid of Gallo and Hicks, they’d likely prefer other options than Frazier at this point.

Gary Sanchez #24 of the New York Yankees (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
Gary Sanchez #24 of the New York Yankees (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

1. Gary Sánchez

*Insert “And Here We Go” Joker GIF*

Yankees Twitter was just set ablaze. I’m sorry. For the second offseason in a row, we will have a civil war among fans about Gary Sánchez, who, at this point, should be among the least polarizing figures in the organization … simply because he’s (ducks) not very good!

Don’t trust us? Let’s look at some telling statistics from the last few years:

  • 2018: 89 OPS+ and 4 Defensive Runs Saved
  • 2019: 119 OPS+ and -2 Defensive Runs Saved
  • 2020: 70 OPS+ and -4 Defensive Runs Saved
  • 2021: 99 OPS+ and -10 Defensive Runs Saved

You can’t call that the “best offensive catcher in the game” or the “Yankees’ catcher of the future.” Those are average to below average numbers, even for an MLB backstop, and given he’s projected to make $7.9 million in his final year of arbitration eligibility, perhaps the Yankees will finally realize this output isn’t worth running back yet again.

Frankly, many were surprised when the team opted to tender him a $6.35 million deal in 2021. Maybe we’re missing something, but we’re not sure what the front office saw that would justify another raise that put him among the game’s top-10 highest-paid catchers. And if he can’t be behind the plate when our ace is pitching … then what’s the point, really? If Boone isn’t going to use him as a DH or pinch-hit him more frequently? Again, feels like a colossal waste of time, money and energy.

We will say this, though: there aren’t any viable options in free agency, so if the Yankees do cut bait with Sánchez, they better have a proper backup plan that doesn’t constitute another downgrade … because we’ve seen enough inadequate efforts behind the dish for quite a while now.

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