3 mistakes from last offseason Yankees can’t afford to make again in 2022

2. No More Flyers on Injured Starters … Regardless of Pedigree

Corey Kluber wasn’t the problem, let’s make that clear. The problem was the Yankees thinking it was a good idea to acquire TWO starting pitchers last offseason who had barely pitched since 2019 in Kluber and Jameson Taillon. You just knew one of them wasn’t going to work out … and the potential of both not doing so was greater than both putting forth productive seasons.

Kluber made just 16 starts and failed to contribute in a meaningful manner when the Yankees needed him most down the stretch. A shoulder injury sidelined him from late May until September. His no-hitter in Texas was no doubt awesome, but if you told us the price was going to be a 100-day absence, we would’ve traded it right back.

As for Taillon, he was not good to start the year, and his disastrous outing against the Phillies had us re-thinking the team’s entire offseason plan. But then he rebounded to win AL Pitcher of the Month in July and things were looking up. The rotation took yet another hit, however, when he suffered an ankle injury late in the year and was limited in what he could do.

The crazy part is that the Yankees almost did this again this offseason when they attempted to lure Justin Verlander away from Houston with a $25 million offer. A guy coming off Tommy John surgery entering his age-39 season? Have we not learned? And they didn’t want to offer a second year, which is when they would’ve seen the best results, because we know most pitchers don’t find their footing in their first season back from the reconstructive elbow surgery.

The Yankees already have liabilities in the form of Luis Severino and question marks such as Domingo Germán, Michael King and Clarke Schmidt. No more, please. We need stable, definitive options who we know can give us 150+ innings and be effective in one of the most important roles on the roster.

No more flyers. No more low-risk, high-reward decisions. Not this year.

1. Stop Trying to Save Money When a Championship is on the Line

You’ve heard plenty that the Yankees’ revenue continues to grow each and every year while the payroll remains stagnant. Twice in the last four years Hal Steinbrenner demanded this team dip under the luxury tax threshold, which ended up saving anywhere between $5-$15 million — a fraction of this organization’s net worth.

We’re not saying the Yankees need a $275 million payroll every single year to contend, and we do appreciate that the figure is consistently over $200 million, but when you see a clear window to put yourself over the edge by spending a few more million, you simply do it when you’re the richest organization in the sport. What the Yankees have been doing is the equivalent of going on an expensive date and drawing the line at dessert. What’s the extra few bucks going to do? The majority of the money has already been spent.

Forget about the payroll figure though, because we know how amateur it sounds to simply yell “spend more!” over and over. The problem here is that the Yankees’ decision making outside of spending big money has been bad, and one could even argue their moves to acquire Giancarlo Stanton and sign Gerrit Cole to a market-setting contract weren’t great (especially if the team was going to use those contract as an excuse not to open their purse more).

Look at all the trades that have failed. Look at the two contract extensions (Aaron Hicks and Luis Severino) that were supposed to help the team’s flexibility in the long run. Look at the various bullpen expenditures that have blown up in their face. Some moves have worked and it’s a reason why the Yankees are contending, but so many more have failed, which is a more serious reason they’re failing.

But the problems can be solved by just spending a bit more. What if they opted to hike the payroll to $240 million last year? We might not even be writing this article. And there’s no reason they can’t do it. Hal just doesn’t want to. And that’s no excuse when you have a team with a championship-or-bust mentality each and every year.

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