Yankees Rumors: Mets stealing cheap and valuable NYY reliever would be bridge too far

Marcus Stroman's $18 million deal is preventing the New York Yankees from engaging with Alex Bregman or the St. Louis Cardinals on a Nolan Arenado trade? That's understandable. Frustrating, but it can be comprehended.

Marcus Stroman's $18 million deal is preventing the Yankees from signing Jorge Polanco to a $7-8 million deal? Drawing the line there feels absurd for the defending AL champions, but hey, that's Hal Steinbrenner for you. Spends like crazy, then won't spend a penny more to edge the team closer to filling all their holes instead of just two of them.

Stroman's $18 million deal is apparently preventing the Yankees from bringing beloved lefty reliever Tim Hill back for one or two years at $3-4 million per season after they revived him off the scrap heap, paving his way to head to the Mets instead, where the money never dries up (unless you're talking about Pete Alonso, in which case new phone, who this)? THAT is WHOLLY embarrassing. That's Jose Trevino's money! You already cleared that!

Alas, here we are. After being connected to Hill for months, then Andrew Chafin and Hill for a few weeks, the Mets have emerged in the rearview mirror for the crafty lefty. And, much like an approaching Mazda, they may be closer than they appear, given the Yankees' shocking aversion to the simple things.

Yankees need to re-sign Tim Hill after Mets interest

We already know what a world without Tim Hill looks like for the Yankees. It's called "The Most Pivotal Moments of Game 1 of the World Series". Let's not go back there.

To be fair, Hill doesn't miss bats. That's not how he operates. He's ground ball-centric, soft contact or bust. Given Stroman's struggles in front of the Yankees' sloppy infield, that almost makes his 2.05 ERA in 35 games in the Bronx (3.62 FIP) even more impressive. Sure, he struggled in Chicago beforehand and needed salvaging (5.87 ERA), but his predictive FIP was actually better with the White Sox (3.47). It didn't take much to unlock him, and the Yankees reaped the benefits of having a funky weirdo on board.

Rest assured, though, we're not begging the Yankees to "blank check" Hill and keep him by any means necessary. This isn't 2020 DJ LeMahieu. We simply know that the necessary means will not be financially straining. The Yankees can finish this today without getting even a tiny bit uncomfortable, and if the Mets swoop in, this will be an itchier thievery than Clay Holmes, and a far sillier departure than even Soto, who chased Dream Cash (and ignored $760 million of Yankee money).

This'll take a maximum of 1.05% of Soto's salary. Just do it already.