AJ to Pirates deal in place...

JIM BOWDEN @JimBowdenESPNxm
NYY-PGH close to finalizing deal w/ Burnett.should get done in next 24 hours according to source;NYY weighing one last offer from other team

 

Good call, but 6 years still isn't enough for a prospect as raw as him IMO.

 

Such good news. I just want this to be over. This is occupying wayyyy too much of my time right now.

 

I mean that once he gets to the majors they have him for 6 years, just like any other prospect getting called up, regardless of the contract. So if it takes him 3 years in the minors and he comes up at 22, they still have him until he's 28. I think it was a killer move by Epstein to get that written in, even though they did clearly overpay.

 

Well, Epstein didn't get him yet, but here's what I don't understand about what you just said... where does the 4 years come in. How is it a 4 year, 27 million dollar contract if it is really a 6 year, 27 million dollar contract. That's the part that is lost on me.

 

MLB rules. The team has control over any player with 6 or less years of service time, unless it's written into their contract that the team loses control (which is what happened with Cespedes in Oakland).

In other words, a player can not become a free agent without 6 years of service time, unless his team cuts him beforehand. Even at that point the player has to go through waivers, and wouldn't become an unrestricted FA until all teams pass on him.

 

So what happens when the contract is up? Arbitration? And what is that arbitration based off? The contract?

 

Once the contract is up he's under team control another 2 years, so yeah... arbitration, assuming they can't come to terms on an extension or other contract first. And like all arbitration cases, the amount the player would make is dependent on his salary in previous seasons.

 

I thought that only applied to players with minor league contracts though? Soler would be signing a major league contract.

 

This.

 

The way I've read it from guys at ESPN.com, and other more reputable sources (aka non-bloggers), is that the guy would be under team control for those reasons.

 

It sounds pretty reasonable to me. Mainly because the parameters seem pretty UNreasonable if what you say is not true.

 

Good point.

 

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/yankeesblog/yankees_could_save_with_burnett_bDfzLYV0vqhIzNzCbenRBN#ixzz1mbvTIQ6p​

 

Jon Heyman @JonHeymanCBS
barring something unforeseen, aj trade will be completed w/i a few days. pirates to pay $13M of $33M, give up 2 non-roster minor leaguers

 

A little more progress in the A.J. talk

10:42
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By Andrew Marchand
We know that the Yankees are getting $13-15 million of salary relief in their trade with the Pirates. Now, Buster Olney tweets that the Yankees and Bucs hope to take the deal to the Commissioner's Office by later today for him to bless it. Then A.J. Burnett will be a Pirate and the Yankees will receive two marginal prospects.

 

It's almost over! Getting $13-15 million is nothing short of a heist for the Yankees. I'd have taken the $10 million and ran away with it as fast as I could.

 

I agree, $10m sounded good by me, as that's enough to get Chavez and Ibanez. But possibly $15m? Sweet. The team will probably save a little money this year, and have that much more for next year when Rivera (15), Swisher (10.25), Kuroda (10), Martin (7.5), Feliciano (4), Garcia (4), and Jones (2) are free agents.

 

That's 52.75 million if my quick math is correct, plus somewhere between 6.5 and 7.5 million of AJ money. So we'll say $59.25 million at least. They'll resign Martin, beyond that I have no idea what they'll do. Rivera may or may not come back. Feliciano and Garcia are as good as gone. Jones is likely only on for this year. If they can get a cheaper option in RF then they might be able to pull off a Cole Hamels heist. Either that or maybe they sign Soler. Actually, the two are not mutually exclusive. Maybe they sign both. I refuse to use your slogan though

 

I really think that signing Hamels hinges on the Yankees ability to replace Granderson. If they think they can do that through trade or the farm, then I really believe they'll be all in on Cole. Otherwise I'm not sure they can get Cole and be able to get under $189m in 2014.

Of course, that all depends on what happens this season. If Pineda takes a step forward, and makes the CC-Pineda duo look killer, then the team may not feel a need for Hamels... or more specifically feel the need/desire to spend that much on him. And what about Hughes and Nova? Can either take the #3 spot, and fill it quite well?

I guess it's too early to guess what the Yankees will think regarding Hamels, but it's still fun to think about. Especially when there's little else going on.