Yep---we been fishin' in the wading pool...until we sign Scherzer LOLOL
Do the Yankees have interest in Max Scherzer?
Don't rule out Bombers making a run at free-agent former Cy Young winner
11/18/2014 2:48 PM ET
To answer the titular question in a word: maybe.
It's no secret that the Yankees are looking to bolster their rotation depth this winter, and while the team has been tied in rumors to a possible reunion with Brandon McCarthy or an addition like Jason Hammel, it's also no secret that the prizes of this free agent pitcher class are named Lester, Scherzer and Shields.
Thanks in part to management's statements that the Yankees probably aren't looking to spend what that class would cost, none of those three have been outwardly linked to the Yankees - at least until this report from CBS Sports insider Jon Heyman on Tuesday, parts of which are highlighted below:
And there has been very little, if anything, that's been linked to right-hander Max Scherzer -- baseball's top free agent pitcher.
So it shouldn't surprise anyone that there's a chance that the Yankees and Scherzer may start becoming tied together, at least in terms of talk. It's a match that may make sense.
The Yankees and Scherzer's agent, Scott Boras, are said to have had a brief contact sometime since returning from the GM meetings, and word is the Yankees may "revisit" their inclination not to make any big expenditures this winter.
The early word was that (the Yankees) were going to avoid the biggest free agents, and that seems to hold true, with the possible exception of Scherzer. Yankees people have long admired Lester, the other big-time free agent pitcher in his prime, but it seems Scherzer is the one they are seriously considering.
If you look at the Yankees' in-house options right now and use a "hope for the best, prepare for the worst" scenario, they would seem to be more interested in a "lesser" commitment of sorts, a pitcher on a shorter and more cost-effective deal.
Certainly, 2013 shows what the "worst case" might look like, but that "best case" sees all three of Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda, and CC Sabathia healthy and highly productive, leaving two spots in the rotation to be settled; sure, a bigger, longer-term acquisition filling a fourth spot would further solidify an already powerful threesome, but it could also stunt the growth of young, emerging pitchers like Shane Greene and Bryan Mitchell - who, by default, would be at best fighting for one spot in the rotation for at least the end of 20167, when Pineda and Sabathia become free agents and Tanaka could opt out of his deal.
If one of the Big Three is headed to New York, Heyman makes a great argument for why Scherzer is the cream of that crop for the Yankees' purposes; he is the youngest and as such has less innings and pitches on his right arm, has a comparable if not better postseason resume, and is the only one of the three with a Cy Young Award to his credit.
In my own opinion, the best fit is actually Lester, because as great as Heyman's or any other argument for Scherzer (or Shields) might be, Lester offers three big advantages:
-Handedness. Lester's a southpaw, and with 90 games at two of the most lefty-friendly parks in Baseball (81 at Yankee Stadium and another nine or 10 at Fenway Park), his mere presence will take a lot of lesser lefty hitters out of lineups and as such, lessen the chance for him to be victimized by what has come to be known colloquially as a "Yankee Stadium home run."
-October. Lester has not only the most postseason experience, but also the most success he is 6-4 with a 2.57 ERA in 14 games/12 starts, versus a 3-6, 5.42 line in 11 starts by "Big Game" James and a 4-3, 3.73 mark in 12 games/10 starts for Scherzer.
-Market. All three are great pitchers, but there's much more scrutiny in Boston than there is in Detroit and Tampa Bay or Kansas City, despite multiple World Series appearances for all of them. In addition, his tenure in Boston gives Lester the most "AL East cred" of the three - a trait that anyone many may underestimate until they see how a pitcher performs in the most scrutinized market in sports.
So which way will they go? Time will tell, and it's possible that the answer is none, but if it's one of the big three, it all comes down to preference. All three pitchers would be great additions on paper, and it comes down to preference, with both Heyman's opinion and mine possibly way off from what the Yankees are thinking.
And that's exactly why Hot Stove season is so great.
