Yankees could lose McCarthy, but could Scherzer be in play?
SAN DIEGO - Well, the Yankees really, truly meant it about Jon Lester, and they meant it about only wanting Brandon McCarthy on their terms.
All through the offseason, as they have denied interest in top free agents, the world said, 'come on, you're the Yankees' -- but they stayed away. And a day after Lester signed with the Cubs, the Yanks were on the verge of losing Brandon McCarthy to a four-year contract. Financial terms were not immediately clear.
Fox Sports was first to report that McCarthy was close to an agreement with the Dodgers, on a deal longer than the Yanks were willing to do. This further reinforced the team's position on exercising fiscal restraint this offseason.
On Wednesday night, sources told the Daily News that the Yankees informed the pitcher camp early in the process that they liked McCarthy, but would not exceed three years. All through the process, the team held to that policy.
McCarthy was excellent as a Yankee, going 7-5 with a 2.89 ERA, after the team acquired him in July for Vidal Nuno. He appeared to enjoy New York, and the team liked him - just not enough to bid past their comfort level. McCarthy has topped 170 innings just once in his career, making a four-year commitment risky.
Now, the Yankees have yet another rotation hole to fill. With Masahiro Tanaka's risky elbow, Michael Pineda's risky shoulder, Ivan Nova's recovery from Tommy John surgery, and CC Sabathia's overall creakiness, the staff is a very unfinished product.
So now that McCarthy is gone, Lester is a Chicago Cub, we move to the next level of speculation: Will the Yanks really, truly pass on Max Scherzer? The team continues to insist in private that it has no appetite for another contract of that size for a pitcher, but no one has shot down the Scherzer notion on the record.
The day also brought Scott Boras' annual media briefing, where the agent was asked about the Yanks and Scherzer.
'I don't want to speak to specific teams,' Boras said. '(But) for any team that wants to win a World Series, out of three starters you are going to have to have 45 to 50 wins, 600 innings and probably have to have a No.1 starter 230 inning during the season... certainly signing Max Scherzer can make a dramatic difference in the outcome of deciding divisions. Most of them, really.'
Boras was perhaps alluding to the fragility of the Yankees rotation. But while the Yanks would be better next year with Scherzer, the current thinking is to make what they see as the wiser long-term move of avoiding him.
If the team holds to that, it will be another team buying this Boras pitch: 'Max is kind of a Peyton Manning No. 1 type of guy,' the agent said. 'He's always on the information train to improve himself and evaluate his market.'
The Yanks are shopping more in the Cooper Manning aisle. As the meetings wound down, they remained interested in Chase Headley, Sergio Romo, and other lesser lights -- though not keen on participating in a bidding war, should one develop.
After losing David Robertson - another player who they wanted to retain, but only at their preferred price - the team watched McCarthy depart. They may have become weaker for 2015, but gained credibility regarding their pledges to avoid more wild spending.
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