Fair enough but am I wrong? I do understand that even with luxury tax considerations, teams like the Yankees still have more flexibility than, say, the Marlins. So it’s not like the Yankees are screwed for a generation if this deal doesn’t work out.Well, for starters, Clint Frazier would now seem to be much more available as a trade chip if needed. Also I don't know if Hicks is in their long-term plans, Florial is a year or two away and Hicks is signed through 2019.
Let me ask: as a fan, were you clamoring for this deal? This team looked positively ascendent last year – poised for many years of competitive play and a disturbing (and frankly, un-Yankee-like) lack of payroll commitment. With the Stanton acquisition, that changes.
Don’t get me wrong: this team is going to murder baseballs for a long time. But this deal just seems to be a huge commitment of resources for a single player that as great as he is he doesn’t address any of the weaknesses the team faces. Perhaps more importantly, it adds a not-insignificant amount of risk to the team’s longterm plans (which for slightly different reasons was the main reason I didn’t want him to come to Red Sox).
It just seems weird to me – particularly so soon after finally getting out from a decade of being under the thumb of the Arod deal. As a player or personality I don’t want to compare Stanton to Arod for obvious reasons. But sometimes the best deals are the ones you don’t make.