eh, they were only "on budget" because A-Roid got suspended.
Man, save "A-Roid" for talk radio or Rivals.com or some shit. "A-Roid," "Barroid," other cutesy-ass names like that just aren't funny. Anyway, the Yankees clearly knew as far back as December that Rodriguez was going to be getting a lengthy suspension (I said as much when they signed Ellsbury).
I think you are way underestimating this batting line up just to drive home your point that Cano is irreplaceable.
Let's go through the lineup, then:
Ellsbury -- Runs really fast, no power. Potential injury risk and really needs to learn how to draw walks.
Jeter -- Old, hurt, has exactly one season with an OPS north of .800 since 2008. Defensive liability and power is effectively gone.
Beltran -- Old, hurt, has arthritic and degenerating knees. Good hitter when he's on, but will be 37 and is reaching a point where he can't play every day.
Teixeira -- Aging, hurt (major wrist surgery for a guy who relies on power as his primary hit tool is a
huge red flag). Might be decent, might be terrible.
McCann -- I have no complaints about him. Solid hitter who should be in the 3 spot.
Soriano -- Old, power is rapidly diminishing and still swings at pitches that are in New Jersey.
Johnson / Nunez -- Shitty and shitty.
Roberts -- Old, hurt, hasn't played a full season since 2009, concussion history, was objectively one of the worst hitters in all of baseball in 2012.
Gardner -- Decent but not great, very little power, is basically league-average in almost every respect.
This is
not a murderer's row. There is no way anyone can say with a straight face that this lineup is better without Cano than with him.
I like signing Cervelli, love his energy.
Cervelli is a .271 / .343 / .710 hitter. He's
below league-average. He's a guy who occasionally comes off the bench, nothing more.
I've heard, not seen numbers, that he turned down more money to play in New York. I know the battle for him was down to NY and the Cubs. Did Theo offer more and Tanaka said he didn't want to play on a team that has no competitive chance anytime soon?
The Cubs' offer went to $150 million, but it's not known if they included the opt-out. The Dodgers' offer was north of $160, possibly as high as $170 million, but they refused to include an opt-out clause.
I'm glad we got him. As I said, we have no other way to get a strong young arm with our farm system.
As I said, it's a good move for the Yankees. But if they were going to blow past $189 anyway, they shouldn't have spent the last two years putting together a dumpster fire of an infield and outfield.