Barely a few weeks after going all-in, Arte Moreno and the Angels actually chose to put all those pricey players on waivers in order to avoid the luxury tax? How embarrassing is that. The Yankees would never—oh, what do we do now?
Just hours after releasing the still-injured Josh Donaldson, the Yankees quietly placed Harrison Bader on waivers, according to Erik Boland’s reporting.
Teams that want to add Bader can line up in reverse order of record, and those teams would be liable for his remaining compensation (even if, once more, it’s only a month’s worth).
Those in the know claim that Hal Steinbrenner didn’t want the impression of capitulation or a fire sale, which is why the Yankees didn’t want to sell before the deadline. Well, Mr. Steinbrenner, how does this precisely look?
This season, Bader made only $5.2 million in yearly pay. The Yankees might save $866,000 in addition to the $228,000 they would lose if Josh Donaldson signed with another team during the course of the next two days, if you divide that by six.
The Yankees are currently $1.1 million above the highest luxury tax tier, so even if both of those things occurred, it is unlikely that they would bring them below it.
In that case, why on earth wouldn’t they have the perseverance to keep Bader to the end? Unless they really wanted to go all out and put Jasson Dominguez, the Martian, in center field for a month that would be quite intriguing (and stressful). Donaldson and Greg Allen were just removed from New York’s 40-man roster.
Bader has had a terrible season versus right-handers, batting just 206 in 233 plate appearances. In contrast, Jordan Montgomery, who was acquired by the Texas Rangers in a blockbuster transaction before the trade deadline, has a 2.30 ERA in five starts for them.
Do you have a trade deadline? Possibly a deadline by which clubs can acquire players in trade for other players rather than forfeit them? What a fresh idea.
The Yankees’ lineup for Tuesday night still includes Bader. We’ll see how long he lasts, but it seems likely that he won’t sign again for the following season.
