You never want to eat $26 million just to cut ties with a player. But that’s precisely what the Yankees needed to do with Jacoby Ellsbury, who is set to earn $21 million in 2020 and another $5M through a club buyout the following season.
It was a move two years in the making — which is the last time we saw Ellsbury play in a major league game. The Yanks also decided to cut bait with oft-injured first baseman Greg Bird.
After amassing a bit of cult following, following his 2017 ALDS home run off of Andrew Miller — the intrigue and possibility that Bird displayed from time-to-time wasn’t enough to keep him around for another season.