The New York Yankees are diving headfirst into what'll be a pivotal offseason for the franchise, and there's plenty of rumors to be had both from the trade and free agency markets. Here's the pick of the litter in our Yankees Offseason Rumors Roundup: Mid-November Edition.
Ben Zobrist an option?
Several sources familiar with the Yankees front office's thinking have posited the dynamic utility man as a likely target as the winter progresses. New York Daily News writer John Harper believes the Yanks will be a front-runner for his services once free-agent season officially begins on Saturday.
Harper wrote on Friday that Zobrist is "a great fit for the Yankees. Zobrist hit .329 with a .926 OPS against lefthanded pitching, which was a major weakness for the Yankees late in the season. They’ll overpay to shorten the length of the deal: three years, $51 million."
Andrew Marchand of ESPN agrees with Harper: "If the Yankees had Zobrist on their 2015 team, would they have beaten out the Blue Jays in the AL East? No, but it would have been much closer. To close the gap, the Yankees must improve, and this is a guy who can help them do so."
Zobrist has recently expressed his wishes to remain in Kansas City, but they may not be able to afford him if they re-sign Alex Gordon to a lucrative contract.
Yankees going after mid-level pitching?
The New York Yankees are considered by most to have some degree of interest in the top cache of starting pitchers on the market (David Price, Johnny Cueto, etc.), but the team's 50 percent luxury tax could be enough of a deterrent to keep GM Brian Cashman from breaking the bank. Per Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, "the Yankees may target (Jeff) Samardzija or Wei-Yin Chen, who will get big deals but very likely something below the $100-million mark."
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