Heyman: Yanks to offer Abreu arbitration

November 19, 2008 by Benjamin Kabak 54 Comments

According to Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman, the Yankees will offer arbitration to Bobby Abreu, which is basically the team’s way of saying good bye to the right fielder. Abreu, as Heyman notes, stands to make about $16 million through arbitration but should see three-year offers from at least the Cubs and the Mets. The Yanks don’t seem keen on bringing back Bobby for more than a year or two.

If Abreu leaves, the Yanks will get some draft picks, but the team will also sport an outfield of Xavier Nady, Johnny Damon and some combination of Brett Gardner and Melky Cabrera as things stand now. While Opening Day is still a few months out and there are many moves to be made, that outfield doesn’t fill me with much offensive confidence.

Joey H

Meh. It’s a weak defensive outfield. Aside from Brett/Melky, nobody has any decent skills.
- greg
  
  Nady is slightly above average in the field, to my knowledge. I think SG at replacement level showed that because of Abreu’s terrible defensive skills, him and Nady will provide the same value this season.
  - Joey H
    
    Thats a viable point. Nady is better out there than abreu but abreu has a stronger arm.
    - DonnieBaseballHallofFame
      
      I think at this point in his career Abreu’s arm is highly over rated. Ask anybody who watched him in Philly over the years and then saw him in NY the last few the guy is trash in the OF.
      
      Nady is a far better fielder out there, and if he can put together a whole year of what he did his first half last year we will get big time value.
      
      Any way you look at it I think giving Abreu anything but offering arbitration would be a horrible move. I cringe thinking about him playing 3 years in the OF of Wrigley and not getting within 20 feet of the wall.
      
      I would like to see Nady work on his strike outs with a hitting coach though.
  - RollingWave
    
    PMR disagree with that, Nady was almost as bad as Abreu in 08.
- E-ROC
  
  I think they’ll improve defensively and get worse offensively with the dependence on Gardner CF and Nady possibly regressing.
  - Joey H
    
    You cant be serious. Nady regressing? I think his best years are yet to come. Prime age is coming for X.
    - Mike Pop
      
      Idk bout that.. But then again I have bad grammar, Im a cowboy fan, apparently I’m a homosexual which I didnt know lol…I hate the Nady deal to this day
      - Mike Pop
        
        I shouldnt say HATE but I dislike it.. I dont beleive he is that good but I hope he proves me wrong.. I woulda rather added a few others and got Holliday
      - Joey H
        
        Mike, We usually see eye to eye but how the hell can you hate the nady deal? we gave up a bunch of never will be’s for nady and marte. How can you hate that?
        
        Mike Pop
        
        Tabata will be a somebody I believe.. I also was a big fan of McCutchen. Now knowing that he did not have a future in our organization is a good part. But I just always cheered for the guy and wanted to see him pitch for us a few times.. I dont know the one thing I don’t like is selling so low on Tabata. It was stated after the trade that if we offered Tabata for those 2 alone a year before the trade happened they would of done it. But the past is the past you can’t change it.. Woulda been cool to see Tabata and A-Jax in the same outfield for us though right ? If they both turn out what they are suppose to be it could of been something real special
    - E-ROC
      
      Nady regressing is certainly possible, though his stats show a continued progress throughout his career. I hope he does continue his upward trend.
      - DonnieBaseballHallofFame
        
        I think the low risk deal it took to get him and Marte were a good move then (for both teams) and still is.
X-Man(Angel)

Nice!!
T-Dizzle

they need to brin bobby back he was so clutch with risp and hes got a cannon in rf i say give him like 3 years 45 mill and lets win a ring
- Joey H
  
  Yeah you say that for the first or second year of the contract, the bobby abreu of three years from now wont be great, I would rather watch that disaster on another team.
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Ben K.
  
  No way. Three years is a terrible idea.
- Brooklyn Ed
  
  Cashman isn’t going to commit 3 years with Bobby. He’s gone.
- McGatman
  
  Dude, I *THINK* you were being sarcastic…
  If so, well played.
  If not, ARE YOU FREAKIN’ NUTS??!?
pat

buh-bye bob-ay
andrew

i like abreu… we always knew what we were getting with him, itll be very tough to replace him in the lineup without getting texeira
steve (different one)

Abreu was a great pickup.

but no way would i sign on for another 3 years.
MP

Do you think that 2 years plus a club/mutual option for a third could get him back. He’s definitely still productive, and he wants to stay in NY. It would significantly strengthen the OF. What do you guys think?
Matt M.

its ok. an outfield like that could rank top 5 in the highly-coveted statistic of ‘grit’
- The Scout
  
  What, exactly, is grit? Guys with beard stubble and dirt down their pants from sliding head first?
Claudell Washington

Swisher, Nady, Damon, Gardner in the OF and Teixeira at first plus 2 draft picks? Giddy up.
C.Panella

Off topic but the Phil just finished up his last AzFl game his line 5 inn 2 hits 0 bb 10k
jim

Phil Franchise dominated tonight 6 innings 2 hits 0 runs 0 walks 10K’s. Filthy
- C.Panella
  
  get it right 5 innings max in Azfl
- http://nyyu.blogspot.com Mike @ NYYU
  
  If he’s the Franchise, he SHOULD dominate AFL hitters. If he can’t get them out, he’s not going to get big leaguers out either.
  
  Getting AFL hitters out is more of a relief than something to celebrate.
  - Mike P
    
    Maybe so, but striking out two thirds of them is something you notice.
christopher

Any chance the Royals would trade Dejesus and what would it cost? i would assume that to get him they would have to oofer the royals a very good deal since they dont appear to be in a hurry to get rid of him.

Once again I will champion the cause of Adam Dunn. He isnt great defensively but he is not aweful and is pretty athletic for someone of his size. Hitting in front of AROD with the short porch you could easily see him hitting 50 homeruns.

I love that they are trying to get marquee pitching, but they need a big bat in that line-up to make up for the loss of abreu and giambi. I still am wishing for a change of heart about manny, but I would be comfortable with an outfield of Dunn, Damon/Gardner, and Nady
- Mike Pop
  
  I too would also love Dunn if he is going to be as cheap as certain rumors and other posts I have read. If we could get him for 60 Mill I think we should. 15 a year would be awesome for a guy who will be 29 on opening day. Dejesus hmmm I would think it would have to involve Kennedy cause I know we would’nt give up Hughes or A-Jax for him right ? Would Kennedy be overpaying ? Maybe Moore would let him go for cheaper who knows
  - Stephen
    
    Yes Dejesus. Definitely do it for Kennedy.
    - Ivan
      
      I don’t know about that.
      
      Dejesus D from CF isn’t really all that and that is the Royals want to move him to LF which loses his value considering he might lose his job to Crisps who is well is Crisps
christopher

Anyone know how high on the FA list Abreu is? What are the chances the yanks get a 1st round pick as compensation vs. a 2nd or 3rd if he goes to a team that adds someone above him?

if it is the mets, is he above FROD and/or Fuentes?
- Mike Pop
  
  I don’t see how he is above K-Rod but thats just a guess
- greg
  
  http://www.nypost.com/seven/11042008/sports/yankees/al_player_rankings_136998.htm?page=0
  there’s a list with all the values. K-rod had a higher number than Abreu so looks like we should hope the Cubs are the ones who sign him.
T-Dizzle

my whole thing is u know what u will get with bobby and thats a good thing ya know

he is underrated
- whozat
  
  He’s 35, and he relies on old player skills. Guys like that tend to fall off the table quickly if their bat slows.
  
  And how can you say “you know what you’ll get” when he had the first half of 2007 that he did? Also, he was the worst defensive OFer in baseball this year. That’s not going to get better. Add all that together and Abreu is exactly the guy you don’t want to commit to long-term.
  
  For a year? Ok, I’d do that. But not at ALL for three years.
ortforshort

Abreu is a good player. Without him, the Yankee outfield is a major weakness. Old, injured guys like Damon and Matsui. Centerfielders who can’t hit like Cabrera and Gardner. And one decent, but hardly outstanding player, in Nady. AJax is probably a couple of years away from being a productive big leaguer. There are no good free agent outfielders available this year and altho’ there are some good ones potentially available next year (Bay, Holliday, Crawford, Guerrero), I wouldn’t be surprised if none of them were available when the time comes. Therefore, this looks like a big mistake. Cashman is going to be caught with his pants down. Maybe the Yankees are planning on trading some young pitching for an outfielder somewhere. I’d rather keep Abreu.
- whozat
  
  So…to fix this problem, you want to commit three years to an old guy who’s already a hideous defender and whose bat we have watched slow down over the last two years?
- Reggie C.
  
  The lack of OF depth isn’t a big enough story. With Abreu all but gone, the Yanks aren’t going to commit to Damon or Mats beyond next season. If his bat can return to ML above-avg, i could see Mats be offered a couple years to stay on as a full-time DH.
  
  I definitely see the Yanks in play for either Crawford or Holliday assuming both are still available. man…i hope Crawford bounces back and decides to walk for bigger pastures, and i also hope Holliday strikes down the naysayers with a big OAK campaign.
  - http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/CRsmithT1.jpg tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Mr. Snarky Irrelevant Non Sequitur Jones
    
    MAN-NY RAMIR-EZ!!!
    (clap clap clap-clap-clap)
    MAN-NY RAMIR-EZ!!!
    (clap clap clap-clap-clap)
RollingWave

Sign Teix, play Swisher in LF, Damon in CF, maybe platoon Nady with Cabrera / Gardner if the later two starts off well.
- Nady Nation
  
  Platoon Nady with Melky or Gardner? Why would we ever do that? That’s an unbelievable offensive downgrade for no real reason at all
LeftyLarry

Outfield always works itself out.
Save the money anywhere you can and sign the pitchers.
I have a lot of confidence that Gardner can get it done.I hope they bat Gardner lead off and let Damon bat 3rd.Damon has enough power to bat there, especially in Yankee Stadium and Gardner, Jeter, Damon would make it 1-0 pretty quickly many nights.
There are ALWAYS outfielders available.
Get the pitchers, get a difference maker like Texiera and anybody can play in the outfield and you can win with pitching and defense.
With all the money we’re paying Jeter, Arod, Posada and the others, Yankees should be able to score enough, especially with rally killer Giambi gone and a revitalized Cano.
PITCHING, that’s the ticket.
With our Bullpen, sign the good starters and the rest is academic.
Old Ranger

Johnny in CF would be a disaster, he is a liability in LF but, we will live with that…I guess. One thing we may be missing is the fact, 2009 is a walk year for Johnny. He needs good numbers, maybe he’ll be the guy he once was…if not, so be it. I would like to trade him for a young athletic position player and put Brett in the lead off spot. Brett is a tough kid, he can adapt to the situation and do a good job…he will hit well enough.
Well, gotta go fishing. 27/09.
- TurnTwo
  
  he’s not a disaster in CF… he played, what, the last month and a half in CF last year and was fine.
ortforshort

Presumably the Yankees are trying to build a championship club here. Swisher, Damon, Nady is an outfield the Nats, Pirates and Royals would turn their noses up at.
- http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/CRsmithT1.jpg tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Mr. Snarky Irrelevant Non Sequitur Jones
  
  While that may be true, bringing back a severely defensively limited Bobby Abreu for his age 35-36-37 seasons certainly isn’t the answer.
  
  If I’m going to give a multi-year deal to a defensively challenged outfielder because I need his offensive production, I’ll give 4 years to Manny Ramirez or Adam Dunn rather than giving 3 years to Bobby Abreu. Defensively, they all suck, but Manny and Dunn are still legit offensive forces. Bobby is declining quickly.
Larry

Unfortunately,Bobby’s got to go, but a reliable 100 rbi’s is hard to fill. If no Tex, I could still see Manny in the pix. ARod should contribute more rbi’s and Posada should contribute his numbers again, but I think we need more. Although Giambi rarely seemed to get his rbi’s when we needed them, he still found time to get 100 rbi’s as well. Maybe we’ll have to let CC bat when he pitches.
Pingback: The rocky off-season of Bobby Abreu | River Avenue Blues
Pingback: Bobby Abreu’s uncertain future | River Avenue Blues