Yankees release Andrew Brackman
ByOn a conference call with reporters, Brian Cashman confirmed that the team did not exercise Andrew Brackman‘s option for 2012 and the right-hander is now a free agent. Had the Yankees picked up the option, they would have paid him a $1M salary in the big leagues and a $500k salary in the minors according to Keith Law.
Brackman should still be under team control as a pre-arbitration-eligible player since he has less than three years of service time, but a clause in his contract stipulated that the team must release him if they declined the option. Presumably, the Yankees could still re-sign their 2007 first round pick to a minor league deal or something. The 40-man roster now sits at 34, but Colin Curtis must still be activated off the 60-day DL.
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The Tyler Austin Watch
Re-Sign him!!
This is so dumb. U wasted years of development and 7 mil but the extra 1.5 mil is 2 much? They better have a deal on the side or this is moronic.
Cut your losses. He’s nothing.
I don’t even look at this as a high-risk guy that just didn’t work out; it was a mistake from the beginning. Scouts get too aroused by height.
I always thought it was length. Now I have to worry about height?
+1000000
The money they’ve already spent is a sunk cost. They should look at his value going forward, not what they’ve spent.
That said, $1.5 mill doesn’t seem too bad for a former top prospect who could at least contribute in the bullpen in the next couple of years.
Where are you getting this $1.5M number from?
Isn’t it from this?:
“Had the Yankees picked up the option, they would have paid him a $1M salary in the big leagues and a $500k salary in the minors according to Keith Law.”
That would mean he gets $500k if he stays in the minors all season or $1M if he’s in the majors all season. If he splits time, then he will make somewhere between the two.
More importantly, where are you getting the $7M?
im not sure what the $1.5M you’re referring to is, but if that is indeed all it took, i find it a bit surprising.
however, my god brackman sucks.
Totally agree. They paid Igawa more money than that for YEARS. Why dump a guy with potential like that over chump change ?
Bad move
A roster spot on the Yankees 40 man roster is more valuable than i thought…
Igawa had 1 can’t be that valuable.
Not for very long. Igawa was taken off the 40 man years ago.
Igawa was off the 40-man roster years ago. It’s also why we never saw him return to the Majors at any point, even in past seasons when the Yankees were searching for fungible arms for a week or two. The Yankees couldn’t bring him back to the team without putting him back on the 40-man roster, and that would mean he’s $4 million yearly salary would be counted against the Yankees luxury tax.
I think Igawa was dropped from the 40-man sometime during his second season in 2008.
Not for too long.
gotta make room to resign the Experience
I know Cash & company are far wiser than I am when it comes to these things, but I really don’t see the logic in this. Do they really think the scrap heap reliever who will surely take up a 40 man spot later on will be that much better than Brackman?
They might see that no team in their right mind is likely to offer Brackman the $1.5 mill he’s owed as a free agent, so they can win the bidding and bring him back at a lower price (would any team offer more than $500,000 after that season he just had?). They gave up the security of knowing he’s on the 40-man, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want him or won’t have him on the 40 man.
I am going to assume there’s more to the story than this.
I agree. It seems like there is a chance they will resign him for less money. Is there another team that’s going to pay him $1.5M, based on his minor league performance and his two appearances in September?
Assuming it is a $1.5M number…I can’t tell how much he’d make under that option.
It is a sadden day. lol. Yanks had tried many ways to fix him up but he went back to his old mechanic which may suggest that he will deal with arm trouble in near future. If he could not find a new home then I don’t mind Yanks bringing him back as a non 40 man player.
What next? Hog 5 rule draft players?
He looked good in his September appearances.
Before you write his Yankee obituary yourself, I’d suggest waiting more than ten seconds to see how this plays out.
I agree. I am by no means an expert on the business behind a move like this but his September appearances were very encouraging to me.
There was a lot of movement on his pitches, but he wasn’t necessarily missing bats with that movement. I honestly thought he needed more MLB experience, but was on his way to being a useful piece.
My hope is that this is just in the middle of bringing him back under a contract that better reflects who Andrew Brackman is in 2011 versus who he was in 2007. Since we now live in the era of doing things because we want to be Yankees (RAB LIED!), hopefully Andrew is agreeing to this. If not, best of luck and I’d be pretty surprised as well. I will root for his success unless it’s in Fenway.
Could definitely see the Red Sox going after him, actually…
Then I hope we take his Jolly Green Giant ass deep every time.
Yeah, of course.
With their need for pitching, lack of real quality in their high minors, possibly losing Papelbon, and the added rivalry factor I could definitely see them Acevesing Brackman.
Kinda surprising move but ultimately one of little consequence.
For a team that will never draft in the top 5, top 10 they need to take chances like this. Unfortunately it didn’t work out, but the odds of a late first round pick working out are small anyway, might as well take a chance on a guy with big upside.
I don’t think that they need to take chances like this. I think they can when they see the upside, but their draft strategy the last two years is paying (very) early dividends without overspending early.
He was a legit top 5 talent though. They rarely get that chance at #30 or so.
Yeah, I’m fine with the Brackman pick and with going for it when they see the value there… I just think it’s more of a can do it / can not do it than a need to do it is all.
“I don’t think that they need to take chances like this.”
The very next sentence.
“I think they can when they see the upside…”
You’re a joke.
Agreed. Shit happens, you can’t hit the jackpot if you don’t buy a ticket though.
What a colossal waste of a first-round draft choice and $3.5M signing bonus. Underwent Tommy John surgery before throwing his first professional pitch. Didn’t they wonder why Brackman missed the ACC & NCAA tournaments for NC State?
And, we’ve now got to put up with three more years of Cashman’s expertise…
I believe they knew he was going to undergo TJS. Might want to look into these things before commenting.
His career is also not necessarily anywhere near over. It’s fairly likely they’ll look to bring him back on a fairer deal that’s in-line with his current market value.
Correct — it was known that he needed TJ when he was drafted. Molon doesn’t know what he’s talking about. It was a gamble taken because of his velocity and potential upside. They could have hit the jackpot — they didn’t. That’s all there was to it. The money they paid him was inconsequential in Yankee terms — his guaranteed presence on the 40 man was actually more costly.
Three more years of the worst farm system in baseball
Sometimes it’s hard for me to remember the faraway land of 2007 but, luckily, I did not inhale enough glue to forget that he dropped to the Yankees BECAUSE he needed the TJS you’re accusing the team of not knowing he needed.
Now where are my keys?
If they re-sign him, will he be subject to the rule 5 draft?
Yup, as long as he is not on 40 man roster. I think he has to clear the waiver first but when is it. After or before the rule 5 draft. I doubt Yanks will hurriedly sign him back before the draft day.
A bit surprised by this. I’d hope they can somehow re-sign him and give him, presumably, one last look.
Assuming Yankees make no effort to re-sign Brackman, what does the AAA staff look like in 2012?
Banuelos
DJ Mitchell
warren
Phelps
Noesi
Who am I missing if any? Betances could probably use another go around in AA.
Betances in AAA. He got promoted late in the season, don’t really need to demote him to AA.
Agree. Noesi would probably be with the Yankees and/or Mitchell would be in the AAA pen.
betances is a lock to start in AAA
I think Noesi will stay with the big club. Starter or reliever. I get feeling that Yanks will sign a couple of veterans on minor league contract to start in AAA.
Banuelos, Mitchell and Betances are locks for AAA rotation.
I think you are all going to be surprised. I think Noesi will start at AAA as the Yankees “6th starter” while one of the other AAA starters will get the 2011 Noesi treatment in the Bigs.
http://riveraveblues.com/2008/.....ent-210244
Oh hay guys, looks like I’m Marty McFly.
Awesome. Now did you actually remember that from three years back and searched for it? In that case, awesome, but somewhat scary.
You’ve totally had that bookmarked for three years, haven’t you?
Congrats to you but the more important thing I gleaned from your comments from 2008 is that we really need to hear from TJSC again.
Hahah nice. I think it was probably 50% performance and %50 fiscally related though.
And the funny thing is, is that Steve thought you were three years in the future, and your comment was from 2008 and it’s 2011.
I predict that I won’t win the lottery on November 12th, 2014. See you in 3 years.
A. You offered no evidence. The lottery comment above is right on. Took a guess and were right is how it comes across.
B. His Yankee career is not necessarily anywhere near over, let alone his whole career.
You’re right! He should have used one example and made up a stat.
“Pujols defies the rules, huh? A bit like A-Rod defied the rules? 90-99% of the players in the history of baseball who defied the rules of age were juicing.”
-Ted Nelson
So you maintain that Albert Pujols defies biology? That he should not be expected to decline ever because he’s a good baseball player?
If your theory more that he’s divine or a robot?
Switch the subject. Set up the strawman.
Wouldn’t you rather make up a statistic? HAHAHA!
Nice job Ted, change the subject, get an argument started.
Your mother tried to bang you?
Was there anything else of consequence in the conference call?
I’m working on a recap, should have it up by 4pm.
Thanks Mikey.
/NotSureIfYouLikeBeingCalledThatOrNot’d
From FanGraphs:
“Last week, Tim Dierkes of MLBTradeRumors.com polled five agents and a team executive on their expectations of Darvish’s cost, and they came in with an average of a $45 million posting fee followed by a “five or six year contract in the $72-$75 million range.”
I’m not here to say that those sources are incorrect, but I will say this – any team willing to pay that much money to acquire Yu Darvish is kind of crazy.”
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs.....or-darvish
Post fail. Meant to post this on the Free Agent topic
For selfish reasons I had hoped that Brackman would make it so that we could one day have all three Bs in the rotation, but I guess that will not be the case. As one commenter said above he did look good a couple of times in September. Here’s hoping they bring him back at a better price.
Aceves 2.0
Not really. Aceves was a proven major league pitcher.
shows you how hit and miss pitching is. supposivley the yanks paid him over $11 mill already.
I thought that Brackman was out of options and would either need to make the team out of spring training or be exposed to waivers. If that is the case, maybe they decided that he was unlikely to make the team and that if they were to bring him back it would have to be under a minor league contract.
Brackman had 1 more option. He’s used 3, but qualifies for a 4th. You can get a 4th if you use all your options but have been in professional ball for less than 5 years. The year lost to TJS might also work to qualify for the 4th option.
no big deal imo. Last year I already thought that he won’t make it as a starter in the big leagues, now I even think that he’d be lucky if he’s anything more than a middle reliever. Anyway I think there’s a good chance that the Yanks resign him. Brackman can be a valuable reliever in the big leagues in the near future but he has to stay healthy and get way better command.
What a collosel waste of a pick and money. first of all, why did Cashman ever agree to give him a major league deal in the first place? I asked this when they drafted him. Here’s a guy with few options, who slid in teh draft to #30, needed TJ surgery, and was knowingly going to get a big signing bonus from the franchise. Why the big league deal? This one is on Cashman.
On top of that, suddenly $500k is too rich for the Yankees. Here’s a guy who they believed in so much so, that they gave him $3.5 million to sign, a major league 40 man slot, and took when they knew he needed TJS. Yet now, $500k is too rich in his make or break season. What a joke. It’s the Yankees though, so a lot of people will think they did the right thing regardless. Dumb move IMO. In business we have a simple saying. It goes “penny cheap dollar foolish”.
You can add Brackman to the bust group.
Can someone please explain to me how, with all our money this makes sense?
How can this happen with all our money?
I mean I don’t care if there is a 1% chance he will help us next year… wow I really dont get it.
I’m hoping there is some deal between the two sides and hes coming back at a more “reasonable” (honestly dont know what the yankees definition of reasonable is – million at Pedro Feliciano to never pitch yet we cant keep this guy in the organization?) rate.
I think there’s a good chance they’re interested in bringing him back cheaper, but if it’s the case that they don’t think he’s as good as someone else who can fill his roster spot why should they keep him?
Clearly they didn’t pay Feliciano hoping he would not pitch.
Brackman will likely be picked up by another team. I’m sure there’s a slew of pitching coaches thinking they can fix him (low risk/high reward). Too bad for the Yankees. Patience is tough when it costs money.
I’m calling it, Brackman will be Dustin Moseley’d and get picked up by the Padres.
Isn’t Scott Boras Brackman’s agent? Got the Yanks to use a 40 roster spot forever…for nothing.
I am in the camp that there is more to this than we know, perhaps Boras was pushing for too much.
I hope he is back on a more logical deal. I still think there is lot of potential there, and it isn’t too far away from being realized.
Yeah… I can see this biting them in their behinds in about a year. Hate to see the Yankees penny pinch like this (same as with Aceves), with a $200 million payroll you can’t tell me that they can’t spend 0.75% of it on a reclamation project. Taller pitchers ussually take a long time to figure out their mechanics. Maybe the medical staff knows something we dont… only explanation for this.
I could have sworn I saw a figure somewhere saying that the Yankees had sunk around $17 million into Brackman; I believe the source was someone on Twitter. Can anyone back me up? I can’t seem to find anything saying that now.
Never mind, it was $11 million. My bad.
My guess is the Yankees will resign him.
This may not even be about money. They may resign him to a similar amount of money, but what they may be trying to do here is remove him from being automatically on the 40-man roster at the start of 2012, and more importantly remove the stipulation that he has to be placed on the the Yankees MLB roster by 2013. That doesn’t help Brackman’s development at all, so maybe the Yankees are trying to undo that portion of the contract, but still keep him at the same money.