But it's never too early to start your holiday shopping, and so I've turned my attention back to the Yankees, not to pick at the wounds inflicted last week but to look ahead to the winter and the coming season. The bar around the corner from me, the one owned by former Dictators lead singer Handsome Dick Manitoba, has a chalkboard in the window that now reads, "Only 102 days until pitchers and catchers -- GO YANKEES!" a verbatim reminder of the one I saw at another East Village bar after the pinstripes' early exit in '97.
Despite the Yankees' seemingly unlimited payroll and whether or not they were near their theoretical maximum this year as Steve Goldman has suggested, it's ignorant to talk about what they'll do in the offseason without some idea of the money they owe. Here are their payroll obligations for 2005 and beyond. All amounts are actual dollars (in millions) rather than averages over the life of the deal (without deferrals), although signing bonuses have been prorated according to the best information available. Parentheses denote players no longer with the team whose salaries the Yankees are paying, at least in part. When two figures are separated by a "/" that means the club holds an option with a buyout; year-by-year totals include those buyouts and not the optional salaries.
2008: Jeter $21, Giambi $21. Rodriguez $16. Total: $58 million
2009: Jeter $21, Giambi $22/$5, Rodriguez $17. Total: $43 million
2010: Rodriguez $18. Total: $18 million
Some of these numbers will make your eyes pop, of course, such as the fact that the Yankees' commitment for 12 players in 2006 is still bigger than all but two teams' 2004 payrolls (the Yankees and the Red Sox). The most interesting devlopment since the last time I did this in early February is that the Yanks' 2005 and 2006 commitments haven't moved as much as you'd think. Back before the Rodriguez trade, the Yanks were on the hook for $146.6 million in '05 and $113.9 million in '06. Even adding the $30 million portion of A-Rod's contract they owe over the next two years and $21 million for Mo in that same span, they're only about $15 million higher next year and $12.5 million higher the year after. Clearing the dubious pacts of Jose Contreras ($14m out of $17m in '05-'-06) and Drew Henson ($9.8m over that span) has enabled them to absorb A-Rod's contract almost seamlessly in the short term.
For as much as you hear the $180-185 million figures (depending upon who's doing the estimating) thrown around for this year's Yanks, it's worth pointing out that price is based on the average annual value of each player's contract without regards to actual structure of the deal. The backloaded Giambi deal, in particular, exaggerates the current Yankee expenditures.
I think the two biggest financial question marks facing the Yanks this offseason are the Kevin Brown contract and the Bernie Williams situation -- what they do with the $15.5 million they owe him if (and it's a big if) they sign Carlos Beltran, because it's tough to imagine they're going to put one of those eight-figure salaries on the bench on the days Jason Giambi can't play the field. And while I can't wait for this World Series to put a bullet in this baseball season and end my misery, those questions will have to wait for another day.
