Kuzul

New Year’s resolutions for all 30 MLB teams are difficult to craft.

With the big time free agents starting to find homes and the trade market heating up, next years teams are starting to take shape.

Technically, every team’s 2011 New Year’s resolution is to win the World Series in October.

But if you play in Pittsburgh or Kansas City, that probably doesn’t seem too likely.

Now for the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies and a few other club it’s too easy to say their resolution is to win the title. So we’ll try to add a little more suspense to it than that.

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In the spirit of the massive multi-million dollar contracts MLB teams are handing out this offseason, let’s take a look at the 10 largest contract extensions in history.

Just a heads-up: the list includes a couple of enormous Yankee contracts. But above all else, the names are notable, the numbers are jaw-dropping and the extensions are legendary.

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If there’s one team that has history, it’s the New York Yankees. For over 100 years, a myriad of players have passed through New York, many of which have ended up in the Hall of Fame. However, while fans give all of their attention to the Jeters, Mantles, and DiMaggios, many forget the effective players who put up great numbers, but stayed out of the spotlight. That being said, I’m giving you readers a list of the 10 most underrated Yankees of the past 20 years!

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In the middle of the night, while many East Coast baseball fans were sleeping, possibly dreaming of the glorious news that the Yankees had finalized a deal to bring Cliff Lee to the Bronx, the unthinkable occurred: somehow, the Yankees didn’t get their man.

With the shocking revelation that the Philadelphia Phillies had undercut both the Yankees and the Texas Rangers in a surprise move to bring Lee back to the City of Brotherly Love, many Yankee fans are cursing Lee, Brian Cashman, Ruben Amaro Jr., and anyone else who can be blamed for this calamity.

Surely, someone must be to blame. This was preordained, written in the stars; Lee was already almost a Yankee once. He was trying to decide where to live in New York before being suddenly traded to the Rangers in July.

With his former Cleveland rotation mate, CC Sabathia, already in the Bronx fold, Lee surely would follow the money trail and join up with his old buddy to lead the Yankees to multiple World Series titles over the next seven years.

Wait….what? Are you kidding?

Philadelphia, the team that traded Lee away so that they could obtain Roy Halladay, signed Cliff Lee to a reported five year, $100 million deal? He left $50 million on the negotiating table?

Does that even possibly make sense? What about the hastily added seventh year? That was supposed to seal the deal after Boston created significant waves by signing Carl Crawford and trading for Adrian Gonzalez.

The assumption floating around baseball for the last two years was that Lee was determined to cash in during his only free-agent extravaganza of his Major League career. Philly unloaded him because he would be nearly impossible to re-sign. Seattle gave up after only a few months. The Rangers enjoyed their time with him greatly, but seemed almost resigned to the fact that the Lee would be tempted by more years and more dollars to join the pinstriped party in the Bronx.

Suddenly, Philadelphia boasts a rotation that is terrifying in the short-term. With Lee joining Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels, the Phillies suddenly have a potentially dominant foursome leading their starting staff. The window of opportunity may be small, since Lee will be 33 during the 2011 season, and both Halladay and Oswalt will turn 34 during the year, but the Phillies will take their chances for now.

The Yankees, having missed out on their most coveted free-agent target, as well as Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth, suddenly seem vulnerable.

Cliff Lee was the plan. Brian Cashman spoke of not being desperate, and of course the Yankees won 95 games last year and were only two wins from a World Series appearance. However, that was accomplished with a frayed and battered rotation, one that could have greatly benefited from the presence of Cliff Lee.

Cashman has spoken of Plan B’s and C’s, i.e. contingency plans, in case the unthinkable occurred, and someone outbid the Yankees for the player that they most desired. As outlandish as that seems, the Yankees must at least consider the possibility.

Well, hopefully they did, because that unthinkable scenario is now staring them directly in the face.

Boston has been strengthened significantly through their dealings at the winter meetings. Not wanting to admit it, the Yankees needed to land Lee to counter the dramatic moves of Theo and Co. A general uneasiness has crept up around New York in the wake of Boston’s maneuvering. Bringing Cliff Lee on board could surely help ease the tension.

But what now? Rumors have circulated around highly capable hurlers like Kansas City’s Zack Greinke and Tampa’s Matt Garza. Greinke, a year removed from an AL Cy Young Award, is incredibly gifted, but a previous anxiety disorder would seem to make him a long-shot to succeed in the Bronx. 

Garza, also very talented, happens to have a combustible personality of a different sort, and the likelihood of the Rays trading him within the division seems low. Carlos Zambrano? A headcase, though talented, could prove to be a disaster.

Is it possible that the Yankees may be forced to retool from within? Does Joba Chamberlain get one more opportunity to prove that he can start games for the Yankees? Ivan Nova impressed in short stints with the team last year, so could he be given a legitimate shot?

As crazy as it may sound right now, it may turn out to be a blessing in disguise that the Yankees were unable to lure Cliff Lee to the Bronx.

Sure, he likely would have been fantastic for the Yankees, for at least a few seasons. Over the last three seasons, he is among the very best hurlers in the game. His dramatic post-season performances have helped carve him a place in baseball history usually reserved for more illustrious names like Koufax and Gibson.

There is no doubting Cliff Lee’s ability or his recent track record.

However, has he done enough to feel comfortable committing a minimum of $20 million a year to him…for seven years?

Yes, he has been great. Yes, he has turned in splendid performances against the Yankees for various teams over the last few years. He would have undoubtedly strengthened the New York rotation considerably for the next few years.

But, seven years?

That’s where the Yankees may have just been saved from themselves. In what could be seen as a knee-jerk reaction to Boston’s marquee acquisitions, the Yankees were willing to move beyond their stated threshold of a six year offer to Lee. Almost immediately following the announcement of the Crawford deal, the Yankees let it be known that they were willing to go to a seventh year in order to entice the left-handed Lee to Yankee Stadium.

At that point, many around the league viewed Lee’s eventual unveiling as the newest Yankee as a foregone conclusion. Not many franchises possess the financial wherewithal to hand out bloated, overly long contracts like the Yankees can. The willingness to go the seventh year seemingly propelled the Bombers into the driver’s seat in the race to land Cliff Lee’s signature.

But something was amiss. The weekend passed, and there was no news from the Lee camp. Surely, the seven year offer was enough. Barring another surprise raid by the Nationals, the likelihood of another team outbidding the Yankees in this case seemed absurd. There wasn’t someone else willing to challenge the financial recklessness of the Yankees in the free agent market, was there?

Well, apparently that wouldn’t even be necessary. Despite reports of a seven year offer hovering in the $150 million range, Lee spurned the Yankees for a chance to return to Philadelphia, instead signing his name to a five year deal worth a guaranteed $120 million dollars. Additionally, the deal contains incentive clauses for a sixth year option.

Cliff Lee bucked conventional thought on the matter, shocking those who presumed he would simply agree to the richest deal. He may have left money on the table, but he went where he was comfortable, and who can argue with that?

As far as the Yankees are concerned, there is certainly an aura of failure surrounding the franchise right now, after watching their arch-nemesis in Boston make two stunning player acquisitions and failing to land their own premier off-season target. Of course, those who live to hate the Yankees will have a field day, reveling in the perceived failure of the “Evil Empire.”

While it may be terribly disappointing when viewed in the context of the short-term, the Yankees very well may have gotten lucky to lose out in the Lee sweepstakes.

In the limited history of pitchers who have signed contracts of seven years or more, such a bold move has rarely paid the expected dividends. Throughout the history of the game, such a long-term commitment to a hurler has only occurred seven times, with only Wayne Garland, Mike Torrez, Dave Stieb, Kevin Brown, Mike Hampton, Barry Zito and CC Sabathia inking deals of at least seven years. Aside from Sabathia’s thus far productive tenure with the Yankees, not a single other deal of that magnitude can be considered a success. Of course, we still have several years to gauge the overall value of the Zito and Sabathia deals, but prior to those the signing team has never completed one of these deals without significant regret.

Though Cliff Lee has been a stellar pitcher from 2008-2010, one has to remember that he will turn 32 during this upcoming season. By the time a potential 7 year deal would have concluded, he would have surpassed his 38th birthday.

Regardless of his current status as one of the game’s  greatest pitchers, one has to reasonably ask how many of those years would Cliff Lee be good enough to warrant in excess of $20 million per season?

Surely, it could be three years, possibly four, but beyond that, the future gets hazy.

If Lee had signed on with the Yankees, not only would they be tied to another mid-thirties pitcher making huge  money, but they remain committed to A.J. Burnett for another three years and around $50 million, CC for another five years, A-Rod through 2017 at almost $30 million per year, and Teixeira for another six years and $135 million.

Just a rough estimate tells you that if Lee were included, the Yankees would have approximately $116 million per season tied up in just six players for at least the next three years. Does that sound like a desirable position for a club to place itself in? That amount of money doesn’t even include the Jeter deal, Pettitte, Mo or Robinson Cano.

While many assume the Yankees have free reign to spend as much as they are willing, even they would have to balk at having that much money committed to only a handful of players. They have to have noticed that the “buy every top free agent possible” strategy has only yielded one championship in a decade. It has to be painfully obvious that a smaller market team just won the World Series with a rotation full of homegrown talent. That same team had their own massive free agent blunder sitting idly while the exciting young arms pitched their way to baseball’s promised land.

Of course, being the Yankees, they will probably now author a blockbuster trade to combat the improvements of their rivals, picking up yet another high-priced star to add to their already bloated salary ledger and continue the prevailing trend of the decade.

The Yankees may feel stunned, the mood lingering around New York may be that of a city spurned, disappointment following what many felt was a closed case.

This time though, while it may be difficult in the short term, the Yankees may have just been saved from themselves.

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George Steinbrenner was more than a mere baseball mogul. For better or worse, his time at the top of the New York Yankees ladder changed the game forever. During the latter years of the Steinbrenner era, as the landscape became the free market free-for-all Steinbrenner so encouraged during the first two decades of free agency, the Yankees became a symbol, an empire that ruled baseball with an iron (golden) fist.

Steinbrenner died in July though, and the evidence has rapidly accumulated ever since: Without the Boss behind the big desk inside the team’s new palace, the empire is in an irrevocable decline. Free agent ace Cliff Lee made that official Monday night. In a stunning resolution to a nearly James-ean free agent drama that unfolded after dark on one of the shortest days of the year, Lee chose the Philadelphia Phillies’ five year, $100 million offer over monumentally more lucrative offers from both the Texas Rangers and the Yankees.

Of course, there is so much more to the story. Lee did not merely pass up $50 million more to pitch in Philadelphia rather than New York; he did so despite perhaps the Yankees’ most aggressive courtship of a free agent since Roger Clemens. Lee spurned the Yankees in a way that no one, while Steinbrenner still breathed, would have dared to spurn them. Steinbrenner, for all his faults as a short-sighted and short-tempered personnel manager, had a certain charisma when it came to luring in their truly important targets.

As recently as two winters ago, the team rather easily scooped up CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira. The team simply did not miss when they really, truly committed themselves to a player. Steinbrenner was emperor, and he left no territory unconquered. Mere months after his death, their most prized target has rather easily defied conquest.

Meanwhile, as they always do when great empires begin to fall in on themselves, emboldened rivals have begun to directly attack the Yankees. The Red Sox, who never really displaced the Yankees as baseball’s unilateral power even during their mini-dynasty in the middle of the last decade, have so thoroughly beaten the Yankees this winter that, if the season began tomorrow, they would probably win the AL East by 10 games. They signed Carl Crawford, whom the Yankees had also briefly considered, and traded for Adrian Gonzalez.

With the Yankees missing out on Lee, the Red Sox may be better in every facet of the game next season: offense, pitching and defense. Meanwhile, the Phillies now look like a surefire favorite to win the NL pennant, and the Rangers are younger and deeper than New York. They reportedly have interest in Adrian Beltre as a consolation prize after losing Lee, which might make them as good as the Yankees.

Finally, consider the eroding talents and loyalties of the core group that made the Yankees so great over the past 15 years. These men are the generals who have facilitated this empire’s great military victories. In the wake of Steinbrenner’s retirement and subsequent depth, these generals have found themselves dealing with his son Hal, a rather bumbling (or at least underwhelming) successor. The ensuing frustrations and gaffes, while perhaps nothing George himself could have avoided, reflect the strain on New York’s critical power centers.

Derek Jeter squared off with Hal in a rather embarrassing exchange that was as bad for morale as it was for public perception of the unified Yankee front. Nor should Jeter have felt sufficiently entitled to assume such a standoffish posture: He had his worst offensive season in over a decade this year, and his defense at shortstop went from bad to worse. In other words, the empire’s greatest general is now a mildly rebellious and eminently impotent leader.

Mariano Rivera, whose contract negotiation ostensibly went much more smoothly, reportedly came close to an alarming turn of his coat. His representatives reached out to the Red Sox, who eventually (at the urging of his agents) made him a contract offer. That was probably a leverage move by Rivera and the agents, and it worked to the tune of a two year, $30 million contract. Still, it never used to be that Yankee legends would use the Red Sox (or anyone else, but especially Boston) to create leverage in a negotiation with management. Rivera had a great 2010, but at 41, he too is beginning to show his age.

If Jeter has gotten a bit big for his britches and Rivera has apparently pondered an unimaginable defection, the most outwardly rebellious and problematic of the old Yankee guard is still Jorge Posada. Posada had no contract disputes to muddy the water this winter, but he has spent the past two seasons as an aging malcontent, getting into tiffs with manager (and former teammate) Joe Girardi, ceasing to catch for A.J. Burnett and battling injuries that mount as he ages.

Mind you, it is not as easy as merely replacing those guys. They cannot be easily replaced. The Yankees farm system is decent, but they simply will not be producing five future Hall of Fame players again within the next decade. That was lightning caught in a bottle, and it’s tough to do twice.

Meanwhile, GM Brian Cashman may be running into more walls than he thought as he tries to hold the whole contraption together. Cashman recently called himself the “director of spending” for the Yankees, which could hardly have sat well with the younger Steinbrenner. The two men have struggled to present a coherent message about the Yankees’ plans for the offseason that it is not at all hard to imagine Lee electing the more stable environment of Philadelphia.

So it is. The builder and leader of a great empire is dead, and in his stead stands an insufficient successor upon whom only heredity has conferred that privilege. The public heads of state (i.e. Girardi and Cashman) seem intent on gaining increased autonomy within the reorganized regime. The men who have won the empire’s greatest battlefield victories are beginning to fade from their former glory, and discordant feelings among them threaten the unity of the troops in the field. The Huns are crossing the Alps, and the richest empire in the history of the baseball world lacks the wherewithal to hold them off. 

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Cliff Lee just went to the Philadelphia Phillies.

I hope this isn’t the first place you’re hearing it.

While many baseball fans outside of New York were relieved to see the Yankees would not be able to fix their starting pitching troubles this year, it’s still something that has left some of us glum. Why? Because the Northeastern stranglehold on baseball just returned to pre-expansion form.

Yes, I’m aware the 2010 World Series was contested by the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants, but if you’re telling me you expected Edgar Renteria and Juan Uribe to have that kind of October I’ll call you a liar right now.

The entire season and postseason predictions centered around the Yankees, Rays and Phillies. Sure, putting that much faith into a Rays team that wasn’t as good in any statistical category as they were in their wins column may have been foolish, but the point regarding the Yankees and Phillies stands.

Getting back on track, the three biggest cities in the traditional home of baseball, the colonial Northeastern cities, are New York, Philadelphia and Boston. The Yankees and Red Sox will continue being the two top spending markets for as long as we don’t have a cap (well, the Mets will throw their hat in too, but who really cares?) and the Phillies are finally realizing that hey, Philadelphia is a huge city with plenty of fans that will come out of the woodwork if the team can just win some games.

The Yankees have only won one championship since 2000, which is a huge disappointment for denizens of the Bronx. But even if they’ve only pulled one off, they’ve still missed the playoffs a grand total of one time in the wild card era.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, won two championships in the 2000s decade; those coming in the 86 year drought ending in 2004 as well as a repeat in 2007. The Phillies “only” won the series once this decade, in 2008, but millions of baseball fans were shocked when they narrowly avoided becoming the first national league team in over 30 year to win three pennants in a row. 

In 2010, we had the Yankees return most of their 2009 championship team with the notable exceptions of Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon. The team proved to have aged and saw many decreases in performance, especially in AJ Burnett and to a smaller extent Derek Jeter.

Failed experiments such as Nick Johnson and Javier Vazquez also caused some grief in New York. Thankfully, Robinson Cano was able to pick up much of the slack, allowing an injury-ridden, underperforming and aging team to stay in the homefield advantage race until the last week.

Although, some might argue that the Yankees were on cruise control to end September, as they preferred to not have to face Cliff Lee twice in a five game series, rather opting to destroy the Twins for the 19th time in 20 years (give or take). If this is true, then that was obviously a smart move as the Yankees did manage to be kicked out by the Rangers, albeit Lee only pitched once in that series.

The Boston Red Sox made a splash when they signed John Lackey and Adrian Beltre. Mike Cameron and Marco Scuturo were brought in to flesh out the lineup as well. While John Lackey managed to be about as fun to watch as a changed Dice-K and social security collecting Tim Wakefield, John Lester and Clay Bucholz both managed to put up near Cy Young caliber seasons.

Beltre managed to have his best year since his NL days in 2004, and Jason Bay didn’t seem to be missed too much. The Sox faced numerous injuries and were never quite able to contend for the American League East crown for one main reason: the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Tampa Bay Rays managed to make themselves a thorn in the side of the Yankees and Red Sox ever since they dropped the devil from their name in 2008. Alas, all good things must come to an end.

Doing their best imitation of their in-state brethren, the Florida Marlins, the Rays are now watching their best players leave for greener pastures and larger contracts. It’s the sad reality of Florida baseball. The fact that the stadium was at less than 50% capacity when they clinched a playoff spot probably didn’t help their payroll issues either. So bye bye Carl Crawford, see you later Carlos Pena, and hasta la vista to the bottom end of their bullpen in Rafael Soriano and Joaquin Benoit.

At least Evan Longoria, signed to the least fair contract in history, is here to stay. I don’t think it’s a bold prediction to say the Rays will flounder in 2011, or at least not be a major playoff threat. And this is great news for the two divisional rivals spending more than double of the Rays’ payroll.

2010 also saw another great year for the Philadelphia Phillies. Despite some questionable moves by the front office such as shipping away Cliff Lee and signing Ryan Howard until he won’t be able to play in the National League anymore (see http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-ryan-howard-deal-examining-a-baby-albatross/ before you get upset, Phillies fans), the Phillies managed to keep the best lineup in the National League as well as create the best playoff rotation not located in San Francisco.

The Phillies underachieved in the beginning of the season before a late surge that not only knocked the Atlanta Braves off their NL East perch, it threw them down a bloody well. That Roy Halladay fella, gained for Cliff Lee, probably didn’t hurt the team. Neither did the midseason acquisition of Roy Halladay or Cole Hamels returning to his previous form. The only weakness of the team was, surprise surprise, its bullpen.

But even that seemed to be better than the previous year. Oh, and giving up huge hits to a usually offensively impotent Giants team was probably a mistake too.

So now we’ve seen the offseason’s major moves unfold. The Rays are likely dead, the Rangers lost their best pitcher (sorry C.J. Wilson fans, but please don’t be offended by the suggestion that Cliff Lee is the better guy), the Giants aren’t likely to repeat (but, for what it’s worth, they weren’t likely to win in the first place), the Angels died a year ago and haven’t made any moves to recover, the Dodgers are destroyed by a divorce, the Rockies are unable to win in months not starting in September, the Twins are unable to win once it gets too chilly, the NL Central is a pointless division and every other team isn’t really worth mentioning (once again, sorry if I’m offending your team, but I am a Mariners fan after all).

The Red Sox picked up Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford. I’d say this gives them the best lineup in baseball, V-Mart’s departure not withstanding. Lester and Buchholz are two of the best pitchers in baseball, and Josh Beckett, John Lackey, Papelbon and Dice-K all have the potential to be much better than they were last year. MUCH better.

The Yankees are, well, the Yankees. The 2009 season saw the Yanks have the best player at all four infield positions in the American League. Year in and year out it’s like an all-star team that baseball fans can unite in hating.

The Bronx Bombers will have to improve their starting pitching, and now that Cliff Lee is off the market don’t be surprised if you see a move for Greinke or even a dark horse to shore up that rotation. The team is aging and will need to make some more moves to remain competitive, but we all know it’s coming. Anything less than a pennant would only be another disappointing season in New York. 

The Phillies haven’t made too many moves thus far, but they’ve grabbed the most envied package on the market in Cliff Lee. I thought Hernandez-Lee was the best 1-2 punch of the decade in Seattle. Now the only better pitcher than King Felix (Roy Halladay) is the Ace of Lee’s rotation. Not to mention behind Lee are Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels. Yeah, Cole Hamels is the No. 4 pitcher on the Phillies rotation.

How many teams would Hamels be the undisputed ace of? And he’s pitching FOURTH? The Phillies lineup is still easily the best in the National League. Jayson Werth has left for uh, “green”er pastures in Washington, but Rollins, Utley, Polanco, Howard, Ruiz and Victorino all remain. If Raul Ibanez and Carlos Ruiz are the worst guys in your lineup, you’re not doing too bad.

So, as of now, we have a three horse race. The three big markets in the northeast. Those guys who write about sports as if they’re the only cities in their leagues. Well that’s fun and all, it’s almost kind of retro.

But as a fan of one of the other 27 teams, I’m not that excited for this upcoming season. There are two major caveats though. First, preseason predictions prove time and time again to be worthless. Halladay and Lee may have back to pack injuries, or Cole Hamels could do his best Brad Lidge impersonation. Jeter could continue declining and Crawford might decide he has enough money.

Secondly, and more importantly, anything can happen in the playoffs. A Brian Sabean GM’d team can even win the World Series.

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Curt Flood was one of the most influential baseball players of all time, and he did it off of the field. 

In 1969, Flood challenged baseball’s reserve clause and refused to play after being traded and took his case to the Supreme Court, thus changing baseball’s free agency game forever.

Here are a few MLB players who changed baseball’s free agency in some way or another.

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Baseball’s offseason hot stove continues to heat up as MLB’s annual winter meetings in Orlando, Florida roll right along.

As always, super agent Scott Boras has landed some monstrous deals for his clients, with outfielders Jayson Werth and Carl Crawford each garnering seven-year deals worth well over $100 million.

And with former Cy Young winner Cliff Lee yet to sign on with a club (i.e. the Yankees), Boras’ busy winter is far from over.

Of course, Boras isn’t the only agent with clients on the move. He just so happens to be the most powerful.

Either way, there’s still plenty of action yet to take place and plenty of mega-millions yet to be wasted…errr…spent before the start of spring training. In that spirit, let’s have a look at the biggest deals of the offseason so far and the most intriguing ones yet to be made.

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Carl Crawford has agreed to a seven-year, $142 million deal with the Boston Red Sox. But what does that mean for Boston’s AL East rival, the New York Yankees?

Well if nothing else, we now know the Red Sox have big league money and are willing to spend it.

Just last weekend, Boston traded for San Diego’s Adrian Gonzalez. The first baseman is expected to get a deal worth an estimated $154 million over seven-years.

No doubt now the Yankees are pressing to sign Cliff Lee and make a splash of their own this offseason.

After all, the Red Sox are on the verge of becoming the Miami Heat of the 2011 MLB season.

New York has a stellar team, there is little doubt. But can they really afford to sit back and watch the Red Sox reel in all the available talent?

Is the Yankee pitching staff good enough to carry them past Boston’s newly acquired sluggers in a seven game ALCS?

No one can answer these questions with a confident and definitive “yes.”

Thus making it essential to the Yankees’ future success that they sign Cliff Lee before someone else does.

Lee would solidify New York’s starting rotation and make them the odds on favorite to win the AL East in many minds.

The Yankees have six-year contract, which they increased to seven years following the Crawford signing, worth between $140-150 million on the table for Lee, but will he bite?

No one knows for sure yet. Lee likes living in Arkansas and maybe he doesn’t need another Escalade. Either way we will find out shortly.

But perhaps more intimidating than who they Red Sox signed, is how they signed them. Boston’s total disregard for it’s bank account has to be somewhat frightening to the Yankees’ front office.

Boston has laid out all the chips in order to win and now it’s New York’s turn to make a move.

Patrick Clarke is a student at Towson University and a writing intern for Bleacher Report.

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As of this moment, right here, the 2013 Yankees already have in the neighborhood of 109 million dollars spent. That’s with arbitration, or new contracts. 109 million…for a season 3 years away.

What is that team going to look like? Is it going to be as old and brittle as some forecast? Well, maybe. Let’s take a guess at what the lineup and rotation might look like by then.

In The Field

1B: Mark Teixeira is penned in here for the foreseeable future.

2013: 22.5 million, 33 years old in 2013.

2B: Robinson Cano, barring injury or severe drop in play, will be here in 2013 on a new contract.

2013: New contract would bring in say, rough guess, 18 million per. 30 years old in 2013.

SS: Eduardo Nunez. Anyway, that is the plan. Scouts say he definitely has the potential; reminds some of Cano a bit when he was that age. By 2013, hopefully, he will mature and take the next step.

2013: Rookie-type contract. Yanks save money here. Will turn 26 in 2013 season.

3B: Derek Jeter. Think Jeter was mad with the contract negotiations? Wait until they move him to 3rd.

2013: 17 million. Will turn 39 in 2013 season.

LF: Grady Sizemore. Sizemore’s current contract is up in 2012, and if healthy and has a bounce-back season, he will demand too much money for the Indians to resign him. Also, have a feeling the Yankees will trade Swisher at some point, and won’t resign Granderson and will need some outfielders. Therefore, Yankees trade for Sizemore. Sizemore will turn 31 in 2013 and the Yankes will resign him before he becomes a free agent.

2013: 31. Contract: If he’s healthy, say 14 million or so.

CF: Brett Gardner. Mr. Scrappy himself is the Yankees lead-off hitter and defensive stalwart.

Turns 30 in 2013. Yankees sign him to friendly contract of about 10 million per.

RF: Jesus Montero. Too big behind the plate and with other catching prospects coming, Montero is placed in the right field spot. Will Gardner next to him and the veteran Sizemore in left, the Yankees feel Montero can’t do too much damage.

Montero will be 23 in 2013 and still be on a very friendly rookie contract.

C: Figure a mix of Gary Sanchez—by accounts the Yankees top all-around catching prospect—and a journeyman, Kelly Shoppach, for instance, to take some of the days from the rookie and tutor him. Shoppach will make about 5 mil.

DH: Alex Rodriguez. Too steroid-damaged to play the field anymore, A-Rod clogs up the DH role until 2017.

Turns 38 in 2013 and earns 28 million.

Rotation

CC Sabathia will turn 33 in 2013 and will earn 23 million.

Cliff Lee will turn 35 during the 2013 season and will earn about 25 million.

A.J. Burnett will be 36 in 2013 and earn 16.5 million.

Phil Hughes will be 27 in 2013 and will be signed by the Yankees to a deal near 10 million.

Dellin Betances will be 25 in 2013 and under a rookie contract.

The Yankees will try commit a panic-trade for another pitcher at some point. Those trades usually do not work out, but if A.J. Burnett pitches his way out of the rotation (a distinct possibility), figure a Jason Marquis-type trade to try to fill in the gaping hole Burnett leaves. Betances figures to be the “See, we’re trying out rookies” pitcher of 2013.

Bullpen

The first season without Mariano Rivera. Panic! The Yankees sign a couple of relief guys to help out—figure Mike Gonzalez and Jonathon Broxton (or similar dudes) to say 18 million for them total. Another rookie, (the Yankees need them to offset the leviathan-type contracts) Manny Banuelos will get a shot in the pen as a lefty, along with the next Joba Chamberlain, “can we get anything out him?” guy—Andrew Brackman. Adam Warren will be a pen guy as well, long reliever. A couple of other journeymen fill out the pen.

Notable Guys Traded/Busts. Nick Swisher. Austin Romine. Joba Chamberlain. Graham Stoneburner. Brandon Laird. Slade Heathcott. Adam Warren. J. R. Murphy. Cito Culver. Ivan Nova. David Adams. Hector Noesi.

Anyway, the above team costs in the ballpark of 210 million and that doesn’t include a bench or any substantive free agent signings between now and 2013 (except of course, Cliff Lee). It also doesn’t include the panic rental trades (the Berkman trade for example). As with any speculation, it’s all educated guesswork. But its fun educated guesswork all to prove a point. And that point should be obvious: The Yankees in 2013 will be in hock to some players—especially the rotation—on the wrong side of 32—some way past 32. It’s coming, these debts, we all know it. The question is “What do we do about it?” The above was just my fun educated guess. What is yours?

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