Long-term deals for top prospects are all the rage. Yesterday morning, news broke of the Mariners and minor-league infielder Colt Emerson agreeing on an eight-year deal worth a minimum of $95 million, a record for player who has yet to make his MLB debut. This, just hours after reports emerged that the Brewers were nearing an eight-year, $50-million deal with infielder Cooper Pratt, who only made his Triple-A debut in the last week.
Of course, this pair of deals represents a longer trend toward extensions
for players who either had yet to debut or only had a smattering of MLB service time. The Brewers themselves pulled the trick just two years ago with Jackson Chourio, while a multitude of other players, such as Corbin Carroll and Jacob Wilson, put pen to paper very early in their careers, if not quite as early as Emerson and Pratt. It forces one to wonder: should the Yankees be doing the same?
Extensions of any kind have been pretty rare under the Brian Cashman regime. Luis Severino’s four-year extension, signed in 2019, is one of the few cases of the Yankees extending a young player, and even that came well into Severino’s career and after a pair of campaigns that saw the right-hander earn Cy Young votes. The last major extension of any kind New York handed out was to Aaron Hicks, and, well, we all know how that one turned out (Aroldis Chapman’s 2019 contract technically counts too, though that was more a case of the Yankees tacking on an extra year to prevent the closer from opting out).
Zigging while everyone else is also zigging could be in the Yankees’ best interests. While the team has never been shy about signing free agents to long-term deals, opportunities to sign stars in free agency are slowly dwindling precisely because other teams are locking up their best young talent early. It stands to reason the Yankees could do the same, committing to their own young talent as a way to spend money that is becoming increasingly more difficult to spend on top players in free agency.
If the Yankees were to take this tack, who would you like to see them sign long term? A few years ago, Anthony Volpe seemed like a prime candidate, which serves as a good reminder that these early extensions, while largely pretty team-friendly, are not always a slam dunk for the organizations signing them. Still, there are a number of options on the farm.
When George Lombard Jr. starts to near the majors, perhaps the club should gauge his interest in signing long-term. Any numbers of pithing prospects, from Carlos Lagrange and Elmer Rodriguez, to Ben Hess and Bryce Cunningham, could be candidates as their call-ups grow closer. And, while he’s not a perfect example for this discussion given he’s exhausted his rookie eligibility, Cam Schlittler’s elite performance certainly entices one to sign him up for as long as reasonably possible.
What do you think? Should the Yankees be using this strategy, and who should they consider if they did?
Today on the site, Sam remembers Phil Niekro on what would have been his 87th birthday, and Josh discusses how MLB has run a few gimmicks into the ground. Later, John takes inspiration from the NBA’s controversial 65-game minimum rule to examine how many games MLB players typically need to play in order to be considered for major awards, and Maximo compares the discontent of the Yankees and Phillies fan bases.
Today’s Matchup
New York Yankees at Seattle Mariners
Time: 4:10 p.m. EST
Video: YES Network, Mariners.tv
Venue: T-Mobile Park, Seattle, WA
