The New York Yankees reach an agreement with Brian McCann

The New York Yankees reach an agreement with Brian McCann


The New York Yankees have opened up their wallets and signed Brian McCann. It is the first big signing of the free agency season. The Yankees who didn’t get much out of the catching position last year now have one of the best in the game. At least offensively that is. McCann isn’t a great defensive catcher but he isn’t horrible either. The Yankees had Jorge Posada for all those years and were able to win. You don’t find really good hitting catchers too often and now they have another on in McCann.

The Yankees did have Russell Martin a couple of years ago but he wasn’t even that good offensively. He hit a lot of homeruns but didn’t hit for a very high average. McCann is near a 280-career hitter. He is a pull hitter, which will play very well in Yankee stadium and their short right field porch. He is a guy who consistently hits 20+ homeruns and now should see a boost in Yankee Stadium. I could see him now hitting 30+ a year.

The Yankees not only gave him 5 years and 85 million, he has a 6th year vesting option which could push it to 100 million. He also has a full no trade clause. He is 29 years old so he is still in his prime.

Is this a risky deal, it could be in the final couple of years of the deal. The Yankees though are the ultimate now team. They are coming off a year where they missed the playoffs and their rivals the Boston Red Sox won it all. The Yankees are not going to rebuild, they are going to reload. This is just the first step; they now have their catcher.

McCann could also move to first base in 2016 when Mark Teixeira becomes a free agent and he will be able to get DH days being in the American League. I think this is a good deal for the Yankees and of course for McCann.

The Yankees will now set their sights on Carlos Beltran and then hope to resign Robinson Cano. If they can do that, it will be some lineup and they could work on the pitching. They have their eyes on Tanaka from Japan but don’t know when and if he will be posted. If he is they figure to go hard after him and hope to resign Hiroki Kuroda also. The Yankees anyway you look at it will have a very busy off-season. It got off to a good start for them on Saturday with this big signing. Stay tuned for more to come and it could be soon.