Steve Says No to Soriano; Cashman Says Yes

I have been spurred to come out of my hiatus to post by the surprising signing by the Yankees of Rafael Soriano. According to Jon Heyman, the Yankees have come to terms with Soriano for a 3 year, $35 million contract. This is surprising because as of last week, Buster Olney tweeted that the Yankees were not interested in Soriano, and Yankees' GM Brian Cashman also

Steve did a pretty good job of underlying the problems with Soriano. I would just like to emphasize the cost of losing that 1st round draft pick. As of right now, the Yanks were scheduled to have the 31st pick in this year's amateur draft. According to Victor Wang, that pick's surplus value would have been worth roughly $2.5 million. So not only will the Yankees be forking over an Average Annual Salary of over $12 million to Rafael Soriano to pitch the eighth inning, they'll also be losing out on that $2.5 million from the draft pick. In addition, as Steve stated, this year's draft is very deep, so the Yanks might be missing out on a prospect that normally would not fall to them in most years.

In addition, the Yankees will be paying Soriano $12 million in 2011 to pitch in the eighth inning. That is a serious overpay, and not terribly necessary considering the Yankees' bullpen is very strong, with David Robertson, Joba Chamberlain, and Boone Logan forming the bridge to Mariano Rivera. Granted, the Yanks can and will always overpay for their free agents, but I would rather they pay for an area of need (like a starting pitcher or a outfielder that can handle LHP) instead of an area they actually are strong in.