Yankees Offer Arbitration to....No One

LoHud reporting that the Yankees have decided to offer arbitration to none of their eligible players. That list includes OF Johnny Damon, INF/OF Jerry Hairston Jr., INF/OF Eric Hinske, DH Hideki Matsui, C Jose Molina, OF Xavier Nady and LHP Andy Pettitte.

The one player I thought they'd offer arbitration to is Johnny Damon. If he accepted, they'd have him back on a $13MM+, one-year deal. If he declined, they would have gotten a first round draft pick when he signed elsewhere. They decided to decline and take their chances that he'll make a lot less.

The Yankees did the same thing last off-season with Bobby Abreu and although many questioned the decision at the time, it ended up being the exact right move with how the market shifted

Unlike in the past, this does not mean that these players cannot resign with the Yankees, but if they sign elsewhere, the Yankees will not get any draft picks. Those draft picks in the past have produced players like David Wright, Clay Bucholz, Joba Chamberlain and others. But that also assumes someone will sign Damon and give up the pick--due to the rules around draft pick compensation, teams can get around that by signing another Type A free agent (like the Yankees did last year by signing three of them) or by being one of the worse teams in the league (the top picks are protected). The Yankees calculated right all of last season.

Let's hope they did the same again this year.