Yankees start to get busy in the offseason

The New York Yankees began what will be a typically busy offseason by exercising the contract options for Robinson Cano and Nick Swisher.

I have to admit to being a little surprised by the willingness to extend Swisher’s contract. I thought the Yankees would think twice about bringing him back considering his consistent failure in the postseason. Swisher has definitely brought a burst of positive energy into the Yankee clubhouse (which desperately needed it for many years) and has endeared himself to the Yankees faithful. He has also been a high on-base guy and a decent run producer in the regular season. But with the Yankees locked into long-term contracts at so many positions, I thought Swisher might be the major change the Yankees made as far as position players after a disappointingly quick end to their playoff run.

The quick extension on Cano’s option was not surprising. I don’t think Scott Boras was joking at all when he said he wanted to renegotiate those option years. It seems like Boras just changed his story when the heat got turned up too high. But Brian Cashman quashed that talk very quickly by exercising the option, making it clear to Boras the Yankees have no intention of giving up their favorable contract just because Boras was seeking a new deal for his new client. With Boras as his agent, that decision could definitely hurt the Yankees when it comes time to pursue a new deal with Cano. But at least for now the issue was quickly put to bed.

So less than 48 hours after the World Series ended, the Yankees got their first order of official player business out of the way. The most important, however, is still to come: a new deal for ace CC Sabathia.