Resigning Cano and Granderson Remains Part of Yanks Plans

From Jon Heyman:

Seeking to diffuse any notion that the Yankees won't be able to retain their buggest stars and perhaps suffer a major talent deficit in 2014 when a payroll cut is planned, team president Randy Levine said, "The plan contemplates (Robinson) Cano, (Curtis) Gransderson and a full championship team.''

The Yankees have said they plan to decrease their payroll from the low $200 millions to below $189 million to get below the luxury-tax threshhold for 2012, thus significantly reducing their tax rate in future years and saving themselces tens of millions. With that in mind, some folks are starting to do their own little math and wondering how many stars can be retained considering the Yankees will still have three $20-million-plus per-year players (Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia) on gthe payroll in 2014, leaving themselves about $120 million to fill out the other 22 spots on the team.

With the contracts of Cano and Granderson up after 2013, folks specifically have wondered how the Yankees will squeeze those two big stars onto their payroll. But Yankees people remain confident publicly they can do that and remain a contender.

"We'll have a great team either way,'' GM Brian Cashman said. "At $189 million, we should,''

The Yankees say they will not entertain the idea of going above the $189-million threshhold and are committed to getting below that figure. "The new Basic Agreement has changed the landscape,'' Cashman said. "From a business perspective, we have no choice. Do you want to go over $1 million at the expense of an additional $50 million? We're going to be at or below that ($189 million) number. We will certainly find a way to do it.''

Personally, I have no idea how it'll be possible to retain those two and have a good roster around them. I guess we'll just have to take their word for it for now.