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The Yankees are the only team that can negotiate with Robinson Cano until 12:01 a.m. Tuesday when they expect him to test free agency.
The Yankees plan to make qualifying offers to free agents Robinson Cano and Hiroki Kuroda and will reach out again for long-term negotiations with the second baseman during their current five-day exclusive negotiating window, according to a baseball official familiar with the team’s plans.
The Yankees also expect 39-year-old Derek Jeter to trigger his $ 9.5 million player option, the official said, and the club likely will make a qualifying offer to Curtis Granderson, too.
And so begins, in earnest, anyway, a Yankee offseason packed with looming decisions and potential change. The clock began ticking officially when their rivals, the Red Sox, won the World Series on Wednesday night.
GM Brian Cashman refused comment when asked if the Yanks had made early progress on offseason business, saying, “Nothing to report.”
Thirteen Yankees — Cano, Kuroda, Granderson, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Travis Hafner, Boone Logan, Lyle Overbay, Mark Reynolds, Brendan Ryan and Kevin Youkilis — became free agents Thursday morning. The Yankees are the only team that can negotiate with them until 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.
While the Yanks will continue discussions with Cano’s camp during their exclusive period, they fully believe the five-time All-Star will go into the open market, the official said.
Qualifying offers are for $ 14.1 million for one year and would guarantee the Yankees draft-pick compensation if the players who get them signed with another team. There’s no chance Cano accepts one, although Kuroda and Granderson might. The deadline to extend qualifying offers is Monday, which is also the deadline for Jeter to activate his player option for the 2014 season.
The Yankees haven’t heard if Kuroda is going to pitch next season or retire. The pitcher said after the Yanks’ final game that he had some decisions to make.
While Pettitte and Rivera presumably won’t be back, since they retired after the ’13 season, the Yanks have to pour the other names into a bubbling roster cauldron — hey, Thursday was Halloween — stir with payroll and talent concerns and make some choices.
Meanwhile, players such as Granderson wait. The outfielder’s agent, Matt Brown, said Thursday afternoon that he hasn’t heard from the Yankees yet.
“We’ll see what the Yankees thoughts are,” Brown said. “I can tell you Curtis really loved his time in New York, the coaching staff, everybody. It’s been great for him. We’re hopeful the Yankees want him back.”
Granderson played in only 61 games this season because he suffered broken bones getting hit by pitches two different times. He led all of baseball with 84 home runs from 2011-12, but had only seven this season, while batting .229 with a .407 slugging percentage.
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