While the Yankees attempted to get past the AL wild card for the second consecutive season Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, there was a whiff of finality and reality joining the charged atmosphere on a pleasant Bronx evening.
The Yankees had spent many hours planning for the A’s, hoping they could survive the loser-goes-home wild card, exhale and start the best-of-five ALDS against the Red Sox in Fenway Park on Friday night.
And yet it was impossible to ignore the feeling that several important Yankees could have been playing or watching their final nine innings in pinstripes.
Brett Gardner and CC Sabathia, the two longest tenured Yankees, will be free agents after the World Series is completed. So, too, will 32-year-old reliever David Robertson, whose major league debut was in a Yankees uniform in 2008. He left for the White Sox via free agency following the 2014 season and returned last year in a trade.
Moving past the sentimental side of the deal, J.A. Happ, Zach Britton, Lance Lynn and Andrew McCutchen, all of whom joined the Yankees in season via trades and contributed to scoring the top wild-card spot, will be free agents.
Early this season, the 38-year-old Sabathia said if the Yankees won the World Series he would retire. He backed off that and this past weekend in Boston and told The Post’s Dan Martin he was going to pitch one more year and retire.
“I want to keep going,’’ Sabathia said of his future. “Once I knew I could hold up physically, I decided to play again.”
Though he once wanted to only return to the Yankees, the respected veteran is open to playing elsewhere now, since he is determined to end his career after 2019. He received interest from the Blue Jays and Angels last winter when he was a free agent.
“I don’t care where I play,’’ Sabathia said. “It’ll be my last year, so I don’t mind pitching somewhere else.”
As for why he’s sure next season will be it, Sabathia said: “I’m tired, mentally. One more year will be enough.”
Sabathia, who is a strong possibility to start Game 4 of the ALDS against the Red Sox, went 9-7 with a 3.65 ERA in 29 starts this season. Only Luis Severino (32) made more starts for the Yankees this year than Sabathia, who made $10 million this past season. The Yankees like what Sabathia brings to the mound and the clubhouse, so a reunion isn’t out of the question, but for what price?
Gardner, 35, was very much against playing out the 2014 season with free agency looming, so he signed a four-year extension for $52 million in spring training.
The Yankees have a $12.5 million club option on Gardner for 2019 with a $2 million buyout. After hitting a disappointing .236 and losing his left field job and leadoff hitter position to McCutchen, it would be a surprise if the Yankees pick up the option on the longest-tenured Yankee and fan favorite, who hasn’t played for any other organization.
A healthy Clint Frazier would get a chance to play left, and don’t forget the Yankees owe Jacoby Ellsbury $47.2 million for 2019 and 2020. And Aaron Hicks, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton aren’t leaving.
Happ, who turns 36 next month, just finished a three-year deal for $36 million and went a combined 17-6 with a 3.65 ERA between Toronto and the Yankees. He made 11 starts for the Yankees and went 7-0 with a 2.69 ERA, and some voices within the organization believed Aaron Boone should have started him Wednesday night.
While the Yankees’ focus was on beating the A’s and facing the Red Sox, it was difficult to ignore that not all the impending free agents are returning.
Source: Read Full Article