Signing Freddie Freeman Makes Sense For The Yankees, But Will They Actually Do It?

Whenever baseball figures things out, whether it be next week, next month or deep into the spring when the NBA and NHL playoffs are in full swing, there are still a few things for the New York Yankees to figure out.

Among them is who’s on first, not the fictional name in the famous Abbott and Costello bit, but an actual first baseman.

In an ideal world for the Yankees, they already possess their first baseman in the form of Luke Voit, the home run champion from the agreed to disagreed 60-game season of two years ago but the best plans are often just plans and not actual scenarios.

Voit was not much of a scenario for the Yankees because of a myriad of injuries that kept him from consistently appearing in the lineup. The fact Voit appeared for only 68 games in his fourth year as a Yankee is why Anthony Rizzo was manning first base for most of the final two months and is also a reason why the Yankees are linked to names such as Matt Olson and Freddie Freeman even as Voit posts clips of him doing high intensity workouts with Boston third baseman and Yankee-killer Rafael Devers on social media.

Voit’s potential is based on 281 games since arriving from St. Louis in a late-night trade on July 28, 2018. His biggest sample was 118 games in 2019 when he hit 21 homers and drove in 62 runs in a year that was derailed by a hamstring injury.

His only full season within the framework of the schedule was 2020 when he appeared in 56 games and hit 22 homers to go along with 52 RBIs.

The Yankees could run it back with Voit and hope his health issues are behind him or they could make the big investment in Freeman, the first baseman with the smooth left-handed stroke often associated with the short porch at Yankee Stadium.

There were indications last week that Freeman is somewhat of a legitimate pursuit for the Yankees even though it is always hard to believe a franchise icon changes teams until it actually happens.

Those indications exist because it was believed before the owners shut down the sport two months ago, the Braves would quickly re-sign Freeman in the spending frenzy ahead of baseball going out of sight and out of mind for many sports fans.

Freeman checks a lot of boxes since making his major league debut in 2010. Besides the consistent power, there is the average as Freeman is a career .295 hitter and boasts six seasons of hitting at least .300 and eight seasons with at least 20 homers.

For all the talk about the devaluing of batting average, the Yankees could use someone who consistently hits close to .300. They were a team whose .237 team average was 10 points lower than the 60-game sprint, 30 points lower than 2019 and the lowest since the 1969 team batted .235 during a stretch of five straight seasons with a team batting average lower than .240 following the end of their dynasty.

There also is the issue of cost, which is still weird for a team like the Yankees, who are being outspent by the Mets these days.

Voit would likely make somewhere in the ballpark of five million and is under team control through 2024 (as of now). while Freeman would require an investment of at least $200 million as he reportedly sought a six-year extension with a range of $180 to 200 million.

And given other financial factors such as New York’s tax rate — which reportedly was cited in James Harden’s disenchantment with Brooklyn two weeks ago – the Yankees would be looking at possibly going over the $200 million mark to get Freeman.

Of course, there’s another demographic that would be thrilled if the Yankees actually signed Freeman – the Met fans. Freeman has made a living of dominating the Mets to the levels Chipper Jones did and has done so well in that aspect he jokingly gets referred to as “Freddie Jones” or “Chipper Freeman” whenever he gets a big hit against the Mets.

Since there is no end in sight to the MLB-imposed lockout and front office personnel are disallowed from talking about major leaguers, it is unknown what the Yankees are thinking. What is known that for as much as fans like Voit when he plays, Freeman would be the clear upgrade and provide a reminder that the Yankees are open for business after the most tedious 90-win season in their long history.