Wang turns down Yanks’ minor-league offer
December 13, 2009, 1:45 pm by iYankees · 3 Comments
According to Bill Madden of the Daily News, though the Yankees non-tendered Wang, they “did offer Wang a minor-league contract with the promise that it would become a major-league deal once he proved his shoulder was sound.” However, Madden notes that Wang’s agent, Alan Nero, “insisted on guaranteed money,” and the Yankees, unsure about Wang’s shoulder, weren’t comfortable making that commitment. Thus, Nero told the Yankees that his client — the winningest pitcher in the AL from 2006-08 (prior to his lisfranc injury) — “would be moving on.”
If Madden’s report is true and the Yankees did offer Wang a minor league deal, then the offer and it’s subsequent rejection could be viewed in two ways. First, the Yankees’ decision to refuse “guaranteed money” in the deal could signal the end of Wang’s tenure in pinstripes, as the Yankees are clearly wary of Wang’s surgically repaired shoulder. That is one way to look at the situation. Another view to consider is that the Yankees will continue to negotiate with Wang and that the offer described by Madden was merely an opening bid. It appears as though the former perspective could be the prevailing one, however, as a source close to Wang told Madden’s Daily News counterpart, Mark Feinsand, that the pitcher would “turn the page” upon being non-tendered by the Yankees.
While it is seemingly unlikely for the two to continue their memorable relationship (according to published reports), I do hope that the Yankees and Wang figure out a new deal in order for him to stay with the team.
Photo by Getty Images
I figured he wouldn’t! It doesn’t make sense to sign a minor league deal with the Yankees with no guarantee to be called up, if you wanted to do that you could go to another team on a minor league deal and not have to deal with the embarrassment of being demoted from “ace” to minors. His culture looks at slights like that as much more embarrassing than we would so it was never realistic to think he would accept an offer to the minors.
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