Yankees are expected to extend David Robertson a qualifying offer of $15.3M on Monday, a source said. They are hopeful of retaining him.
— Jack Curry (@JackCurryYES) October 31, 2014
Another way: rejecting it and hitting the free agent market.
That has been a dicey path for some free agents recently, with guys like Kendrys Morales and Stephen Drew and Nelson Cruz taking lower-than-expected contracts and/or not even making spring training due to teams not wishing to burn a first round pick in addition to the money on the free agent.
It’s hard to say where Robertson falls on that scale. On the one hand, lots of teams experienced bullpen failures last year which harmed their chances. On the other, most teams aren’t of a mindset to go so rich on a closer that it impedes them in other areas.
Whoever winds up with Robertson will have a good pitcher, though. He saved 39 games in 44 chances while posting a 3.08 ERA and a 96/23 K/BB ratio while taking over the Yankees’ closer job from Mariano Rivera.
