The New York Yankees are looking to move on from Jacoby Ellsbury, but they may end up having to eat most of the center fielder’s contract if they want him off the roster before the start of the 2018 season.
Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports that the Yankees are willing to pay “at least half” of Ellsbury’s salary if they can find a trade partner for the 34-year-old. Ellsbury is signed through 2020 and is scheduled to make just over $21 million for the next three seasons, so he would probably only end up costing his new team $10 million per year at most.
The problem is Ellsbury is nowhere near the player he once was, and the free agent market for outfielders has yet to dry up. It also complicates things that he has a full no-trade clause, and a recent report indicated that he would be reluctant to waive it. However, Heyman believes Ellsbury would consider accepting a trade to the San Francisco Giants and a handful of other teams.
Over the past three seasons, Ellsbury hit just .261 and averaged around seven homers, 43 RBI and 21 stolen bases. He really hasn’t lived up to his contract since the Yankees signed him in 2014, and New York certainly doesn’t want to pay him $21 million to be its fourth or fifth outfielder behind Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks and Brett Gardner.
