Now that the World Series is over, teams across Major League Baseball will be forced to make some difficult decisions regarding some of their key players.
One of the decisions the New York Yankees had to make was in regards to reliever Zack Britton’s option. Britton, a Scott Boras client, had a bit of a different type of option than we all are accustomed too.
Boras has recently been negotiating “swellopts” in his clients contracts. For those of you are unfamiliar with the term, here’s a bit of a breakdown:
For the club (in this case, the Yankees), if the player performs well, the club can opt in (contract swells).
For the player, if the club doesn’t opt in, the player has the choice to continue with the contract (swell) or opt out.
Looking at Britton’s contract, here’s the scenarios in which it could have played out:
-If the Yankees picked up his 2022 option (worth $14 million), then he would be under club control for the next two seasons (for approximately $27 million)
-If the Yankees declined his 2022 option, Britton had two options:
- Elect to stay with the Yankees on a one-year, $13 million dollar deal
OR
2. Opt-out of his current contract and become a free agent.
Ultimately, the Yankees decided to hold on to their valuable reliever.
Can confirm that the #Yankees have picked up Zack Britton’s option for 2022, valued at $14 million.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) October 29, 2020
According to multiple reports, the Yankees have picked up Britton’s option for 2022. This ensures that the 32-year-old will be under club control for the next two seasons.
Picking up Britton’s option makes a ton of sense for the Yankees. Since arriving in the Bronx in 2018, Britton has been stellar, posting a 2.14 ERA over 111 appearances.
Even though there was some speculation as to whether or not the Yankees would pick up his option, the club felt it was necessary to hold onto the two-time All-Star. Even though he’ll be heading into his age-35 season at the end of the deal, Britton is still a very effective reliever whose high ground ball rate plays very well in Yankee Stadium.
Before the official news broke, Britton took to Twitter to make an informal announcement of his own. Based on the tweet, you get the sense that the veteran reliever is happy to be staying in the Bronx.
🗽
— Zack Britton (@zbritton) October 29, 2020
Now that the offseason is beginning, expect this to be the start of a handful of roster moves for the New York Yankees this winter.
Continue following the Bronx Pinstripes team for all the latest New York Yankees offseason news and rumors.
