The New York Yankees' franchise is among the elites in professional sports, which makes this story about their players paying for their own Wi-Fi even more odd.
In professional sports, you don't want to plan on injuries. However, you have to be smart and prepare for them. New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman lured the biggest pitching prize of the 2023 free agent market, Carlos Rodón, to the Bronx. The GM certainly didn't want to plan for his left-handed pitcher's replacement in mid-March.
Starting in early September last season, his name, rather his bat was noticeably absent from the New York Yankees lineup. The last two years have not been vintage seasons for DJ LeMahieu, however being a two-time batting champion creates some pretty high standards. Injuries to the 2022 Gold Glove- Utility Player's big toe and second toe, hampered LeMahieu for the better part of the '22 season.
Anthony Volpe and Jasson Dominguez are making their major league spring training debuts for the New York Yankees this week. Both have reputations that have preceded them for years before either will play a game in the Bronx. Volpe is expected to compete for the starting shortstop job for Aaron Boone's 2023 squad. Dominguez is not.
Amongst the small market teams in the MLB, the Pittsburgh Pirates have never been shy about trading away their future stars. On the other side of the baseball world, the New York Yankees are hardly discreet with their desire to acquire those precious stars.
Ask any coach or manager to name two characteristics a team needs to win a championship. Among the top responses will mostly often be: depth and experience. Those attributes help front offices win championships, as well. On Tuesday, the New York Yankees got a little deeper in the front office with an old friend with a ton of good experience and happens to sport a few recent World Series rings.
Could you imagine 30 year-old Babe Ruth hitting the free agent market in 2022? Would the "Sultan of Swat" been the first $500 million player? Would Brian Cashman be forced to break the bank for a player that most would consider the most popular baseball player over the last century? How does current New York Yankee, Aaron Judge compare to "The Bambino"?
It's no secret, New York Yankees senior VP and general manager, Brian Cashman is pressing to get his organization back to the World Series. Cashman has a brand new four-year contract, so he isn't worried about his personal job security. However, the Long Island native is considered one of the best executives in MLB and a 13-year late October draught probably doesn't sit well.
The New York Yankees got their man in left-handed pitcher Carlos Rodon, but additional moves must be considered if the team wants to compete for a World Series.
The New York Yankees accomplished their top priority of the 2022 MLB Winter Meetings. They brought Aaron Judge home, making him the highest paid position player in the game, for now. That celebration didn't last very long, as general manager Brian Cashman left San Diego with a roster still marred with question marks.
The New York Yankees and Mets spent about half a billion dollars this week on free agents. Aaron Judge, the best player on the market, never received an offer from one of the richest owners in sports, Steve Cohen, from across town. The Major League Baseball Players Union can call it collusion. Most call it doing business in New York. Two successful baseball teams in the Big Apple create a summer craze of headlines and packed ballparks. Now the Mets are in competition to sign a free agent pitcher from Japan and the Yankees may benefit from the star landing in Queens.
Headlines from New York City aren't very positive these days. Shootings, unprovoked subway attacks, rats and despair fill the Big Apple media front pages on a daily basis. Even the New York sports world received an expected blow on Friday when Jacob deGrom left the Mets without so-much a goodbye. So, when Jon Heyman from nypost.com incorrectly tweeted on Tuesday that Aaron Judge had split from the Bronx to San Francisco, it felt like Gotham lost Batman for a better deal in another city.