Photo Credit: Charles Wenzelberg, The New York Post |
Despite delay, MLB could be back within 60 days…
As we continue to wait for the return of America’s favorite pastime, at least there is a growing sense of optimism for a 2020 MLB season in some shape or form. I miss baseball and I miss the New York Yankees. The career of a baseball player is so short, relatively-speaking, and it is sad to miss what could have been the best year for some. Still, it is more likely than not we’ll see 23-year-old Gleyber Torres making spectacular plays on the field or Gerrit Cole dominating hitters while wearing the famed Pinstripes. We just don’t know where…or when. For now, I’ll take hope as an option and maybe it will yield fruit for all of us.
I think Major League Baseball did the right thing postponing Derek Jeter’s Hall of Fame induction to the summer of 2021. With a record crowd expected, it makes no sense to put lives at risk. Jeter is a Hall of Famer and waiting a little longer for the official induction does not change anything. He’ll have his moment in the sun. There just might be a few more guys joining Jeter…and Ted Simmons, Larry Walker, and Marvin Miller…with the future announcement of the Class of 2021. Oh well, hopefully by then, we can once again say, “the more, the merrier”.
I called the Los Angeles Angels a couple of days ago to request refund of the tickets I had purchased for the weekend series in Anaheim over Memorial Day Weekend against the Yankees. I had expected some difficulty, however, there was none. With the uncertainty of the season (and schedule if/when play resumes), I didn’t just want a credit against future games. I’d prefer to make the choices when games resume and opponents are known. I had been excited to see the Yankees this year after four years of living in a National League city, but like Derek Jeter, I may have to wait until 2021 to watch America’s favorite team take the field.
I feel bad for the Cleveland Indians. Last off-season, as we all know, they traded Corey Kluber to the Texas Rangers for what seemed like a light return: outfielder Delino DeShields and hard-throwing reliever Emmanuel Clase. I wonder if they’d like to undo that trade with word Clase has been suspended for 80 games after testing positive for a banned PED, Boldenone. Clase is young enough to rebound from this, but he is certainly not starting his Indians career on the right foot. Speaking of suspensions, it is probably unlikely we see Domingo German this year as we continue to wait for the start of his penalty. Seems a little unfair that the penalty box time has already started for disgraced former managers Alex Cora and A.J. Hinch but not for German who must wait until the games start to serve his suspension since his sentence is number of games and not simply for the year.
On a sad note, I heard today that former Oakland A’s pitcher Matt Keough, 64, died on Friday. I remember him being a big part of the A’s under the early 80’s leadership of the great Billy Martin and the famed Billy Ball Era in the East Bay. I think I had forgotten he pitched for the Yankees in 12 games during the 1983 season. He compiled a 3-4 record, with an unsightly 5.17 ERA, in the dozen Pinstriped games. Unfortunately, despite his youth at that time, 27, he was never the same pitcher he had been in his earlier 20’s with the A’s. I can now recollect wanting him to succeed (I always liked him when he was with Oakland) but it was not meant to be. I didn’t follow his career closely but I do remember the talk of people at the time who felt Billy had overused his arm in those early days with the A’s. I have not seen the cause of death (it was not released when the A’s made the announcement on Saturday), but 64 is too young. May he rest in peace…
I have seen a few posts that cite tomorrow as the two-year anniversary for the Cleveland Indians’ release of Gio Urshela. I’ve also seen non-Yankee fans who act like we think our scouting department is better than everybody else for picking up Gio. Well, we are better than everybody else but that’s besides the point. I don’t think the Yankees knew Gio would blossom in New York. When they picked him up from the Toronto Blue Jays in August 2018, Gio spent the remainder of the year in the minors, they needed the depth, and he became a minor league free agent that winter before re-signing with the Yankees. If the Yankees had known he would flourish in 2019, they wouldn’t have let him become a free agent, in my opinion. It remains to be seen if Gio can have the same level of success in 2020, assuming there is a season or at least a truncated version thereof, as he did in 2019. I like Gio and I want him as the starting third baseman, with no disrespect to Miguel Andujar. I value strong defense at the position and I feel despite his occasional miscues, Gio is the superior defender. If Gio regresses back to one-dimensional play, I’d be among the first of Gio’s supporters calling for Andjuar’s return. Gio needs to keep hitting to keep the job. If he does, great. I’ll be very excited and happy for him. I’ll never view this as something the Yankees saw that no one else did. They rolled the dice and won. There have been plenty of times when it hasn’t worked out for those types of decisions.
Photo Credit: Kathy Willens, AP |
Back to the game itself, the talk lately seems to be centered on a shortened 100-game season that would conclude in late November. The teams broken up into three 10-team divisions, perhaps with geographical restrictions where the games are played, and keeping regular season games within each division. The season could potentially start in late June or early July. Honestly, I don’t really care what format they decide upon. I recognize that all traditions, as we know them, are out the window this year. I’d rather have some form of Major League Baseball, whatever it looks like, rather than no professional baseball until the 2021 season.
If the season does start and the World Series is not played until around Thanksgiving, this is going to be the strangest off-season in recent memory. The regular season may be truncated but so will the off-season. I guess that’s a good thing to help expedite off-season trades and free agent signings. Decisions will have to be made very quickly. I just hope the Yankees keep the eye on the ball and make sure they get DJ LeMahieu’s signature on the dotted line and don’t let him slip away. It feels like we’re going to lose one or both of Masahiro Tanaka and James Paxton. If he could ever stay healthy, Paxton offers the most upside, in my opinion, but Tanaka has been a very good Yankee for the duration of his career. I’d hate to see him go elsewhere, such as Seattle, and give other fans reason to cheer. Well, not that I wouldn’t want him to be supported wherever he may go, but I’d just prefer the Yankees keep him as our own. If the Yankees do lose one or both, they’ll really need some of the young pitchers in the organization to step up. We’ve heard years of promise with the young arms but it’s nearing showtime for their prime opportunities. It’s possible GM Brian Cashman swings a deal for a proven young arm or two next off-season but those type of transactions seem to be more fiction than fact. Dipping into the free agent pool for replacements seems kind of counter-productive (why not just re-sign Tanaka and Paxton?). The Yankees have a window of opportunity for a championship right now but there are decisions ahead for the organization which can certainly make or break those dreams. No pressure, Cash.
According to reports last week, we could start to see the return of some Yankees to Tampa this week. I haven’t heard or seen anything the last couple of days, but it will be good to see players return to Steinbrenner Field and allow us to actually watch some current baseball activity as opposed to the endless replay of games past. My TV was on SportsNet LA earlier today and it was amazing how the Dodgers just kept winning their games in walk-off fashion, game after game. No doubt the Yankees are similarly undefeated so far this year on the YES Network (I wouldn’t know since I no longer have access to the channel with my move to LA).
Stay safe, be safe.
As always, Go Yankees!