About Spring Training: Meanderings of My Mind

About Spring Training: Meanderings of My Mind

By Tim Kabel

March 10, 2024

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We are a little more than two weeks away from Opening Day. There have been a lot of developments already for the Yankees, most of which have been unfortunate. They have been plagued by serious injuries that will have major ramifications on the 2025 season. They will need to make some major decisions in the next two weeks before the season starts. Well, today is Monday and there are no regular season games to recap yet. That means I will now move from topic to topic like Don Rickles during one of his appearances on The Tonight Show. 

·      Gerrit Cole is continuing to undergo tests and consultation with doctors. It has reportedly been recommended that he have Tommy John surgery, but he is seeking other opinions. Although something similar happened with Cole’s elbow last spring, this year we might not be lucky enough to have him return in June. I don't want to speculate but, he might be out for the whole season We will know officially in the coming days. This makes the signing of Max Fried all the more important for this team. Obviously, they can't throw in the towel. They need to figure out what to do. 

·      I have not felt confident about Giancarlo Stanton’s injury since I first heard about it. He will be undergoing yet another round of injections in his elbows and still describes them as extremely painful. If it is extremely painful while he isn't doing anything, imagine how much it would hurt if he picked up a bat. Also remember that he has a very violent and powerful swing. We are not talking about Fred “Chicken” Stanley here. Surgery is being discussed as an option more and more frequently. I do not think he will play it all for the Yankees this season. Hopefully I'm proven wrong but, I don't think I will be. Even if he recovers late in the year, it takes him a long time to get ready and to get his timing down.

·      I had a setback while I was working on the novella I started a couple of weeks ago. I would have had it all polished and ready to submit a week ago, but my    computer froze and when I rebooted it, I lost all my changes, so I had to start the whole review process over again. I finally finished it yesterday and today I will be sending it out to a few test readers to see what they think. One of them is my friend Roger who will scan it using a magnifying glass and his enormous red pen. He becomes extremely giddy whenever he finds a mistake, so I leave a few in there just to make his day.

·      I have read a lot of articles about the dire circumstances in which the Yankees find themselves right now. Essentially, that is true. The articles cite the absence of two members of the starting rotation, the starting designated hitter, and the starting third baseman. By that it seems that many people bought into Aaron Boone’s spiel that DJ LeMahieu would most likely be the starting third baseman for this team. Well, he was only in the competition for two at bats, and he wasn't even playing the field that day. Furthermore, I would not lump his absence into the same category as those of Giancarlo Stanton, Luis Gil, and Gerrit Cole. LeMahieu batted .204 last year and was on the verge of being released. The Yankees can survive without him quite nicely. The real question is who will play third base? So far, Oswald Peraza has six hits in Spring Training in 21 at bats. I know it's a small sample size but that is a .286 batting average. Oswaldo Cabrera has seven hits in 25 at bats. That is a .280 batting average. Nolan Arenado, who has been suggested repeatedly as a trade option for the Yankees has four hits in 25 at bats. He also has three years left on a very hefty contract. His batting average in spring training is .160. I know it's silly to base anything on a handful of at bats, but Arenado has been in a decline for a couple of years. The worst thing that the Yankees can do right now is panic and trade for Arenado or sign JD Martinez. They should stick with Peraza at third base and keep Oswaldo Cabrera in the roving utility role. As far as designated hitter, they should stick with Ben Rice and or Everson Pereira. There is a reason why JD Martinez hasn't been signed by any team to this point. If he was still very good, he would have been signed by now. Panic moves rarely work out well.

·      I had to take a break while I was writing this because my kitten, Clancy, had a bunch of stuff on his paws. My wife and I had to bathe him. This did not prove to be the death-defying experience that I thought it might be. He squawked and wiggled a bit but other than that was perfectly fine. He allowed us to wash his paws and then meticulously dry them and rub them without putting up much of a fuss or altering his sweet disposition. In addition, we purchased a bed for the cats several months ago. Basically, it looks like an igloo and the cats can climb inside and sleep in there as if they were in a cave. None of the other cats ever used it properly. They would sleep on top of it, crushing the entrance. Clancy actually likes it and has been sleeping in it fairly regularly. Well tonight, my 14-year-old cat, Archie, decided to give it a try. Clancy tried to stick his head in, but Archie rebuffed him. So, the ingenious little fellow climbed on top, caving in the roof, causing Archie to leave. Clancy then reclaimed his cave. He certainly makes things interesting around here.

·      We are not completely sure how long Gerrit Cole will be unavailable for the Yankees this season. We will know the answer in a few days. We already know that Luis Gil will probably be out until June. I have read a lot of speculation that the Yankees should make a trade for a star starting pitcher. This would cost a great deal in prospects, especially since the other team would know the Yankees are desperate. Many fans will say that the Yankees should trade anyone and everyone to get a frontline starting pitcher. That would include George Lombard, Jr., Spencer Jones, and Will Warren. That would be foolish. The Yankees can get by with what they have right now. They have Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, and Clarke Schmidt. After that, Will Warren and Marcus Stroman would be the most likely replacements for Cole and Gil. Hopefully, Gil will return in June. If the Yankees feel they need to make a trade, they might be able to acquire Jordan Montgomery from Arizona for a much lower cost in prospects I know he struggled last year in Arizona but that was a result of his very late signing. The Yankees can certainly make do with what they have or with an addition of someone like Montgomery until June and then reevaluate the situation if Gil does return.

·      Injuries are part of baseball. The Yankees have overcome major injuries to star players many times in their history. The first thing to do right now is to determine exactly how long Cole and Stanton will be out. The Yankees can then assess their options. Signing JD Martinez would not be a great idea in my opinion. He is another fading veteran and I think the Yankees would get a lot more out of their youngsters than they would out of him. Trading for Nolan Arenado would also be a foolish move because he is clearly in decline and the Yankees would be stuck with him for two more years after this one. Oswald Peraza will be an excellent defender and if he is given a real opportunity, he may surprise us with his offense. Bringing in a big-name player who is fading doesn't help in any way. The Yankees and their fans need to be calm and rational during this time. It is easy to be calm, cool, and collected when your ship is sailing along on a sunny day without a problem. It is when you're in the middle of a storm in shark-infested waters and the ship gets a leak that you really need to remain calm and logical. Panicking never hurt helps anybody.