About Spring Training: Meanderings of My Mind

About Spring Training: Meanderings of My Mind By Tim Kabel

March 17, 2025

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We are exactly ten days away from Opening Day. The roster for the 2025 New York Yankees is starting to take shape. There are not a lot of questions remaining. There are some lingering injury issues but for the most part, even those have been resolved as far as Opening Day is concerned. Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, Giancarlo Stanton, and DJ LeMahieu will not be on the roster when the Yankees take the field on March 27th in New York against the Milwaukee Brewers. Well, today is Monday and there are no regular season games to recap yet. That means I will now move from topic to topic as if I were dining at a Brazilian steakhouse, watching an endless parade of waiters bearing skewers of sizzling meat approaching me. I imagine that heaven will have a Brazilian steakhouse. I'm not in a hurry to find out but, I will bring a bib just in case.

·       Many people were worried about Jasson Dominguez when Spring Training began. There were concerns that he wouldn't be able to play leftfield or that he wouldn't hit. Remember, he just turned 22 years old. He also did not fall off a turnip truck outside Yankee Stadium one day. Brian Cashman did not find him sitting in an alley. He has been in the Yankees’ organization since he was a teenager. Almost everyone agrees that he has tremendous potential and talent. He has performed well at every level of the minor leagues and has nothing more to prove there. Will he have some struggles this season? Yes, he most likely will. Everyone does. I think he will be just fine. He has worked very hard at playing leftfield since he was adjusting after almost exclusively playing center field in his career. He has embraced the change and is reportedly a very diligent young man. For years, I have heard how difficult it is to play the outfield, particularly leftfield at Steinbrenner field, during Spring Training for a variety of weather-related conditions. After a few rough games at the beginning, we have not heard any further complaints or hysteria regarding Dominguez’s fielding. For a few days, people were even toying with the notion of bringing Alex Verdugo back. That would have been folly. Jasson Dominguez has now hit three home runs in Spring Training. In the recent games, Aaron Boone has been batting Dominguez second. I like that idea. I always believed that your best hitter should bat third in the lineup. Although I am not in love with Austin Wells as the leadoff hitter, I can live with it if Dominguez is batting second and Aaron Judge is hitting third. Right now, I don't know that there are any other leadoff candidates for the Yankees waving their arms frantically and asking to be picked. Ideally, I would put Wells behind Judge to give him protection but for now, he may have to bat first. I anticipate Jasson Dominguez having a very big year for the Yankees.

·       Today is Saint Patrick's Day. I hope everyone is enjoying themselves. I will be cooking a mountain of corned beef.Interestingly, as many of you know, corned beef and cabbage is not a traditional meal in Ireland, and especially not on Saint Patrick's Day. It would be more common to see stews but, the traditional meal was, and still is in fact, bacon and cabbage. When many Irish people came to America, they found that corned beef was a cheaper alternative to bacon so that is how the tradition arose. It is an Irish American tradition, not an Irish tradition. Regardless, it is delicious. I like mine with some mustard and of course potatoes, cabbage, and carrots.

·       Joey Gallo was cut by the Chicago White Sox. As Archie Bunker said, “that is a new high in lows.” Being cut by the White Sox is like being kicked out of community theater or being fired from volunteer work. It gets better. Gallo has now said that he may become a pitcher. That reminds me of what Jim Palmer said about Earl Weaver: “The only thing Earl knows about big-league pitching is that he couldn't hit it.” That seems to be Joey Gallo’s philosophy.

·       Since it is Saint Patrick's Day, I will probably conclude the day by watching one of my favorite movies, The Quiet Man. One of my favorite lines from that movie is uttered by Victor McLaglan as “Red Will” Danaher. In speaking about Sean Thornton, played by John Wayne, he says “he'll regret it until his dying day, if ever he lives that long.” As an aside, Victor McLaglan was actually British. He played Irishmen so often in the movies that many people mistakenly thought he was Irish.

·       Ben Rice has been hitting the ball very hard and with greater frequency as Spring Training has progressed. Apparently, he put on a great deal of muscle weight, and it has improved his offensive performance. Remember, last year he showed a tremendous amount of power in spurts, so it will be interesting to see what he can do this year. He should be given the chance to be the regular designated hitter unless there is a very tough left-handed pitcher opposing the Yankees on a given day. I think it would be a mistake for the Yankees to sign JD Martinez and I also do not like the idea of giving this spot to Dominic Smith. We all know how Aaron Boone operates and if it comes down to a choice between Smith and Rice, Boone will go with Smith. Eventually, I suspect Rice will assume the role as the primary designated hitter. I do not believe that Giancarlo Stanton will be back by Memorial Day. I suspect it is more likely we have seen the last of him in a Yankees’ uniform.

·       One of the roles that I had in my thirty-year career in the Department of Children and Families was as a training supervisor. I enjoyed that very much. Sometimes even after I wasn't doing it as my primary role, I still had a few trainees. I had many trainees who showed a lot of promise and potential and were excellent at working with the community. Some of them even became supervisors themselves. One of my best trainees really had a gift for the work that we did. She was like a sponge, absorbing everything I taught her about how to treat clients fairly and with dignity but also realistically. “Tough but fair” would be the best way to describe it. She was the closest thing to a protege I ever had. Eventually, due to a variety of circumstances this young lady was transferred to a different office, where she encountered a less nurturing environment. Eventually, she left the agency. I maintained contact with for quite some time but eventually, we lost touch. What always amazed me about working in social services was the level of back biting, underhandedness, and cruel behavior that was exhibited to employees from their colleagues and superiors on a regular basis. It could be a pretty cutthroat place. I learned early on the while people may say, “kindness matters”, frequently it seems that unkindness matters even more. Recently, I reconnected with my former employee via social media. This weekend, she came over to dinner with me and my wife. It was a lovely evening and she told me that she still uses many of the things I taught her 25 years ago. This reminded me of one of my favorite quotes: “I shall pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” - Stephen Grellet.

·       Clarke Schmidt was scratched from today's game, due to soreness, or stiffness in his right shoulder. He was not sent for tests and will throw on the side today, instead of in a game. Hopefully, it is not something serious. If he only misses a start or is just delayed, it won't be the end of the world. It now looks as if two of the following three pitchers, Marcus Stroman, Will Warren, and Carlos Carrasco will be in the starting rotation for at least a portion of this season. If Schmidt is out for a significant period of time, all three of them may be in the rotation. It is possible that the Yankees will make a trade but, the more likely scenario would be for that to occur at the trade deadline, when things are clearer not only about the Yankees but prospective trade partners as well.

·       It seems that Oswaldo Cabrera may be pulling out to the lead in the race for third base. I have always liked him as a player and would not have a problem with that. I thought Oswald Peraza might be a better option because Cabrera can play so many other positions but, if Cabrera becomes the primary third baseman, Peraza could always slot in at that position if Cabrera has to play somewhere else occasionally. I would prefer Oswaldo Cabrera as the third baseman as opposed to making a trade for a fading veteran such as Nolan Arenado.

·       I made chicken paprikash for dinner the other day. It has always been one of my favorite meals and I used paprika imported from Hungary. Sometimes, I think the best meals are the simplest. I remember my mother's cooking very fondly. She was an incredible cook, but she usually prepared simple meals that did not have 432 steps. I remember once eating in a restaurant where the staff was so impressed with themselves and their restaurant that they repeatedly told me how wonderful everything was. I gently suggested that I should be telling them that. While it was a fine meal, their overly enthusiastic pushing of it built up a level of anticipation that they could not meet. I have found over the years that it's better to undersell something than oversell it.

·       The Yankees’ lineup does have some question marks but overall, I think it could be pretty impressive. I believe Austin Wells will have a very good season, wherever he bats in the lineup. I have confidence in Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, and Jazz Chisholm, Jr.. As stated above, I think Jasson Dominguez will be extremely successful, and Ben Rice will be a very pleasant surprise. I also think Anthony Volpe will continue to make progress. He may not have advanced as quickly as people wanted him to but, I think he will have a solid year. The only real question mark would be the third baseman but, in the past, the Yankees have had multiple question marks in the lineup. They just need to avoid silly ideas such as signing Anthony Rizzo to be the DH or trading for Nolan Arenado or bringing Joey Gallo in to be the fifth starter.

·       Just think, in ten days, the season will be underway. Happy Saint Patrick's Day. You know, Ireland gave us Saint Patrick's Day, Halloween, Irish soda bread, Irish stew, and Irish coffee. America gave Ireland green beer. Seems like a fair trade to me. Many people associate Saint Patrick's Day with drinking but prior to the 1970s, pubs were closed in Ireland because Saint Patrick's Day is a religious holiday.