About the Off-Day: Meanderings of My Mind

About the Off-Day: Meanderings of My Mind

By Tim Kabel

April; 25, 2025

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Yesterday, the Yankees had a day off, after playing thirteen days in a row. At the time of this writing, the Yankees sat in first place in the American League East, 1.5 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox. They were tied with the Detroit Tigers for the best record in the American League at 15-10. Tonight, they open a three-game series at home against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays have lost five games in a row and are now in third place in the American League East. Since there is no game to recap today, I will now flit from topic to topic like the cardinal I see in my backyard. I am referring to the bird, not a member of the Catholic clergy.  By the way, the bird is actually named after the religious figure. (That's one of those interesting little tidbits that you get in this column and not on other sites.)

·      These days, with the multitude of news outlets, blogs, and other sources of information, you can read almost anything. There have been days when I have read six different trade proposals for the New York Yankees, all of them completely ridiculous that were sworn to be totally accurate. Naturally, none of them came to fruition. Anyway, I just read that Spencer Jones’ trade value has declined this season. He has played 17 games and has six home runs and 11 RBI, with four stolen bases. He is batting .250. He is 23 years old. I don't understand how his trade value could have decreased this season. I'm not saying that I want the Yankees to trade him. I hope they don't. However, there appears to be no basis for this story. That seems to be a common theme among many of the things I see online. Apparently, the Yankees will be trading for Sasquatch in the next few days. Now that they have loosened the facial hair policy, that won't be an issue. 

·      As I am writing this, my little neighbor, the road runner, is river dancing his way across the floor above me. I must have become immune to this because the other day, he heaved what seemed to be a bowling ball onto the floor directly above me and I only jumped about six feet. On Easter he and his siblings were running about on the lawn, gathering Easter candy. It was the first time that I saw him run, as opposed to hearing him run which I do every day. I believe he is three years old. He is roughly the same size and moves at the same speed as Jasson Dominguez.

·      I keep reading articles and hearing comments to the effect that the Yankees should give DJ LeMahieu a chance as the starting third baseman. Basically, these people are saying or writing that Oswaldo Cabrera is doing an adequate job but is not tearing the cover off the ball. That may be true but what evidence is there that DJ LeMahieu would even do as well as Cabrera at this point. He only had two at bats in Spring Training. He has just begun a rehab assignment in AA. It's nice to think that he will do very well but what has he done to make anyone think that? Nothing. He batted .204 last year. He was awful. I have no doubt that the moment LeMahieu declares himself ready to return to the Major Leagues, Aaron Boone will giddily insert him into the lineup as the regular third baseman. LeMahieu did not participate in the vaunted competition that was supposed to occur in Spring Training. He injured himself by playing less than one full game. He wasn't even playing in the field that day. The fact that Aaron Boone declared that there would be a competition is exactly what leads me to believe that the competition didn't and doesn't matter. Remember, Aaron Boone stated at the beginning of Spring Training that Jasson Dominguez would get a long look as the leadoff hitter. That lasted one game. Then after using Austin Wells as the leadoff hitter regularly during Spring Training, Boone indicated very strongly that Wells would fill that role in the regular season. Other than an occasional game in the leadoff spot, he has not done so. To be clear, I am not advocating for either Dominguez or Wells to be the leadoff hitter. I don't think either one of them should be. However, I'm not the one who said it. Aaron Boone is. I don't see how Boone has any credibility at all with anyone about anything. He didn't have to make those statements but, he did. Then, he immediately went back on them. If I were a player on the Yankees and Aaron Boone told me that I was going to be a big part of what the team was doing this season, I would go home and pack because a trade would probably be coming.

·      Even though neither my wife, nor I have the appetites we used to due to our “fancy weight loss journeys”, I still enjoy cooking and baking. However, the oven in this apartment is extremely unreliable and totally unpredictable. Even baking cookies forces me to sit down and make conversions and calculations as if I were Walter White. I even have to wear the hazmat suit. The funny thing is that the calculations I make on Tuesday might not be the same if I try to make something on Wednesday. It keeps me on my toes, I suppose. 

·      Jorbit Vivas was called up to the Major Leagues while Trent Grisham was on paternity leave. (When I was working at my former job, one of my best employees went on paternity leave at one point. He was gone for so long that we referred to it as “eternity leave”). Anyway, Vivas was on the roster for three days. He did not see any action. This is the second time that has happened to Vivas. It has also happened to other young players during Aaron Boone’s tenure as manager. Would it hurt to give these young kids an at bat or an inning on the mound in a game that was clearly decided one way or the other? Obviously, it wouldn't but that's just one more example of the disconnect between Aaron Boone and young players.

·      My kitten, Clancy appears to be the feline equivalent of Big George Foreman. He doesn't operate a grill or sell clothing for the portly but, he is already the largest cat in the house and has massive paws. He is also adept at patting and rubbing me and the other humans in the house, without scratching anyone. He is over fourteen pounds at six months old. I get a kick out of watching him eat from one food bowl and then stroll over to another with a look of surprise on his face because there is more food available. He also works up an appetite walking from the bedroom to the kitchen, which is completely understandable. 

·      I read a few articles yesterday which stated that the Yankees should bench Anthony Volpe in favor of Oswald Peraza. That is amazing to me and not necessarily because I think it's ridiculous.  I do think it's an idea that will never come to pass, because a few days ago, I was bombarded with articles saying that Peraza should be released when LeMahieu returns to the team. The people who wrote those articles skipped over Pablo Reyes completely. I could see Peraza getting a game or two at shortstop, but Aaron Boone would never give him anything more than that. There are a few players on the Yankees who are struggling right now. Anthony Volpe is one of them. To me, it seems that whenever he has a burst of home run power, he gets out of whack. Eventually, he will get back in the groove and hopefully continue the progression that he has made since assuming the role as the starting shortstop. It is true that his progression hasn't been as consistent or rapid as many fans would like. However, I do not suspect that Anthony Volpe will be going anywhere other than the shortstop position on an everyday basis.

·      My wife called me in a frenzy this morning while she was driving to work. It seems that she lost her tote bag, which I gave her for Christmas. For some reason known only to her, she carries her marriage certificate and all her other vital documents back and forth to work every day in that tote. There are novels in there, along with requests for time off. I think she even has a flux capacitor in there. Perhaps she suspects I will move while she's at work and she needs to have those documents with her. Regardless, it was a Magenta Alert. I launched a couple of search and recovery missions but came up empty. She called me during her lunch break and was practically inconsolable, especially when she considered what it would take to replace everything that was lost. She suspected that someone had absconded with it. On my third attempt to find it, I realized the error of my ways. I had been looking for it as if I had been the one who misplaced it. I was using logical, detailed calculations. I threw that out the window and almost immediately, I found it. At the foot of our bed there is a virtually impenetrable bramble of boxes, bedding and other items that are stacked precariously. I pulled them away from the bed and there was the tote upside down with all those precious documents spilled on the floor. Apparently, my wife tossed it on the bed and when she flipped the comforter off because it was a warm night, the tote bounced down the mountain and landed under the bed, obscured from view. Since I'm the Senior Officer of the Crisis Control Command Center in my apartment and my marriage, my deputy, Clancy, and I were able to locate and recover the tote. While I secured the tote, Clancy lay on top of all the documents, keeping them warm and safe. Eventually, we returned the package to the bed. Because my wife cannot take phone calls at work, I called the main office and spoke to the director of the program. I asked her to alert my wife that I had resolved the crisis. Without hesitation, the director said, “Oh, you found the bag?” I assured her that I had indeed. She was elated and called off the search that was going on there. I am more active in my retirement than I was when I was working thanks to my wife's recreation of The Perils of Pauline.

·      I would not be surprised if Allan Winans gets a call up from Scranton after recording 10 strikeouts in 3.2 innings on Wednesday night. Whether Aaron Boone actually puts him in a game is another matter.