About the Off-Season: Meanderings of My Mind

About the Off-Season: Meanderings of My Mind

By Tim Kabel

November 18, 2024

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We are getting close to Thanksgiving and deeper into the off-season. The awards for 2024 will be announced soon and the Winter Meetings are on the horizon. The Yankees and other teams could soon begin making substantial moves including free agent signings and trades. However, it is still the off-season and there are no games to recap. Since it is Monday, I will now move from topic to topic like Mr. Bean filling his plate at all-you-can-eat buffet.

·       Juan Soto had a meeting with the Mets on Saturday that reportedly went well. He has one scheduled with the Yankees today. He also reportedly had meetings with the Red Sox and Blue Jays. The Yankees need to make sure that today's meeting is his last one. He has already played a full season with the Yankees and was a finalist for the MVP. He is 26 years old. He seemed to have loved his experience playing for the Yankees. He fits very well personally and professionally with Aaron Judge. The Yankees are certainly not an unknown commodity to him, and neither is he to them. Their negotiations with him do not need to be protracted. They should make him a definitive offer today and not end the meeting until a deal is struck. I know Scott Boras likes to drag things out but, there is really no need to. Soto will get top dollar. The Yankees are capable of paying top dollar. If he truly wants to be a Yankee, the deal could be completed today. It should be completed today.

·    I think the Yankees should definitely give Caleb Durbin the chance to be the second baseman in 2025. He has been successful at every level of the minors and because he hits for a high average and steals a lot of bases, he would be an excellent option to be the leadoff hitter. The only caveat is that Aaron Boone will have to be patient with him and allow him to develop. Durbin can't have a slump and immediately be replaced by some fading veteran who will promptly go into an even deeper slump. The normal pattern is for Boone to do exactly what I've described and then say that the veteran is “getting close.”

·       My little upstairs neighbor, the Roadrunner, has recently taken to waking up at 2:30 in the morning screaming. It's just another unexpected treat I have received since they moved in. It's particularly delightful when I'm trying to write during the day and my serene working environment of soft background music is interrupted by his running and shrieking and the corresponding bellowing of his mother. It really gets my creative juices flowing. Oh well, it's just one of those little spices that gives my life flavor.

·       I believe that If Jasson Dominguez is healthy In 2025 and has a full spring training, he will have an excellent season for the New York Yankees. I would not be surprised if he wound up winning Rookie of the Year. Last year was an injury-riddled year for him and when he came up at the end of the season, he did not set the world on fire in a very limited window of opportunity. Again, patience is required. I remember that during the first half season Aaron Judge played for the Yankees in 2016, he struggled and dealt with injury. There were many people who believed that he would never be successful on the Major League level and would be nothing more than a part-time player. I think we need to step back and let Dominguez develop. After all, he won't even be 22 years old until the beginning of February.

·       I stopped stuffing my Thanksgiving turkey several years ago, because it is slow roasted overnight to maximize flavor and tenderness and to prevent the bird from drying out. That would potentially allow bacteria to develop if the turkey was stuffed. Instead, I make dressing, which I bake in the oven. This year, I am going to stuff the turkey with lemons, which I will puncture repeatedly and some sage and thyme. Instead of having both mashed potatoes and mashed sweet potatoes, I will make mashed potatoes and a medley of root vegetables, including baby potatoes, sweet potatoes, yellow turnip, parsnips, carrots, as well as some butternut squash. After Thanksgiving, I will combine the leftover vegetables with some turkey stock to make a soup.

·       I think Anthony Volpe will continue his development as a Major Leaguer. I don't know if he will ever be a superstar. However, if he is a perennial Gold Glove level fielder at shortstop and matures into a steady and reliable hitter with occasional pop and tremendous base running skills, that would be more than sufficient. Players like Derek Jeter don't come along every day.  To expect Anthony Volpe to be another Derek Jeter isn't very fair.

·       When I was hospitalized a few years ago, I had multiple infections throughout my body. One of the areas that was afflicted was my left shoulder, which needed to be opened and drained three times. As a result, the rotator cuff was destroyed, ending any possibilities of me pitching in the Major Leagues. My shoulder is permanently dislocated. Since then, I have not been able to lift my hand over my head, which could prove dangerous in a holdup. I have begun using my cane to exercise my arms. When I was in my 20’s, I could military press over 250 lbs. and bench press 360 lbs.. Now, I struggle just to lift a cane over my head. But if I keep plugging away at it, I will eventually be able to put a coffee cup away on the top shelf in the kitchen. I could be like the abominable snowman in Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and put the star on the tree.

·       One thing the Yankees definitely need to do during this off-season is strengthen the bullpen. They cannot have another year of relying solely on bargain basement, scrap heap acquisitions of reclamation projects. They can have a few of those guys but that should not be the only type of player they have in the bullpen. Yes, they did find Luke Weaver, but they also had Phil Bickford, Michael Tonkin, and Dennis Santana in the bullpen at various points last season. They need to acquire or develop legitimate arms for 2025. I would not be opposed to using Clayton Beeter in relief beginning in spring training.

·       I will be setting up the world's biggest cat toy in the next few weeks. For those of you who do not own cats, that is a Christmas tree. I will miss seeing Nut perched in the uppermost branches as if he were a mountain lion surveying the valley below. His friends will have to do their best to pick up the slack. 

·       I have read several articles suggesting that the Yankees should trade with the Cardinals to acquire Nolan Arenado to play third base. I think that is a terrible idea. Arenado will be 34 years old in April and has three years left on his contract. His productivity is declining and the last thing the Yankees need is another aging veteran on the downside of his career. They still have DJ LeMahieu under contract, and he was abysmal last year. Arenado is better than LeMahieu but still, that is not a deal I would make. Keep Jazz Chisholm, Jr. at third base and play Caleb Durbin at second base. The idea is to get younger, not older. Baseball players are not bottles of wine. They are not improved with time, after a certain point. Young players can mature but older players decline.

·       I would like to take a moment to express my gratitude for all the kind thoughts and expressions of sympathy that I received from the readers after the passing of Nut. For people who don’t own pets, it is hard to describe how much they can affect and improve your life. Just having a dog or a cat around always seems to brighten my day. At this point based on my living situation, I can only have cats, but I have always loved both cats and dogs. When I was a kid, we even had horses. I don't think my landlord would allow me to have a horse at this point, although it would be a good way to even the score against the Roadrunner for his loud stomping.