About the Off-Season: Meanderings of My Mind

By: Tim Kabel

January 6th, 2025

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2025 is upon us. The Yankees are close to finalizing their roster for the upcoming season.

They need another infielder and at least one left-handed reliever, if not two. Those moves will be made. There is still time, although spring training does start in about six weeks. Well, today is Monday and it is the off-season. That means I will now move from topic to topic as if I were wandering around an armada of food trucks in the summertime.

• The Yankees are basically set in their starting rotation. They have Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Luis Gil, Carlos Rodon, and Clarke Schmidt. They also have Marcus Stroman on the roster, who does not have a clear role at this point. Yet, the Yankees are listed among the front runners to acquire Roki Sasaki. That depends on which article you read, of course. It seems highly likely that the Yankees will trade Marcus Stroman at some point before the season begins. If they do acquire Sasaki, they could trade another pitcher, or shift Clarke Schmidt to the bullpen. Another option would be to go with the six-man rotation, but I don't know how likely that is. I just read an article that suggested that the Yankee should trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks to reacquire Jordan Montgomery. It sounds nice but, since they already have a glut of starters and are aggressively pursuing Sasaki, what role would Montgomery have. I think it would be better to use the resources needed to acquire Montgomery to acquire a third baseman.

  
  

• As I am writing this, I'm waiting for the arrival of my newest household member. I should say my newest family member. We are adopting a cream-colored Maine coon kitten. I don't view him as a replacement for Nut, my kitten who passed away. Instead, he is just a new addition. His name will be Clancy and he is reported to be very friendly and outgoing. We will see how he fits in.

• Every day, i read a few articles suggesting whom the Yankees should acquire to play third base. Sometimes, the articles suggest keeping Jazz Chisholm, Jr. at third base and acquiring a second baseman. Some of these articles make sense. Some don't. For example, I read one suggesting that the Yankees should trade a package of youngsters, including Jasson Dominguez, for Carlos Correa. Remember, for two straight seasons, the Yankees could have simply signed Correa as a free agent, and they passed both times. He is now older, and only played 86 games last year due to a bout of plantar fasciitis. Why would the Yankees make such a move? If they didn't want him before, why would they want him now when the health issues that concerned them then seemed to be manifesting themselves. In addition, if they trade Dominguez, who will play the outfield? I think it is a silly suggestion that will not happen. I certainly hope it doesn't.

• Clancy has not even arrived yet, and he already sent me a grocery list. Not only did he request gourmet kitten food, but he also wanted special vitamins and teeth cleaning strips that need to be put on every day. I feel like I'm adopting Thurston Howell the Third.

• Since we're approaching inauguration day, January 20th, I decided to name all US presidents in order. It took me a little over a minute. I must be getting rusty. I used to be able to rattle them off in less than 30 seconds. Donald Trump will now join Grover Cleveland as the only two presidents elected to two non-consecutive terms. I wonder if Donald Trump will eventually have a Hall of Fame pitcher named after him as Cleveland did with Grover Cleveland Alexander. As a historical tidbit, another former president, Ronald Reagan, played Grover Cleveland Alexander in a movie, The Winning Team. Doris Day played his wife. Que sera,sera.

• The Yankees managed to acquire Cody Bellinger and Devin Williams without surrendering any of their major prospects. I suspect that they may use some of those players to acquire the second baseman or third baseman they need to complete the team. If not, they may hold on to those prospects in case they have a major need at the trade deadline. For example, if Giancarlo Stanton were to sustain another injury, they may need someone to fill the DH role.

• Now that my oven is working, I will be able to finally bake my fruitcakes. I know they are traditionally done for Christmas but, without a working oven, I couldn't do it. I like to bake them at this time of year and seal them tightly in foil so they can age. Occasionally, I have frozen them but, they are usually consumed before that becomes necessary. I will also be making jam this week. My first venture into that arena will be to make cranberry-cherry jam, infused with a bit of whiskey. The jam cooks so long that the alcohol will evaporate but the flavor will become more complex. I made a peach-golden raspberry jam several years ago but now I hope to become more proficient at it and do so with greater regularity. Since I am eating a lot of yogurt these days, I can always put a spoonful of homemade jam into it to give it a bit of flavor. One of the funniest lines Bill Cosby ever had, before he fell from grace, was to say that “plain yogurt tastes like bad breath.” That's right.

• We should know the final destination of Roki Sasaki in about a week. He will sign his contract between January 15th and January 23rd. I suspect it will be closer to the 15th. Again, I have a pretty strong feeling that the Yankees will get him. If they do that, acquire someone to play third base other than DJ LeMahieu, and pick up one or two left-handed relief pitchers, this will probably rank as one of their best off-seasons in many years.

• When it comes to pursuing  “my fancy weight loss journey”, I tend to agree with Ebenezer Scrooge on his feelings regarding Christmas, at least his feelings regarding Christmas prior to the arrival of the ghosts. Christmas, with its endless parade of delicacies, stocking stuffers, and goodies of every variety, can wreak havoc on a “fancy weight loss journey”.

• I am glad that I never got myself a Juan Soto jersey. I did buy one for my sister but, she roots for the Mets as well as the Yankees so, she's all set. I tend to favor T-shirts as opposed to jerseys anyway. I think my next shirts will be an Austin Wells shirt and a Jasson Dominguez shirt. I will not be buying an Aaron Boone shirt. Of that, I am quite certain.