This Is All Too Familiar

By Tamar Chalker

February 21, 2025

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The Yankees will take the field today for their first Grapefruit League action when they take on the Rays at George Steinbrenner Field.

Well, some of the Yankees will take the field. In what has become far too common in recent years, the Yankees' news before the first pitch of the first Spring Training game has been almost completely about injuries. I guess it's a good thing they still have Marcus Stroman on the roster, as he will start today, and the Yankees pitching staff, in particular, must be keeping the trainers busy. 

Clarke Schmidt has a wonky back. Jonathan Loaisiga is out until at least May, while Jake Cousins' forearm injury so far doesn't appear as bad as was feared. Clayton Beeter's shoulder issues over the winter have slowed him down and have him headed to the bullpen. 

Giancarlo Stanton is unlikely to be ready by Opening Day. Trent Grisham is day-to-day. Oh, and Aaron Judge isn't going to play in games for the first week of the Grapefruit League so he can "rest." Am I missing anyone?

With all this frustrating injury news, the Yankees must have felt the need to put out some good news yesterday and announced that they had signed Aaron Boone to a two-year extension.  Oh, wait. Did I say good news? That's not what I meant.

Seriously, Boone hit a home run that will live on in Yankees lore for as long as they and Major League Baseball are in existence. I still remember the joy I felt when he drove that ball over the wall and sent the Yankees to the World Series. So when he became the Yankees' manager, I was rooting for him. I have continued to root for him because I personally don't want to see him or any of the Yankees fail - it seems counterproductive. 

That being said, I've about hit the end of my goodwill towards the Yankees' skipper. He's already the longest-tenured Yankees manager without a World Series ring and only a couple of weeks into Spring Training, and everything is feeling way too familiar with the injuries piling up. When some of the "best" news this Spring is that Boone thinks DJ LeMahieu is healthy and primed to bounce back this year (where have I heard that before?), I think it is fair to be concerned.

Boone seems like a good guy, and I believe he takes his responsibilities as Yankee manager seriously, but it also feels like the Yankees front office has tried just about everything to get this team back on track, EXCEPT to acknowledge that maybe Boone isn't the right guy for the job. I hope he proves me wrong. I hope he can steer this team to a long-overdue World Series Championship. I will happily eat crow if he does that. 

But I can't shake that feeling that this is all too familiar.