8th? BBTF Central Park Softball Game: July 25

Let’s start planning for this year’s game. First questions:

1. Who is submitting the permit request? (Answer: Hysterical & Useless)

2. What dates should we aim for? (Answer: July 25)

3. Where is the post-game destination?

Yankees’ Judge still hasn’t resumed baseball activities

NEW YORK (AP) — Injured New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge still has not resumed baseball activities.

Judge did not play in any spring training games because of discomfort in his right pectoral muscle and shoulder that he felt when swinging. The Yankees said March 6 that the 2017 AL Rookie of the Year had a stress fracture to his first right rib, an injury likely dating from a diving catch late last season.

“Aaron is still in the healing phase of that that rib bone, and I think he’ll be reevaluated again in a few weeks as far as re-imaging that to see if there’s the continued healing with that rib,” manager Aaron Boone said during a conference call Wednesday. “He’s been able to work out doing a lot of lower body stuff, is able to do some some upper body stuff, some overhead things.”

Judge revealed last week he also had a collapsed lung and said he has recovered from that. Boone said that injury likely occurred during the diving catch but “it’s probably something that it’s impossible to know for sure.”

Mind you, would you have done so, under these circumstances?

Yankees’ injuries continue to pile up as Gary Sanchez dealing with back soreness

The Yankees won 103 games a season ago, but in some ways their success was overshadowed by the absurd number of injuries they suffered. Unfortunately for the colossus in the Bronx, the run-up to the 2020 season hasn’t brought measurably improved fortunes.

To recap, lefty James Paxton is sidelined until at least May after undergoing back surgery. Tommy John surgery has put right-hander Luis Severino out for all of 2020, and outfielders Giancarlo Stanton (calf) and Aaron Judge (ribs) are in doubt for Opening Day. As well, outfielder Aaron Hicks is still out after having Tommy John surgery last October.

Now you can add slugging catcher Gary Sanchez to the ledger. It doesn’t sound serious, but Sanchez was scratched from taking batting practice on Saturday because of a sore back.

So, when did it turn out that everyone on the Yankees was made out of Waterford crystal?

Yankees’ Aaron Judge provides injury update | What’s new? What’s next?

TAMPA — Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge is more optimistic that he’ll be healthy and ready to play Opening Day than his general manager.

“Still got plenty of time,” Judge told reporters in the clubhouse at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Thursday morning. His team was set to travel to Lakeland to face the Tigers in the afternoon.

On Tuesday, GM Brian Cashman said he thought it was “more likely than not” that the 27-year-old slugger wouldn’t be ready for the March 26 season opener in Baltimore.

Judge hasn’t played in a spring training game yet, complaining of soreness in his right shoulder and right pectoral muscle. He hasn’t taken on-field batting practice with the team yet. Yankees position players reported to spring training Feb. 16.

Given his recent track record, this seems peculiar, but, then again, hope springs eternal…..

Tyler Beede Diagnosed With Flexor Strain, UCL Sprain

The Giants announced Wednesday that an MRI on right-hander Tyler Beede revealed a flexor strain and a sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. No immediate treatment plan was provided, as the club will be seeking second opinions for the time being. Beede exited his most recent spring outing due to tightness in his elbow.

Beede, 26, was a leading candidate to break camp in the fifth spot in the Giants’ rotation behind Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija, Kevin Gausman and Drew Smyly. Now, however, his outlook is considerably cloudier, which could open the door for an alternative option to seize that role. Just last week, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi listed Beede, Dereck Rodriguez, Andrew Suarez and Logan Webb as potential rotation candidates. The Giants also have veterans Trevor Cahill and Tyson Ross in camp on non-roster invitees.

At the very least, it looks exceedingly likely that Beede will open the season on the injured list. Obviously, though, any UCL injury and/or flexor strain comes with the possibility of a serious operation. Even non-surgical treatments for those types of injuries tend to come with lengthy rehab stints.

Injuries Are Throwing the AL East for a Loop

While getting good performances from players in spring training is nice, it’s really more of a bonus. The most important part of spring training is getting players healthy for Opening Day. For the Red Sox and Yankees, injuries are piling up. The most recent bit of news for the Yankees comes in the form of trouble for Aaron Judge, who felt pain in his right pec while swinging, putting his status for Opening Day in doubt. On the Red Sox side, Chris Sale, who was already under a slower throwing program that would put him on the injured list to start the season, has a sore elbow after throwing and is being sent for an MRI. While we wouldn’t want to go overboard on the impact of these injuries given the timelines are very much unknown, everything we think we know about the AL East could go sideways.

The Yankees’ rotation has already been hit hard, with Luis Severino set to miss the season recovering from Tommy John surgery and James Paxton out until at least May and potentially longer after back surgery. Domingo Germán is also out for the first 63 games of the season due to a domestic violence suspension, but Gerrit Cole at the head of the rotation followed by Masahiro Tanaka gives the team some wiggle room to stay afloat and rely on a potent offense. But that potent offense isn’t quite as potent without its two best hitters.

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That offense would be one of the better ones in the game. Take away Stanton and Judge and the team falls outside of the top 10 and something close to the middle of the pack. While the team got by with only around 500 plate appearances from Stanton and Judge last season, it’s not reasonable to expect that Urshela (132 wRC+), LeMahieu (136), Tauchman (128), and Gardner (115) will all hit as well as they did a year ago while Edwin Encarnación and Cameron Maybin also provided good offense before their departures in the offseason. Andújar’s return is promising but far from a guaranteed source of production. Hicks is out for months. The best-case scenario for the Yankees is just minimal time missed for Stanton and Judge and they produce something like what they are expected to when they return. Until they come back though, the Yankees lineup looks very average. If they miss a lot of time, the team could be more like an 88-90-win Wild Card contender than a presumptive division champ like they were before the injuries to Severino and Paxton.

A consideration of the consequences of the differences a few injuries make.

Judge, Stanton likely to miss Opening Day

Well, it looks like this is becoming an annual tradition among the Yankees:

TAMPA, Fla.—The Yankees will be without two of their most prominent sluggers to begin the season. Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are both considered unlikely to appear in the Yankees’ Opening Day lineup, general manager Brian Cashman said on Tuesday at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

Judge is continuing to undergo a battery of tests to determine the cause of the discomfort in his right pectoral muscle, and though Cashman said that Judge has been responding well to treatment over the last 48 hours, there has been no diagnosis or set date for him to resume on-field activities. The Yankees are scheduled to open the regular season on March 26 at Baltimore.

“I don’t see him ready by Opening Day because of the time frame,” Cashman said. “It’s 3 1/2 weeks, and just then the healing and then having to have a Spring Training.”

Stanton is recovering from a Grade 1 right calf strain sustained while performing defensive drills on Feb. 25. Cashman said that he believes Stanton will be ready to play sometime in April, setting the recovery time at four to six weeks from the date of injury.

Commissioner Rob Manfred, Bud Selig to be deposed in injury lawsuit

A judge ruled Thursday that baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, his predecessor, Bud Selig, and his top deputy, Dan Halem, are to be deposed by April 3 in a lawsuit over injuries a fan suffered three years ago when he was hit in the head by a foul ball at Wrigley Field.

The negligence suit against Major League Baseball alleges that MLB failed to take proper action to protect fans after conducting a 2015 review of safety in the stands regarding foul balls and thrown and broken bats.

Manfred, who succeeded Selig in 2015, has never officially mandated safety netting guidelines, but he did recommend extensions of the netting to the near ends of the dugouts by 2016. All 30 teams had extended netting to the far ends of the dugouts by 2018.

The plaintiff, Jay Loos, now 62, lost the sight in his left eye and suffered multiple facial fractures.

Fifty years from now, there’s a decent chance that the contents of these depositions may be of great interest to the social historian.

Giancarlo Stanton likely out for start of Yankees season with injury

When Giancarlo Stanton slid out of the machine Wednesday he was diagnosed with a Grade 1 strain of the right calf. Stanton, who wasn’t included in the batting practice groups before the day’s Yankees-Nationals game at George M. Steinbrenner Field, suffered the injury near the end of Tuesday’s fielding practice.

“He basically has a Grade 1 calf strain,’’ manager Aaron Boone said following an 8-2 Yankees win in a game shortened to 4 ½ innings because of rain. “He will be down for a little bit.’’

And possibly in jeopardy of opening the season on the injured list, where he spent a big chunk of last year due to a left biceps strain, a left calf strain and a right knee sprain that limited him to 18 regular-season games.

Yankees’ Luis Severino headed for Tommy John surgery

It looks like the worst-case scenario for Luis Severino and the Yankees.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman said on Tuesday that team doctors have recommended Tommy John surgery for the 26-year-old right-hander.

Severino was shut down last week after feeling soreness in his forearm when throwing changeups, with the issue dating back to his final postseason start last year against the Astros. He was sent back to New York for a battery of tests, which revealed the extent of the troubling issue.

Dustin Pedroia and the Pricey Guarantees of MLB Contracts

Jumping ahead to the core aspects:

in contract law, when one side can’t perform his or her obligations, the deal is usually considered breached. The side that is performing can then terminate the contract.

Baseball’s economic system recognizes this dynamic. The Uniform Player Contract (UPC), which is the required template for MLB player contracts and can only be modified in limited ways, imposes a number of requirements on players. Pedroia might not be able to satisfy some of these requirements, which could in theory evidence a breach.

For instance, under the UPC section for “Employment”, the player “agrees to render, skilled services as a baseball player” during the term of the deal. Pedroia does not appear able to render these services. Under the UPC section for “Payment,” the club agrees to pay an amount of money “for performances of the player’s services.” Here, again, Pedroia doesn’t appear able to perform services. Also, under the UPC heading “Ability”, the player “represents and agrees that he has exceptional and unique skill and ability as a baseball player.” Can a player credibly make such a representation if he can no longer play?

A club can also terminate a guaranteed contract if the player commits a prohibited act as described in the UPC section titled “Termination.” For instance, a club can void a contract if the player fails to “keep himself in first-class physical condition” or fails “to exhibit sufficient skill or competitive ability.” Pedroia’s knee woes would seem inconsistent with maintaining “first-class physical condition” and if he can’t play, he can’t “exhibit” the necessary skill.

As before, I lack any sort of training to offer viable intellectual commentary on this- any thoughts from those of us among us that do?

Yoenis Cespedes Still Rehabbing Ankle Injury, Status for 2020 Season Unknown

After missing the entire 2019 season due to injuries, New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes could miss all of 2020 as well.

General manager Brodie Van Wagenen said Monday the team is unsure if he will play next year, per Tim Healey of Newsday.

“I don’t have enough information to predict when he’s going to be back,” Van Wagenen said, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.

The GM noted the All-Star is rehabbing but it’s “too early to tell” if he will return for the 2020 season.

Well, Brodie Van Wagenen has only one person to blame for being caught in this contractual situation….