Yankees overhaul training staff after setting injury record

NEW YORK (AP) — Eric Cressey thinks some injuries can be prevented. After a season in which medical updates overshadowed scouting reports, the New York Yankees hope so.

Cressey was hired by the Yankees in the new role of director of player health and performance, a move made after New York had 30 players make a combined 39 trips to the injured list last year. New York set a big league record for sidelined players, topping the 28 on the 2016 Los Angeles Dodgers.

“You always want to separate bad processes from bad outcomes,” Cressey said during a conference call Tuesday. “Players are going to be hit by pitches, but there are definitely things that we can do on the processes side of things to provide a level of individualization in the way that we assess players, in the way that we listen to players and solicit their feedback on what’s worked for them.”

The 38-year-old founded Cressey Sports Performance in 2007 and will continue as president of the company, which specializes in kinesiology and biomechanics and maintains facilities in Hudson, Massachusetts, and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. His clients have included Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer, New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard and other major leaguers.

Something of interest to follow for the coming season, to see if this works, and, if so, to what degree….

East 161st street in the Bronx to be renamed ‘Jeter Street’: report

There’s not much more to be said about what Derek Jeter means to the Bronx. Now the borough wants to rename part of East 161st street, from Yankee Stadium eastbound, after the former Yankee captain, according to amNewYork Metro.

Two Bronx councilwomen, Vanessa Gibson and Diana Ayala, plan to introduce legislation to rename part of E. 161st street as “Jeter Street,” in the report released Tuesday.

The plan is for “Jeter Street” to intersect “Rivera Avenue” — renamed after fellow Yankee legend Mariano Rivera last year when he became the first unanimous inductee into the Hall of Fame.

The next class of Hall of Famers will be announced on Jan. 21. Jeter is Cooperstown bound, but it’s unclear if he’ll be able to match Rivera’s perfect ballot.

In bizarre lawsuit, Yankees’ failed prospect says Derek Jeter ruined his career

Well, here’s something you don’t see every day:

In a rambling, conspiracy-laced lawsuit, a failed prospect, who never played above High-A and had a career batting average of .244, sued the Yankees for $34 million and blamed Yankees legend Derek Jeter for derailing his career as a shortstop, presumably because the soon-to-be Hall of Famer was afraid of the competition.

It was a wild swing and a miss.

In the lawsuit, dismissed by a judge in May, Garrison Lassiter used letters, newspaper clippings and scouting reports to weave a strange tale of conspiracy that he said was launched against him “to protect the career of Derek Jeter.” He alleged that it was “blantanly (sic) obvious” that Jeter controlled the Yankees organization, and he insisted Yankees employees libeled and slandered him to other teams, preventing him from reaching the major leagues.

The reason? “To protect the career of Derek Jeter.”

Future sign: Cole arrives with old placard of Yankees fealty

NEW YORK (AP) — On his first day in pinstripes, Gerrit Cole admitted to stealing a sign — no, not those signs.

Cole affixed his signature to a record $324 million, nine-year contract at 10:45 a.m., walked into a news conference at Yankee Stadium and pulled out the crinkled placard he took to one of New York’s World Series games at Arizona in 2001. A newspaper photo from Game 6 or 7 shows the 11-year-old holding the sign reading: “Yankee Fan Today Tomorrow Forever.” Cole brought the banner to the Bronx, its letters no longer blue but now tan.

“I’d like to start with something that’s pretty special to my heart,” he said, pulling out the sign in a stroke of showmanship that would have made George Steinbrenner proud. “I’d just like to say, I’m here. I’ve always been here.”

Cole held up the sign of fealty with Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner — George’s son — and admitted he didn’t make the poster but was gifted it from other fans who had brought it to an earlier Series game. They gave it to him at the Ritz-Carlton in Phoenix, where Cole stayed with his family, along with the Yankees.

A reminder of the importance of the love of the game for those who participate in it, as well as the rest of us.

Red Sox, Cubs, Yankees reportedly must pay luxury tax bills for 2019

The final bills for those teams exceeding the Competitive Balance Tax (CBT)—known as the luxury tax—threshold for 2019 have arrived. According to documents obtained by the Associated Press, the Red Sox, Yankees, and Cubs are the only teams that will owe for this past season.

The AP reports that the Red Sox owe a team-record $13.4 million tax. The Cubs are next with a $7.6 million bill, and then the Yankees check-in with $6.7 million owed. The Red Sox this past season led MLB with a payroll of $228 million, but they managed just 84 wins and a third-place finish in the AL East. The Cubs also missed the postseason 2019, while the 103-win Yankees stand as the only taxed team to make the playoffs last season. The champion Nationals were tied for fourth with a luxury tax payroll of $205 million, but wound up just under the limit.

The CBT is levied on average-annual-value payrolls above a certain dollar figure—$206 million for 2019. A team over the tax for the first time has to pay a 20 percent fine on the overage. A team over the line for two years in a row must pay a 30 percent fine. And three or more years in a row entails a 50 percent tax on the overage. The CBT also includes additional surtaxes for exceeding the threshold by $20 million (12 percent); $40 million (42.5 percent); and repeating over $40 million (45 percent). A team that goes more than $40 million over also has its highest draft pick moved down 10 spots provided it isn’t picking in the top six.

Given all the discussion of how important the luxury tax has become, a review of the figures is of interest.

Adam Warren to rehab from Tommy John with New York Yankees

NEW YORK (AP) — Adam Warren will rehab from Tommy John surgery with the New York Yankees.

Warren agreed Monday to a minor league contract with his former team but is not expected to pitch next year while he recovers from surgery that took place in September.

A 32-year-old right-hander, Warren debuted with the Yankees in 2012, was traded to the Chicago Cubs in December 2015, reacquired by New York in July 2016 and dealt to Seattle in July 2018. He signed a one-year contract with San Diego as a free agent ahead of the 2019 season and was 4-1 with a 5.34 ERA in 25 relief appearances through June 7, then was placed on the injured list the following day with a strained right forearm.

A question, for the contract mavens among us:

How do we interpret this contract?

Yankees, Brett Gardner reunite on one-year, $12.5 million deal

George A. King III of the New York Post reports that the Yankees and outfielder Brett Gardner are back together on a one-year, $12.5 million contract. The deal includes a second year option worth $20 million.

Gardner, 36, is coming off of the strongest offensive season of his career, batting .251/.325/.503 with 28 home runs, 74 RBI, 86 runs scored, and 10 stolen bases over 550 plate appearances. While he has certainly lost a step or two with age, he still rates as an above-average defensive corner outfielder as well.

So, what chance do you support Gardner has of getting the club option picked up for 2021?

The Yankee Death Star Is Back

The Yankees are loaded now with players of spellbinding possibility. How far will Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton hit it? Will Aroldis Chapman throw his 100 mile-an-hour fastball or his wipeout slider? How many strikeouts will Cole get tonight?

If you love the Yankees, you dream about that stuff. If you hate the Yankees, it makes you groan. Either way, you care enough to watch the game in some form, which keeps cash rolling into the Bank of Steinbrenner.

No single move can guarantee that long-awaited return to the World Series, not even a record contract for an ace in his prime. But the big, bad Yankees are back, and that is good for the game.

Yankees, Gerrit Cole agree to record 9-year, $324M deal

Prized free-agent pitcher Gerrit Cole and the New York Yankees have agreed to a record nine-year, $324 million contract, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

The deal includes an opt-out clause after five years, sources told Passan, and surpasses the deal Stephen Strasburg finalized with the Washington Nationals on Monday for most total money and annual average salary for a pitcher, at $36 million.

MLB: Gerrit Cole sparks rare Yankees-Dodgers heavyweight fight

I don’t really see the Dodgers as seriously interested in Cole. That’s assuming he’s not willing to go four years with a huge AAV.

Yankees Have Reportedly Made $245MM Offer To Gerrit Cole

I'm told #Yankees have a seven-year, $245 million offer on the table for Gerrit Cole. Would be a record-setting contract for a pitcher, surpassing Greinke’s $34.4 million AAV. Question is whether #Dodgers or #Angels will go to 8-9 or even 10 years.

— Bob Klapisch (@BobKlap) December 8, 2019

Sources: Yankees make signing righty Gerrit Cole top offseason priority

The New York Yankees have made signing right-hander Gerrit Cole their clear offseason priority and have ownership-level approval to offer him a record-setting deal, sources familiar with their plans told ESPN.

The Yankees’ fondness for the 29-year-old Cole, whose fantastic 2019 season with the Houston Astros set him up to smash David Price’s record $217 million contract for a pitcher, was only reinforced during a meeting with him earlier this week, sources said.

New York and the Los Angeles Angels, a team similarly smitten with Cole and in even greater need of pitching, are preparing for a bidding war that executives expect will reach well beyond $250 million, according to sources. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ interest in Cole is acute as well, though they are also considering bids for right-hander Stephen Strasburg and third baseman Anthony Rendon, sources said.

While the expectation going into the offseason was that negotiations with Cole could stretch into January, the clear willingness of teams to engage in high-year, high-dollar deals could ratchet up the timetable, according to sources. Cole’s agent, Scott Boras, has yet to solicit offers, but the teams’ recognition of Cole’s value and understanding of multiple motivated buyers could have an expeditious effect, sources said.

Something to potentially watch for in the coming weeks.

The Best Post-Season Games Ever Pitched

Don Larsen doesn’t top the list.
Don Larsen doesn’t top the list?!??
Don Larsen doesn’t top the list.

Yankees to meet with Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg as team looks to upgrade rotation

The New York Yankees know their starting pitching held them back last season. To remedy that, the team will meet with the top two pitchers on the free-agent market.

The Yankees will sit down with both Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg over the next couple days, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Both players are represented by Scott Boras.

It’s believed that the Yankees will be more aggressive for the 29-year-old Cole, who they’ve coveted for years. While New York will make a play for Strasburg, many believe he’ll return to the Washington Nationals, according to Rosenthal.

The Yankees’ interest in both players shouldn’t come as a surprise. The Yankees won 103 games last season on the strength of their offense and bullpen. The team’s 117 wRC+ — an advanced metric that measures a team’s offensive production — ranked second last season. Their 4.08 bullpen ERA ranked ninth.

Whether or not they do anything beyond this, on the other hand….

Bye Bye Birdie for New York Yankees: Bird now a free agent

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s Bye Bye Birdie for the New York Yankees.

First baseman Greg Bird became a free agent Wednesday after he cleared waivers and refused an outright assignment to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Bird, who turned 27 on Nov. 9, debuted on Aug. 13, 2015, and hit .261 with 11 homers and 31 RBIs in 46 games. He missed all of 2016 following surgery that Feb. 2 to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder, an injury originally sustained that May with Double-A Trenton.

Bird returned to bat .451 with eight homers in spring training during 2017 but fouled a ball off his right ankle March 30, started the season 6 for 60 and went on the disabled list May 2.

For those wondering, Bring Back Birdie was a notorious disaster of the Broadway stage in the early 1980s.

Rachel Balkovec hired as Yankees minor league hitting coach

The Yankees have hired Rachel Balkovec as a minor league hitting coach, the New York Times reported on Friday. Balkovec, who signed a contract earlier this month, is believed to be the first woman to serve as a full-time hitting coach in the history of professional baseball.

Balkovec, 32, has an impressive resume and has already broken barriers as a woman looking to move through the coaching ranks. After playing softball collegiately at both Creighton University and the University of New Mexico, she’s worked in both the Cardinals and Astros organizations.

In 2014 and 2015, she was the Cardinals minor league strength and conditioning coordinator, the first woman in affiliated baseball to hold a full-time position in that role, as well.

Most recently, she was the strength and conditioning coach for the Corpus Christi Hooks, the Astros’ Double-A affiliate.

Sources: Yankees say Jacoby Ellsbury got unauthorized medical treatment

According to multiple reports, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman sent a letter to Ellsbury and his agent, Scott Boras, informing them that the team had converted his contract to a nonguaranteed deal.

The Yankees said that Ellsbury, who has not played since 2017 because of myriad injuries, was treated by Dr. Viktor Bouquette of Progressive Medical Center in Atlanta without the team’s permission, according to multiple reports.

DAVIDOFF: Yankees facing a new Clint Frazier trade value reality

WFAN callers hardest hit.

In 69 major league games, Frazier, the top return piece in the trade that sent lefty reliever Andrew Miller from The Bronx to Cleveland, slashed .267/.317./489, slamming 12 home runs in 225 at-bats. He indeed played a critical role prior to the All-Star break, with several regular players on the injured list, yet he also did regress defensively and greatly upset both teammates and bosses by not making himself available to the media after a June 2 loss to the Red Sox in which he played terribly on defense and then refusing to apologize two days later for his lack of accountability. Following his demotion to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in June, he repeatedly expressed his unhappiness on social media with the Yankees’ decision.

Frazier’s personality issues, while detrimental, didn’t deter those surveyed as much as his problems with the glove. Regarding the former issue, “He might just need to get out of New York,” a second high-ranking official from a second non-pinstriped team said. However, the same official added, “There are questions about his defense. Can he be an everyday outfielder?

“He couldn’t be the centerpiece of a big deal,” the executive concluded. “But he could be a significant piece in a lesser deal.”

Yankees turn to young pitching coach for high-tech approach

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Just four years ago, Matt Blake was varsity pitching coach at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, about 20 miles outside of Boston. Next spring, the 34-year-old will be guiding the high-priced arms of the New York Yankees.

“The biggest thing is just finding out where the player is at and what it is that makes him tick,” Blake said Thursday after his hiring as Yankees pitching coach was formally announced. “Across different ages or nationalities and cultures, you got to get to the root of what is it that they are seeking for help and then bring it to the edge of their learning zone, if you will.”

Blake replaced Larry Rothschild, who was fired after nine seasons and got hired as pitching coach of the San Diego Padres.

A 2007 graduate of Holy Cross, where he pitched, Blake started coaching at the youth level while working alongside his father.

Doesn’t feel like a common background for pitching coaches traditionally, does it?

Yankees plan to have talks with Cole, Strasburg

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — After falling short of reaching the World Series for the 10th straight year, the New York Yankees intend to have conversations with top free agent pitchers Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg.

“It’s a good time to be them,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Monday as the general managers meeting began. “Certainly we’ll have conversations from our perspective. And they’ll either lead to further ones or lesser ones.”

During a moonlit availability in a courtyard surrounded by palm trees, Cashman confirmed changes in the team’s staff, led by Matt Blake replacing Larry Rothschild as pitching coach. He said New York has had conversations with the agents for several of its players who became free agents, including outfielder Brett Gardner, shortstop Didi Gregorius and reliever Dellin Betances.

Starting pitching is the Yankees’ biggest need following their loss to Houston in a six-game AL Championship Series. Manager Aaron Boone’s rotation could use a premier arm to join a group that includes Luis Severino, James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka and J.A. Happ.

Not to sign either of them- they wish to talk to them about a horse…..

Ranking Gerrit Cole’s Top Five Landing Spots

There’s no question Gerrit Cole will be the most sought after free agent this winter. He should be the most handsomely paid, too.

Despite a sluggish free agency period last winter that forced many players to settle for below-market deals, the top tier of players still raked in monster deals (with humongous extensions for Mike Trout and Nolan Arenado to boot). It wouldn’t be a surprise to see things play out similarly this offseason, meaning Cole appears on track to surpass David Price’s $217 million deal en route to the most expensive pitcher contract ever.

Who are the favorites to break the bank for Cole and lock up the potential AL Cy Young Award winner? Let’s assess his suitors as free agency gets underway.

So, of these options, which do we see as most likely?

David Cone ‘self-taught’ his way into Yankees pitching-coach interview

As the Yankees search for Larry Rothschild’s replacement they haven’t limited the focus to college pitching coaches who have strong analytical backgrounds.

The Yankees contacted David Cone and interviewed him late last week at Yankee Stadium for the position.

“It was all good. I’m thankful for the opportunity to talk to them. It was nice they called me in and wanted to talk,’’ Cone told The Post on Tuesday.

Yankees fail to make qualifying offer to Gregorius

NEW YORK (AP) — The Yankees failed to make a $17.8 million qualifying offer to Didi Gregorius and will not receive draft-pick compensation if the free-agent shortstop signs with another team.

Gregorius, who turns 30 in February, came back from Tommy John surgery in early June and hit .238 with 16 homers and 61 RBIs in 82 games.

If New York doesn’t re-sign Gregorius, it could move Gleyber Torres from second to shortstop, make DJ LeMahieu the regular second baseman and allocate more payroll to starting pitching.

Tyler Lyons, who earned a spot on the Yankees’ postseason roster as a left-handed reliever, refused an outright assignment to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and elected to become a free agent.

Mind you, would you make such an offer if you were in a position to do so?

Yankees Decline 2020 Option On Edwin Encarnacion

Edwin Encarnacion is unlikely to be returning to the Yankees in 2020.

New York acquired Encarnacion from the Mariners in June for a minor league pitcher and some cash. His bat helped the team quite a bit during the regular season, but Encarnacion struggled heavily in the playoffs, especially in the ALCS against the Astros. He seemed completely lost at the plate.

The Yankees announced Thursday that they would not be exercising the club option on Encarnacion’s contract for next season, thus making him a free agent.

This move isn’t too surprising after Encarnacion’s poor showing against Houston. The slugger just couldn’t get his bat going, as he managed just one hit in 18 at-bats in the ALCS. His batting average for the series was a paltry .056.

And now, the hot stove season begins in earnest…..

Yankees announce pitching coach Larry Rothschild won’t return

The New York Yankees have fired pitching coach Larry Rothschild, the team announced Monday.

Rothschild has had the job since 2011, when he replaced Dave Eiland, who was fired.

“I want to personally thank Larry for his near decade of commitment to this organization. Larry cares deeply about his craft and the pitchers under his tutelage, and he played a significant role in our successes over the past nine seasons. There’s a reason why Larry has had the type of distinguished baseball career he’s had, and it starts with experience and dedication that is difficult to emulate,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said in a statement.

Despite sending an MLB-record 30 players to the injured list this season, the Yankees appeared in the American League Championship Series, eventually losing to the Houston Astros. Statistically, the 2019 pitching staff wasn’t as good as the 2018 version, however.

Not savage enough, I take it?