Here’s the latest from both Big Apple teams…
- Alex Rodriguez’s health problems have made him the Yankees’ full-time DH while David Wright’s spinal stenosis makes him questionable for even the modest 120-game plan the Mets originally slated for the star third baseman. As Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes, the health issues faced by these two stars have led to roster flexibility problems for both teams. The Mets don’t have a left-handed hitting utility option available, and Sherman suggests that players like Yangervis Solarte, Derek Dietrich, Luis Valbuena could be good fits as potential trade targets if they’re made available. The Yankees could use both an extra reliever and a versatile infielder as their 25th man, since depth is a need with so many aging stars in both the lineup and rotation. This is a reason why the Yankees didn’t want to give a big league deal to a veteran infielder, as the club hopes Rob Refsnyder can also learn to play third. On the external help front, Sherman suggests that Cody Asche makes sense as a trade target when healthy.
- Signing Ruben Tejada to a minor league deal would’ve greatly helped the Yankees’ utility situation and also given a bit of a PR tweak to the Mets at the same time, Newsday’s David Lennon observes. Tejada rejected the Yankees’ minor league offer for a one-year, $1.5MM Major League deal with the Cardinals.
- X-rays and a CT scan were negative on Jacoby Ellsbury’s right wrist after the outfielder was hit by a pitch yesterday, though he tells reporters (including Lennon) and his wrist “is in a bad spot” and may need some time for the inflammation to die down. With this and the Yankees’ spring schedule in mind, Ellsbury likely won’t play until Thursday at the earliest, as per Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.
- There’s an open spot in the Mets’ bullpen with Josh Edgin still recovering from Tommy John surgery, and ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin looks at some of the roster logistics that could factor into the competition between Erik Goeddel and Jim Henderson. It could end up being a short-term gig for either pitcher as Edgin hopes to be back by the start of May.
90% chance Ellsbury’s wrist injury lingers and he misses at least a couple months. His bones are made of paper mache. Thank god my Sox were smart enough to not offer Ells anything close to that crazy contract the Yankees gave him, he’s not worth half of what NY is paying him. Mookie is way better anyway.
“The Red Sox, according to sources close to negotiations, were willing to offer Ellsbury a six-year deal, with the dollars somewhere in the vicinity of $120 million”
-ESPN
The Sox made him a big offer, he just rejected it.
Empty gesture to help appease the fanbase, they knew the Yankees were throwing crazy money at him.
You don’t put 6/120 in front of one of your most well known players, without some intention to get him back.
If it really was a “token gesture”, they rolled the dice pretty heavily. He wouldn’t be the first guy to give up a small percentage of money for familiarity.
And rolling the dice on $120mil for the sake of “PR” isn’t smart business.
If he ain’t worth half of what the Yankees gave him, then the Red Sox still offered him way above what he was worth, by your estimation.
The Sox could have offered Ellsbury a Ferrari factory, the Taj Mahal and his face on Mount Rushmore and he wasn’t staying in Boston. There were too many hard feelings when he sat out 144 games with a couple of broken ribs. Some players have the natural “fire in the belly”, some are like Jacoby.
That was a bad move by the Yankees going after him, unfortunately for your Sox they were not immune to making bad signings in th Pablo, Hanley & Porcello deals.
They’re all going to turn it around this year, last year was just an adjustment year, not easy to play under the bright lights in Beantown.
Because Pablo, Hanley and Porcello never played for big-time teams before?
6/120M isn’t an empty gesture. Its a legit offer for a player that they generally wanted.
Not Boston. We’ll have to agree to disagree.
Because Boston is the golden standard for “bright-light teams?”
Right.. because LA, Detroit and SF aren’t big cities at all.
They’re big cities but they’re not Boston.
Pablo had a weight problem at 25 so at 30 its twice as hard to lose weight. As for Porcello he has always been a good or bad pitcher. He is not a #1 or #2 starter. If sox are lucky he can be a #3 or #4 starter that is if they are lucky. If it wasn’t for the Boston bis media the sox would be called a .500 team. The media is the only thing that makes them a contender not their lineup.
Yeah, you know it all and everything you say is a fact… You are such an unbiased fan…
Ellsbury is the perfect face of the franchise. Roster chalked full of fragile players whose best years are behind them. Imagine the team poster entitled Bronx Bombs with Ellsbury, Beltran, Teixeira, Arod and Sabathia wincing.
Bigpapi4ever strikes again
90% chance? Where’d you get your medical degree?
Oh, good grief.
If nothing more then a troll you at least provide free comedy for us serious readers.
What happened to Chase Headley? I thought he was the Yankees 3B? He played 156 games last year – he’s everyday. Why are they making a big deal out of those 10 or so games they will need a guy?
Because if Headley gets hurt, they’re stuck with Refsnyder, whose never played a non-ST game at 3B in his career, playing there everyday with A-Rod as the backup.
Mix that with the fact that if Refsnyder would need to go play 3B (or 2B), Ackley would be their primary utility man.
Its more about depth than anything.
That’s what the media does in New York. They harp on every possible negative for the Yankees and simply ignore all of their strengths. Sherman is one of the worst.
Sherman is a bandwagon guy. He drooled all over the Yankees when they were elite. Now that for the last few years they are just another team he’s jumped ship.
156 games and a 1.1 WAR, ouch. Maybe they are better off he gets hurt lol.
He made over 20 errors last year, way over his career average. NYY hoping it was just an off year and not the next Chuck Knoblauch…
calm down bigpapiforever
you gave money to the two worst off season signings in mlb history