Ace reliever Dellin Betances had more to say Sunday regarding his arbitration-related dispute with Yankees president Randy Levine, telling reporters – including George A. King III of the New York Post – that he has no regrets over comments he made Saturday. Betances added that he isn’t going to seek out Levine to potentially clear the air between the two. “I don’t feel I need to speak to him, I don’t know how [the Yankees] feel,’’ Betances said. “I am just going to try and prepare for the season and help the team as much as I can.’’ Further, on the heels of MLBPA executive Rick Shapiro calling Levine’s remarks “totally unprecedented” Saturday, union chief Tony Clark weighed in Sunday and referred to them as “unprofessional” (Twitter link via Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan).
More from around the majors:
- In an attempt to shorten games, MLB is interested in placing a runner on second at the beginning of extra innings, but that’s not something the players are ever going to sign off on, Clark told the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner (Twitter link via Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle). Clark actually laughed at the idea while shooting it down, but he did note that players are open to changing the intentional walk (Twitter links via Passan).
- While Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon’s name came up in trade rumors during the winter, GM Jeff Bridich didn’t show any interest in dealing him for anything but a massive return. Should a trade come together in the next two years, Blackmon’s final seasons of team control, it seems he’d understand. “I just think they value me pretty high, I guess, and that’s why nothing happened,” Blackmon told Thomas Harding of MLB.com. “I think that’s good. But it’s my opinion that if a deal had come along where they had gotten a deal worth more than what I was worth, then they would’ve made the deal. And I would expect that to happen.”
- Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber caught a bullpen session Friday for the first time since he tore multiple knee ligaments last April and informed Carrie Muskat of MLB.com on Sunday that he “loved it.” Schwarber realizes that he must “take it slow with the knee and the injury and everything like that,” though, and likely won’t do much catching this season with Willson Contreras and Miguel Montero on Chicago’s roster. “I’ve got to be ready at any time to come in late in the game from left field to maybe come catch and give those guys a blow,” Schwarber said. “It’s not like I’m going to be the everyday starter.”
- Although he emerged as the Rays’ best first base option last season, Brad Miller indicated Sunday that he’s on board with moving to second base this year to take over for the departed Logan Forsythe. “I’m not going to prepare for first at all this spring,” Miller told Bill Chastain of MLB.com. “Just try to get as many reps at second and short right now with the makeup of the team. Obviously, I know it’s a long year. I’ve been through changing positions before. So I understand.” After the Rays’ workout Sunday, manager Kevin Cash opined that Miller “looked outstanding” and was “really fundamentally sound.” The middle infield is nothing new for Miller, who has played 369 games at shortstop and 37 at the keystone. The results haven’t been pretty, however, as Miller has posted minus-27 Defensive Runs Saved and a minus-12.3 Ultimate Zone Rating in nearly 3,300 combined innings at the two positions.
I wish the Yankees would discipline that arrogant jerk. I honestly don’t know who this guy thinks he is. Yes, the Betances requested a lot for a first timer in arbitration and they were clearly going to win but to publicly bash the guy after? Completely uncalled for and it’s odd that Steinbrenner and Cashman haven’t commented yet.
I wish they would too, but he seems like the type to be a bitter ass if he got canned. He knows where too many of
the bodies are buried, I’m sure.
Cashman can’t come out and decry anything Levine said because Levine is essentially a superior. It has to be Hal to come out and say something about Levine’s comments being unprofessional without actually publicly apologizing to Dellin because that would be ownership admitting fault to a player which will pretty much never happen. If they never admitted a mistake in handling Jeter’s final contract negotiation, they darn sure won’t do it for Dellin.
The sooner Levine finds a better job or passes away, the better. Because he’s not going anywhere, unfortunately (And I’m not wishing death on anyone, to clarify).
Agreed. Take the win & move on. I’m not surprised at Betances reaction, no do I blame him. Did Levine get to be President of the Yanks without figuring out how baseball players react to being shown up? Maybe his discipline should be having to step in the box & face Betances at ST…20s style, no batting helmet!
No one get a hand up from Yankees ,no one, why play there Tanaka after2017
What does this mean? Was this translated from another language?
As the world turns…. so do the days of our yankees.
“Our Yankees”? Lol. I know you’re a Sox fan.
Putting a runner on 2nd base in extra innings is one of the worst ideas I ever heard of. Instead put a clock on managers to decide if they are going to challenge a play. Or put a time limit on the amount of time it takes once a challenge occurs.
I think it’s a great idea, so long as runner on 2B has to be the manager. I’d pay to watch Mike Scioscia try to score from second, wouldn’t you?
I couldn’t even believe what I was reading. Absolutely horrid idea that would ruin the game and make a mockery of it.
Oh surprise, Nick Cafardo again suspects a star from another team will become a Red Sox player. In other news, water is wet.
where is that at in this article? I always love reading his fictions.
“I am just going to try and prepare for the season and help the team as much as I can.” Good for him. Take the high road, do your job, and you are going to get PAID in fa.
Miller at second base he should be at shortstop
Clearly you have never seen Brad Miller play shortstop. He’s probably going to be pretty bad at second too, but if he hits 30 bombs again I’d take it.
And not pitch on consecutive days**.
How about put a limit on trips to the mound by both catchers, pitching coaches and managers.
There’s one simple change needed to speed the pace of play…outlaw Velcro batting gloves.
I feel like Brad Miller is the most underrated player in MLB. He’s a stronger BABIP away from being the next Zobrist – he’s played every position but P and C at the MLB level and smacked 30 bombs last year, and if his BABIP was .320 last year instead of .277, he’s getting MVP votes and has a 4-5ish WAR.
Defense is a thing though. What makes Zobrist so good is his ability to play well at several positions. Miller is a brutal shortstop and was just an average defender at first.
While I do agree that Miller is pretty bad in the field, I wouldn’t say that Zobrist plays “well at several positions.” He’s been mediocre at best pretty much everywhere in the field for a handful of years now.
Despite hitting 30 homers, he hit the ball surprisingly soft, which I’m assuming had a negative effect on his BABIP. His soft/med/hard percentages are not anywhere near where I assumed they’d be. Last year, he was at 22.6/42.3/35.1. That was 9th worst in the league for soft%, 141st for med%, and 67th for hard%. I wasn’t really thinking about what to expect when I started to look, but once I saw the numbers, I was pretty surprised, especially at the soft%.
If the catcher leaves the plate area to talk to the pitcher or the pitcher leaves the mound to converse with the catcher it should be counted as a mound visit. That will cut out a lot of dead time.
It’s Schwarber’s duty to “come in from left field to maybe come catch and give those guys a blow”? That’s a horrible job to be put in. I would want no part of a “come in from left field to maybe come catch and give those guys a blow” job.
I’d be worn out for the season by June. Probably injured from all the stress too, carrying so much duty.
doodie
You are like so smart and like so cool
I hope he can handle being on his knees that much this season. It’s a lot of pressure to be always ready to step in and give his teammates that amount of relief. Catchers sure are selfless people.
Zobrist is a utility man who is very effective
Just trade Betances to the Red Sox for Pablo that will be nice
The Marlins should trade with Cubs Kolek so for Tommy LaStella and Piece Johnson who looked very good today