New York Yankees

The New York Yankees will be without center fielder Aaron Hicks for Monday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays in the wake of the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright. 

Manager Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com that Hicks was initially slotted to hit sixth but will not play after hearing about the news.

"He came to me about an hour ago," Boone said. "It's been a hard day for him. He would have had a hard time going out there tonight."

The Minnesota Twins announced their game against the Boston Red Sox was postponed, and the NBA postponed Monday's game between the Brooklyn Nets and Minnesota Timberwolves.

The NHL announced Monday's game between the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues was postponed as well. 

According to CNN, a police officer shot Wright during a traffic stop in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center on Sunday. An officer can be heard yelling "Taser! Taser! Taser!" on bodycam footage that was released Monday before firing a gun instead.

The officer then said, "Holy s--t, I shot him."

Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said it was "an accidental discharge that resulted in the tragic death of Mr. Wright."

The fatal shooting happened as the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin remains ongoing about 10 miles away. He is charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the May 2020 killing of George Floyd.

Hicks has been a member of the Yankees since the 2016 season but was with the Twins for the first three years of his career from 2013 through 2015.

The New York Yankees announced Sunday they traded infielder Thairo Estrada to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for cash considerations.

Estrada, 25, signed with the Yankees as an international free agent in 2012 and made his MLB debut in 2019. He made 61 appearances across two seasons in New York.

The Venezuela native embarked on a slow rise through the club's minor league system, peaking as its 14th-ranked prospect in 2017.

Estrada posted a solid .280/.337/.389 triple-slash line across 454 games in the minors, but he didn't have a singular tool that helped him stand out. He compiled 52 stolen bases and 26 home runs while playing mostly average defense across six levels.

In his MLB time with the Yanks, he had a lackluster .615 OPS with five steals and four homers .

While he showed signs of potential progress in spring training with an .831 OPS and three long balls in 16 games, they optioned him to the minor leagues in March and designated him for assignment last week, leading to his trade to San Francisco.

Estrada doesn't have a clear path to playing time with the Giants, either.

Brandon Belt, Tommy La Stella, Brandon Crawford and Evan Longoria are the team's infield starters with reserves Wilmer Flores and Donovan Solano also drawing ample starts as part of platoons.

He'll likely start his Giants tenure at the club's alternate training site while waiting for a spot to open up via injury or until the minor league season kicks off in May.

It's a low-risk addition for San Francisco given his defensive versatility.

The New York Yankees have optioned right-handed starting pitcher Domingo German to their alternate training site following the team's 4-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday.

German allowed home runs to Austin Meadows and Randy Arozarena en route to giving up four earned runs and eight hits in four frames versus the Rays. He walked one and struck out five.

The 28-year-old's start followed a disappointing performance against the Toronto Blue Jays last Sunday in a 3-1 loss. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Randal Grichuk hit home runs off German, who left the game after allowing three earned runs and four hits over three frames. He struck out two and walked one.

German made his MLB debut with the Yankees in 2017. He became a full-time starter in 2018 and led the Yanks with 18 victories in 2019 while posting a 4.03 ERA.

However, German was placed on administrative leave in September 2019 under the MLB-MLBPA domestic violence policy and missed the team's final nine regular-season games and all of its nine playoff matchups.

Eventually, MLB suspended the pitcher 81 games for violating its domestic violence policy.

Lindsey Adler of The Athletic provided details leading to the suspension in February. She noted that German had multiple altercations with his girlfriend beginning with an incident at a charity gala held by ex-teammate and pitcher CC Sabathia and attended by numerous teammates and their family members:

"Germán slapped his girlfriend at the event, sources said, but the MLB investigation focused primarily on what happened at his home later that night.

"According to multiple league sources, including a person with knowledge of the MLB investigation, Germán was intoxicated and became physically violent toward his girlfriend until she hid in a locked room. The victim is said to have contacted the wife of another Yankees player, and the couple drove to Germán’s home late at night. The victim remained with the teammate’s wife, while the player attempted to calm down Germán, who is said to have been angry and belligerent."

German's 81-game suspension included the 18 games missed in 2019 and an additional 63 games in 2020, which nearly encompassed the entirety of the Yanks' shortened campaign (67 games including playoffs) in the pandemic-reduced schedule.

He earned a spot at the back end of the rotation after spring training, but it appears the Yankees will give another pitcher a shot after German allowed four home runs, seven earned runs and 12 hits in seven innings this season, going 0-2 along the way.

Deivi Garcia and Michael King figure to be the top two candidates to replace German. Garcia, 21, went 3-2 with a 4.98 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 34.1 frames last year. 

King, 25, notably threw six shutout innings in relief of German against Toronto. He appeared in nine games (four starts) the year before, posting a 7.76 ERA.

New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge is being held out of Wednesday's starting lineup against the Baltimore Orioles because of "general soreness in his side," manager Aaron Boone announced before the game. 

Clint Frazier will get the start in right with Judge out, with Brett Gardner playing left:

New York has an off day on Thursday, providing Judge with two days to try to recover.

Judge has smacked two home runs and driven in five runs thus far in 2021, hitting .364 through his first five appearances.

When healthy, Judge is a prolific power hitter and an excellent outfielder with a cannon for an arm. He finished second in the American League MVP voting in 2017 after hitting 52 home runs and knocking in 114 runners.

However, injuries have forced Judge off the field numerous times in the past three years.

He suffered a fractured ulnar styloid bone after getting hit with a pitch from Kansas City Royals pitcher Jakob Junis in 2018 and missed nearly two months. An oblique strain in 2019 forced him off the field for two more months.

An injured right calf caused numerous problems for Judge in 2020. He landed on the injured list with a Grade 1 right calf strain on Aug. 12 and missed two weeks. He came back against the Atlanta Braves during an Aug. 26 doubleheader but had to leave before his first game ended when the calf tightened.

He went back on the IL but returned on Sept. 16 and played for the Yankees during their two playoff rounds.

The New York Yankees acquired second baseman Rougned Odor and cash considerations from the Texas Rangers in exchange for minor league outfielders Antonio Cabello and Josh Stowers on Tuesday.

ESPN's Jeff Passan was the first to report a deal was being finalized.

The Rangers left Odor off their Opening Day roster for this season, at which point president of baseball operations Jon Daniels indicated the 27-year-old's future was likely playing elsewhere.

Odor makes $12 million in 2021 and 2022 before he has a $13.5 million club option for 2023 that includes a $3 million buyout. Passan reported the Rangers are "expected to absorb almost the entirety of the $27 million owed."

That the Rangers would not only trade Odor, but also take on a lot of his outstanding money in order to do so is an indicator as to how much his on-field value has fallen in recent seasons.

In 2016, a 22-year-old Odor had 33 home runs, 88 RBI and a .271/.296/.502 slash line. He finished 14th in WAR (2.5) among second basemen, per FanGraphs.

Since then, the Venezuela native is batting .215 with a .279 on-base percentage, per Baseball Reference. His strikeouts (514) have far outpaced his hits (374) as well.

Still, Odor is a worthwhile gamble for the Yankees, especially since they won't be paying his full salary. New York already has an everyday second baseman in DJ LeMahieu, so this trade is about adding depth to the middle of the infield and getting a left-handed slugger to provide a platoon advantage.

The short porch in right field could work to Odor's benefit, too. Shortstop Didi Gregorius had 22 homers through his first four seasons before exploding for 20 in 2016, his second as a Yankee. Granted, Gregorius made contact at a far better rate than Odor, so they're not exactly at the same starting point when they embarked on their Yankee tenures. 

In general, there doesn't appear to be too much downside for the Yankees. They already have so much offensive depth, so they won't suffer too much if Odor's struggles at the plate carry over into 2021.

Baseball is back, and so is Giancarlo Stanton blasting monster home runs into the New York night.

The New York Yankees designated hitter launched a 471-foot grand slam off Shawn Armstrong in the fifth inning of Monday's game against the Baltimore Orioles:

According to MLB Stats, it was Stanton's eighth home run of 470 or more feet. Nobody else in baseball has hit that many home runs of that length in the Statcast era that dates back to 2015.

It was nothing new for the four-time All-Star:

It was Stanton's first home run of the season and put the Bronx Bombers ahead 6-0. Fellow slugger Aaron Judge also homered in the fourth inning, although it was just the solo variety.

Stanton and Judge hitting like that is exactly what the Yankees were looking for after dropping two of three in the opening series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The New York Yankees let a winnable game slip through their grasp after falling to the visiting Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 on Opening Day. 

It was a particularly tough day for right fielder Aaron Judge, who spoke with reporters about missed opportunities postgame, particularly at the plate.

"I let the team down twice there and even the ball over my head," Judge said. "That's another opportunity we could've at least held them or at least caught that or cut the guy off to keep him from scoring. Lot of missed opportunities from my part."

With the Yanks and Jays tied two, Judge grounded out into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the seventh. 

The power hitter then found himself with another chance to be the hero in the ninth with Brett Gardner on second and two out, but he struck out to end the frame.

In the 10th, Jays outfielder Randall Grichuk lined a Nick Nelson pitch deep into right field. Judge had a chance at the ball, but it sailed over his glove. Jonathan Davis scored the winning run from third.

Judge and the Bronx Bombers will look to bounce back on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. ET versus Toronto.

The New York Yankees are worth an estimated $6.75 billion, making them MLB's most valuable franchise by a considerable margin based on the Sportico rankings heading into the 2021 season.

Here's a look at the top 10 in total value on the list released Friday, which combines the organization's baseline valuation with its team-related businesses and real estate:

• 1. New York Yankees: $6.75 billion
• 2. Boston Red Sox: $4.8 billion
• 3. Los Angeles Dodgers: $4.62 billion
• 4. Chicago Cubs: $4.14 billion
• 5. San Francisco Giants: $3.49 billion
• 6. New York Mets: $2.48 billion
• 7. Los Angeles Angels: $2.46 billion
• 8. Atlanta Braves: $2.38 billion
• 9. St. Louis Cardinals: $2.36 billion
• 10. Philadelphia Phillies: $2.28 billion

The Miami Marlins are at the bottom of the 30-team list with a value of $1.12 billion.

While MLB has faced questions about the future of a slow-paced sport in an era of limited attention spans, Kurt Badenhausen and Peter J. Schwartz of Sportico noted the league is ahead of the curve with its regional TV deals, streaming rights and readiness for in-game betting.

In turn, the average MLB club is still worth a staggering $2.2 billion, and the Sportico report noted there are "no COVID discounts" for the "savvy investors" looking to get into baseball ownership before a possible boom.

"I think there is a better chance of the New York Yankees being here in 50 years than Apple being around in 50 years," a sports financing insider told Badenhausen and Schwartz.

The 2021 MLB season, which will return to a standard 162-game schedule after the 2020 slate was reduced to 60 games because of the COVID-19 pandemic, gets underway Thursday.  

New York Yankees first baseman Luke Voit will begin the 2021 season on the injured list, paving the way for veteran Jay Bruce to make the roster.

ESPN's Marly Rivera first reported that Bruce would be part of the Major League squad and later reported that manager Aaron Boone said Voit must go three weeks without any baseball activity because of a partial meniscus tear in his knee.

Per MLB.com's Bryan Hoch, Boone added that Voit will be back "considerably sooner than" June, meaning his absence isn't expected to stretch beyond two months.

The 30-year-old Voit is coming off a career year, as he was one of the few Yankees position players who did not spend time on the IL last season.

Voit was the driving force behind the Yanks' offensive success along with DJ LeMahieu, hitting .277 with an MLB-high 22 home runs and 52 RBI, which ranked fourth in MLB. Voit sat out only four games during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season.

With that performance, Voit proved that the 2019 campaign in which he hit .263 with 21 homers and 62 RBI in 118 games wasn't a fluke.

Before 2019, Voit's MLB experience was limited. He played 62 games for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017 and then another eight games for the Cards the following season before getting traded to New York.

In 39 games for the Bronx Bombers in 2018, Voit hit .333 with 14 home runs and 33 RBI, and then he nailed down the starting first base job in 2019.

His loss creates a huge opportunity for the soon-to-be-34-year-old Bruce.

He is set to enter his 14th MLB season and will play for his sixth team after previously enjoying stints with the Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, Cleveland, Seattle Mariners and Philadelphia Phillies.

He is a three-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger award winner who owns a .245 career batting average to go along with 318 home runs and 948 RBI.

Bruce has clubbed 30 or more home runs in a season five times and driven in 100 or more runs in a campaign on two occasions.

He hit just .198 with six home runs and 14 RBI with the Phillies last season and hasn't put up great numbers since 2017 when he hit .254 with 36 homers and 101 RBI for the Mets and Cleveland.

The Yanks made Bruce a low-risk signing during the offseason, and that decision already appears to be paying dividends, as he will be able to fill in at first base, especially against right-handed pitching.

For as good and powerful as the Yankees lineup is, most of their hitters are righties, so adding a power lefty like Bruce could provide a bit more balance.

That, coupled with the fact that the likes of Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, LeMahieu, Gleyber Torres and Gary Sanchez are all healthy entering the 2021 season, means New York should get by without Voit for a little while.

The Yankees could run into trouble if injuries pile up like they have in recent years, but for now, they are in a good position to start the season off hot and cement themselves as the favorites in the American League.