New York Yankees

Heading into spring training next week, the New York Yankees have reportedly added Jay Bruce to provide depth in the outfield. 

Per The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, Bruce has agreed to a minor-league deal with the Yankees worth up to $1.35 million if he makes the 26-man roster plus additional incentives based on number of plate appearances. 

Bruce has bounced around with a number of teams over the past four seasons. He's played for four different teams since the start of 2017, including two different stints with the New York Mets. 

The Philadelphia Phillies acquired Bruce midway through the 2019 season when he had two years left on his contract. The three-time All-Star set career-lows in batting average (.198) and on-base percentage (.252) last season. 

Despite some limitations as a hitter at this stage of his career, Bruce is still capable of hitting for power. He slugged .469 with six homers in 96 at-bats for the Phillies in 2020. 

Bruce will likely compete with Clint Frazier and Mike Tauchman in spring training for the starting job in left field. Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks will start in right field and center field as long as they are healthy. 

Frazier would seem to have the inside track on the left-field job after posting a .267/.394/.511 slash line in 39 games last season. Bruce at least gives manager Aaron Boone a veteran option to look at during spring training. 

 

Outfielder Brett Gardner, 37, reportedly isn't ready for retirement just yet.

According to Jon Morosi of MLB Network, Gardner "definitely" plans on playing in 2021. While the outfielder has been with the New York Yankees his entire career, Randy Miller of NJ.com reported the Bronx Bombers have not made an offer or even started negotiations. 

In fact, Miller noted the last time the Yankees even addressed Gardner's status with the team was on Halloween when it paid him a $2.5 million buyout to avoid a vesting a $10 million club option for 2021.

Gardner was an All-Star in 2015 and Gold Glover in 2016. He also helped lead the Yankees to a World Series title in 2009, although he hit just .154 in those playoffs.

His versatility has stood out throughout his career as someone who can hit for decent power, play solid outfield defense and be a menace to opposing pitching staffs when he is on the basepaths. His durability has also been important for the Yankees, as he played at least 140 games every year from 2013 to 2019.

That streak ended because of the shortened 2020 campaign, but he still appeared in 49 of 60 contests and slashed .223/.354/.392 with five home runs and 15 RBI.

The batting average and power numbers don't stand out, but it was his highest on-base percentage since 2010, excluding when he played 16 games in 2012. He also is just one season removed from the 2019 campaign when he blasted a career-best 28 home runs and 74 RBI while stealing double-digit bases for the seventh straight season.

Gardner's prime may be behind him, but he could still be a valuable piece in an outfield rotation.

The Yankees may not have started any negotiations with him, but Miller reported other teams are interested.

Free-agent outfielder Brett Gardner has no idea where he's going to play the 2021 season, even with spring training set to begin this month.

According to Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media, the Yankees have not had any conversations regarding Gardner's contract since Halloween, when they bought him out for $2.5 million rather than using a $10 million club option on the 13-year Yankee.

General manager Brian Cashman spoke highly of the College of Charleston product in an appearance on YES Network last week, but he didn't give any information about the 37-year-old's future, per Miller:

"You know how we love Brett Gardner. He's been here for a long time. We've bet on him forever. He's always produced and honored those assessments that we've made, so it's been a great marriage. I'm not saying it's going to continue. I'm not going to say that it's over. But he's still on the board and we're always trying to figure out a way to make ourselves better."

The Yankees certainly had other priorities heading into free agency, but they've accomplished major goals. LeMahieu re-signed with the group on a six-year, $90 million deal, and two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber joined the team on a one-year, $11 million contract.

According to Miller, the team could be hoping to avoid the luxury-tax threshold of $210 million, and it'll need to refrain from spending $10 million to do so. That means that Gardner, who was signed to a $12.5 million deal in 2020, would need to be willing to help the team cut costs.

While his batting statistics make that seemingly deserving, with a .223 batting average, five home runs and 15 RBI through 49 games, he broke out in the postseason (.368 in six games) and continued to command the outfield.

If it doesn't work out, the Yankees may not be his only option, as "other clubs are interested," according to Miller.

Trevor Story was the best, well, story in baseball in April 2016. The Colorado Rockies' rookie shortstop hit seven home runs and two triples, and he slugged .864 over the first 10 games of his career. He had an OPS of 1.183. The then-23-year-old hit six home runs over his first four games alone. 

It looked as though the Rockies would be a threat in the NL West. Second baseman DJ LeMahieu was coming off his first All-Star season, third baseman Nolan Arenado was in his early days as one of the premier players at his position and outfielder Charlie Blackmon was in his prime. 

Ultimately, Story and the Rockies fell back to earth. They missed the 2016 postseason, and manager Walt Weiss resigned. But then Colorado hired Bud Black and made the postseason in 2017 and 2018. It looked like the club was on the verge of something special, but that didn't last long. 

Now, LeMahieu is gone and so is Arenado. 

Arenado was traded earlier this week, in a move that exposed some deep-rooted issues in baseball and has at least one writer begging owner Dick Monfort to sell the team.  

Arenado's priority is winning, while the Rockies showed they clearly prioritize profits over all. Under non-pandemic circumstances, enough people go through the gates of Coors Field each year that the club can still turn a profit without winning. The Rockies have regularly ranked in the top 10 in attendance numbers when full capacity has been allowed, falling outside that only four times since 2010. The downtown ballpark and the summer weather attract an average of more than 30,000 fans every season.

Why bother spending to win when you can still make money off a mediocre product?

Baseball is broken, and Monfort and general manager Jeff Bridich are perfect examples of just how broken it is. But that's a whole different story. This story is about who is next to go from the Rockies and where he'll land. 

The next to go could be Story.

        

Why Story Could Get Traded

The coronavirus pandemic decimated the finances of most, if not all teams in the league. Coors Field's perfect location isn't so perfect in a pandemic when there are no tourists and no fans allowed inside of the stadium to begin with. 

But the relationship between Arenado and the Rockies eroded well before the pandemic hit. Arenado wanted the Rockies to build a competitive team, but that never happened because they weren't willing to spend the money.

Ownership cried poor after the World Series, which expedited the trade of Arenado and sent a signal that it does not intend to challenge the Los Angeles Dodgers or the upstart San Diego Padres in the NL West this season.

Story is in the last year of his contract. He's 28 and probably the new face of the franchise, unless you count Blackmon's beard. But after the Arenado trade, Story is not optimistic about the state of the affairs in Colorado.

"I'm sad and a little frustrated to be honest," he told Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. "All I can do is focus on playing the best baseball I can for my teammates and the fans. They deserve it."

It's unlikely that he gets traded before the season begins. The Rockies could get a better return for him if they move him at the trade deadline. Of course, there is always the chance they end up negotiating a long-term extension. But Arenado had a long-term deal, and so did Troy Tulowitzki before him, so Story may not even want to sign one with Colorado, where a bad precedent has been set. 

         

Where Does Story Fit?

Story is a two-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger. He has a career slash line of .277/.343/.535 with an .877 OPS. He's hit 35 home runs twice in five major league seasons. His abilities to hit for power and run the bases well make up for drastic home/road splits. Story has suffered a bit of the Coors Field syndrome, but there is no evidence to indicate that he couldn't adjust at lower altitudes. 

He's also a defensive whiz with 45 career defensive runs saved and an 11.8 UZR, according to FanGraphs.

The Cincinnati Reds come to mind first, since they have a desperate need for a shortstop. The team's top shortstop prospect, Jose Garcia, had difficulties adjusting to major league pitching last season and could benefit from a year in the minors. 

The Oakland A's are also without a shortstop after letting free agent Marcus Semien walk. An acquiring team wouldn't owe Story quite as much if the Rockies trade him in the middle of the season, so maybe the A's will be looking for a rental, but that doesn't seem like a likely destination. 

There is one team that stands out among them all. 

        

It's Up to You, New York

Frank Sinatra said that if you can make it there, then you can make it anywhere. LeMahieu would probably agree with that sentiment. Although he didn't have home/road splits quite as drastic as Story's, he did have big gaps in his numbers and has adjusted to hitting outside Colorado just fine, winning a batting title and posting a .922 OPS across two seasons in the Bronx. 

The Yankees have young assets to trade for Story. They have Miguel Andujar, who seems to be out of place. He spent much of last season at the alternate site as Gio Urshela manned the hot corner. They also have Gleyber Torres, a two-time All-Star who may end up being as good as Story, but is not yet. Defensive metrics favor Story, but Torres would be a hard sell. He's four years younger than Story, he's still under team control for four seasons and he's highly valued by the Yankees. 

The Yankees also have top pitching prospect Deivi Garcia to use as a trade chip. Any package to the Rockies would probably have to start with players like Garcia and Andujar, as well as salary relief since it would put the Yankees over the $210 million luxury-tax line. The club has been hesitant to go over that in recent seasons. 

Story would significantly improve the Yankees' chances in a deep AL East next season. If Story is the next in the Colorado exodus, then New York may be where he's headed. 

Yankee Stadium will open its doors Friday—to serve as a COVID-19 mass vaccination site.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the plan Wednesday.

According to Carl Campanile and Nolan Hicks of the New York Post, the Bronx has had the highest COVID-19 rates in New York City "in recent weeks," and the vaccination site will only be open to residents of the borough.

Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets, was previously announced as a vaccination site, but that has been postponed because of vaccine shortages, per Campanile and Hicks.

Elsewhere in MLB, the Oakland Athletics announced Wednesday that their home stadium, the Oakland Coliseum, will open as the "first federally operated coronavirus vaccination supersite in the country." According to Jessica Kleinschmidt of NBC Sports, the site has a goal of administering at least 6,000 vaccines daily.

Marlins Park in Miami, Petco Park in San Diego, Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Minute Maid Park in Houston and Fenway Park in Boston are the other MLB ballparks open for vaccinations in accordance with state guidelines, per David Adler of MLB.com.

A number of NFL stadiums have opened their doors for the same purpose, including the New England Patriots' Gillette Stadium and the Carolina Panthers' Bank of America Stadium.

Former New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka told reporters that he wanted to re-sign with the Bronx Bombers this offseason. However, he decided to return to Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan after it was clear the Yanks had moved on.

"When I became a free agent, honestly I wanted to sign another contract with Yankees and play there," Tanaka said, per Jason Coskrey of the Japan Times (h/t Pete Caldera of NorthJersey.com).

"Then as I heard different things, I thought I might have to take a different road and considered various things."

Tanaka pitched in New York from 2014 to 2020, going 78-46 with a 3.74 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 991 strikeouts over 174 appearances (173 starts).

He was largely dominant in the playoffs prior to a poor two-start outing in 2020, when he gave up 11 earned runs over eight innings. In seven starts over the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons, Tanaka went 5-2, allowing just seven earned runs and striking out 34 batters in 41 frames.

The two-time All-Star also finished seventh in American League Cy Young voting in 2016.

Tanaka signed a seven-year, $155 million contract with the Yankees before the 2014 season. He had played seven years for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles before then, notably going 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA in 2013.

Tanaka is now back with the Golden Eagles after a second Yankees contract did not come to fruition.

As for the Yanks, they've turned the page and added two-time AL Cy Young winner Corey Kluber as well as Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Jameson Taillon to the mix to help fill out the rotation.

It wasn't that long ago Corey Kluber was one of the best pitchers in baseball before injuries derailed him, and New York Yankees fans will be relieved to hear he is back on course heading into the 2021 campaign. 

"I consider myself to be healthy at this point. I'm not rehabbing anything or tending to any issues with anything lingering or anything like that," the right-hander said Thursday, per the Associated Press. "I'm basically at a normal stage of my offseason right now."

Kluber joined the Yankees on a one-year, $11 million contract this offseason in hopes of rediscovering his form from his prime in Cleveland.

He was a two-time American League Cy Young winner and three-time All-Star who finished with an ERA of 3.49 or lower in five straight seasons from 2014 to 2018. He posted an ERA below 3.00 three times in that span and helped lead Cleveland to an appearance in the 2016 World Series.

However, he made just seven starts in 2019 before being hit by a comeback line drive during a May game against the Miami Marlins.

Kluber posted a 5.80 ERA in those seven starts and then pitched just one inning in 2020 because of a shoulder injury that did not require surgery.

He is not the only high-risk, high-reward acquisition for the Yankees rotation this offseason, as New York also brought in Jameson Taillon in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Taillon finished the 2018 season with a 3.20 ERA but missed much of the 2019 campaign and all of the 2020 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

If they can both return to form, the Yankees will be on the shortlist of realistic championship contenders.

New York Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu said he rejoined the Yanks in free agency because he's confident the club is in position to win the 2021 World Series.

LeMahieu, who signed a six-year, $90 million contract, discussed his outlook Thursday:

Does DJ LeMahieu think the Yankees are ready to win a World Series?

"There's no doubt...that's just another reason why I wanted to be back. We've got some unfinished business" pic.twitter.com/i84MstmJlh

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) January 28, 2021

The 32-year-old has been one of the American League's best hitters since initially signing with the Yankees in 2019. The former longtime Colorado Rockie finished fourth in AL MVP voting in his first season with the team and came in third last year after winning the batting title with a .364 average.

The California native has posted a .922 OPS with 36 home runs in 195 games for New York. He ranks 12th among all MLB hitters in WAR (7.8) since the start of the 2019 campaign, per FanGraphs.

Bringing back LeMahieu to serve as the leadoff hitter was crucial for a Yankees lineup filled with power hitters. The team could post historic home run numbers if Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, who've both dealt with injury problems in recent years, are able to stay healthy.

New York's biggest question in terms of contending for a title is the performance of its starting pitchers behind ace Gerrit Cole.

It's not a group short on talent—Corey Kluber, Jameson Taillon, Jordan Montgomery and Domingo German—but there are questions about what to expect because of recent injuries.

In December, Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters he's hopeful 2021 will bring a return to normalcy that last season didn't have because of COVID-19:

"It's difficult to play and succeed at this level, and I think when you add little layers to everything every single day, it just made it more challenging day-in and day-out across the board. As a player, you try and just get into this routine where you're kind of grinding it out and grinding through it. When you add little layers that make it a little more difficult, it just makes it that much more of a grind, and I think that's probably why, on some level, you had some unreliable performances. Because of all the uncertainty and all the layers that got thrown on top of the game this year."

If LeMahieu's prediction is accurate, few teams, if any, have more raw potential than the Yankees and that would give them legitimate championship hopes heading into the new season.

Signing LeMahieu to a new deal was another boost to those hopes.

 

After seven seasons with the New York Yankees, pitcher Masahiro Tanaka announced Thursday that he is returning to his native Japan to join the Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Nippon Professional Baseball League.

The Yanks now figure to have a new-look rotation for 2021 aside from ace Gerrit Cole:

1. Gerrit Cole
2. Corey Kluber
3. Jameson Taillon
4. Domingo German
5. Jordan Montgomery, Deivi Garcia or Clarke Schmidt

The rotation also figures to experience another shake-up during the summer provided former ace Luis Severino returns from Tommy John surgery recovery and rehab as expected.

Tanaka was a consistent and reliable presence in the Yankees' rotation since 2014, as the two-time All-Star posted a 78-46 record with a 3.74 ERA in 173 starts. He also upped his game during the playoffs, going 5-4 with a 3.33 ERA in 10 starts.

With Tanaka gone, Cole will continue to be New York's clear No. 1 after signing a nine-year, $324 million deal with the Bronx Bombers ahead of the 2020 season. Cole, who went 7-3 with a 2.84 ERA and 94 strikeouts in 73 innings during his first season in New York, is the only absolute in the rotation.

Following him is a pair of offseason acquisitions in Kluber and Taillon.

New York signed the 34-year-old Kluber to a one-year, $11 million deal this offseason after he pitched in only one game for the Texas Rangers last season because of a shoulder injury. He also made only seven appearances the previous season with Cleveland.

While injuries have plagued Kluber in recent years, he was once among the most dominant pitchers in baseball, winning the American League Cy Young award in 2014 and 2017. If the three-time All-Star can come anywhere close to that level of play, he will be a steal for the Yankees.

Taillon, meanwhile, was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2010 MLB draft. He hit his stride in 2018 when he went 14-10 with a 3.20 ERA, but his 2019 season was cut short after seven starts because of Tommy John surgery, and he didn't pitch at all last season.

The presumptive No. 4 starter is German, who also missed all of last season as a result of a suspension for violating MLB's domestic violence policy. In 2019, he went 18-4 with a 4.03 ERA and 153 strikeouts in 143 innings.

The fifth spot in the rotation is unsettled until Severino returns, with Montgomery, Garcia and Schmidt all potentially figuring into the mix.

Montgomery is a 6'6" lefty with four years of MLB experience, but he posted a disappointing 5.11 ERA last season in 10 starts. Garcia, 21, is one of New York's top prospects. He made six starts last season, going 3-2 with a 4.98 ERA, and he struck out almost a batter per inning and flashed some big-time potential. The 24-year-old Schmidt is also one of the Yanks' best prospects, but his big league experience is limited to just three appearances last season.

While the potential is undoubtedly there for the Yankees to have a great rotation in 2021, they'll need Kluber and Taillon to largely remain healthy, German and Severino to return to form after long layoffs, and perhaps one of Garcia or Schmidt to develop into a reliable option.

After spending seven seasons with the New York Yankees, Masahiro Tanaka announced Thursday he's returning to Japan to pitch for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. 

🙏✨ pic.twitter.com/Tc4CHpFHV0

— 田中将大🦂/MASAHIRO TANAKA (@t_masahiro18) January 28, 2021

Details of the agreement weren't immediately released.

Tanaka's professional baseball career began in Japan with the Golden Eagles in 2007. He won the Sawamura Award as the best pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball in 2011 and 2013. 

After the NPB posted him for all 30 Major League Baseball teams to bid on, Tanaka joined the Yankees in January 2014. The right-hander signed a seven-year, $155 million contract, the largest deal ever given to a Japanese player. 

Despite some durability issues in New York, Tanaka proved well worth the investment. He was named to the AL All-Star team twice (2014, 2019) and posted a 3.74 ERA with 991 strikeouts and 983 hits allowed in 1,054.1 innings. 

Tanaka had problems staying on the field at times. The 32-year-old never reached 200 innings in a season and only made 30 starts three times in seven years with the Yankees. 

When Tanaka was throwing his best, though, few pitchers in MLB were better. He has a 3.33 ERA in 10 career playoff appearances.

The Golden Eagles are likely betting on Tanaka as a key cog in their starting rotation. His track record of success in New York is a strong indication that his transition back to Japan won't be difficult.