In wild change, Eric Chavez goes to the Mets
The Yankees counted their blessings when they signed seventeen season hitter Eric Chavez as their assistant hitting coach, but it was short-lived. Chavez has accepted the full-time hitting coach job for the cross-town New York Mets. Chavez was to be Dillon Lawson’s assistant, but his friend Billy Eppler, the New York Mets general manager, stole him from the Yankees, making him the hitting coach for the Mets.
David Cone and Michael Kay take on new jobs
First, let’s clear the air by saying the two announcers will still be broadcasting for the YES Network doing both color commentary and game day play-by-play. Michael Kay will be teaming up with Alex Rodriquez doing a “Manningcast”-style secondary edition ten or twelve times a year with ESPN. Cone, the popular color man for YES will be on that alongside color commentator Eduardo Pérez and play-by-play man Karl Ravech, also on ESPN.
International signing period just a week away
In just over a week, the International Trading season will open up. The Yankees will have almost six million to spend are expected to sign the number one prospect, 17-year-old shortstop Roderick Arias. Scouts rave on the abilities of the young shortstop. MLB Pipeline had this to say about the extraordinary talent:
“The top prospect in the class, Arias has plus-arm potential. His throws are accurate and effortless, and he’s always in a position to make them. He also shows good footwork with soft hands and an above-average range. At the plate, he exhibits above-average bat-to-ball skills and strike-zone awareness. He shows good plate discipline and doesn’t swing and miss often. He shows power from both sides of the plate, especially the right side. In addition, there’s good opposite-field power from the left side, and the overall package could develop into a plus-plus hitter. The Yankees are the favorites to sign him.”
Yankees should sign Kyle Schwarber
The Yankees should do a number on the Boston Red Sox and sign Kyle Schwarber; his left-hand bat should be a great addition to the Yankee lineup. Schwarber, 28, is coming off an impressive season with the Washington Nationals and AL East rival Boston Red Sox. He hit 32 home runs during the last season and posted a .928 OPS across 113 games. His offense could be a match made in heaven with the short porch at Yankee Stadium, which could transform him into a 40-home run hitter.
Top 3 Yankees to excel in 2022
Aaron Judge:
Aaron Judge is projected to lead the Yanks in fWAR with an estimated 5.2 wins above replacement while mashing 36 or more homers and 95 RBIs. He’s projected to lead the team in fWAR and in OPS+, BABIP, slugging, and on-base percentage. He has suggested that he can hit 50 long balls, which almost eclipses his 2017 total. He will want to have a big season going into his first free agency.
Joey Gallo:
Joey Gallo somewhat disappointed last season after being acquired at the trade deadline. But, that being said, he is expected to record his highest fWAR season with a 3.7, good for the second-highest on the team. Don’t expect a great batting average or that he will stop striking out; he will, that is expected even at his best. But Fangraphs ZIPS projections lead the team in home runs with 38 and walks with 93. So it should be a bounce-back season for Gallo in the Bronx.
DJ LeMahieu:
DJ LeMahieu, is expected to have a bounce-back season this year with the Yankees, something coming close to his 2020 season. He is expected to have the third-highest fWAR on the team in 2022. With his 3.1 fWAR, ZiPS has him hitting .282/.344/.402 with a 104 OPS+. He will still contribute at an above-average rate. He’s projected to lead the team in hits with 162 and doubles with 26. That’s a solid year at the plate. However, with the Yankees infield in disarray it is likely that he will be used much like last season shuffling around the infield.
Is Yankee great Yogi Berra being snubbed again?
Way back when the Yankees offered Yogi Berra the managership of the Yankees, he took the job under the condition he wouldn’t be fired. Then owner George Steinbrenner did just that, creating a nearly decade-long rift between Yogi and the team. Many think he is being snubbed again by not having his own monument in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium.
Although there are dozens of plaques, of which Yogi has one, celebrating Yankee greats, but there are only seven monuments. Miller Huggins, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, the victims and rescuers of the September 11 attacks, and George Steinbrenner are among them.
Berra played 18 seasons with the Yankees, with 18 All-Star Game appearances, winning three AL MVP awards and ten rings with the team as a player.He has the most World Series ring on any MLB player. He slashed .285/.348/.482, good for a 124 wRC+ — and his 1,430 RBI rank first, 358 home runs fourth, and 63.7 fWAR fifth all-time among catchers.
The Yankees haven’t had a new monument erected in the last eleven years, the last going to Steinbrenner. Plaques are for great players, monuments are the same but for icons that have been part of American culture. Berra’s Yogi-isms are, and his museum are an everlasting tribute to baseball. Isn’t it time to include him as the eighth monument?
The Yankees most important postseason game revealed
There is no question that the must iconic moment in New York Yankee postseason is Don Larsen’s perfect game during Game 2 of the 1956 World Series. It was the first perfect game in the postseason Yankee history and the only one during a World Series across all of baseball. It was 65 years ago since that perfect day. That day remains one of a kind. Not even a full-time starter with the Yankees during the season, Larsen’s perfect day against the Brooklyn Dodgers saw him shut down a lineup with five future Hall of Famers in the process. It remains one of two postseason no-hitters in history and the only postseason perfect game.