The New York Yankees lost the wild card game to the rival Boston Red Sox and are sitting back watching other teams reach for their dreams, while they are still licking the wounds of another failed season, not advancing in the postseason. But baseball goes on for four teams. The Atlanta Braves lead the Lost Angeles Dodgers two games to none as they travel back to Los Angeles to play the next three games if necessary. The Houston Astros travel to Fenway Park where they are 1-1 in their seven-game contest with the Red Sox.
Even with all this on-field action still going on, don’t think for a minute that the Yankee front office is dormant, it’s not. Although many of the players are back home watching games from their couches the front office is full steam ahead planning improvements for the upcoming 2022 season.
The Yankees make coaching changes
The New York Yankees, even before the end of the World Series have already made some major changes to the staff. Hitting coach Marcus Thames will not be returning in 2022. Also highly thought off third base coach Phil Nevin, will also not have his contract renewed, after a very bad mistake ushering Aaron Judge home and being called out by at least twelve feet. ESPN has also reported that Assitant Hitting Coach P. J. Pilittere’s contract will not have his contract renewed either.
It’s no secret that the Yankee players hitting was darn right awful this year, except for Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Everyone wondered what was going on with one of the most powerful lineups in baseball, that went through long periods of lackluster hitting. At the end of the season, fans wondered who would be held responsible, Cashman, Boone, or Thames; it appears the hitting department is paying the price.
The Yankees may trade some major players
Since the end of the Yankee season, several names have come up as being possibly traded including Gleyber Torres, Gary Sanchez, Luke Voit, and Joey Gallo, mostly due to not performing as expected. The Torres and Sanchez situation has gone on for more than one season. Neither has grown as a Yankee and their performance is still suspect. Voit is a different situation, he can’t stay healthy, and now with the addition of Anthony Rizzo is more of a loose end than anything else. Joey Gallo is still a different scenario. He has batted under the interstate and many fans want to see him go.
Will the Yankees re-sign Anthony Rizzo?
When the Yankees acquired Anthony Rizzo at the trade deadline, they did so knowing that he was a free agent at the end of the season. Now the question is, did he play well enough for the Yankees to be re-signed. Two things are evident, Rizzo wants to play for the Yankees, but the question is; if the Yankees want to pay him enough to stay around.
Few players play for one historic franchise to play for yet another. Rizzo thought he would play out his career in Chicago, after all, he played for the Cubs for a decade and won a World Series ring with them, as he blossomed into one of the best players to play the game. But, then he came to the Yankees. Upon his arrival, he played better than anyone would have guessed, but as the season wore on he wasn’t as good. Nevertheless, he is an elite first baseman with some pop that the Yankees haven’t seen since Mark Teixeira. Now the Yankees have to decide if they want that defense and production that they have been missing for years.
To keep Rizzo on the team, it will probably cost the Yankees in the neighborhood of $12-20 million a year, according to the length of the contract. Rizzo is 32 years old. He has made it clear in interviews that he would like to end his career in the Bronx.
Yankee minor leaguers to get major upgrade
Anyone that follows baseball knows that there have been some big changes in the minor leagues. A complete re-aligning of the teams themselves, drastically reducing the number of affiliates, and upgrades to remaining locations. Minor leaguers also got a pay raise from $290 a week to $500 a week for the most junior players. This is far from a living wage causing six or more players to rent one apartment with many of them sleeping on mattresses on the floor, and sharing expenses. For some that run out of money they find themselves sleeping in their cars while they juggle second jobs just to get by.
Living in situations like this causes both physical and mental problems that could also cause problems with their on-field performance. Luckily, this problem will mostly go away for the 2022 season. MLB, with the agreement of all 30 major league owners will now provide either lodging or stipends to cover housing expenses for most minor leaguers. The Houston Astros on their own rewarded their minor league players during the 2021 season. Over the years obtaining affordable housing has been the major problem facing these young players while they pursue their dreams of playing in the majors.
Some abritation eligible players will make big money in 2022
The New York Yankees have a boatload of players that are now abritation eligible, some are going to bring in the big bucks. According to MLBTradeRumors.com; 19 Yankees are eligible for raises after this season. They have also provided the project amounts of those new raises. Here are some of the most notible:
- Aaron Judge: $17.1 million
- Joey Gallo $10.2 million
- Gary Sanchez $7.9 million
- Gio Urshela $6.2 million
- Gleyber Torres $5.9 million
- Luke Voit $5.4 million
- Jordan Montgomery $4.8 millon
- Chad Green $4.7 million
- The other 11 are less, all the way down to Tyler Wade @ $700K.