The top New York Yankees’ links of the day:
Dan Martin | New York Post: The New York Yankees missed Jordan Montgomery during the 2019 season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. He made a few appearances last September and looked good during the spring before the MLB inevitably shut down operations due to the coronavirus pandemic. He’s expected to enter the frame once things return to normal, as a middling starter in the pitching rotation. He will slide in alongside Gerrit Cole, Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton, and J.A. Happ. There’s also the Domingo German suspension that will inevitably come to an end at some point. However, Montgomery hasn’t pitched a large sample size of innings in two years and must prove himself if he is to solidify a spot in the starting rotation.
Brendan Kuty | NJ.com: With Major League Baseball fighting on all fronts to return to action in the coming weeks, New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman feels optimistic things could be back to relative normalcy.
“I can’t promise anything, but am I optimistic?†Cashman said Thursday morning. “I’m optimistic.â€
The team owners and players are fighting about financials before anything is set in stone, and while they’re attempting to find a middle-ground, things are complicated on both sides. The owners don’t want to play full player’s salaries if they’re going to be playing fewer games, and the players want to make as much money as possible. Essentially, a pro-rated contract is on the table for players, but they don’t want to take a significant pay-cut.
“I am optimistic,†he said. “I don’t represent the players and the (players’) association. Obviously there’s a lot of hurdles that everyone’s trying to navigate here, and certainly trying to find common ground appropriately with the Players Association is one of those things and obviously the commissioner of baseball and his team are having honest, frank conversations and negotiations … I’m optimistic that where there’s a will, there’s a way.â€