The New York Yankees are headed for a 2021 season with many perceived needs, but Yankee manager Aaron Boone is positive on the upcoming season on many fronts. Boone, who often paints a rosier picture than that reality reveals, seems more positive than usual of late. Yankee fans seem worried about the direction the Yankees are going in the offseason by not doing much with free agency and trades to improve the team.
Boone seems ready to imply to fans that the situation is better than it might seem. He spoke about re-signing DJ LeMahieu and the need to have him on the team.
“I think it’s no secret that he is probably our number one priority to bring back this winter,” Boone said Tuesday afternoon during MLB’s winter meetings virtual media availability. “I know [GM Brian Cashman] is working on that. And hopefully, at the end of all this, DJ is a Yankee for a long time.”
LeMahieu hit .364 last season and won the baseball batting title for the American League, being the first baseball player to do that in both leagues of baseball. LeMahieu is an integral part of the New York Yankees lineup and must be resigned. The Yankees, according to reports, are $25 million and a year apart on getting the deal done. It appears the GM Cashman is waiting to see LeMahieu’s true worth on the open market before making a final offer.
When asked about his involvement in the LeMahieu negotiations, he said he hasn’t been involved to date but would reach out to him before Christmas, indicating that a deal with LeMahieu might not be completed until after the first of the year.
“I’ll probably reach out to him here before Christmas at some point just to touch base with him and talk to him,” Boone said. “But as far as getting into the recruiting process with him, I haven’t really gone there. … Usually, you don’t have to have a lot of words with DJ, but I’ll hopefully connect with him more than my normal touch-base before Christmas and talk through anything from my perspective.”
Meanwhile, manager Boone is hopeful that Domingo German will be returned to form and ready to pitch at the start of the Yankees’ 2021 season. It appears, according to Cashman, that owner Hal Steinbrenner has given his permission to allow German to return to the team after serving his suspension for breaking the MLB’s domestic violence policy.
German is pitching in the Dominican Winter League with some struggles that are expected not to have pitched in over a year. But Boone feels with German getting in some innings; he should be expected to be ready for spring training. He also revealed that the team has spoken to German about the whole situation. He indicated that it was positive for the team and German that he is pitching in the Winter League.
“I think there’s a lot of value in that,’’ Boone said. “For him to get innings under his belt is really valuable. My hope is he can come in and impact us like he had obviously in ‘18 and ‘19, especially in ‘19 with the step he made. I’m hopeful and optimistic of that, but it’s something that’s months away from coming to fruition.’’
Boone said Tuesday afternoon that he is mostly happy with the rotation behind ace Gerrit Cole, saying that he feels there are many good arms in the young Yankee prospects that are up and coming but also added that he would like to see an addition to bolster the rotation.
“And I’m certainly excited about the people we have behind Gerrit Cole; from a depth standpoint, from a number of young guys getting opportunities to pitch this year and showing a lot of promise. We still have a couple of months for the offseason to unfold and I know Cash is working hard to try and add pitching where he can. But you never know how, in the end, that’s going to flush out, so you’ve got to be prepared to go in with what you have.”
Boone spoke about shortstop GleyerTorres and the fact that he was not fully ready to play after the New York Yankees 2020 second spring training and had to play catchup during the shortened season this past year. He also said that that is not an issue this year as Torres is in excellent condition and has faith in his offseason preparations.
Boone also spoke briefly about catcher Gary Sanchez and pitcher Deivi Garcia who are also playing in the Winter League in the Dominican Republic. He stated that Sanchez is mostly playing DH, trying to get his swing back. He also said that he has been working with catching coach Matt Blake. He has also been working with hitting coach Marcus Thames and assistant hitting coach P.J. Pilittere on some hitting adjustments. Although the competition in the Dominican league is not as fierce, he is getting in his hitting. A week ago, he was 5-for-11, 2 HR, 2 2B, 4 SO, 2 BB, .454 BA, and 1.720 OPS.
Deivi Garcia is also getting in some innings on the mound in the Dominican and building on what he started last year when he made his Major League Debut. The New York Yankees hope Deivi will be ready to take an active role in the middle of the Yankee pitching rotation in the upcoming season. For the most part, Boone is proceeding as if there will be a normal spring training that will start on time but is also aware that may not be the case.