The New York Yankees and the other 29 teams are still suffering through a lockout that is now 88 days long, with no apparent quick resolution in the offing. MLB canceled more spring training games on Friday due to not reaching an agreement. Spring training games will not start at least until March 5 at the earliest.
“While negotiations have yet to result in an agreement, we are committed to working around the clock through Monday’s deadline,” MLB said in a statement.
CBA social media hoax, tweets that should be banned!
“BREAKING: MLB and the MLBPA have agreed to a new CBA that will cancel the next 5 seasons and remove the Tampa Bay Rays from MLB, via several sources”.
Those waking up early this morning likely saw an outrageous tweet saying that a new CBA has been reached with a ridiculous outcome. The poster may have been mischievous or just thought it would be a funny joke. If that is the case, he failed miserably, with Twitter users scolding him without reluctance.
This Tweet, although not about politics or CDC guidelines, nevertheless is just as egregious and should be immediately removed from Twitter and the poster banned.
Yankee Joey Gallo sights the shift for his dropoff
Joey Gallo’s first foray into Yankees baseball didn’t turn out as he or the Yankees had hoped for. It had little impact and was just lousy. Now the 28-year-old power hitter believes he knows why and has spoken to the Athletic’s Jayson Stark about his dismal performance. Gallo blamed elements of the shift for his downturn in form.
“I get the defensive strategies. I do. I am 100 percent not against that… But I think at some point, you have to fix the game a little bit…” Gallo said. “I don’t understand how I’m supposed to hit a double or triple when I have six guys standing in the outfield.”
Although Gallo is saying that the shift was a contributing factor, he’s not advocating for banning the shift entirely. What he doesn’t like is the ability of infielders to stand in the outfield. This, of course, may not be the full reason that the shift made him suffer at the plate. His 38.6 strikeout rate certainly didn’t help his behind-the-plate performance. He missed balls in the strike zone, time after time.
Yankee owner Steinbrenner influential in talks outcome
Make no mistake about it Commissioner Rob Manfred and players head Tony Clark have the final say about the outcome of the ongoing negotiations to resolve a lockout, holding up the new season. But also not to be overlooked, some involved in the negotiations have more pull than others. New York Yankee owner Hal Steinbrenner is one of those with influence.
Dick Monfort is the head of MLB’s labor committee, but if you’re looking for the actual most powerful owner in the game, Steinbrenner is the guy sitting beside Monfort this week in CBA talks. Hal Steinbrenner has been mostly silent on his thoughts, but make no mistake about it, he has more sway than many other owners on how the talks end.
All owners have a single vote on any issues, but those with influence have the ability to move the conversation on the intending outcome of the talks.
Hal Steinbrenner controls the sport’s richest baseball franchise in the biggest market in the states. Of course, Hal also often runs the near-highest payroll in the game. He may get pressure from his own players, like Gerrit Cole, who will lose 137 million dollars for every game lost due to no new agreement. Hal will certainly want to get the dollars rolling in with a new season. But, so far, his influence has not made that happen.
Yankees determined to keep top prospects
Due to the MLB lockout, the Yankees and all the other teams have not been able to make any deals, even not having the ability to talk to each other. But, in this dead period, the Yankees have revealed some strategies. We may know more about what they won’t do than what they will do. The Yankees front office has made it pretty clear they won’t be giving up some of their top prospects.
The Yankees have indicated that they will not use prospect Anthony Volpe in any trade. They also have said that Oswald Peraza and catcher Austin Wells likely will be protected but are more likely to be traded in any blockbuster deal to fill the holes in the team.
Even though there is a lockout, the Yankees may have lost another shortstop target!
The New York Yankees, doing nothing in Postseason 1.0, Yankees have already lost several of their options to fill the hole made by Gleyber Torres being moved to second base. The Yankees looked to Marcus Semien and Corey Seager as they were high on their list of shortstops to go after, but they have gone to another team before the lockout.
Their next move appeared to consider Isiah Kiner-Fakefa if the Texas Rangers were willing. But now, after Josh Jung’s injury, the Texas Rangers appear destined to hold onto him when the lockout ends, taking another shortstop option off the table for the Yankees.