A Daily look at a summary of News and Rumors of interest for New York Yankee fans!
Derek Jeter: Ken Rosenthal of MLB.com showed his Hall of Fame Ballot yesterday. On the ballot front and center was the name of famed New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter, also on the ballot is former Yankee pitcher Roger Clemens. This is the first year that Jeter has become eligible for induction. Players have to wait five years after they leave baseball to become eligible. Last year in his first year of eligibility famed Yankee closer Mariano Rivera became the first player ever to be installed in the Hall of Fame by a unanimous vote from the writers.
There is no question that Jeter will be inducted, the only question is if he will be the second to be elected by every single writer. The induction of Roger Clemens is much more in question due to his involvement in the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Many writers feel that his spectacular 24-year career warrants their consideration, while others automatically exclude him for drug use.
3 Teams without managers: Part of the fallout arising from the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal is that three baseball teams are without managers. After Commissioner Rob Manfred released his report indicting the Astros, Astros owner Jim Crane fired Astro manager A.J. Hinch.
In the report, it mentioned Carlos Beltan but centered in on Alex Cora, who was at the time the bench coach for the Astros. Cora, at the time of the report, was manager of the Boston Red Sox, preemptively Sox owner John Henry fired Cora. A few days later, Carlos Beltran, the new manager of the New York Mets, either was fired or stepped down. Former Yankee utility player Hensley Meulens (1989-93), is being considered by both the Mets and the Boston Red Sox to be their new manager. Meulens was also considered for the Yankee job that ultimately given to Aaron Boone.
Of other interest is that former Nationals manager Dusty Baker has interviewed for the Astros job. The Astros are also considering former Yankee manager Buck Showalter and John Gibbons ex-manager of the Toronto Blue Jays. With three clubs managerless, managers are in unusually great demand.
Stanton or Tauchman:  After Giancarlo Stanton’s injuries last year, newcomer Mike Tauchman took over most of the load in leftfield. He not only was more than adequate but showed stellar defense of leftfield. He even won an MLB Player of the Week for his excellent defense with a spectacular play. Now with Giancarlo Stanton healthy, the Yankees would like to see Stanton out there, adding his bat to the lineup. Last year he was mostly a DH. It’s a big decision for the Yankees as Tauchman has a superior range in all directions to Stanton, and his bat was more lively as the season progressed. The former Colorado Rocky had 13 homers in only 87 games with a .277 batting average.
Backup for the infield: The Yankees are pretty well stacked with players in most positions insofar as backups are concerned, the only place they are lacking is in Short and at 2nd base. D.J. LeMahieu, the Silver Slugger, has that spot nailed down. The Yankee aggressively saught out Francisco Lindor in a failed attempt to replace Didi Gregorius, who went with the Phillies, when the Yankees would not take up his option.
The Yankees instead will use Gleyber Torres at Short. But that leaves the Yankees with few options for backups. Should the Yankees consider any of the many free agents still out there? Brian Dozier is a former Washington Nationals second baseman with power and good defense in his position as well as at short. He would be a relatively inexpensive utility player that should be considered. Another option the Yankees have is to use Tyler Wade, however with more experience and a bigger bat, Dozier would be preferred.
Don Larsen’s Legacy: Don Larsen is the Yankee that holds the record of having the only perfect game ever played in a World Series back in 1956. The feet created one of the most iconic images in baseball history as Yankee catcher Yogi Berra jumped into the perfect pitcher arms as he left the field. The YES Network has issued a new video highlight the career of the Yankee great who passed away at the age of 90 this past New Year’s Day. You can find the tribute here.