There is be no empty stands during this season!
In the land of the unknown, the New York Yankees are slowly finding out certain things with some surety. One thing we can rule out appears to be games without fans in the stands. We are finding out more and more about the MLB Players Association that players signed with MLB. One of the details is that games will be played in front of fans across the country.
What it says is that games will not be played until travel restrictions are lifted, and bans on mass gatherings are lifted. This means there will be no reason to exclude fans from attending games. Also emerging from the deal is that medical professionals will have to agree that it is medically safe to hold games that protect players, coaches, and fans alike.
What will the season and games look like?
Although everything remains fluid for the New York Yankees, MLB is hard at work trying to figure out how to get in as many games in this shortened season a possible. There are several considerations being discussed. One is to eliminate inter-league play, thus having a more robust competition within the divisions. Of course, reducing the total games will be necessary which could cause teams to play teams outside their division only once during the shortened season.
One interesting concept is to have doubleheaders on weekends. This is probably one of the most intriguing ideas because the discussion is to make doubleheaders seven-inning affairs. This idea should appeal to the New York Yankees. If you recall, Yankees starters last year had trouble going deep into games. This caused added stress for the bullpen, which appeared to tire late in the season and postseason. Seven inning games would put far less strain on bullpen pitchers.
A quick Yankee news recap:
Free Agents: DJ LeMahieu, Masahiro Tanaka, and James Paxton will all become free agents after this season, even if the season is canceled. Part of the player/owner deal is that if the season is canceled, players will still receive credit for service time.
Yankees move players: Thairo Estrada, Michael King, and Ben Heller were all optioned to Scranton Wilke/Barre. But in a surprising move number one or number twp pitching prospect Deivi Garcia was sent to the double-A Trenton Thunder. What makes this move significant is that is a demotion for Garcia, who played with the Rail Riders last year. Garcia pitched to a poor 5.40 last year and didn’t show much improvement during the shortened spring training while Michael King will start at AAA.
More injuries? The Yankees had one of the worst injury seasons in recent memory during the last season. 30 players made 39 trips to the IL. With offseason injuries and surgeries required and even more injuries during the short spring training, the New York Yankees appear to be headed for another injury-prone season until proven otherwise. It is hoped by the Yankee organization that the new medical conditioning team will keep it from being as dangerous as it was last year.