
It didn’t take long for New York Yankees acquisition Anthony Rizzo to leave his mark in just his first game with the Bombers. Against the Miami Marlins on Friday, Rizzo went 2-for-3 with a solo homer, single, and walk.
After spending his entire career with the Chicago Cubs, Rizzo has found himself in uncharted territory headed toward free agency this upcoming off-season. However, he will spend the remainder of the 2021 campaign wearing pinstripes, and given his positive health history, the Yankees desperately need his services.
Rizzo had nothing but glowing reviews of the franchise and its success throughout the course of history.
“I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about this franchise and how it’s operated from the inside and out and I’m excited to dive in and learn and see everything that the Yankees franchise has to offer,†Rizzo said. “I know it’s amazing and I know the history here, and it speaks for itself.
“But as far as contracts and whatnot, this is just about winning baseball games and getting on a role with our guys here and jelling and having fun and bringing out the best energy in everyone.â€
“We added Rizzo for this stretch drive,†Cashman said. “This is all about the 2021 effort. We haven’t really daydreamed into the future at all. The way this trade deadline was going with all the conversations … I don’t think anybody had time to look at much of the future on this stuff. Our intent was to try to increase our chances to give our team an improved opportunity to compete the rest of the way, and that’s really been the focus only.â€
“I said it a lot how I want to stay in Chicago and be a Cub for the rest of my career,†Rizzo said. “Obviously that didn’t work out, but coming into this year you know that at the end of the year you’re a free agent. I’ve never had it before and there’s going to be opportunity to hopefully out there to shine and we’ll see what happens. But that’s so far away from right now and the day-to-day grind it’s going to take to get us back into winning in the playoffs and everything that takes to get there.â€