A daily look at New York Yankees News and Rumors of interest to Yankee fans!
Indians suspected sign-stealing too:
Friday night at a meeting with reporters before a season ticket holder event in Cleveland, pitcher Mike Clevinger said that he and Trevor Bauer thought there was some type of sign stealing going on for the last few years by the Houston Astros. At one point, he said: “He’s like ‘I feel cornered. I’ve got stuff working and I just feel like they’re on it and they shouldn’t be.’ That’s when stuff started picking up for us and we started changing stuff around,” Clevinger said. Clevinger also said that pitcher Cory Kluber had an idea things weren’t right either. When asked why he didn’t say anything, he said that you can’t really unless you have some proof, it would sound like your a spoiled sport when you lose.
Clevinger is one of the first players along with CC Sabathia to come out and openly condemn the Astros for their part in the scheme. Clevinger said: “I wouldn’t say (the cheating) was common knowledge,” Clevinger said. “But it’s been going around the league for a while as far as rumors. … It finally came out and it was a reiteration of how cocky they were and how they treated other guys around the league. For that to be going on just struck a chord with me.” Clevinger also said that at some point, it has to come out, and it did. Former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers outed the scheme to the Atlantic Magazine.
Along with CC Sabathia, Clevinger was equally upset with Justin Verlander at the award dinner, where he received his Cy Young Award and made light of the scheme in his acceptance speech. “Accepting an award and cracking a joke about it without an apology,” Clevinger said, “(that’s probably what has me most upset) right now.”
Kris Bryant Rumors persist:
The Kris Bryant rumors don’t seem to want to go away.  The Yankees made their big move during the Winter Meetings in San Diego when they acquired pitcher Gerrit Cole. They have also added some depth in minors with a centerfielder and to the catching staff, but most other rumors that have cropped up have faded away. The newest rumor about Bryant and Nolan Arenado has yet to dissolve. Wednesday, Bryant lost his labor grievance against the Chicago Cubs, and they have him on the trading block. His batting average over the span is .284 while hitting an average of just over 27 home runs. With those stats, he would be an excellent addition to the Yankees already powerful line, but he is another right-hand hitter. On the downside is that he is primarily a 3rd baseman and not a very good one. He had the lowest fielding percentage of any 3rd baseman in either league. The Yankees already have the Gold Glove like Gio Urshela at third and Miguel Andujar as well. This rumor will fade as well.
DJ LeMahieu wins Player of the Year
At the annual Baseball Writers Association award dinner, New York Yankees 2nd baseman DJ LeMahieu was awarded the Sid Mercer/Dick Young “New York Player of the Year†Award. DJ was Brian Cashman’s pick up of the year. He outperformed all expectations and stayed healthy. Other awards for Yankees were: CC Sabathia’s William J. Slocum/Jack Lang Award for “Long & Meritorious Service,” Willie, Mickey & the Duke Award: Luis Sojo, & Al Leiter, and the Casey Stengel Award “You Could Look it Up†for Yankee Broadcaster John Sterling. This is the same dinner that Justin Verlander made light of the Houston Astros sign-stealing during his acceptance speech for the Cy Young Award. Other big winners included Mike Trout for MVP, Pete Alonso MLB Rookie of the Year, and Jacob deGrom for the NL Cy Young Award.