A daily look at New York Yankees News and Rumors of interest to Yankee fans
Yankee Pressure Points:
As the Yankees prepare for spring training just two weeks away, some players will be under more pressure to perform than others. Everything seems to be in place for a record season, which highlights the need to perform to fans’ expectations.
Gerrit Cole: The Yankees paid $324MM for arguably the best pitcher in baseball. Fans will except no less than as fast start to show his worth and a 20 win season with an ERA well under 3. Giancarlo Stanton: Stanton, drastically needs to improve his reputation with Yankee fans. The $26MM a year 2017 NL MVP has never shown that type of stuff for the Yankees — 2019 was a disaster for him, playing in only 18 games, further irritating fans, many of which were wondering if he was going to be another Jacoby Ellsbury.
Stanton needs to stay healthy and show the long ball he is noted for, to get into the good graces of the Yankee faithful.  Training Staff: The entire health and training staff will be under the microscope to prevent a re-occurrence of last year’s pandemic-like injury list. Lastly, new pitching coach Matt Blake and catcher Gary Sanchez will be watched closely and will be expected to make a difference.
Possibly the most pressure will be on Yankee Manager Aaron Boone, who has pretty much performed beyond expectations with 100 and 103 game-winning seasons in his first two years as a manager and doing it under some pretty tricky situations. This year he has a dream season set up for him; all players at this point are returning healthy (except Aaron Hicks) and a new superstar front line starting pitcher in Gerrit Cole to lead the pitching rotation. Without a win in the Fall classic in a decade, nothing short of a World Championship will be accepted by Yankee fans.
Yankees, Red Sox team up to honor John Altobelli:
Sometimes life brings rivals together for a common purpose. The Boston Globe has reported that the Yankees and Red Sox have teamed up to honor Orange Coast College head baseball coach John Altobelli, who was killed in the Helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianne and seven others. Among the others were Altobelii’s wife and daughter. The Globe article stated:
“Red Sox scout Ray Fagnant and Yankees scout Matt Hyde work together every year to put on a showcase game at Fenway Park for amateur players. This year’s game will be dedicated to the late John Altobelli, one of the victims of the helicopter accident that also claimed the life of Kobe Bryant. Altobelli coached 27 seasons at Orange Coast College in California and had a three-year run with the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod League. His son, J.J., is an amateur scout with the Red Sox.”
The Yankees have a further connection to Coach Altobelli. He was Aaron Judge’s coach when Judge played for the Brewster Whitecaps in the Cape Cod Summer League.
Ex-Yankee fighting for his life:
Ex-Yankee shortstop Tony Fernandez is fighting for his life, according to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Fernandez was elected to the Canadian Hall of Fame in 2008. Fernandez has a severe infection that has him hospitalized in critical condition. He was a Gold Glover, All-Star and MVP candidate in his twelve-year career with the Blue Jays. Fernandez played for the Yankees in 1995. His friend, fellow teammate, and Yankee player Jessie Barfield shared some details on Fernandez’s struggle. He is on an ECMO machine to help pump blood to his organs. Doctors have not been able to find the cause of the infection. They found a blood clot in his leg and operated to remove the blockage. The operation was successful. Tony is suffering from a deteriorating kidney. The family is hopeful.