March 7th, 2025: Reyes, Backup Catcher, Cole, Weaver, Warren, Jones, Spring Breakout, Mailbag

Grapefruit League record check: 6-5-1 with a +17 run differential. In his newsletter, Joe Sheehan recently noted that there’s little correlation between the best Spring Training records and the best regular season records, but the worst teams tend to have the worst records in Spring Training and the regular season. The worst record this spring? The White Sox at 3-10-0. Yep, that checks out. Let’s get to today’s post.

1. Grapefruit League observations. What a fun game Tuesday. The Yankees blew out the Phillies, and although the game didn’t mean anything, blowout wins are always cool. In that game we got to see:

• Jasson Domínguez go deep and beat out an infield single with elite sprint speed (30.4 ft/s!).

• George Lombard Jr. get two hits, including one against perennial Cy Young candidate Zack Wheeler.

• Will Warren pitch well against something very close to the Phillies’ Opening Day lineup.

• Spencer Jones smash a homer and fall a triple short of the cycle.

• Devin Williams break out his Airbender in his spring debut.

Paul Goldschmidt went deep too. I put all the highlights in one video right here. Also, Williams is working on a cutter. He threw one cutter during his 12-pitch outing Tuesday (video). “I put it right where I wanted today. It might be a weapon for me this year,” he told Bryan Hoch. Williams is great already, but if he can add a cutter and a new wrinkle, why not? Here are a few bench-related thoughts after a lighter slate this week thanks to Wednesday’s off-day.

The sneaky bench candidate

I think I've been sleeping on Pablo Reyes as a bench candidate. He’s having a good spring (5-for-15 with four walks and three strikeouts) and he’s the kinda guy who needs to have a good spring to get Opening Day roster consideration. Beyond the performance, Reyes would fill a role as a true utility guy (he’s played every position but catcher in MLB) and righty bench bat who can handle lefties. His career big league splits:

• vs. RHP: .225/.294/.293 (61 wRC+) with 8.4 BB% and 17.5 K% (359 PA)

• vs. LHP: .284/.333/.442 (105 wRC+) with 7.0 BB% and 19.2 K% (213 PA)

Those 213 plate appearances are scattered across six seasons, and a 105 wRC+ isn’t great or anything, but Reyes has consistently hit lefties in Triple-A too. He’s an okay bottom of the order platoon option. Ask him to be more than that and you’ll be disappointed. Reyes, 31, is a cromulent 13th position player, and every once in a while those guys run into a BABIP heater and hit .320/.350/.450 for two months.

Boone has mentioned Reyes as a bench candidate during several in-game YES interviews this spring and the Yankees have had him play four positions (second, third, right, left) in his seven games. I know Dom Smith has had a nice spring, but carrying Smith and Ben Rice would be such bad roster construction. They're so redundant. Reyes would give the Yankees a more functional roster.

The Oswald(o)s are natural platoon partners at third. Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jasson Domínguez shouldn’t sit often, but, when they do, it makes sense to sit them against Garrett Crochet, Shane McClanahan, and other tough lefties. Lefties can give Chisholm a hard time and the right side is Domínguez’s weaker side. That’s a lane for Reyes. The Yankees do need a spare righty bat. He can be it. Smith (or Rice) can't.

Reyes is having a nice spring and would fill a need, though I hope the Yankees come up with someone better between now and Opening Day. Who that someone better is, I do not know, but the Yankees have a recent history of adding players at the end of camp, so I won’t rule it out this year. Up until this week, I did not think much about Reyes as an Opening Day roster guy. Now I can see the vision (not that I love it or am pounding the table for him).

The backup catcher competition

Two weeks into the Grapefruit League season, I don’t think we’ve gotten any clarity about the backup catcher situation. Like a crazy person, I’ve been tracking how often the backup catcher candidates catch the big league starters and late inning relievers, figuring the favorite would get more innings with those guys. I don’t think there’s anything to this yet though. Here’s the table since I have it handy:

Austin Wells caught both of Cole’s starts, Warren’s last two starts, Stroman’s second start, and Weaver’s and Williams’ lone appearances. Schmidt hasn’t gotten into a game yet because of an achy back. The important big leaguers have mostly worked with Wells (understandably) and aren’t fully stretched out yet, so there haven’t been many innings for the backup catcher candidates to catch from those guys.

Maybe Jackson catching Fried’s start is a signal and not noise? Rice started that game at first base and he didn’t play the previous day. Not catching wasn’t a workload thing. As far as we know, there was no reason Rice couldn’t catch Fried that night. Escarra replaced Jackson later that game, after Fried exited. The Yankees could’ve put any of the backup catcher candidates with Fried, and they chose Jackson. Hmmm.

(Jackson had a brief stint with the Braves in 2021, during which he caught Fried for five innings in one game. They have a history, though not a ton.)

Jackson would make sense as the backup too. I don’t think it would be the end of the world if the Yankees carried two left-handed hitting catchers, but a righty backup would be nice. Wells can’t catch every game. If you can time his off-days so that he misses a tough lefty and you can plug in your righty hitting backup, great. That’s basically what the Yankees did with Jose Trevino down the stretch last year.

“Hopefully we can help him get it out a little bit and he can establish himself as a big league catcher,” Aaron Boone told Max Goodman about Jackson last week. “He’s certainly competing for that. He has all the tools you would want to be that guy. He’s going to get that opportunity and we’ll see how it unfolds.”

I think Rice has the inside track for a roster spot and DH at-bats with Giancarlo Stanton injured. Would the Yankees be comfortable putting Rice at DH if he’s the only other catcher on the roster? I dunno, but they could do it. If Wells gets hurt, you forfeit the DH and put Rice behind the plate, and deal with it for a few innings. It would suck, but if that’s how you put the best lineup on the field*, the Yankees should do it.

* The Orioles (Adley Rutschman) and Royals (Sal Perez) regularly DH their starting catcher and run the risk of forfeiting the DH if the backup gets hurt. Teams are increasingly willing to put both catchers in the lineup. The risk of forfeiting the DH is small compared to the benefit of keeping the starter’s bat in there.

Opening Day is less than three weeks away and I’m not sure we can say one of the backup catcher candidates has a leg up on the job over the others. No one is pulling away from the others in terms of innings with the important big leaguers, and they’ve all been fine-ish at the plate. We’ll check back in a week or so. Right now, backup catcher is one of several unsettled Opening Day roster spots.

Miscellany

Rough spring for Anthony Volpe defensively. He’s had a number of grounders/low liners eat him up, he dropped a pop up the other night, and he threw a double play ball away Thursday. Defense slumps just like offense and Volpe goes through defensive funks from time to time (remember last April’s throwing issues?). He’s going through one right now. Worry if he’s still doing this in three weeks … The Twins whacked Gerrit Cole around Thursday because his fastball location stunk. Too many heaters in the middle of the plate – Cole’s mechanics were so out of whack that he was pitching from the stretch with no one on base by the end of his outing – including this meatball Matt Wallner hit for a three-run bomb:

Cole will get his fastball command ironed out. More importantly, he kept at it with the changeup. Cole threw 11 changeups among his 54 pitches Thursday, so that’s 26 changeups in two spring starts after throwing 62 changeups all last year. He threw three in a row at one point Thursday (spanning two batters). Will it be a pitch for him during the regular season? I dunno, we’ll see, but Cole is working on it … Luke Weaver made his spring debut Thursday, gave up a solo homer to old pal Mike Ford, and threw 22 pitches to get two outs. His velocity was down 2-3 mph across the board. We’ll have to keep an eye on that. Hopefully that was just a first spring appearance thing and he’s still building arm strength … I mentioned this in the intro, but another strong start for Will Warren on Tuesday: 3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR on 47 pitches. The Phillies had every regular in the lineup except Nick Castellanos too. Warren’s had a very good spring (8 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 11 K, 1 HR) and, given all the pitching injuries, he might be pitching his way onto the Opening Day roster. Keeping him stretched out in Triple-A as the No. 6 starter would make sense, but the Yankees should take their 13 best pitchers north. If that means Warren in the bullpen (as a Mike King multi-inning setup type? a man can dream), so be it … The duality of Spencer Jones. He’s 6-for-16 (.375) with two doubles and two homers this spring. He’s also missed with 14 of his 35 swings for an astronomical 40.0% whiff rate (2024 MLB average: 25.3% whiffs). The story is the same as it ever was. When Jones gets the bat on the ball, he does major damage. He just doesn’t get the bat on the ball often … Since I’m the only person in the world on the Brent Headrick beat, I must note he’s still throwing 2 mph harder than he did at any point in his career. It’s not premium velocity, but it is more velocity:

Headrick threw 2.2 innings and 44 pitches Tuesday and he held his velocity throughout (his final pitch was 94.2 mph). Headrick’s been a starter his entire career and the Yankees are stretching him out this spring. I don’t know if they’re planning to put him in Scranton’s rotation or if this is a “stretch him out now while we can, we can always put him in the bullpen later” thing. Career best velocity and 10 strikeouts in 5.2 innings this spring (26 batters faced). Hmmm … And finally, Tyler Matzek has not appeared in a game since last Tuesday, Feb. 25th. He was listed as an available pitcher on this past Saturday’s lineup card, but didn’t get into the game, and hasn’t been on a lineup card since. Matzek is a non-roster guy competing for a bullpen spot. You would expect him to get into games pretty regularly, if healthy. He missed all of 2023 and most of 2024 with elbow trouble, including Tommy John surgery. Hopefully it’s not acting up again.

Injury updates

Giancarlo Stanton (elbows) received a second round of PRP injections. Brian Cashman said they don't have a timetable for his return and called surgery a “last resort.” Stanton is expected to rejoin the Yankees this weekend. Whether he talks about the personal matter that kept him away from camp the last two weeks is up to him … Luis Gil (lat) went for additional tests to confirm his diagnosis. Nothing changed. It’s still a six-week shutdown. Figure a six-week build up period after that, and we’ll see Gil in early-to-mid June as long as there are no setbacks … DJ LeMahieu (calf) had an MRI and will miss a “couple weeks at least.” I know this will make me sound like a jerk, but take your time, DJ. Make sure that calf is 100% before coming back … Jake Cousins (forearm) started his throwing program as scheduled Monday. He’s only playing catch from a short distance right now, so he has a ways to go. Opening Day is out of the question, but at least he’s on the way back … Clayton Beeter (shoulder) is throwing bullpens but has yet to face hitters as he ramps up from his offseason shoulder problem. The Yankees are taking it slow with him given his history of shoulder issues. Beeter will begin the season on the injured list rather than as an up/down depth guy.

Up next

Only three more weekends of fake baseball before the real thing comes back. Here’s the full spring broadcast schedule and here’s what’s coming up between now and Tuesday’s post:

• Friday vs. Blue Jays: Marcus Stroman (6:30pm ET on YES, Gotham)

• Saturday at Astros: TBA (6pm ET, no TV)

• Sunday at Cardinals: TBA (FanDuel Midwest)

• Monday vs. Tigers: TBA (1pm ET on YES, FanDuel Detroit, Gotham)

No broadcast Saturday? How do you not broadcast a Saturday home game in Spring Training in the year 2025? Stupid Astros. Also, there is no Gotham simulcast of Sunday’s game. Your only options for that one are FanDuel Midwest (what they’re calling the Bally Sports networks now) or MLBtv.

The Astros and Cardinals train on the other side of Florida, so that Saturday/Sunday trip is an overnighter. Whenever Grapefruit League teams have to make those trips, they send a group of non-veterans who stay overnight and play both games rather than bus back and forth. A few guys will shuttle in and play just one of the two games (i.e. the starting pitchers) but most will stay and play both games.

Fried lines up to pitch Saturday and then Rodón and Warren line up for Sunday and Monday in either order. I would bet a shiny nickel on Warren making the long road trip Sunday and Rodón pitching the home game Monday. I’m not sure Fried will make that trip to pitch Saturday. He could stay back in Tampa to throw a sim game. We’ll see. (Carlos Carrasco lines up to pitch Saturday too.)

2. Spring Breakout roster announced. The 30 Spring Breakout rosters were announced Thursday and hey, I got my wish(es). Just about every prospect I want to see in the prospect showcase game is on the roster. Here is this year’s 23-man Spring Breakout roster:

Only three infielders! Bold strategy. Rumfield is a first base only guy too. Rodríguez has played a bunch of third base (and some second base) in the minors and that has to be the plan for Spring Breakout. Unless they add a player(s) to the roster between now and next Saturday, Rodríguez at third base is the only way the infield can work. Work as in actually having a player to play each infield position.

Anyway, the pitching staff is loaded with 2024 draftees: Hess (first round), Cunningham (second), Ziehl (fourth), and Carter (fifth). (Fourth rounder Thatcher Hurd just had Tommy John surgery.) Rodriguez-Cruz is the prospect the Yankees got in the Carlos Narváez trade with the Red Sox. Perez has a chance to be a big deal in a year or two. I hope he catches the full game with Flores at DH or whatever.

Spring Breakout is a seven-inning game and I hope the Yankees use one pitcher per inning to get as many guys into the game as possible. They did not do that last spring, when Brock Selvidge (four innings), Henry Lalane (two), and Jack Neely (one) covered the full seven innings. Hess, Cunningham, Rodriguez-Cruz. Give me at least one inning of each please. Those are the three guys I really want to see.

I don’t think there are any surprise omissions. Jasson Domínguez is technically a prospect, but he’s basically a big leaguer at this point. Will Warren is too important as rotation depth to throw in a showcase game (he doesn’t line up to pitch next Saturday anyway). Chase Hampton just had Tommy John surgery and Selvidge finished last year hurt (biceps). Is he still hurt? I have no idea and I hope not.

15 of those 23 players rank among my Top 30 Prospects. Rodríguez is a Not Top 30 Prospect and Carter, who hit 103 mph at Vanderbilt last spring, is a Prospect to Know. Arias, Lombard, and (Spencer) Jones are the big names on the position player side. I most hope to see Hess and Cunningham on the mound. Good group of Spring Breakouters. I want as many of those arms as possible to get into the game next weekend.

Mailbag Questions of the Week

Joshua asks: Would you say Cashman had a “very bad” offseason? Let’s put Soto aside which was basically outside of his control, and instead look at the rest.

• He took Bellinger over Teo. Patience could have helped here.

• He took Goldschmidt over Alonso. Patience could have helped here too.

• He let Gleyber walk for almost nothing and we have Oswaldo.

• He didn’t sell high on Gil for someone like Tucker.

• He passed on Walker at a reasonable price.

• He didn’t sign Scherzer for affordable depth.

I feel like he missed in so many ways other than Fried and Williams.

No, come on. I don’t think the Yankees had a great offseason, but it definitely wasn’t “very bad.” To me, a very bad offseason is one you can see being very bad in real time, as it plays out. It should be obviously bad while it’s happening, not only afterward when you can say they could’ve instead done this and that with the benefit of hindsight.

I am underwhelmed with Paul Goldschmidt at first base and I agree not trading Luis Gil for Kyle Tucker (if the Astros would have done it) and replacing Gleyber Torres with no one in particular were mistakes. I don’t understand the Gleyber thing at all. That’s one of those moves that was obviously bad at the time, and it will look even worse once we get into the season given who the Yankees have penciled in at third base.

I’m not sure some of those decisions Joshua listed were realistically available to the Yankees. Teoscar Hernández said he turned down more money to return to the Dodgers. How much of a premium do you want to pay to get him? That premium probably wasn’t a extra million or two a year. You might’ve had to put a fourth guaranteed year on the table to get him. I like the Cody Bellinger move too. He fits what the Yankees need very well. 

I don’t know how much the Yankees would have had to offer Pete Alonso to buy him away from the Mets on a short-term deal, but the answer is probably a lot. Alonso turned down a larger deal from the Mets! He took two years and $54M over three years and $71M because it was more money upfront, before the opt out. Whatever it would have taken to sign Alonso away from the Mets, I am not at all confident Hal Steinbrenner would have paid it.

Was Max Scherzer as affordable depth ever gonna happen? Was he signing up to be the No. 6 starter? And again, even if he was open to it, was Hal okaying that cash outlay? I don’t mind not signing Christian Walker. Multi-year deals for not great players in their mid-to-late 30s do nothing for me. They’re grenades with the pin pulled. To me, the real mistake at first base was not trading for Nate Lowe or Josh Naylor, especially at the prices that were paid.

You don’t have to try hard to see how this could become a very bad offseason. Max Fried’s elbow/forearm trouble of the last few years could pop up, Bellinger could revert back to his 2021-22 form (and then pick up his player option), Goldschmidt could completely tank, etc. You can play the worst case scenario game with every team’s offseason though. Every pitcher could get hurt, every veteran could decline, etc.

Other than losing Juan Soto and the infield addition (singular), I like what the Yankees did this offseason. And I don’t think some of those players listed (Alonso, Hernández, Scherzer) were realistically available to the Yankees given the players’ preferences, and the team’s self-imposed payroll limit. I can't call it a great offseason when you lose Soto. He's just too good. I see this offseason as a notch or two below great, and several above very bad.

Adam asks: The Padres just signed Jose Iglesias to a minor league deal. Would you have preferred Iglesias over our in-house options at 3B? I’m assuming he wasn’t willing to sign a minor league deal with the Yankees and/or that they don’t view him as an upgrade over Peraza who would have to pass through waivers if not selected to the team.

I absolutely would have given Iglesias a minor league contract. I’d give almost any player a minor league deal. I would not have been comfortable with him as the everyday third baseman though. The Mets didn’t use him as an everyday guy last year, he mostly platooned with Jeff McNeil, and he ran out of steam at the end of the year too. Thanks to a .382 BABIP, Iglesias hit .337/.381/.448 (137 wRC+) last season. It was his second highest wRC+ in a season with at least 175 plate appearances. It’s the kinda thing you just can’t expect a 35-year-old to do again. Not when he had an 86 wRC+ in his previous 3,000 plate appearances. I’m not overly confident in Oswald Peraza as any everyday player. I think there's a good chance we're sitting here on June 1st wondering what the hell the Yankees were thinking at third base, and I don't think Iglesias would have changed the odds that will happen much, if at all. Given Peraza's roster status (out of options), I would rather just roll with him and finally figure out what you have instead of hoping Iglesias has another outlier year. If you're going to cheap out at a position, go with the kid. The former touted prospect on his last chance to stick with the team.

George asks: I'm very concerned about Jasson's outfield defense. With Stanton out for a long period, would it make more sense to DH him more and acquire a defense first outfielder, or just play Grisham out there? I really like Bellinger in center.

On a scale from 1-10, my concern level over Jasson Domínguez’s defense is probably a 7. He’s been fine the last few days, but the first impression in left field (last year and the first few days of Spring Training) was not good, and that tends to stick with people. I wish the Yankees would just put him in center field, where he's most familiar. Maybe it wouldn’t matter and he’d still make mistakes, but it feels like they’re asking the kid to play his first big league season on hard mode. Learn a new-ish position and hey, we might lead you off too. No pressure to perform there kid. Anyway, the only defense-first outfielder still available in free agency is Alex Verdugo, and that’s a nope from me. Giancarlo Stanton’s injury opens up DH, so the Yankees could give Domínguez a bunch of time there with Trent Grisham in the outfield, but I’d really hate to make the kid even a 25% of the time DH at age 22. The Yankees will have to live with the growing pains. They have been willing to do it with Anthony Volple’s bat. They should be willing to do it with Domínguez’s glove too. (If Domínguez doesn’t hit, then there’s a real problem.)

Sandeep asks: I don’t get the attempt to force Dominguez to switch positions. What’s wrong with putting Bellinger in left and letting Dominguez play center? JD might still stink on defense, but at least he’d be playing the position that the Yankees haven’t been able to fill long term and that he’s presumably more comfortable with. 

Doubling up on the Jasson Domínguez defense questions, yeah, I don’t really understand why he must play left field rather than center. A few weeks ago Aaron Boone said it is because they want Domínguez to play one position all year rather than bounce around, and okay, but can’t he do that in center? Is there a reason Trent Grisham can’t play left field? It’s not like his glove would go to waste in Yankee Stadium’s spacious left field. Cody Bellinger says he’s comfortable playing wherever. So why not put Domínguez in center, his most familiar position, and Bellinger in left, and play Grisham in the corners when needed? It feels like the Yankees are putting too much stock into Grisham’s center field defense. I get it, he's very good out there, but the guy started 52 games last year. Put your talented young rookie in position to succeed rather than worry about squeezing an extra tenth of a win of value out of your fourth outfielder, please. (Cameron Maybin posted something recently about moving to left field after playing center his whole life, and how the adjustment was more difficult than he expected.)

Mike asks: Are you surprised no team has signed Verdugo? Any chance the Yankees bring him back (I hope not but….)

Yes I’m surprised Alex Verdugo is still unsigned but also no I’m not. There are 30 teams and three outfield spots per team, really more than that given the need for a backup, so I figured the sheer numbers would work in his favor and he’d get a job. At the same time, Verdugo was one of the least productive everyday players in the league last year, and his reputation is not good. It seemed like he was on his best behavior last season, but there’s a track record of showing up late, pissing off veterans, and being a headache. It is in Verdugo’s past even if we didn’t see it last year. That stuff sticks to you, and when you have that reputation and you also don’t perform on the field, teams will be quick to look elsewhere. Even with Giancarlo Stanton’s injury and Jasson Domínguez’s shaky defense, no, I don’t see the Yankees bringing Verdugo back. Too many bad vibes there, and also he’s just not that good of a player at this point. (The Yankees spent all last season telling us that Verdugo is good and he'll figure it out, and now here he is unsigned at age 28 with Opening Day three weeks away. I will never understand why they were so devoted to him.)

Anonymous asks: I know he wont make the team, but any chance Lombard starts the season in AA after the spring he’s having?

George Lombard Jr. has been very impressive this spring and especially the last week or so. He is 5-for-15 with two homers and a number of hard-fought a-bats overall. Lombard hasn’t looked out of place despite being a 19-year-old in big league camp. They’re often accused of the opposite, but the Yankees typically promote their top position player prospects aggressively. Lombard was in High-A a year out of high school, Spencer Jones skipped Low-A, Anthony Volpe barely played in Triple-A, Jasson Domínguez doesn’t have a full season at any level, etc. I don’t think a big Spring Training is enough to start Lombard at Double-A though. It’s 15 at-bats! He played only 29 games in High-A last year and hit .231/.338/.334 (99 wRC+) between the two Single-A levels. Lombard’s had a great spring, though the Yankees won’t put too much stock in 15 at-bats and jump him right to Double-A. He’ll go back to High-A and, as long as he doesn’t fall on his face, I bet he’ll finish the season in Double-A. That would qualify as being on the fast track given that he won’t turn 20 until June.

Dan asks: What happens when an NRI has a catastrophic injury? The Diamondbacks have an NRI who needs Tommy John. Who foots the bill, what are the real-world on the ground implications?

It’s like a minor leaguer getting hurt. The D’Backs have two NRIs who need Tommy John surgery (Thyago Vieira and Josh Winder) and they’ll go on the minor league injured list, and the team is responsible for their rehab. The D’Backs could release them, though they’d still have to pay them per the terms of their contract (similar to DFAing a big leaguer, albeit with lower salaries), and the team is still responsible for an injured player’s rehab after releasing him. That means giving him access to their doctors, facilities, and training staff up until he signs with a new team. The player can rehab on his own, he doesn’t have to use the team’s facilities, but they have to be made available to him. Injured players who get released don’t get hung out to dry. In terms of contract and roster status, an NRI getting hurt is like a prospect getting hurt. Vieira and Winder are essentially in the same boat as Chase Hampton, roster status-wise.

Chris asks: This isn’t a question, just thought it was interesting to see that with Boone’s extension, he’s getting paid more per year than he ever earned as a player. According to spotrac, he made nearly 18 million in his playing career, so it’s wild to me that he’ll beat that with his 2024-2027 manager earnings alone.

I bet this isn’t uncommon. When we were hard up for content at CBS during the pandemic shutdown in 2020, I had the dumb idea to rank the 30 managers by their playing career. It never got written because it was painfully boring. So few had notable big league careers. At the time, Dusty Baker and Don Mattingly were the big managerial names. They were bona fide star players. After them, the best playing careers belonged to Bud Black and Craig Counsell, and eh.

Here are the top current managers by career WAR, and their highest single-season salary as players:

1. Craig Counsell: +22.4 WAR ($3.17M)
2. Mark Kotsay: +21.3 WAR ($8M)
3. Bud Black: +21.1 WAR ($3.25M)
4. Dave Martinez: +19.2 WAR ($2M)
5. Aaron Boone: +13.6 WAR ($3.75M)

Counsell’s working on a manager record five-year, $40M contract. That’s $8M a year. Mark Zuckerman says Martinez made $3.5M in 2023, and surely he’s over that now. Dave Roberts made $6.5M in two separate years as a player. He has an extension coming up and I have to imagine he’s looking at Counsell money, possibly more. Others like Bruce Bochy and Terry Francona never made more than six figures as players.

Very few star players become coaches and managers these days. Star players make a ton of money, more than enough to retire comfortably and do nothing the rest of their lives. So many managers now are guys who were spare part players or didn’t have long careers, or didn’t play in the big leagues at all. They aren’t as financially well off and have to keep at it. Some do it because they love the game (Kotsay made over $50M in his career, for example), but, for a lot of guys, it’s their livelihood.

(Send your requests for Friday's mailbag to RABmailbag at gmail dot com. The random Yankee series is on hiatus, but feel free to send in requests for when it returns.)