February 28th, 2025: Third Base, Smith, Warren, Matzek, Volpe, Wells, Effross, Mailbag

The "well-groomed beard" era is underway. Jasson Domínguez is growing one. Carlos Rodón and Devin Williams too. Give it a day and I’m sure Austin Wells will look like he just walked out of the woods. A few non-roster guys have looked pretty scruffy this last week. Aaron Judge said he won’t grow a beard (I have a hard time picturing Judge with a beard, to be honest), but several others have put their razors away, at least for a few days. The Yankees have beards, and the sun still rose in the morning. Let’s get to today’s post.

1. Grapefruit League observations. The Cardinals visited the Yankees on Wednesday afternoon and, weirdly, Nolan Arenado was in the lineup. I say weirdly because it’s a three-hour bus ride and that’s not a trip veterans like Arenado usually make, especially this early in Spring Training. Naturally, it was speculated that he wanted to showcase himself for one of the five teams he’s willing to waive his no-trade clause to join. "I didn’t come here for that. Day 3 of Spring Training. That wouldn’t be a good day to showcase myself. I’m not ready for that,” Arenado told Derrick Goold after going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. He said he made the trip to see former teammates Paul Goldschmidt and DJ LeMahieu, and also to stay on his schedule. Sure, Nolan. Sure. (wink wink) Here now are a few thoughts on the last few games.

The early days of the third base competition

Six games into the Grapefruit League season, Oswaldo Cabrera is 1-for-9 with a home run and Oswald Peraza is 2-for-6 with a walk. They’ve alternating starts at third base. DJ LeMahieu will play his first game either Saturday or Monday, Aaron Boone said. I’m curious to see how much third base he plays this spring. I gotta think at least some, right? Early March is too soon to turn him into a first base only guy.

Anyway, nine at-bats is nothing. The performance doesn't matter right now. I thought it was maybe notable that Peraza made his three starts with the other big league infielders while Cabrera went on the road for his first two starts, and played with non-roster guys and minor leaguers. But Cabrera played with Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Anthony Volpe on Thursday, so he got a turn with the MLB infielders. 

A week into Spring Training, it appeared one guy was getting a chance to develop chemistry with the big league infielders and the other was not. Peraza was playing alongside Chisholm and Volpe (and Paul Goldschmidt) and that chemistry is important, particularly with Volpe. How far does he range into the hole, what plays are mine and what are his, etc. It’s important stuff for the shortstop and third baseman.

Peraza played with Volpe three times early on and that seemed notable, but then Cabrera got his chance Thursday. Also, does Cabrera need to develop chemistry with Volpe? He played 74 games at third base last year. They should know each other pretty well. Peraza’s big league playing time has been much more scattered the last three years. It stands to reason he needs more time with Volpe.

To put it another way, we haven’t learned anything about the third base competition yet, and I’m chasing ghosts. I hate this time of year, man. It makes you see things that aren’t there. That all said, the third base competition is one of those competitions that will last into the season. Whoever wins the job in Spring Training better perform, because the Yankees have others waiting who could get a look there if it's not happening in April.

“I love the Yankees. I want an opportunity to play for this team. This is my dream,” Peraza told Randy Miller last week. “… This year is really, really important for my career. I’m out of options. I’m a little antsy. I feel good for the moment. My mind is really good.”

Dom’s bombs

I think we know who That Guy will be this spring. The rando who puts up big numbers and becomes the talk of Spring Training. Sometimes those guys become Yangervis Solarte and actually contribute. Other times – most of the time – you get Marwin Gonzalez (.375/.400/.792 in Spring Training 2022) and it proves to be a mirage. What good is Spring Training if you can’t think maybe??? with non-roster guys?

This year’s That Guy: Dom Smith. He hit a home run Tuesday, another home run Wednesday, then he hit a ball to the wall later in the game Wednesday (video). Smith came this close to a two-homer inning:

Smith is 2-for-8 with the two homers and the near homer in the super early going. He didn’t exactly take brand names deep. He got former Yankee Michael Tonkin (fringe big leaguer) on Tuesday and Cardinals prospect Tink Hence (never pitched above Double-A) on Wednesday. You can only face the pitchers they put on the mound against you, and Smith took Tonkin and Hence deep.

Giancarlo Stanton’s elbow issues open the DH spot and Stanton’s past injuries tell us the Yankees will rotate players through the DH spot during his absence, not settle on one DH. Smith is competing for that open roster spot with Ben Rice, I guess Everson Pereira, and probably JC Escarra? The backup catcher competition will bleed into the DH competition, which is a weird thing to say. 

“I think he definitely factors into the mix,” Boone told David Lennon earlier this week. “The ability to play first. He’s working a little bit in the outfield, so we’ll move him around. He’s obviously a bat with a track record. He’s in good shape and ready to go, so we’ll see what we have.”

It’s not even March yet, so let’s not too overboard with Smith. All I’m going to say right now is Smith will need to have a big spring to make the Opening Day roster as Stanton’s replacement, and he’s gotten himself off to a nice start. I can’t say I’m expecting much, but I would be very onboard with Smith having an unexpectedly monster season and being the best No. 22 in New York.

Warren’s new/old curveball

Nine up, nine down, four strikeouts for Will Warren on Wednesday (video). He struck out four Cardinals’ regulars too, not minor leaguers or non-roster dudes. In his first spring start, Will Warren leaned heavily on his changeup, enough to say it was clearly a point of emphasis for him that afternoon. In his second spring start Wednesday, he broke out his curveball, a pitch he hadn’t thrown at all since 2023. 

“I didn’t throw it for two years, so I’m still trying to figure all that out,” Warren told Gary Phillips, adding he had trouble maintaining his arm angle with the curveball in the past. “… (I told them) let’s work on bringing the curveball back and see what happens. I started throwing it a little bit. I didn’t feel like I needed to climb (with my arm angle) because it wasn’t as much a separation from the sweeper and the curveball.”

Warren threw only three curveballs among his 35 pitches Wednesday, so he didn’t hammer away with it like he did the changeup last week (he threw only three changeups Wednesday too). They were the first curveballs he threw in a game since June 16th, 2023, in Triple-A. It’s an upper-70s pitch with above-average spin, and it's more 11-to-5 break than true 12-to-6 break.

Lefties hit Warren hard last season (.293/.379/.510) and the changeup and curveball are an effort to correct that. Changeups are used primarily against batters on the opposite side of the plate. Curveballs are much more platoon neutral than sweepers. The curve also gives Warren a “slow” pitch that widens his velocity range. Pitching is all about disrupting timing. The curve does that via shape and velocity.

“It’s just a different look,” Warren said during an in-game YES interview (video). “It’s something to steal a strike or two. Open up the arsenal to lefties.”

Two outings into Spring Training, Warren has looked good and sharp, and he was one of those guys who needed to have a good spring. He turns 26 in June. He doesn’t want to make it easy for the Yankees to send him to Triple-A for the third straight year. Warren might ultimately return to Scranton out of camp, but he wants to make it a hard decision. He’s important rotation depth. Hopefully the curveball (and changeup) work out and aren’t just a spring fling.

Matzek makes spring debut

Tyler Matzek is a thing early this spring. The non-roster lefty has been getting talked up since arriving to camp, and during his Grapefruit League debut Tuesday, his fastball sat 94.5 mph. It was his best velocity since May 2022, a few months before Tommy John surgery. Matzek came back early last year, then had more elbow trouble. The velocity suggests the 34-year-old is healthy now. Or at least healthy-ish.

“You watch him and you feel like we’ve got something there,” Boone told Bryan Hoch. “Obviously he was a premier reliever, and then some injuries set him back the last couple of years, but he looks really good. Early signs point to him – could absolutely factor in. Matzek, just because of his resume and what he’s been, and not knowing what to expect personally, he’s come in and really jumped out.”

Tim Hill is the only lefty locked into a bullpen spot and he’s a ground ball guy. Matzek, when at his best, is more of a bat-misser. It would be nice to have a second lefty who’s a strikeout guy to pair with Hill. I don’t think it’s imperative, but if you can make it work, it’s worthwhile. Hill can’t pitch every game and there will be times you want that left-on-left matchup because the specific hitter struggles with it.

Long way to go until Opening Day. Let’s see how Matzek looks the next few weeks before penciling him into the bullpen. I will say this though: Matzek’s service time allows him to opt out of his minor league deal at the end of Spring Training, and, if he looks good this spring, some team is gonna want him (Giants?). There are too many teams and too many bullpen spots for a good veteran lefty to not get a job.

If Matzek looks good the next few weeks and his stuff is where it needs to be, then just keep him. Put him on the 40-man roster and in the Opening Day bullpen. It won’t be difficult to make room for him, especially with Jake Cousins hurt. He fills a role, he’s shown he can handle high leverage/high pressure situations (2021 postseason with the Braves), and there’s no sending him to Triple-A if he looks good in camp. Matzek might be a keeper.

Miscellany

Anthony Volpe smashed a homer off actual big leaguer Matt Strahm on Thursday (video). It was 110.0 mph off the bat, the highest exit velocity of his career by 1.3 mph. That’s in any big league game. Regular season, postseason, Spring Training, whatever. We don’t have bat speed data for Thursday’s game for whatever reason, though I have to imagine it was one of those fast swings Volpe's been taking since last October. You don’t fluke into setting a new career high exit velocity by 1.3 mph. It’s a direct result of Volpe swinging harder … Austin Wells was not expected to play until the first week of March, but he talked his way into the lineup Wednesday, specifically because he wanted to catch Warren. Two at-bats, two pitches, two triple-digit exit velocities, including a double off a lefty (video). Pretty good afternoon … There’s been some buzz about Carlos Carrasco’s velocity this spring and it was up in his Grapefruit League debut Tuesday, though only about 1 mph from last spring. That is notable for a guy who will turn 38 next month, but eh, it’s not like he’s slinging 95-96 mph again. Carrasco was in the 91-94 mph range. Like Matzek, Carrasco’s service time allows him to opt out of his minor league deal at the end of Spring Training. I’m not sure how willing he is to go to Triple-A, but I hope he does. Veteran pitching depth is never a bad thing … Eric Reyzelman, my No. 20 prospect, on Thursday: nine fastballs, six swings, four whiffs, touched 98 mph. Struck out all three batters he faced, though it was three minor leaguers, not big league guys. Still, Reyzelman was electric … Non-roster guy Ismael Munguia has stood out in the early going. The 26-year-old outfielder is 3-for-8 with a triple and zero swings and misses. Munguia reached Triple-A for the first time last season and has been a low power/high contact guy throughout his career. Nice start to spring for him. Just wanted to acknowledge that. I’m not saying he should be on the roster or anything … Two homers in five spring at-bats for erstwhile top prospect Alex Vargas (video). He hit four homers in the minors last year. Go figure … Backup catcher candidate Alex Jackson is 0-for-4 with four strikeouts this spring. I am oddly curious to see if the Yankees love his defense so much that he wins the job even while striking out in every single Grapefruit League at-bat … Recent waiver claim lefty Brent Headrick struck out four in two scoreless innings Wednesday. He’s up to seven strikeouts in three innings (13 batters faced) this spring, and his fastball velocity Wednesday was again up 2 mph from last year. Per Baseball Reference’s opponent quality metric, Headrick has faced some of the best competition among Yankees pitchers this spring. I’m not saying this is a definite thing yet. I’m just saying I’m intrigued … And finally, the first round of roster cuts should be coming soon. Probably this weekend. The first cuts are usually lower level minor leaguers, so figure guys like Roderick Arias and George Lombard Jr. They could still come back up as minor league camp call-ups for road trips or whatever, but it's getting to be time for them to head across the street and do their work in the minor league camp.

Injury updates

Scott Effross has inherited the “he doesn’t exist” crown from Ben Rortvedt. Effross suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain throwing a pitch Tuesday. He received a PRP injection and is going to miss some time. It was hard to see him making the Opening Day roster without a few more injuries, but now he won’t even be available as an up/down guy for a few weeks. Pitchers, man … Clarke Schmidt (back) threw an extended bullpen Tuesday and is expected to throw live BP this weekend. He’s a bit behind the other starters, though there’s still enough time to get him stretched out and ready for the regular season … Jake Cousins (forearm) will begin throwing Monday. His last round of tests came back good. Cousins has to get built up from scratch, so, even as a short reliever, there isn’t enough time to get ready for Opening Day. He’ll start the season on the injured list. At least Cousins is making progress with his recovery though … Jorbit Vivas has been slowed by a shoulder issue, though he’s close to getting into games. He has yet to appear in a game this spring … And finally, nothing new to report on Giancarlo Stanton (elbows). He’s still in New York tending to a personal matter. Boone said he doesn’t know when Stanton will rejoin the Yankees. I hope all is good with Big G.

Up next

The first night game of Spring Training. Here’s the full spring broadcast schedule and here’s what’s coming up between now and Tuesday’s post:

• Friday vs. Blue Jays: Gerrit Cole (6:30pm ET on Gotham)

• Saturday vs. Astros: TBA (1pm ET on YES, Gotham)

• Sunday at Braves: TBA (1pm ET on FanDuel Southeast, MLBN, Gotham)

• Monday vs. Pirates: TBA (6:30pm ET on YES, Gotham)

Friday’s game is a Gotham app exclusive, but if I’m remembering correctly, the YES app exclusives last spring were also on MLBtv. You can’t turn on your television and watch on regular old YES though. Also, a Spring Training night game on a Friday? Blah. At least Cole is pitching. That will be his Grapefruit League debut. It lines him up to make five spring starts before Opening Day with two extra rest days/wiggle room days along the way. 

Luis Gil and Max Fried (and Marcus Stroman) threw live BP on Tuesday. That lines Fried up to make his Grapefruit League debut Sunday against the Braves, his former team, and puts him on the same schedule as Cole (five spring starts with two extra rest days) leading into the second game of the regular season. The Yankees have the “in case Opening Day gets rained out” off-day after Opening Day this year, hence a day separating Cole and Fried this spring.

I assume Gil will make his spring debut Monday. There’s enough time for him to make five starts, including a few with extra rest, and be lined up to start the third or fourth game of the regular season. If he goes the third game, it will allow the Yankees to split up the lefties (Fried and Carlos Rodón), which is the kinda thing teams like to do even though there’s no real evidence that it matters with starting pitchers. 

As for the relievers, Tim Hill made his spring debut Thursday and Luke Weaver and Devin Williams both threw live BP on Wednesday. Relievers only need 5-6 appearances in Spring Training to get ready for the season, so there’s no rush to get them into actual games. Maybe it’ll be this weekend. Maybe not until next week. Either way, Weaver and Williams are fine and doing the usual work on the backfields.

Aaron Judge will make his Grapefruit League debut Saturday, Boone confirmed. LeMahieu will do the same either Saturday or Monday. The only other position players in big league camp who have yet to appear in a game this spring are Stanton, Vivas, Brennen Davis, and Trent Grisham. Grisham (hamstring), Stanton (elbows), and Vivas (shoulder) are hurt. Davis, who has a long injury history, must be as well. No reason he'd be held out of games otherwise.

2. Rapid fire thoughts. If you care about such things, Jon Heyman says Aaron Boone’s new contract raised this year’s salary to $4.5M, and will pay him $5M in 2026 and $5.5M in 2027. Technically, they tore up the last year on his previous contract and replaced it with a new three-year deal worth $15M. That makes Boone one of the 3-4 highest paid managers in baseball, which is to be expected when you’ve managed the Yankees for going on eight years now … The Nationals DFAed outfielder Stone Garrett the other day. You may remember him breaking his leg at Yankee Stadium two years ago (video). He’s healthy now and he played 81 games last season. The numbers don’t stand out – Garrett slashed .249/.348/.333 (87 wRC+) in Triple-A last year – but he’s an exit velocity dude and the folks who put together swing decision models adore him. The Yankees have some 40-man roster flexibility and could use more/better position player depth. Perhaps Garrett is worth a waiver claim … And finally, I got two pieces I want to pass along. First, Lewie Pollis attempted to quantify the benefit of leaving the starter in. Basically, how much does it help the bullpen (both today and tomorrow) if the starter gets a few more outs rather than being pulled after two times through the lineup. It certainly makes sense that the bullpen is less effective the more it works, but Pollis tried to put numbers on how much short starts effect the bullpen. And second, Max Lane and Owen Riley dug into the ABS challenge system at the Triple-A level. Among other things, they found that teams tend to save their challenges for the late innings (perhaps to their detriment), high pitches get overturned more frequently than low pitches, hitters with strong walk/strikeout rates aren’t necessarily more successful when they challenge, and changeups confuse everyone. Interesting stuff. Check it out.

Mailbag Questions of the Week

Steve asks: Two years ago the Yankees were so bad offensively, in part because they were so unbalanced lacking left handed hitting. Do you think they have overcompensated and are too left handed this year? With Stanton out, it’s Judge, Volpe, Goldschmidt and …. Peraza? LeMahieu? Hate to count on them. Domínguez is weaker from the right side, as is Cabrera. Even the bench with Grisham and Rice are left handed.

I’m not sure overcompensated is the right word. The Yankees definitely needed more lefty bats. It was painfully obvious from 2019-23. They just fell behind on the right side. Part of that is their player development shortcomings (Anthony Volpe’s bat) and part of it is uninspiring talent acquisition, meaning either aiming low (Paul Goldschmidt) or not doing anything at all (third base). Maybe Goldschmidt and DJ LeMahieu find the Fountain of Youth, maybe Volpe breaks out, maybe Giancarlo Stanton returns early in the season and stays on the field. Right now though, Aaron Judge is the only righty in the lineup we can comfortably expect to be an above-average hitter in 2025. Even switch-hitters Oswaldo Cabrera and Jasson Domínguez are much better from the left side of the plate. Does this mean the Yankees should bite the bullet and sign the right-handed J.D. Martinez? I dunno, I don’t think you can count on him to perform at this point. He’s 37 and he was awful to finish last year. He’s just another “hope he has a dead cat bounce in him” guy like Goldschmidt and LeMahieu. The lineup is not overly lefty heavy. The Yankees will have three righties in the regular lineup (Goldschmidt, Judge, Volpe), three lefties in the regular lineup (Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Austin Wells), and one switch-hitter who will be in the regular lineup (Domínguez). The other two spots could be revolving doors depending what the Yankees do at third base and DH while Stanton’s out. The Yankees needed more lefties. It was plainly obvious. They just fell behind with righties, moreso in quality than quantity. (This is another opportunity to say the Yankees should have re-signed Gleyber Torres to a one-year contract.)

Jon asks: Everson Pereira looks decent enough in Triple A ball, but never in the bigs. What does he need to do to carve out a career as, say, the next Trent Grisham? And what would someone like that on his contract be worth in a trade?

It’s all about pitch recognition and contact for Pereira. Those are two things Grisham is pretty good at. He is very passive, Grisham’s problem is that he takes too many hittable pitches, but he’s been a single-digit swinging strike rate guy most of his career. Pereira generally knows a ball from a strike and a fastball from a slider. His chase rates are not excessive. He just doesn’t get the bat on the ball enough when he does swing. Grisham has a career 8.8% swinging strike rate in the big leagues. Pereira is at 18.5% in Triple-A. When you miss with close to one out of every five swings, it’s really hard to be a productive player, and contact is one of the hardest things to improve (pitchers are trying to prevent it, after all). As for trade value, Pereira doesn't have much right now. Alex Canario, a very similar contact-challenged outfield prospect, was just DFAed and traded for cash. Pereira can maybe – maybe – be the third piece in a larger trade. I don't think he would fetch much at all on his own.

Ryan asks:  In honor of the Aaron Judge era championship window (rapidly?!) closing, what is your all-Judge era team and lineup? Starting rotation and 1 per closer/set up/middle relief would be welcome and appreciated too if time! Recently did this with my friend and felt it revealed some interesting tid-bits about the Yankees and their roster construction / talent development these past 8 seasons, so could be fun.

As I went through this exercise, I felt like there was an obvious answer at every position and no real debate to be had. I’d fill out the starting lineup like so:

1. 3B DJ LeMahieu (2019-20 version)
2. RF Juan Soto
3. CF Aaron Judge
4. DH Giancarlo Stanton
5. C Gary Sánchez (2017-19 version)
6. 1B Luke Voit
7. 2B Gleyber Torres
8. SS Didi Gregorius
9. LF Brett Gardner

The batting order is whatever, but is there anything to debate there personnel-wise? Sir Didi had two +5-ish WAR seasons with the Yankees (2017-18) and was a much better hitter than Anthony Volpe. Voit significantly out-hit Anthony Rizzo as a Yankee (138 wRC+ vs. 108 wRC+), enough to make up for the gap in defense. The other seven positions seem pretty inarguable to me. 

Sticking to actual bench/role players, my bench would include Kyle Higashioka, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Mike Tauchman, and Matt Carpenter. Maybe it should be Jose Trevino over Higashioka. Maybe IKF played too much and we should go with Oswaldo Cabrera as the backup infielder. Maybe it’s Cameron Maybin over Tauchman in the outfield. I think we’re on the right track though. Here’s my rotation:

1. Gerrit Cole
2. Luis Severino (2017-18 version)
3. Masahiro Tanaka
4. Nestor Cortes
5. CC Sabathia

I think the top four are pretty clear (in whatever order after Cole). That fifth spot is a toss up between Sabathia, Jordan Montgomery, Jameson Taillon, and maybe even Domingo Germán (remember when he threw a perfect game? what the heck was that about). When in doubt, go with the Hall of Famer. My late-inning bullpen mix includes Aroldis Chapman, Chad Green, Clay Holmes, and Mike King. Chapman as the closer with the other three setting up is pretty straightforward.

I guess the main takeaway here is that only a handful of these guys are on the team right now. Some of that is, uh, whatever the opposite of recency bias is. Guys like Jazz Chisholm Jr., Max Fried, and Austin Wells simply haven’t had enough time to earn spots on our All-Judge Era team. I don’t necessarily agree that the championship window is closing on the Judge era (the championship window never really closes for the Yankees, especially in the three Wild Card era), but I think it’s fair to say Judge has had better teams around him. Certainly on offense, he has.

Mike asks: What are your thoughts on Rizzo's recent comments? Do you agree with his assessment?  I can understand why a professional athlete would have a tough time accepting that they are not as good as they once were, but he was so bad and injury prone the past 2 years. I just can't see why any MLB team would want to guarantee him a roster spot let alone a few million dollars. I don't really think he's being squeezed out at all.

Last week Anthony Rizzo told Ken Rosenthal (subs. req’d) he still wants to play, and added veterans like him “kind of get squeezed” and “teams want you to play for basically league minimum.” I understand his frustration, and I do think veteran role players are being pushed aside too quickly. Why did Mark Canha have to settle for a minor league deal on Feb. 22nd? Surely Jose Quintana and David Robertson could help one of the 30 teams, right? Those guys were all productive players in 2024. In Rizzo’s case, he hasn’t hit the last two years, his defense has slipped, and he’s had injuries. He put up a 91 wRC+ in close to 1,000 plate appearances the last two years, and that’s at a position with a high offensive bar. The Yankees couldn’t count on him to catch the ball late last year either. Players are always the last to understand/accept they’re done. I’m not all surprised that Rizzo still wants to play and thinks he can help a team, but you have to go back three years to find the last time he was good and healthy. As for veterans getting squeezed, yeah, it definitely happens. It’s one thing to avoid multi-year deals for dudes in their mid-to-late 30s. It’s another to pass on one-year deals. 

Robert asks: your latest update on Warren working on his change-up this spring got me wondering... why don't the lower levels hammer away on refining the change-up since it's so important in the show? I understand that at the lower levels a change up is basically a bad fastball that other "lesser" hitters can hit, but I'd assume it would be a bigger focus given it's importance at the next level.

Oh they do work on it in the lower minors. It’s just a difficult pitch to master, and oftentimes other things are a higher priority. It’s easier to develop a breaking ball than a changeup, so teams focus on the breaker as the second pitch before moving onto the changeup as the third pitch. That kinda thing. A few years ago the Rays really prioritized changeups and held their top pitching prospects in the minors until they mastered it (this was around when Matt Moore was coming up). They eventually abandoned that approach because they realized they were wasting innings in Triple-A, and that sometimes your guys just aren't gonna pick up a changeup. It is the most "feel" pitch in baseball. These days they can teach anyone to throw a slider, but a changeup is either in your fingers and your arm action, or it's not.

Jeremy asks: Isn't it surprising that in 2025, with all the prospect watching and what not, some Spring Training games are not televised? I know viewership wouldn't be amazing, but I assume that every game would outperform whatever programming YES/other RSNs show on weekday afternoons and that broadcasting each game would be a profitable endeavor. Am I missing something, because I can't imagine team owners would pass up on the opportunity if it was profitable?

I assure you that if it was profitable, the networks would do it. The Dodgers are the only team that sends their broadcast crew on the road in Spring Training (that includes the camera guys, their equipment, etc.) and they train in Arizona, where the average road trip is about 15 minutes. Lugging the equipment and camera operators around Florida is a different animal. We’re pretty fortunate. YES broadcasts every single Spring Training home game and the last few years they’ve simulcast the other team’s broadcast on the YES/Gotham app when the Yankees go on the road. Some teams only broadcast a few home games each spring. The Orioles will broadcast only eight games this spring. The Marlins will broadcast only two themselves. The teams that own their own networks broadcast the most games (duh), but even then sending crews on the road in March isn’t worth the hassle. You can only draw so many eyeballs for a game that doesn’t count at 1pm ET on a Tuesday, you know? (If you watched Thursday’s game against the Phillies, the MLB.com live stream was just the Phillies’ Low-A broadcast. Same camera angles, same graphics, etc. Usually they have broadcasters and audio though.)

Mark asks: First the facial hair policy change, then we hear the team is stopping the playing of New York, New York after a loss (thank the Lord) and now I read where Roger Clemens is back in camp as a guest instructor (who saw that coming?). What are the next changes you’d like to see the team make - either on the field, in the stadium or in the broadcast booth / tv studios?

Not only was Clemens in camp as a guest instructor, so were Reggie Jackson and Alex Rodriguez. This is the first time Clemens has been around the Yankees since he last played in 2007. Reggie is in camp for the first time since taking an advisor job with the Astros in 2021 (he left Houston over the winter). The Yankees invited A-Rod back for the first time last summer, for the dual Old Timers’ Day/15th anniversary of the 2009 World Series celebration, and now he’s in Spring Training. Crazy times, man. (I'm pretty sure A-Rod, Reggie, and Clemens are gone now. They put in a few days at camp, then went home.)

As for what I’d change next, I’ve got three things for you. First, stop playing God Bless America during the seventh inning stretch. It’s overstayed its welcome. No other team plays it every single game. Second, an alternate third jersey. City Connects are completely mailed in these days, so forget those. I don't trust them to come up with a good one. But an alternate third jersey? Do it. A navy blue jersey with the top hat logo is easy enough. Keep the pinstripes at home and wear the alternate jersey on Sunday afternoon getaway days on the road. Easy peasy.

And third, more giveaways and more for the fans in general. The Yankees have 15 giveaways on the promotional schedule this year (five bobbleheads) and they give away no more than 18,000 of each. If you’ve ever gone to a bobblehead day, you know you have to get to Yankee Stadium about an hour before gates open to have a chance at getting one. The Dodgers, for comparison, have 34 giveaways scheduled (21 bobbleheads) and they give away 40,000 of each. Wee bit of a discrepancy there.

Furthermore, the Dodgers and many other teams had a Fan Fest last month. The Yankees haven’t done one in years. The Yankees have a purely transactional relationship with the fan base. You give them your money, they put a good team on the field, and then you go your separate ways at the end of the night. You get nothing more from them. The Yankees don’t do anything to cultivate fans and they do very little to draw people to the ballpark other than simply existing. The Yankees don’t treat their fans badly. They could treat them better though.

Dan asks: Have you seen/read/heard about people having issues with the Gotham Sports app? The app has generally been disappointing, and I'm not able to watch games on my computer. Whenever I load up the game on my PC, I get an error message. 

I guess I’m the lucky one, because I haven’t had any problems beyond the usual “it randomly signs me out and occasionally freezes, so I have to restart the app” stuff that seems to come with every streaming service. I haven’t gotten an error message when I use it on my laptop either. It does make my computer lag big time though. It’s a pain to keep the little picture-in-picture box open while working on something else, so watch Gotham on my tablet whenever I can. I think Gotham’s better than the YES app, though that’s a very low bar. I’ve managed to avoid any real headaches with Gotham. I’ll count my blessings.

(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.)