When the New York Yankees acquired Jon Berti on Wednesday in a deal with the Miami Marlins, the team’s supporters rejoiced.
The injuries to DJ LeMahieu and Oswald Peraza severely limited the team’s depth in the infield; thus, it was exactly the kind of addition the squad needed.
However, we are foolish! We believed that there wouldn’t be any more strings linked to our happiness. Since 2010, that has not been a Yankees fan’s life. Adapt to the times!
Other than Berti going to the Yankees, there were no details of the trade transaction in the first news release. It was eventually discovered that the Yankees were part of a three-team trade that included the Tampa Bay Rays, while everyone was waiting to find out what the Yankees were giving up.
To complete the trade, the Yanks sent catcher Ben Rortvedt to the Rays and sent No. 28 prospect John Cruz to the Marlins.
The departure of Rortvedt was unavoidable. The team was not going to carry three catchers; therefore, he was out of options. With his departure, there is officially no record of the Josh Donaldson trade left within the Yankees organization.
However, Rortvedt and Isiah Kiner-Falefa will continue to play in the division, so the Yankees will eventually have to deal with these players’ anticipated retaliation.
I believed the Yankees might try to slip Ben Rortvedt through waivers with an Opening Day roster spot because they like him and because he did a wonderful job catching Gerrit Cole in the latter part of his Cy Young campaign last year. He is going to a division rival instead.
The Yankees close the door on a disastrous transaction involving Josh Donaldson, but they expose themselves.
Remember that Rortvedt was the extra piece that the Twins got in the trade that saw Donaldson, IKF, and Gary Sánchez go to New York and Gio Urshela and Gary Sánchez go to Minnesota in 2022?Rortvedt’s biceps were the main draw, but for his first year and a half in the Bronx, he was more of an urban legend than anything else.
He was injured as soon as he got there, and he missed all of 2022’s games. Then, his 2023 began similarly when he had to have surgery for a condition that was unknown to us.
Rortvedt played in 32 games overall for the Yanks, hitting.118 with an OPS of.461 and contributing below-average defense.
He was, however, GERRIT COLE’S PERSONAL CATCHER at some point, for whatever reason. Yes, Rortvedt caught most of his games in the second half of the campaign, according to the man who won the Cy Young Award in 2023.
Nobody could have made someone as unimportant as Rortvedt as important as he eventually became, but the Yankees.
Throughout his tenure with the Yankees, Ben Rortvedt went from “he doesn’t exist” to “personal catcher for Cy Young winner” to SEE YA.
But hold on to it! Rortvedt will start slugging against the Rays for no apparent reason, and when he hits a game-winning home run against them in May when the bullpen decides to implode on a random Wednesday evening, the Yankees will undoubtedly want to take a long stroll off a small pier.
When the Yanks play the division-rival Blue Jays and Rays in 2024 (and maybe beyond), the stench of the Donaldson deal will remain a little longer. We’ll undoubtedly be able to permanently end it one day.
Read More…
The Yankees’ $360 million star plan is an “injury list waiting to happen.
GettyThis season, as he attempts to avoid injury, Aaron Judge, the franchise star, will be constantly watched by New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone.
It would appear that a return of the injuries that ended the New York Yankees’ 2023 season is the only thing stopping their batting order from being the greatest in baseball after they acquired Juan Soto in a major offseason transaction.
Bob Klapsich of the Newark Star Ledger, an MLB columnist, was thinking about a defensive switch for $360 million franchise star Aaron Judge.
“I don’t think we can overestimate the risk of having Judge in center field this year if we’re talking about injuries,” Klapsich wrote. “I really believe that this is a ridiculous concept. However, Judge in center is a waiting list for injuries, as Bernie Williams informed me early in the spring.
Moved to Center Field to Make Room for New York Yankees Additions, Aaron Judge
Judge has started 616 games in right field, 128 games as a designated hitter, and 120 games in center field over his eight-season career. However, with Soto and Alex Verdugo joining this summer, Judge is now expected to play center field, which is considered to be a far more physically demanding position, for the majority of his defensive time.
“I am aware that there aren’t many possibilities at that position since Verdugo needs to be on the left and Soto on the right,” Klapsich continued. An injury-prone center fielder who has spent the majority of his career playing in right field faces far too many physical demands… And even in the unlikely event that he is not hurt, the summertime grind might have a role. There is a big, fat question mark in center field.
For the Yankees to have a successful postseason run, Aaron Judge must be healthy.
If the Yankees hope to win a World Series in 2024, they will require Judge to be at the top of his game. The slugger set numerous MLB records in 2022, including home runs, RBI, walks, OBP, SLG, and OPS. He also won the MVP award and set the record for most home runs in the history of the American League. Aaron Boone, the manager of the Yankees, has noted that he played center field in 78 games that season while staying healthy.
However, 2023 was a distinct tale. Judge dealt with two serious injuries that limited his number of at-bats to only 367, but he was still an excellent player when he was well. After missing 10 days of action, Judge returned to spring training and swung a double in his first at-bat, allaying concerns about an abdominal issue this preseason. He has made it clear that, going into Opening Day, he is feeling good.
His teammates on the Yankees, though, haven’t had the same luck. Along with other injuries on the roster, franchise ace Gerrit Cole is presently recovering from an elbow injury, anticipated leadoff hitter DJ LeMahieu is opening the season on the injured list, and first baseman Anthony Rizzo experienced some minor discomfort during spring training.
Even then, the Yankees could be able to overcome any hardship they encounter in 2024 if they have a healthy Judge and Soto batting tandem. Given that the team is depending on Judge to be as good as or better than ever at bat, the amount of time he spends prowling center field may come under scrutiny.
Klapsich remarked, “Judge is 32, which is a lot different than being in your 20s.” The Yankees must thus carefully control how much time he plays. If not, a collapse by late summer is a possibility.
