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Saturday Links: Singleton, Players’ Weekend, Pride Events

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Singleton circa 1983. (Owen C. Shaw/Getty)

Weather permitting, the Yankees and Rangers will continue their four-game series this afternoon at Yankee Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for a little after 1pm ET. Here are some links to help you pass the time until the game begins.

Singleton returning in 2019

Ken Singleton is reportedly postponing his retirement. According to Randy Miller, Singleton will return to the YES Network next year on a reduced schedule. He’ll work about 24 games rather than his usual 55, with a heavy dose of games in Baltimore and Tampa, where he has homes. Singleton will also do one other road trip plus some games at Yankee Stadium. Nothing is official yet, but Kenny pretty much confirmed he’s returning on this week’s R2C2 podcast.

Earlier this year Singleton announced 2018 would be his final season as a broadcaster. It wasn’t speculation. He announced it. Apparently the head honchos at the YES Network put on the full court press and convinced him to come back. Singleton said he wants to spend more time with his family and grandchildren, and the reduced schedule will allow that. Next season will be his 50th (!) in big league baseball. He played 15 years and has spent the last 35 as a broadcaster. Hell of a baseball life. I am very glad Singleton is returning. He’s my favorite broadcaster.

Players’ Weekend returns for 2018

Prepare yourself for another weekend of outrage from baseball purists. Earlier this week MLB announced the second annual Players’ Weekend will take place from Friday, August 24th, through Sunday, August 26th. The Yankees will be in Baltimore that weekend and they have a doubleheader that Saturday, so they’ll get to rock their Players’ Weekend uniforms for four games instead of three. You can see all the jerseys here. Here’s the Yankees’:

Same as last season. The Yankees didn’t change the jerseys at all. Boring! Last year they were at home for Players’ Weekend and those jersey tops looked weird with white pinstriped pants. I reckon they’ll look much better with the road gray pants this year. As for the uniform nicknames, you can see all of them right here. They really should’ve gone with each player’s Didi Gregorius emoji. Brad Boxberger will have emojis on his jersey. Yankees should’ve done it. Alas.

Yankees planning events to commemorate Stonewall Riots

The Yankees are planning “significant events” both inside and outside Yankee Stadium next season to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, report Andy Martino and George King. No details have been announced yet, though the events will be something that provide more meaningful engagement and interaction with the community than a simple LGBTQ Pride Night at the ballpark.

The Stonewall Riots were a watershed moment for gay rights in New York. The Yankees were the last team in baseball to announce plans for an event celebrating gay rights — the Mets have held an annual Pride Night since 2016, for example — which is disappointing, especially since they play in the largest and most diverse city in the world. Better late than never.

Yankees and Royals rained out, doubleheader tomorrow

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(Presswire)

Another day, another rainout. Tonight’s game with the Royals has been postseason due to rain, the Yankees announced. It’ll be made up as part of a split doubleheader tomorrow. The first game is scheduled for 1pm ET and the second game is scheduled for 7pm ET. Here is the rainout ticket policy.

The 1pm ET game tomorrow is the regularly scheduled game, and if you’re hoping to score a CC Sabathia bobblehead tomorrow night during the makeup game, forget it. The Yankees say the bobbleheads were fully distributed to fans at the ballpark tonight. Too late to get one. Alas.

Because the doubleheader was not scheduled 48 hours in advance, the Yankees and Royals can add a 26th man for the second game only tomorrow. They have to play with a 25-man roster in the first game. Gio Gallegos has been the designated 26th man pretty much all season. I assume he’ll get the call. Here are the rotation plans:

  • Saturday vs. Royals: Luis Severino (Game One) and CC Sabathia (Game Two)
  • Sunday vs. Royals: J.A. Happ
  • Monday: Off-day
  • Tuesday vs. Orioles: Masahiro Tanaka
  • Wednesday vs. Orioles: Sonny Gray

That lines up Severino, Sabathia, Happ, and Tanaka for the four games at Fenway Park next weekend. I should mention that Happ has not yet joined the Yankees. His flight to New York was canceled today because of the weather. So he’s going to arrive tomorrow and pitch Sunday? Wonder if he gets pushed back to Tuesday. We’ll see.

Anyway, this is now the ninth — ninth! — postponement of the season for the Yankees, including the suspended game against the Nationals. They still have a doubleheader tomorrow, a makeup game (lost an off-day) against the Mets on Monday, August 13th, and a doubleheader in Baltimore on Saturday, August 25th. So annoying. So, so annoying.

Subway Series finale rained out, makeup game set for Aug. 13

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(Presswire)

The 2018 Subway Series finale will have to wait. Tonight’s Yankees vs. Mets game has been rained out, it has been announced. The game will be made up on Monday, August 13th, at 7:05pm ET. Here is the rainout ticket policy. Tonight’s forecast hasn’t looked good for a while now. Kinda annoying they waited this long to bang the game.

The good news: The Yankees will not face Jacob deGrom tonight and have a one-in-five chance to face him in the makeup game next month. Less than that, really, considering the trade/injury risk factor. The Yankees missed Max Scherzer thanks to a rainout in Washington earlier this season. Missing two super aces due to rain is quite a bit of good fortunate.

The bad news: The Yankees lose another off-day. They’ve had to surrender a few to makeup games already. That August 13th date is in the middle of a ten-game homestand, so at least the Yankees don’t have to travel anywhere. The Yankees, will, however have to play 20 games in 20 days starting July 31st. That stinks. The off-day was right in the middle of that stretch.

The Yankees are going to Tampa next for a three-game series with the Rays that begins tomorrow. Aaron Boone said Luis Severino will start tomorrow as scheduled because he flew ahead of the team and is already in Tampa. Here is the upcoming rotation:

  • Monday at Rays: Luis Severino
  • Tuesday at Rays: Masahiro Tanaka (tonight’s scheduled starter)
  • Wednesday at Rays: Luis Cessa (replacing Domingo German)
  • Thursday vs. Royals: Sonny Gray
  • Friday vs. Rays: CC Sabathia (on his bobblehead day!)

Between the All-Star break and the rotation setup, the Yankees are giving Sabathia a nice long break between starts. Not a bad idea at his age, especially given his knee. He received a lubrication injection in the knee during the All-Star break, which he’s been doing for a few years now. Sabathia last started last Saturday. He’s going to go 12 days between starts. Hopefully he’s fresh for the second half.

This is the seventh — seventh! — rainout of the season for the Yankees, including the suspended game in Washington. Almost all of those rainouts have been made up, thankfully. The Yankees have the makeup game against the Mets on August 13th, and they have a doubleheader in Baltimore on August 25th. Really sick of rainouts, you guys.

Sunday Links: Fulmer, Mets, International Deals, YES Network

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Fulmer. (Duane Burleson/Getty)

The Yankees and Red Sox will wrap up their three-game weekend series later tonight on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. First pitch is scheduled for 8pm ET and I reckon the game will end around midnight. That’s usually how these games go, right? Anyway, here are some notes to check out in the meantime.

Yankees scouting Fulmer

According to George King, the Yankees had scout Jay Darnell on hand to watch Michael Fulmer’s most recent start. Darnell is one of Brian Cashman’s most trusted scouts. For what it’s worth, a rival executive told Jon Heyman he thinks the Tigers will keep Fulmer for the time being. “They are treating him like a No. 2 starter,” said that rival executive. If nothing else, the Yankees are doing their due diligence prior to the trade deadline. They’ll scouts lots of guys in the coming weeks.

Fulmer, 25, started Thursday and allowed four runs on nine hits and no walks in eight innings against the Athletics. He struck out five. For the season he owns a 4.20 ERA (4.03 FIP) with 20.4% strikeouts and 46.3% grounders in 94.1 innings. Fulmer is under team control through 2022 but he has been a little worse with each passing season. I was a big Fulmer guy in the past. I love the stuff. But I wonder if he’s a Michael Pineda type who is more hittable than the stuff would lead you to believe.

Cashman has talked to the Mets

With their season spiraling out of control, Mets assistant GM John Ricco said he will indeed consider trade offers for Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. Ricco is essentially the club’s acting GM after Sandy Alderson stepped away to receive treatment for cancer. “We’ll have to consider (trading them). For me, everything has to be on the table. But you have to look long and hard before you move a game-changing, top-of-the-rotation pitcher,” said Ricco to Tim Healey.

Cashman confirmed to King and Ken Davidoff that he has spoken to the Mets, and while he didn’t name names, I think it’s safe to assume deGrom and/or Syndergaard were the focus of his attention. From King and Davidoff:

“I’ve been engaged with all clubs, including the Mets. It’s the job,” Cashman said at Keens Steakhouse in Manhattan, where he helped promote a new venture called New York Sports Tours. “And if you can ever match up, you make ownership recommendations on both ends and see if it takes you anywhere.

Either deGrom or Syndergaard would be a tremendous get for the Yankees, both short and long-term. Syndergaard has more team control remaining and the higher upside, I think, but I prefer deGrom. His injury history isn’t as scary — Syndergaard is out with a finger issue right now and has thrown only 95 innings since the start of last season due to lat and finger trouble — and I think he’s just flat out better. deGrom’s been ridiculous this year.

Of course, the chances of a significant Yankees-Mets trade are remote, even if it makes sense for both teams. The Yankees can match (and beat) pretty much any prospect offer, and if they make the best offer, why wouldn’t the Mets take it? Who knows. I guess the thought of potentially seeing deGrom or Syndergaard leading the Yankees to postseason glory is enough to make the Wilpons squeamish. I like that Cashman is talking about this openly. Puts pressure on the Mets. Everyone knows the Yankees have plenty of good prospects to offer, and if they trade deGrom and Syndergaard for a bunch of lesser prospects, lots of Mets fans will not be happy.

MLB bans teams from signing players out of Mexican League

Leggo my Gallegos. (Hunter Martin/Getty)

According to Jeff Passan, MLB has banned teams from signing players out of the Mexican League, citing “fraud” and “corruption” with the league’s transactions. Mexican League teams control a player’s rights indefinitely and they sell those rights to MLB teams. Generally speaking, the player only gets 25% of his signing bonus with the rest going to his Mexican League. MLB wants a system similar to their posting arrangements with Japan and Korea, where most of the money goes to the player.

Mexico does not produce as much talent as the Dominican Republic or Venezuela, though dozens of Mexican born players have played in the big leagues. Luis Cessa and Gio Gallegos both originally signed out of Mexico. Ten years ago the Yankees landed Manny Banuelos, Alfredo Aceves, and two others in a package deal with a Mexican League team worth $450,000. The process for signing players out of Mexico is incredibly unfair to the player and I’m glad MLB is trying to do something about it.

Yankees may buy back the YES Network

The Yankees are considering buying back controlling interest in the YES Network, reports Andrew Marchand. At the moment the team owns 20% of the network and 21st Century FOX owns the rest. A few years ago the Yankees sold a 49% stake in the YES Network at a valuation of $3.8 billion, and the deal allowed 21st Century FOX to purchase up to 80% of the network, which they’ve since done.

Marchand says the YES Network is part of a collection of assets 21st Century FOX is looking to unload. The Yankees could line up investors, buy back the network, and chances are nothing would change on our end (except streaming on the FOX Sports Go app, probably). If another entity buys YES — Marchand says Comcast and Disney are in on the action — there could be changes to the network as the new owner incorporates their branding and whatnot. Either way, the Yankees will still make gobs of money through the YES Network.

Saturday Links: Watson, Giambi, YES Network, Kay, Singleton

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Watson. (Presswire)

The Yankees and Rays will continue their three-game series with the middle game later this afternoon. Here are some links and notes to check out in the meantime.

Yankees pursued Watson over the winter

According to Joel Sherman, the Yankees tried to sign left-hander Tony Watson during the offseason. He instead signed a luxury tax friendly two-year deal worth $9M guaranteed with the Giants. The veteran left-hander has a 1.82 ERA (1.76 FIP) with 29.6% strikeouts and 44.2% grounders in 34.2 innings this year. He’s a full inning southpaw, not a left-on-left matchup guy.

This is pretty interesting to me. The Yankees were trying to beef up their bullpen even more and they were apparently ready to cut Chasen Shreve loose. Hard to see how both would’ve fit in the Opening Day bullpen. The Giants are hanging around the postseason race at the moment, but if San Francisco slips in the standings these next few weeks, I wonder whether the Yankees would pursue Watson at the trade deadline. Intrigue!

Yankees reached out to Giambi about role in organization

Over the winter the Yankees reached out to Jason Giambi to gauge his interest in joining the organization, according to Brendan Kuty. Giambi didn’t specify what sort of position was discussed, though he did say he was not interested in the managerial opening because he has young kids and doesn’t want that much of a commitment. “I think they kind of tested to see where I was at and I just said I wasn’t ready,” he said.

Giambi, now 47, retired following the 2014 season and his name seems to pop up as a managerial or coaching candidate every winter. I’ve always wondered whether he is actually a candidate for those gigs, or are reporters just talking up a guy who was cool with the media as a player? The Yankees reaching out to Giambi over the winter pretty much confirms that he is indeed a candidate for those types of jobs. Wouldn’t surprise me to see the two sides touch base again in the future.

Kay close to new contract with YES

Michael Kay and the YES Network are close to finishing a new contract, reports Andrew Marchand. It’s a three-year deal worth seven figures a season, and it includes a network option for two more years. With Vin Scully retired, Kay is believed the be the highest paid local play-by-play man in baseball. “I don’t see any end in sight. I want to keep doing this as long as I want to and as long as they want me to,” he said to Marchand.

The new contract means Kay will be the voice of the Yankees through at least 2021 and potentially through 2023. My hot take for the weekend: Kay is one of the top play-by-play guys in the sport. Thanks to the magic of MLB.tv, I’ve listened to every broadcast team in recent years, and Kay is better than most. He can get a little annoying when he goes into radio show mode, but he’s good overall. Interestingly enough, Marchand says Ryan Ruocco could see more time in the booth going forward.

YES trying to woo Singleton back

More YES Network news. According to Marchand, YES Network executives are trying to persuade Ken Singleton to return next season. Singleton has already announced he will retire following this season. Marchand says YES is offering Singleton a reduced schedule heavy on games in Baltimore and Tampa, where he has homes. “It’s flattering (YES) wants me to come back … I found out as a player, nobody is irreplaceable. The game keeps going on,” he said.

I love Singleton. He’s one of my favorite broadcasters ever. I love his insight and I love his stories. As much as I’d love to see him stick around and call games forever and ever, Singleton turned 71 last week, and if the man wants to retire, let him retire. He’s been doing this a very long time and I don’t blame him at all for wanting to skip the road trips and the late nights, and spend more time with his family. It’s not like the YES Network is short on broadcasters, you know?

Yankees and Orioles rained out again, doubleheader scheduled for August 25th

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(Presswire)

Once again, the Yankees have been rained out. Today’s series finale with the Orioles at Camden Yards has been postponed due to rain and will be made up as part of a split doubleheader on Saturday, August 25th. At least they called this early and didn’t make everyone sit through a long delay.

This is already the sixth rainout of the season for the Yankees, including the suspended game against the Nationals. They have three and a half doubleheaders on the schedule now, all on the road:

  • Monday, June 4th: Doubleheader in Detroit.
  • Monday, June 18th: Completion of the suspended game plus another game in Washington.
  • Monday, July 9th: Doubleheader in Baltimore.
  • Saturday, August 25th: Doubleheader in Baltimore.

Good grief. To make matters worse, the Yankees will play the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball game in Toronto on July 8th. So they have to play an 8pm ET game in Toronto one day and a doubleheader in Baltimore the next, while going through customs and all that. Terrible. Aaron Boone called it “not a good situation” yesterday, which is an understatement.

I suppose the good news is today’s rainout means the Yankees won’t have to call up a spot starter to deal with tomorrow’s doubleheader against the Tigers. They can go with this pitching arrangement:

  • Monday: Two of Domingo German, Luis Severino, and CC Sabathia.
  • Tuesday: Whichever one of German, Severino, or Sabathia doesn’t start Monday.
  • Wednesday: Sonny Gray.
  • Thursday: Off-day.

The Yankees haven’t announced anything yet, though I’d bet on Severino starting Monday and Sabathia starting Tuesday, which was the plan before today’s postponement. That would give German, today’s scheduled starter, the other doubleheader start. The Yankees will also have a 26th man available Monday, so, all things considered, the pitching is in good shape. The rainout helps there.

This August 25th doubleheader will be played during the middle day of a three-game series, so the Yankees will already be in Baltimore and won’t have to worry about travel issues or anything like that. Because of all the rainouts, the Yankees have played only 54 games this season, the fewest in baseball. The other 29 teams average 58 games played.

Update: Severino will start the game day (1:10pm ET) and German will start the night game (7:10pm ET) against the Tigers tomorrow, the Yankees say. That means Sabathia on Tuesday, Gray on Wednesday, an off-day on Thursday, and Masahiro Tanaka on Friday. Everyone will be on normal or extra rest.

Yankees vs. O’s rained out, doubleheader scheduled for July 9

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(Presswire)

Once again, the Yankees have been rained out. Today’s series opener with the Orioles at Camden Yards has been postponed due to rain, it has been announced. The game will be made up as part of a single admission doubleheader on Monday, July 9th.

This is the fourth rainout for the Yankees this season, not including the suspended game with the Nationals. They were rained out twice in Detroit, once in Washington, and now once in Baltimore. The Yankees now have multiple games on three of the next six Mondays.

  • Monday, June 4th: Doubleheader in Detroit.
  • Monday, June 18th: Completion of the suspended game plus a makeup game in Washington.
  • Monday, July 9th: Doubleheader in Baltimore.

Pretty terrible! The Yankees and Orioles will open what was originally a three-game series on July 9th. Now they’ll play four games in three days. At least they’re not losing an off-day this time. The Yankees will be Toronto prior to the makeup doubleheader in Baltimore. Travel’s not too bad.

The weather forecast for the rest of the weekend in Baltimore isn’t looking so great, so we’re just going to have to hope for the best the next few days. Getting real sick of these rainouts, you guys. The Yankees will now play three games against the Orioles this weekend, the doubleheader in Detroit, then two games against the Blue Jays before Thursday’s off-day.

At the moment it’s unclear what the Yankees will do with their pitching staff the next few days. Chances are they’ll just push everyone back and use the postponement to give the starters extra rest. They’re still playing six straight days beginning tomorrow, so they’re going to need to use a spot starter at some point, either during the doubleheader or otherwise. The Yankees won’t be able to skip Domingo German like they did following the Washington rainout.

Update: The Yankees will stay on turn with their rotation this weekend, so it’ll be Sonny Gray on Friday, Masahiro Tanaka on Saturday, and German on Sunday. They have not announced their plans for Monday. They could go with CC Sabathia and Luis Severino in the doubleheader Monday with a spot starter Tuesday, or Sabathia or Severino and a spot starter in the doubleheader, with Sabathia or Severino on Tuesday. We’ll see.