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Grading Every MLB Team’s 2024 Offseason (10-1): Part I

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Matt Chapman Still Needs A Place To Play

Caption: New San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman swinging

By Sam Morris

Sam Morris is from Madison Heights, Michigan, and is an undergraduate student at BGSU majoring in Sports Management. He has a passion for sports writing and journalism. In his free time, he also performs, writes, and produces his own raps for the music industry club at BGSU.

March 15, 2024

10. Detroit Tigers   (B+)

File:DetroitTigersCapInsignia.png - Wikipedia

Major Additions

  • SP Kenta Maeda
  • OF Mark Cahna
  • SP Jack Flaherty
  • RP Shelby Miller
  • RP Andrew Chafin

Starting off the top 10 is the Detroit Tigers, who did something that they haven’t done in a while, they had by far the best offseason of any AL Central team. The Royals and White Sox overhauled much of their rosters to build for the future, the Guardians made minimal changes to a mediocre roster, and the 2023 divisional champion Twins lost major pieces from their playoff team. Detroit added 4 quality veteran pitchers to an extremely young but talented staff. They took Maeda from Minnesota who will likely slide in behind Tarik Skubal as the number 2 guy in the rotation. They also signed Jack Flaherty from Baltimore. Flaherty will likely be the 3rd or 4th starting pitcher in the rotation; he has major upside as he was an all-star and consistent Cy Young candidate just a few years ago with St Louis before his rough 2023 campaign with the Orioles. If Flaherty can return to his previous form he will be a steal to a much improved Detroit rotation from 2023. Both Chafin and Miller will provide veteran leadership in a young bullpen that includes breakout stars from last season, set-up man Jason Foley, and closer Alex Lange. This will help them contend with the Twins’ and Guardians’ bullpens that have been some of the best in the league the last couple of years. Cahna is also a decent signing from Milwaukee who will likely play left field as a need fit opposite young outfield stars Riley Greene and Parker Meadows. Detroit will also likely bring up Colt Keith and Jace Jung, two top 100 MLB prospects, to bolster their weaker infield offense. The downside to the Tigers’ offseason is that they lost their ace Eduardo Rodriguez to Arizona, but it was unlikely he would resign after he declined his player option last season.

9. San Diego Padres   (B+)

File:San Diego Padres (2020) cap logo.svg - Wikipedia

Major Additions

  • SP Dylan Cease
  • SP Michael King
  • C Kyle Higashioka
  • CP Woo-Suk Go
  • SP Randy Vasquez
  • RP Johny Brito

After paying massive contracts to a ton of players last season, San Diego has decided to use the Golden State Warriors’ strategy of moving on from a few stars in hopes of contending now while simultaneously building for the future. San Diego was involved in the biggest off-season trade as they sent OF Juan Soto and OF Trent Grisham to the Yankees in return for three quality young pitchers and catcher Kyle Higashioka. Although they lost two stars in the trade, Michael King and Randy Vasquez should make for a good 4 and 5 combo in the back end of their rotation, and Johnny Brito is one of the most promising young relief pitching prospects in the game. Higashioka is also a calculated signing as he becomes a bridge and mentor for 17-year-old catching phenom Ethan Salas who is quickly making his way through San Diego’s farm system. San Diego also lost Hader to the Astros and Lugo to the Royals but signed Korean pitcher Woo-Suk Go which will significantly help their bullpen. Ace pitcher Blake Snell is also gone to free agency but the Padres signed ex-White Sox ace Dylan Cease at the end of the offseason which will be a top-tier replacement in what will be a monster three-star rotation of Darvish, Musgrove, and Cease. If San Diego did not lose so many stars they would easily be in the top 3 off-seasons on this list.

8. Chicago Cubs   (B+)

Chicago Cubs Logo - Jersey Logo - National League (NL) - Chris Creamer's Sports Logos Page - SportsLogos.Net

Major Additions

  • SP Shota Imanaga
  • RP Hector Neris

The Cubs’ main priority this offseason was to resign Marcus Stroman and Cody Bellinger. They did half of this goal by signing Bellinger last week. Bellinger pulled an inverse of Tim Anderson and had a career renaissance last year by having the 7th best average in MLB (.307), hitting 26 homers, and having 97 RBI’s. He hadn’t hit over .300 since his 47 home run 2019 MVP campaign. In fact, in the three seasons since his MVP season, he didn’t even hit over .240. This shocking resurgence with the Cubs should make Chicago fans excited for a potential repeat performance this year. On the other hand, ace pitcher Marcus Stroman has left for the Big Apple, but the Cubs pivoted in a big way by adding the 3rd best Japanese free-agent pitcher, Shota Imanaga who played for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. For the last 8 seasons he had over 1,000 strikeouts with a 3.18 ERA in that span. He should easily slot in as the opening day ace and will be a pivotal player in how this offseason is viewed by the end of the year.

7. Washington Nationals   (A-)

File:Washington Nationals Cap Insig.svg - Wikipedia

Major Additions

  • OF Jesse Winker
  • 1B/OF Joey Gallo
  • OF Eddie Rosario
  • 3B Nick Senzel
  • CP Dylan Floro

The most underrated off-season has to be the Washington Nationals, who lost nobody and added a ton of talent. Washington won’t be able to contend this year, but don’t be surprised if in the next few seasons they become a sleeper team in the NL East. After winning the World Series in 2019, Washington shipped most of their expensive stars to other teams and they have been at the bottom of the National League for the past few seasons. However, they have done a great job drafting and will now likely bring up to the majors 2 top 15 prospects, outfielders Dylan Crews and James Wood. Along with these rookies, they added high-quality offensive talent this offseason with power hitters like Joey Gallo and Eddie Rosario as well as consistent contact hitter Jesse Winker. Nick Senzel will also slide in nicely at third base which has been their weakest position the past few seasons. Adding Dylan Floro from Miami also gives the Nationals another option for closer, which has been a very inconsistent role the past few years as well.

6. Seattle Mariners   (A-)

Seattle Mariners Logo

Major Additions

  • 2B Jorge Polanco
  • OF Mitch Haniger
  • C/DH Mitch Garver
  • 1B/OF Luke Raley
  • 3B Luis Urias

Seattle went all-in on offense and it could pay dividends for them in a division that had generally weak offseason transactions. Seattle was just 2 games behind the Astros and World Series Champion Rangers for first in the AL West but didn’t even make the playoffs, falling one game short of the Blue Jays for the final Wild Card spot. To get over this small hurdle they added talent throughout their lineup to combat their many free agent losses. Seattle lost two of their biggest power hitters in Eugenio Suarez and Teoscar Hernandez, so they resigned former Mariner Mitch Haniger from the Giants to be a power-hitting outfielder and signed rising star Luke Raley from Tampa to help the infield offense. Jorge Polanco is also a huge signing for Seattle because it will give them more consistent contact in a lineup that had the most strikeouts in the league last season and will also give them a good defensive middle infield opposite J.P Crawford. I could see Seattle in the top 3 or 4 of this list if they would have signed a pitcher as they lost Robbie Ray in the Mitch Haniger trade.

5. San Francisco Giants   (A-)

File:San Francisco Giants Cap Insignia.svg - Wikipedia

Major Additions

  • 3B Matt Chapman
  • CP Jordan Hicks
  • SP Robbie Ray
  • OF Jung-Hoo Lee
  • OF/DH Jorge Soler

After years of barely missing out on stars like Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa, San Francisco finally hit on big-name free agents. 3B Matt Chapman was one of the biggest offensive signings of the offseason and paired with Miami pickup Jorge Soler in the middle of this order is going to be a scary sight for opposing pitchers and could leave a lot of balls in the bay. The Giants also signed Japanese star Jung-Hoo Lee who they are hoping will become their everyday Center Fielder for years to come. Lee is one of the youngest Japanese free agents this season at 25 and he has the 5-tool ability to become their franchise player. Robbie Ray and triple-digit hitting Jordan Hicks are also massive signings for San Francisco as they try to compete with the Dodgers, Padres, and Diamondbacks, who all have phenomenal rotations. Despite these big moves, the Giants also lost quite a lot compared to the Dodgers and Diamondbacks as they lost 5 of their 6 starting pitchers in the offseason to free agency and trades. Simply adding Robbie Ray won’t fix their pitching depth issue.

4. Arizona Diamondbacks   (A)

File:Arizona Diamondbacks cap logo.svg - Wikipedia

Major Additions

  • SP Eduardo Rodriguez
  • 3B Eugenio Suarez
  • OF Joc Pederson

Fresh off an insanely surprising National League Championship, the Diamondbacks went into the offseason with a few goals. First of all, they wanted to re-sign many of their players from their World Series roster, which they did. Second, they wanted to improve upon their offense in free agency, which they did by adding Suarez and Pederson. And lastly, they wanted to add another starting pitcher to compete with the top-tier NL West pitching staffs, which they did by getting ex-Detroit ace Eduardo Rodriguez. Completing all three of these lofty goals earns Arizona the first straight A on this list. So why aren’t the Diamondbacks in the top 3? Because the teams in the top 3 had one move each that defined the 2024 offseason.

3. Baltimore Orioles   (A)

Other Birds as the Orioles Logo (@SmilingBirdLogo) / X

Major Additions

  • SP Corbin Burnes
  • CP Craig Kimbrel

Baltimore made an enormous splash this offseason on February 1st when they traded for former Cy Young Award-winning ace Corbin Burnes. After years of building up their farm system but having subpar MLB seasons, all the player development paid off last year when a young homegrown core lineup of Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, and Ryan Mountcastle led Baltimore to an AL East title and an overall 1 seed. Baltimore has even more top prospects coming through the system in the near future like Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holliday, Heston Kjerstad, and Colton Cowser, but these are position players. Burnes should be a solidified number 1 for Baltimore to help balance their team out and adding Craig Kimbrel as a closer will give Baltimore a complete team with very few holes for the upcoming season.

2. New York Yankees   (A)

NY Yankees Logo / Sport / Logonoid.com

Major Additions

  • OF Juan Soto
  • SP Marcus Stroman
  • OF Trent Grisham
  • OF Alex Verdugo

It’s no surprise that New York used their outrageously high payroll and marketability to attract free agents and trade pieces this offseason, but it’s who they got and for what cost that ranks them this high on the list. First, they landed the top offensive player on the trade market in Juan Soto while only giving up a few young pitchers that haven’t performed remarkably well for the Yankees. In the same trade, they got Trent Grisham and then later got Alex Verdugo from the arch-rival Red Sox. All of these signings will pair well with Aaron Judge and should create the top outfield/DH quartet in baseball. Because New York gave up 3 pitchers in the Soto/Grisham trade as well as Luis Severino, they needed a bona fide number 2 pitcher to go behind Gerrit Cole who will be out one to two months with a right elbow injury. They found their guy in Marcus Stroman who had a career year in Chicago last season. All in all, the Yankees had the best off-season in the American League, in my opinion, and should compete with Baltimore for an AL East crown this season, but it still was not enough to nab the top spot on this list.

1. Los Angeles Dodgers   (A+)

File:LA Dodgers.svg - Wikipedia

Advanced

Major Additions

  • SP/DH Shohei Ohtani
  • SP Yoshinobu Yamamoto
  • SP Tyler Glasnow
  • OF/DH Teoscar Hernandez
  • SP James Paxton
  • OF Manuel Margot

This wasn’t really a question. The top offseason belongs to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and it’s not even remotely close. The Dodgers won the Ohtani sweepstakes and didn’t have to give up anything to get him through free agency. While this alone might have put them at #1 on this list, they also signed Japanese all-star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a long-term deal. Yamamoto would be an ace on half the teams in MLB, and coupling him with Ohtani is just unfair. If this wasn’t enough, the Dodgers then got more pitching by acquiring James Paxton from Boston. After that, they executed a massive trade to get another top-tier pitcher from Tampa Bay: Tyler Glasnow, while also adding Manuel Margot from Tampa to gain outfield depth. Even with Ohtani not being able to pitch this season as he recovers from an elbow injury, the starting pitching staff will include a plethora of options including Yamamoto, Glasnow, Paxton, Bobby Miller, Walker Buehler, and Clayton Kershaw. Additionally, after losing J.D Martinez and Kiki Hernandez to free agency, they shored up the outfield by adding power-hitting Teoscar Hernandez from Seattle. This offseason is a classic example of the rich getting richer, much richer in the Dodgers case. However, baseball is a 162-game season and anything can happen in the playoffs. Dodgers fans have become way too familiar with this in the recent seasons since their 2020 World Series Championship. We’ll see if these blockbuster moves finally push the Dodgers over the championship hump.

Which team do you think had the best off-season, and which moves will help teams contend for the 2024 World Series title?

Money: The Most Extreme Goal

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Caption: New York Yankees Executive Brian Cashman

By Ryan Harless

Ryan Harless is a third-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and golf at all levels are his primary interests but he is also interested in combat sports, hockey, basketball, and football.

January 25, 2023

Earlier this month, I wrote an article discussing how different teams in Major League Baseball (MLB) choose to spend their money. As most team sport leagues go, not every team in the league is built the same. Environmental factors are relatively out of the hands of the team owners. The city the team plays in and its economy can all impact a team’s ability to spend money.

We often categorize teams into two categories: large-market and small-market. It’s a pretty cut and dry concept, teams in New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago have larger shares of the market and are more likely to spend more money on their teams. Smaller cities like Cincinnati, Denver, and St. Louis will be more likely to have teams that spend less.

In an article written in 2012, teams were relegated to high, middle, and low markets. Teams were put into those categories based on the population of their city, their payroll per year, and their average cost per win. Through these different measurements, they were able to get a good breakdown of just where teams lie. Even just 10 years ago most of the teams are in the same place they were then.

There are some areas where you might think a team would be in a large market, yet they rarely spend money like others do. Examples of this would be the Miami Marlins and the Tampa Bay Rays. They are both based in relatively large markets in Florida, but both teams ranked among the bottom 10 teams in the league for payroll in 2022.

It is staggering to see the variances in payroll across the league, with the New York Mets ranking number one in payroll at $235.6 million for just one year, whereas the Cleveland Guardians who ranked last only paid their players a total of $29.1 million.

Here’s where one of my favorite parts of baseball comes into play, however. Both of these teams made the playoffs. Not only that, but the Guardians survived longer than the Mets who lost to the Padres (2022 payroll of $184.5 million) in the Wild Card round. Cleveland was eliminated in the next round by the Yankees ($249 million payroll) but it just goes to show that spending more money doesn’t always produce a winning team.

Now, while spending money guarantees nothing for your team, spending little to no money does guarantee you something as a team. Concern from your fans.

As I talked about in my previous article, every team in MLB is largely profitable on a year-to-year basis. There is only one current team that Forbes had sitting below $1 billion dollars in value, that being the Miami Marlins which was valued at $990 million.

The fact that so many of these low-ranking teams (based on payroll) could still afford to spend more makes little sense to me. Oftentimes, owners will excuse their spending habits by saying that they are in a small-market and players are going to chase the larger sums of money elsewhere. But if you look at how much the team could be spending on players to improve the team, that statement doesn’t make a lot of sense.

I just cannot see a reason as to why the owner of a team would intentionally not spend money towards improving their team if they are underperforming. Of course, there are situations where it makes sense not to spend money, such as when a team is undergoing a rebuild.

A rebuild is just what it sounds like. More than likely, the team has struggled for a few years and has built up a good farm system of prospects. So, the team will save money for when the prospects make it to the majors and perform well, and then be signed to long term contracts.

But what happens when the team isn’t in a rebuild or has been in a rebuild for years with nothing to show for it? The Oakland Athletics and Cincinnati Reds come to mind when you think of this. Both teams are toward the bottom of the list in team value and yearly payroll and have been stuck there for years.

These teams both have histories of trading away very talented homegrown players for aging veterans. Or they will let players walk in free agency after a year of great numbers because they don’t think they can afford what the player is asking.

The A’s traded away Josh Donaldson just a few seasons before he won the MVP with the Toronto Blue Jays. The A’s more recently traded their talented corner infielders, Matt Olson and Matt Chapman, with little to show in return. The Reds refused to reach out to their star outfielder Nick Castellanos with an offer after he declined his option. They let now infamous Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer go to the Dodgers after winning his award.

The owners of these teams will just continue along the paths that they are currently on unless something is done to prevent it.

This is something very similar to “tanking” in the NFL or the NBA, but with a twist. See, in those leagues, teams will tank to improve their chances of securing better players in the next season’s draft. But with those leagues, the pipeline from the draft to the league is often a lot quicker than in MLB.

Players typically spend 2 or 3 years in the minor leagues working and honing their craft so they can perform at the major league level. There is a lower correlation between a player’s pre-draft numbers and how they actually perform. That is why I see the owners’ action as nothing more than padding their own pockets with the revenue the team brings in.

If they don’t have to spend their money to get large returns on it, and if they have little to no interest in winning, then why wouldn’t they? Until the league is able to force team owners to place a certain portion of their teams’ value and revenue back into it, I’m not sure what is going to change for the teams and fans of the teams who are going through this process.

It is really difficult to continue rooting for your favorite team every year when you have little hope for them and their future. But, as a famed Cincinnati Reds owner Bob Castellini once said, “Well, where are you gonna go?”

Gary Sanchez: New York’s Next Superstar

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by Brendan Ripley-Barasch

The New York Yankees had by far the most interesting season in all the MLB this year. To sum it up, their year had three parts. The first part ranged from opening day until the All-Star break, where fans saw a continuation of the previous season with their team showing flashes of greatness only followed by long periods of disappointment. Sporting an everyday lineup filled with injury prone veteran players, fans had to hope t00at these men would play above their potential every game in the very tough AL East. But to their disappointment, we watched as Alex Rodriguez, Brian McCann, and Mark Teixeira struggled mightily and went through lengthy absences due to injury. When the All-Star break finally arrived, the Yankees sported a .500 record of 44-44, this is where the second part began.

Following the break, the Yankees ended July going 8-8 and capped it off by getting swept by the dreadful Tampa Bay Rays. This generated a lot of chatter about what New York would do at the trade deadline, either stay course and hope the team could rebound and make a push for the playoffs, or cut their losses and sell some of their top players to build for the future. General Manager Brian Cashman chose option number two and at the deadline agreed to multiple trades which resulted in Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, Carlos Beltran, and Ivan Nova being shipped to different teams. The pool of players that New York brought in return were highlighted by highly touted prospects Clint Frazier and Gleyber Torres among many others. To go along with these trades, the Yanks also decided to part ways with Alex Rodriguez when they cut him on August 13th and thanks to the pressure he was feeling from the fans, Mark Teixeira announced he would retire after the season.

With all of this said, the Yankees now had a totally revamped major league roster to go along with a much improved minor league system. Part three occurs when NY called up their top prospects Gary Sánchez, Aaron Judge, and Tyler Austin. Each player helped spark the team and allowed them to realistically contend for the post season. But as everyone is well aware, Gary Sánchez was the heart and soul in the last two months of the season.

On August 3rd Gary Sánchez was officially moved up to the big leagues and while many knew of the incredible skill set this young man had, no one could have predicted he would go on the tear he did. After making all the trades they did, New York was seen by many as officially entering the rebuilding stage, they were trying to get these young players at-bats and playing time so when the 2017 season rolled around they would at least have some level of experience. But to baseball viewer’s amazement, Sánchez played historically good and not just because he was a rookie. In two months, Sánchez was able to break multiple rookie records, was the main reason his team even sniffed the playoffs, and somehow put himself in contention with Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer to win AL Rookie of the Year. In just 53 games, Sanchez’s slash line was .299/.376/.657 to go along with an incredible 20 home runs and 43 RBI, those stats are nothing short of amazing.

Image result for gary sanchez                                                                                                 Image via nypost.com

Ever since two of the Yankees all-time legends, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter, retired, New York has been dying for their next superstar. After spending millions of dollars on big names like Jacoby Ellsbury and Masahiro Tanaka, it’s only right the next star would work himself up through the team’s system. The buzz and hype that Sánchez generated from his play is ver similar to what Jeremy Lin did to the city when he came to the Knicks, not just the city of New York was in a state of shock and utter disbelief but as was the entire nation. In an article titled Gary Sánchez has impressed the baseball world written by Erik Boland, there is a quote from an opposing AL team executive describing his view of Sánchez, he says, “I’m buying. I don’t think it’s a fluke. That’s a stupid pace he was on, but . . . with that swing, he should be a 30-home run guy, I would think.” This just adds to the point of how in just two short months, Sánchez has already won over many people in the league thanks to his consistent high level of play.

During the 53 games he played at the major league level, it is impossible to find just how many articles were published about this player or how many times he was mentioned in broadcasts because simply everyone in the sports world wanted to talk about Gary Sánchez. He could have done what he did on any team in the league and would still be receiving a crazy amount of attention, but the fact that he did this in New York City, the center of the sports world, only added to the hype.

It is hard to wrap your mind around the fact that in such a short time Sánchez has already put himself in the center of the Yankees plans for years to come, looking to him as the player they need to build around. Even though his club still missed the playoffs, his efforts helped shift the view of the team from being in a state of rebuilding, to being one that should contend in 2017. Obviously in sports it is impossible to predict if a player can continue to have such an incredible level of play but when discussing Sánchez, how can you doubt him anymore? His tenure with New York this year was filled with many claiming it was beginners luck but night after night he kept producing. No adjustment could be made to slow him down and now fans are eager for next year to see the numbers he will put up. The 2016 New York Yankees season will simply go down as the year Gary Sanchez emerged.

Yankees Notes: The Unusual Situation for Rob Refsnyder

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by Brendan Ripley-Barasch

It has been a disappointing Spring Training for young Yankees infielder, Rob Refsnyder, to say the least.

                               Image via riveraveblues.com

The former 5th round pick was a favorite to make the big league roster as a backup infielder this spring. After being brought up at the end of last season and having an immediate impact (hitting .302 with two home runs) it is easy to see why some people would think this way. He would have been even more of a lock to make it if the team would not have made one particular offseason move.

Going into this offseason, fans and media were interested to see what player would emerge as New York’s every day second baseman this year with the forthcoming departure of Stephen Drew (who had an abysmal year). Would they just hand the job over to Refsnyder, sign a big name free agent, or perhaps make a trade? The team decided to go with option C.

In December, the Yankees and Cubs agreed to a trade in which New York would receive recently converted second baseman, Starlin Castro in return for swingman pitcher, Adam Warren and utility infielder, Brendan Ryan. Many saw this trade as a win-win for both teams. A win for the Yankees because Castro has five years of experience at the Major League level while only being 26 years old, he is a three-time All-Star, and addresses the need of a productive second baseman immediately. Also a win for Chicago because with the signing of star free agent 2B Ben Zobrist (who previously played for Cubs manager Joe Maddon in Tampa Bay) and the rising of 2B prospect Javier Baez, Castro’s talents were no longer needed and the club received a proven pitcher who could help strengthen either the bullpen or the rotation in Adam Warren and a backup infielder with Brendan Ryan to help take some of the pressure off the starters.

While fans and media rejoiced about the arrival of Castro and claimed the change of scenery was exactly what he needed to get back to his All-Star form. One person was not celebrating, and that person was Rob Refsnyder. It was also later revealed that the Yankees had previously tried to trade for Castro before they even gave Ref a chance. In an article on Pinstripeally.com, a popular Yankees blog, Caitlin Rogers writes, “the Yankees failed to trade for Castro, then decided that the best option was to continue to play Drew instead of Refsnyder, and Drew was terrible.” This further proves some fans theories that the New York Yankees are doing all that they can to not have Refsnyder on their roster, but why would they feel that way?

Fast-forward to the beginning of Spring Training for the New York Yankees. There were many storylines going into camp including who would step up and replace Adam Warren and Justin Wilson in the bullpen? who will the backup catcher be? And who the fifth starter would be? It seemed like most had already forgot about Refsnyder and were focused on Castro being the team’s second baseman for years to come. Even with the arrival of Starlin Castro and the spotlight being on him now, this did not stop Ref from working, improving, and striving to earn a roster spot on the New York Yankees. An article on nj.com quoted Refsnyder discussing the current predicament, “It didn’t change much about how I go about my business. I was raised to work hard and make the most of the situation.”

The former Arizona Wildcat certainly did all he could to try and make the Big League roster and that included trying out a new position. Now that the club had Castro at second with veteran utility player Dustin Ackley serving as his backup, speculation around Yankees camp was that they were going experiment with Ref at third base. Rob began the spring at his traditional position of second but after a week the coaches had moved him across the diamond to third base. The goal for Refsnyder now was to learn quickly and make the roster as a backup to 3B Chase Headley (who took his lumps at third this past season after appearing in the most games since his 2012 season). At the beginning it seemed like Rob was a natural at third and the experiment was successful. Just a short week ago he carried a .250 average including a home run and had only committed one error at the hot corner where he had played 90% of the time this spring. But the last week of Spring Training where success was pivotal in order for him to earn a spot, was not kind to him.

The struggles came this past Friday and Saturday where fans and media saw two plays where the ball took a bad hop and struck Refsnyder in the face, causing him to leave early in both games. Also in the two games combined, Ref committed three errors. He ended Spring Training with a slightly disappointing .242 average and a demotion to AAA followed shortly after. For one player (who was originally an outfielder converted to second base) to learn third base in a month span is an almost impossible task. Although Rob may not have made the Big League roster, this spring has certainly been an encouraging one to Yankees coaches and management in terms of Ref showing them he was willing to do anything to be a part of this team.

The question now becomes what the Bronx Bombers plan to do with this prospect in the future. There are multiple situations that the team could be mulling over in regards to Rob, including sending him back to AAA to further gain experience at third base so he could help take some of the workload off of Headley later in the year or continuing to give him reps at multiple positions (3rd, 2nd, and OF) in order to boost his trade stock. It is unknown if Yankee management includes Rob Refsnyder in their group of prospects who are “untouchable” in trade talks along with OF Aaron Judge, SS Jorge Mateo, C Gary Sanchez, and P James Kaprielian. In an article from the NY Post titled Rob Refsnyder’s weekend from hell ends with sad demotion, Manager Joe Girardi is quoted as saying, “Our feeling is that we want him to play more at third. For him to be valuable to us, if he can do them both [second and third], he would be valuable to us.” So the plan for now is in place.

Personally I think Ref is going to be a great player and I’m rooting for him to excel at third or any other position the organization wants him to try. His work ethic is going to be key to his success and progression as a player and it was on display this spring with the 25 year-old showing up weeks early at the Minor-League complex in Tampa to train. He is not concerned about being buried in the depth of the organization, he is only worried about continuing to improve and will be waiting for his opportunity.

It remains to be seen who the Yankees will keep as the backup infielder to Headley at third, now the players that are in the running for the job and are still at camp include Pete Kozma and Ronald Torreyes who both have at least some Major League experience. The team could also turn to a player who has been cut recently from another team or even make another trade and bury Refsnyder even more. Whatever option the team goes with it will be a short-term fix and Ref will still be seen as the long-term answer as long as he continues to improve. Who knows, Castro or Headley could struggle down the stretch this year and the Yankees may look to Rob Refsnyder as the replacement (wishful thinking).

 

A Rod Trying to Fly Under the Radar

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By Ellen Chlumecky

April 3, 2015

The day has come back where Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees returns to the grand stage during spring training to debut what he’s been doing during his suspension. Many Yankees fans and baseball fans recall the trial regarding Alex Rodriguez. For almost two whole years, Alex Rodriguez denied he ever used banned substances from a Coral Gables anti-aging clinic. In 2013, he finally admitted getting testosterone creams, lozenges laced with testosterone and human growth hormone injections from the fake doctor Anthony Bosch. Anthony Bosch not only lied to him about what the drugs would do, but he also gave him tips on how to beat the MLB’s drug testing.

In 2013, Alex Rodriguez was reduced from a 211 game suspension to a 162 game suspension. He received the longest suspension of all the MLB players. Rodriguez’s statement fortified the criminal steroid case against Bosch and indicated his cousin as the middleman. He also admitted that he had used performance-enhancing substances as a member of the Texas Rangers in 2001-03. Recently he wrote a handwritten apology letter to his fans. He’s trying to cover all his basics before coming back this season. I am not sure that he has everyone convinced though.

Media constantly question Yankee manager Joe Girardi about Rodriguez’s return to spring training. Their main question is if Alex Rodriguez has been a distraction during spring training. Girardi is of the opinion that no one is bothered by the media. He said none of the players are bothered or distracted either. Girardi thinks things will be fine and will return back to normal quickly. Sounds plausible, right?

As far as we know, Girardi’s intuition was correct. Rodriguez has settled comfortably back onto the Yankees. While the media has been hounding them, it’s nothing that they’re not accustomed to already. Girardi believes that the media doesn’t believe Rodriguez is high up on their radar right now.

However, it almost seems scripted on how Rodriguez has been responding to the media. He has recited general thankfulness and obedience to the Yankee staff every day he’s been interviewed. He expressed a want to just play baseball and to perform well for the team. He said, “I’ll tell you that I’m a lot more happy, fortunate, and grateful than I was twelve months ago.” He is acting in a professional manner as I’m sure his superiors told him to act.

It’s odd to see his transition. He went from suing the league to sticking the “mistakes were made” defense now to the loyal, devoted player. So far so good for A Rod, but we have the whole season to see what unfolds.

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Should You Get Rewarded After Any Steroid Use

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By Kia Tyus

February 26, 2015

The New York Yankees have decided to retire three more jerseys. One of those jerseys being number 46, Andy Pettitte.

Pettitte was a stellar athlete for the Yankees. With the team he won 5 championships and spent his whole career 16-season career in a Yankee uniform.

My question for you is does Pettitte deserve to have his jersey retired? Think about it as you read.

Professional sports teams have been known to cover their star players for their poor actions off the field.

In 2007, Pettitte admitted to using the drug HGH in 2002 to speed up a recovery from an elbow injury.

Recently, the Yankees have absolutely ripped apart superstar Alex Rodriguez for his steroid scandal. They acted like they were an organization who held their players to high standards.

Now, in the middle of this Rodriguez scandal, the Yankees make a controversial choice to retire Pettitte’s number even after Pettitte admitted to using a banned substance.

Even a former teammate of Pettitte’s Chuck Knoblauch made reference to the fact that Pettitte’s jersey is getting retired but it’s like the Yankees are ignoring the fact that he did in fact use HGH. Knoblauch tweet read, “Congrats to 46. Yankees retiring his number. Hopefully they don’t retire it like his HGH testimony.”

To me, it is an honor if you get your jersey retired. It means that you made history, paved the way for younger players, was an outstanding citizen, and did so by still following the rules of the game. Pettitte simply did not do this.

Sports Center brought up a great debate, on if Pettitte is really worthy of this honor. Now granted it is not the Hall of Fame, but your jersey being retired on any team especially the legendary Yankees, your respect for the game is not there.

Now I ask you, should Pettitte’s jersey be retired, and should the Yankees one day retire Alex Rodriguez jersey? Is there a different between what they both did?

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The Walls of Rodriguez are Crumbling

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By Kaleb Page

February 20, 2015

Years ago as a young kid looking to get my hands on sports books to read, I came across a book about an athlete that intrigued me. I had this feeling that he was going to be a special player even more so than he already was. This player was a young budding star in the MLB playing shortstop for the Texas Rangers.

His name was Alex Rodriguez.

As the years passed, I guess my feeling did come true with how Rodriguez turned into a larger than life athlete in the MLB. Eventually he inked a deal in 2007 with the marquee team in the league, the New York Yankees, a deal so astronomical it still can blow your mind (10 years for $275 million).

Now as I mentioned earlier Rodriguez grew into this larger than life figure on the field, and it wasn’t just figuratively speaking either; it was definitely literal too. As soon as he switched from the Rangers to the Yankees he began to grow from a decent sized player to a rather hulking man who eventually moved over to third base.

With the eventual steroids scandal that rocked the MLB and prominent player being popped for it, one player had a big mark on his back. That player just so happened to be Rodriguez and rightfully so was he questioned and looked to since he had such a quick body transformation. In fact, back in 2009 Rodriguez sat down on ESPN admitting his usage of steroids from 2001-03.

However, this story was just merely a scratch on the surface with how Rodriguez was involved in the world of steroids.

Then in 2013 Rodriguez found himself back in another ring of steroid use when trying to rehab from hip surgery. As it came to light, his involvement with Anthony Bosch and Bosch’s Biogenesis corporation dropped Rodriguez in even bigger trouble.

His involvement resulted in him missing a substantial amount of time in 2014 (162 games) and with Bosch’s conviction Tuesday (four years in prison); Rodriguez is toeing the line of being banned from baseball for good.

I find it interesting that Rodriguez has been laying this low for this long. It has been far different from guys like Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa or even Mark McGuire in how the media handled their steroid convictions. It seemed as if the storm around their convictions raged on for months and never ended (maybe in part to the time the convictions came out).

It will be interesting to see where this whole thing goes, especially with baseball season approaching. It also will be interesting to see the dissection of a statement issued by Rodriguez on Tuesday trying to distance himself from not only Bosch but his past involving steroids. As spring training approaches and more is made of his statement, I wonder if it will grow to the level we saw with Bonds.

I can remember watching TV and all you would see is every stadium Bonds attended full of signs against everything he did. Will it be the same this season for Rodriguez if he plays? I can’t imagine it being any easier than it was with Bonds. This mainly being due to how adamant he was way back when about being clean and then turning around admitting his guilt. I also see the media scrutiny and pressure from questions before or after games ramping up as well.

I’m sure as Rodriguez wrote that letter today, he thought back to a time when things were much better, a time where a young kid like me was picking up a book about him being the next big thing to look up to.

Now kids see him as nothing more than another baseball cheat.

As the walls come tumbling down it makes you think ‘oh how the mighty have fallen.’

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The Return of A-Rod

By Savannah Malnar

Performance-enhancing drug use is a predominant issue in the MLB. It has tainted the names of many greats such as Joe Canseco, Barry Bonds, and most recently, Alex Rodriguez.

Last year the MLB suspended A-Rod for the entirety of the 2014 season for a scandal involving him taking performance-enhancing drugs and being connected to a medical clinic in Florida known to provide these drugs to players. This suspension was originally 211 games but was dropped to 162 games by an arbitrator; this is still the longest in MLB history for doping, and when it was issued there was plenty of debate as to the severity of the ruling by now-retiring MLB commissioner Bud Selig.

But as of the end of the 2014 World Series, A-Rod is back. Or at least he wants to be.

The suspension is in the past and the New York Yankees and A-Rod are working on their relationship. Both parties seem intent to get A-Rod, a historically great third baseman, back into starting shape. His age (he will be turning 40 during the 2015 season) and lack of conditioning from missing an entire season are a concern. If the Yankees were to drop his contract, it would force them to pay him the remaining $61 million salary.

This is a minor story that is being overshadowed by both the San Francisco Giants winning the World Series and Selig retiring; an ironic situation seeing how widely covered the story was covered when A-Rod was first suspended. The end of the suspension should be a bigger deal than it is.

The sport media needs to begin now in deciding how it will portray A-Rod. Will he be shown as a cheater, or someone to be admired for attempting to overcome all odds and recover his starting position? Already, writer Christian Red for The New York Daily News referred to him as a “steroid-tainted player.” Perhaps this is a preview of how the sport media will choose to label him.

I believe, if that is the case, it is the correct course of action. Too often, players who come back from suspension and do well are commended by the media and fans for their success in the face of “adversity.”

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ALCS Announcers Biased Toward Yankees

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BY LORI RAUDIO

Game one of the American League Championship Series (ALCS) between the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers was called by play-by-play announcer Ernie Johnson and analysts Ron Darling and John Smoltz. The dramatic game was filled with fair comments about both teams early on, but as the Yankees struggled, battled back, and eventually lost, the announcers’ comments swayed in favor and in defense of New York.

During the beginning of the game, I was impressed the commentators were equally talking about both teams. They would give a compliment to one team, calling the Yankees’ defense “Fort Knox in the infield,” and seconds later praising the “lumber hitters” of the Tigers. Favorable comments were also made about both starting pitchers, Andy Pettitte and Doug Fister. More examples of equitable coverage included video montages of both teams’ seasons and conversations with a member of both teams’ coaching staff in between innings.

The game was fairly quiet through the first few innings, but as play progressed biases became evident. The Yankees failed to produce a run after loading the bases in three separate innings, which turned the focus to the struggles of the Yankees players in the postseason. The announcers talked at length about their poor performance, discredited the good plays made by the Tigers’ Jhonny Peralta and Fister. While the announcers did mention Fister and Peralta, they seemed to be more concerned with the Yankees lack of production.

A topic that was revisited many times throughout the game was the postseason woes of Yankee Alex Rodriguez. He was benched the previous day against the Baltimore Orioles, and the announcers discussed his situation at seemingly every available moment. The camera frequently followed and zoomed in on him, even while the Tigers were batting and had men on base. Rodriguez seemed to be used as the scapegoat for the Yankees’ problems in the postseason.

Those problems continued as the Tigers took a four run lead, but the announcers kept expecting the Yankees to strike back, saying “this is when the Yankees do their best work against the Tigers.” The Yankees did exactly that, in dramatic fashion, in the bottom of the 9th inning. Tigers’ pitcher Jose Valverde gave up two home runs which tied the game. With the Yankees resurgence, more of the announcers’ biases came out, evident in their excitement. Raul Ibanez’s game-tying home run was even praised by one of the announcers as “the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen.” They seemed to think the Yankees then had it in the bag, but the Tigers came back in extra innings to win game one of the ALCS by a score of 6-4.

An interesting note for the rest of the series involves Derek Jeter’s injury in the 12th inning. A broken ankle on a diving play ended Jeter’s postseason, and the announcers seemed very upset by this news. As the series continues, it will be interesting to see the stance the media takes on Jeter and the Yankees. If the Yankees lose, it could easily be blamed on the loss of Jeter. If they win, the team could be celebrated for winning without Jeter’s experience and leadership. Whatever the results may be, the remainder of the ALCS will be worth watching.