Rafael Devers staying in Boston on an 11-year, $331 million extension seems to establish a virtually decade-long rivalry with Aaron Judge, who signed up for an additional nine years at $360 million last month to remain in The Bronx.
Theirs is not going to be the last megadeals handed out by the fabled AL East rivals in the approaching years, but for now they’re the 2 largest contracts handed out this offseason — after the Giants backed out of a $350 million take care of Carlos Correa on account of concerns about his surgically repaired ankle.
The teams clearly prioritized the 2 players: The Yankees decided against signing a top-tier free-agent shortstop through the past two offseasons as Judge’s free agency played out, and the Red Sox let a pair of their best young players depart over the past few years.
In 2019, the Red Sox had three of the very best young hitters in the sport with Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Devers all of their 20s. Now only Devers stays. Betts was famously traded to the Dodgers following that 2019 season in a bizarre cost-cutting move, and Bogaerts signed an 11-year, $280 million take care of the Padres this offseason. It’s doubtful the Red Sox have enough to be a threat within the division in 2023, but they surely will probably be an element again soon enough with Devers in the midst of the lineup.
But whilst the Red Sox proceed to look for an identity, Devers’ presence alone figures to be bad news for the Yankees and their other $300 million man, Gerrit Cole, particularly.
Devers, who turned 26 in October, has 19 profession homers against the Yankees. The one Red Sox player with more home runs versus the Yankees at that age was Ted Williams, who had 20 — though that was despite Williams missing two seasons on account of military service.
And nobody has been hurt by Devers’ power greater than Cole. Devers is just 7-for-30 against the right-hander, but six of those hits have been home runs. It’s probably the most home runs Cole has allowed to any player.
After Devers hit two of those homers in a 6-5 Yankees win at Fenway Park on July 7, Cole was left trying to find an evidence for Devers’ dominance.
“I’m open for suggestions,” Cole said with amusing.
However it wasn’t all a joke for Cole. “You guys are all watching the sport, too,” he said. “I mean, obviously he has the flexibility to ride the ball out at the underside of the zone. He has the flexibility to catch as much as my fastball, he’s proven that, so each pitches were pretty much executed.
“It’s pretty wild. He’s just been in a position to hit all the things. There hasn’t been a mis-hit, a roll-over one time [or a] lineout one time.”
Cole’s fortunes against Devers modified after that game, though. On July 17 in The Bronx, Cole held Devers hitless, striking him out twice and inducing one lineout. Cole got the very best of Devers again at Fenway Park on Sept. 13 with a pair of strikeouts and a walk, and Cole finished the season with two more strikeouts and a walk against Devers on the Stadium on Sept. 23.
With Cole signed with the Yankees through 2028 — barring a highly unlikely opt-out after the 2024 season — the 2 may have loads of probabilities to proceed the matchup.
Brian Sabean’s full circle
When general manager Brian Cashman was first hired by the Yankees as an intern in 1986, Brian Sabean was in his second 12 months with the organization and first 12 months as director of scouting. Each rose through the organization over the subsequent seven years: Sabean became Vice President of Player Development and scouting, and Cashman became an assistant GM under Gene Michael.
Cashman and Sabean worked together first in The Bronx after which on the player development site in Tampa.
So few understand Sabean’s ties to the Yankees and their Core 4 period higher than Cashman does.
“He’s one among the unsung heroes of our dynasty,’’ said Cashman, noting Sabean’s ties to the drafting, signing and development of nearly the entire young players who factored into the Yankees’ World Series titles (1996, 1998-2000). “[Andy] Pettitte, [Derek] Jeter, [Mariano] Rivera and Bernie [Williams] and [Jorge] Posada, to call a number of. He’s an architect of arguably one among the best farm systems ever assembled. It led to a dynasty that can last ceaselessly within the minds of Yankee fans. Bringing him back brings all the things full circle.”
Sabean left the Yankees in 1993 to turn out to be GM of the Giants, and he led the team to a few World Series titles.
The 2 remained connected as opposing general managers when Cashman got the GM job in The Bronx in 1998. Sabean placed a call to Cashman after Sabean’s contract expired with the Giants after last season.
“He’s got a hand in not only three world championships in San Francisco, however the 4 World Series titles we had here within the ’90s and 2000,’’ Cashman said. “He ought to be entitled to seven rings.”
West Coast, test coast
The balanced schedule MLB is introducing next season will reduce the variety of games teams play inside their division from 76 to 52. Though that will look like excellent news for the Yankees, since the AL East is arguably the hardest division in the game, it’s not that straightforward.
Last 12 months, the Yankees had the very best record throughout the division at 47-29, despite the Blue Jays, Rays and Orioles each ending with overall records above .500. The Yankees also dominated the AL Central — as usual — with a 25-8 record.
However it gets more complicated after that: The Yankees went just 17-16 against the AL West and 10-10 in interleague games.
This 12 months, the Yankees may have three trips to the West Coast, where they’ve struggled previously.
Murakami Watch
Speaking of the West Coast … Shohei Ohtani can turn out to be a free agent following the upcoming season. The Yankees’ pursuit of the two-way superstar before the 2018 season was derailed by Ohtani’s desire to play out west, where he ended up with the Angels and has toiled away — together with Mike Trout — on a series of non-contending teams. The Yankees actually will probably be among the many teams concerned with changing Ohtani’s mind if he does hit free agency again.
That brings us to one among the subsequent Japanese stars potentially headed to MLB. Prepare for the Munetaka Murakami Watch.
The lefty-hitting corner infielder is simply 22 and won’t be posted until after the 2025 season, but he’s coming off a season during which he hit 56 homers for the Yakult Swallows.
Earlier this month, on Japanese television, Murakami said he would really like to play for a team on the West Coast, but in addition mentioned the Yankees. First baseman Anthony Rizzo is signed through 2024, with a $17 million team option for 2025.
Rafael Devers staying in Boston on an 11-year, $331 million extension seems to establish a virtually decade-long rivalry with Aaron Judge, who signed up for an additional nine years at $360 million last month to remain in The Bronx.
Theirs is not going to be the last megadeals handed out by the fabled AL East rivals in the approaching years, but for now they’re the 2 largest contracts handed out this offseason — after the Giants backed out of a $350 million take care of Carlos Correa on account of concerns about his surgically repaired ankle.
The teams clearly prioritized the 2 players: The Yankees decided against signing a top-tier free-agent shortstop through the past two offseasons as Judge’s free agency played out, and the Red Sox let a pair of their best young players depart over the past few years.
In 2019, the Red Sox had three of the very best young hitters in the sport with Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Devers all of their 20s. Now only Devers stays. Betts was famously traded to the Dodgers following that 2019 season in a bizarre cost-cutting move, and Bogaerts signed an 11-year, $280 million take care of the Padres this offseason. It’s doubtful the Red Sox have enough to be a threat within the division in 2023, but they surely will probably be an element again soon enough with Devers in the midst of the lineup.
But whilst the Red Sox proceed to look for an identity, Devers’ presence alone figures to be bad news for the Yankees and their other $300 million man, Gerrit Cole, particularly.
Devers, who turned 26 in October, has 19 profession homers against the Yankees. The one Red Sox player with more home runs versus the Yankees at that age was Ted Williams, who had 20 — though that was despite Williams missing two seasons on account of military service.
And nobody has been hurt by Devers’ power greater than Cole. Devers is just 7-for-30 against the right-hander, but six of those hits have been home runs. It’s probably the most home runs Cole has allowed to any player.
After Devers hit two of those homers in a 6-5 Yankees win at Fenway Park on July 7, Cole was left trying to find an evidence for Devers’ dominance.
“I’m open for suggestions,” Cole said with amusing.
However it wasn’t all a joke for Cole. “You guys are all watching the sport, too,” he said. “I mean, obviously he has the flexibility to ride the ball out at the underside of the zone. He has the flexibility to catch as much as my fastball, he’s proven that, so each pitches were pretty much executed.
“It’s pretty wild. He’s just been in a position to hit all the things. There hasn’t been a mis-hit, a roll-over one time [or a] lineout one time.”
Cole’s fortunes against Devers modified after that game, though. On July 17 in The Bronx, Cole held Devers hitless, striking him out twice and inducing one lineout. Cole got the very best of Devers again at Fenway Park on Sept. 13 with a pair of strikeouts and a walk, and Cole finished the season with two more strikeouts and a walk against Devers on the Stadium on Sept. 23.
With Cole signed with the Yankees through 2028 — barring a highly unlikely opt-out after the 2024 season — the 2 may have loads of probabilities to proceed the matchup.
Brian Sabean’s full circle
When general manager Brian Cashman was first hired by the Yankees as an intern in 1986, Brian Sabean was in his second 12 months with the organization and first 12 months as director of scouting. Each rose through the organization over the subsequent seven years: Sabean became Vice President of Player Development and scouting, and Cashman became an assistant GM under Gene Michael.
Cashman and Sabean worked together first in The Bronx after which on the player development site in Tampa.
So few understand Sabean’s ties to the Yankees and their Core 4 period higher than Cashman does.
“He’s one among the unsung heroes of our dynasty,’’ said Cashman, noting Sabean’s ties to the drafting, signing and development of nearly the entire young players who factored into the Yankees’ World Series titles (1996, 1998-2000). “[Andy] Pettitte, [Derek] Jeter, [Mariano] Rivera and Bernie [Williams] and [Jorge] Posada, to call a number of. He’s an architect of arguably one among the best farm systems ever assembled. It led to a dynasty that can last ceaselessly within the minds of Yankee fans. Bringing him back brings all the things full circle.”
Sabean left the Yankees in 1993 to turn out to be GM of the Giants, and he led the team to a few World Series titles.
The 2 remained connected as opposing general managers when Cashman got the GM job in The Bronx in 1998. Sabean placed a call to Cashman after Sabean’s contract expired with the Giants after last season.
“He’s got a hand in not only three world championships in San Francisco, however the 4 World Series titles we had here within the ’90s and 2000,’’ Cashman said. “He ought to be entitled to seven rings.”
West Coast, test coast
The balanced schedule MLB is introducing next season will reduce the variety of games teams play inside their division from 76 to 52. Though that will look like excellent news for the Yankees, since the AL East is arguably the hardest division in the game, it’s not that straightforward.
Last 12 months, the Yankees had the very best record throughout the division at 47-29, despite the Blue Jays, Rays and Orioles each ending with overall records above .500. The Yankees also dominated the AL Central — as usual — with a 25-8 record.
However it gets more complicated after that: The Yankees went just 17-16 against the AL West and 10-10 in interleague games.
This 12 months, the Yankees may have three trips to the West Coast, where they’ve struggled previously.
Murakami Watch
Speaking of the West Coast … Shohei Ohtani can turn out to be a free agent following the upcoming season. The Yankees’ pursuit of the two-way superstar before the 2018 season was derailed by Ohtani’s desire to play out west, where he ended up with the Angels and has toiled away — together with Mike Trout — on a series of non-contending teams. The Yankees actually will probably be among the many teams concerned with changing Ohtani’s mind if he does hit free agency again.
That brings us to one among the subsequent Japanese stars potentially headed to MLB. Prepare for the Munetaka Murakami Watch.
The lefty-hitting corner infielder is simply 22 and won’t be posted until after the 2025 season, but he’s coming off a season during which he hit 56 homers for the Yakult Swallows.
Earlier this month, on Japanese television, Murakami said he would really like to play for a team on the West Coast, but in addition mentioned the Yankees. First baseman Anthony Rizzo is signed through 2024, with a $17 million team option for 2025.
