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If New York Yankees reliever Aroldis Chapman gets suspended for an alleged domestic dispute, he will reportedly not be able to serve part of it during spring training.  

According to a Tuesday report by Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, citing a person familiar with the situation who was not authorized to discuss it, Chapman’s potential suspension will not include exhibition games.    

Shaikin’s report noted that the commissioner ultimately decides suspensions under the domestic violence policy, whereas the drug policy mandates suspensions include only regular-season and playoff games. 

On Feb. 20, Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News reported that part of Chapman’s punishment could include a ban from participating in spring training. 

A source told Feinsand that “while a spring training ban is hardly a certainty, nothing could be ruled out since the new agreement leaves MLB and its players ‘in new territory’ when it comes to discipline in domestic violence cases.”

Joel Sherman of the New York Post echoed Feinsand’s report, adding that “at the request of the club and with the consent of the Commissioner’s Office, the player may participate in non-public workouts or at the club’s spring training facility.”

On Feb. 21, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney wrote that suspending a player for spring training games under the domestic violence policy would “be seen as an empty gesture by a lot of players and fans. There is no way around that.”

Tim Brown and Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports obtained police reports in which Chapman allegedly fired a gun eight times in the garage of his home in Miami and his girlfriend told police he “‘choked’ her and pushed her against a wall.”

The Los Angeles Dodgers originally agreed to a deal with the Cincinnati Reds to acquire Chapman, but moved on from the left-hander following the domestic violence allegations, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. The Yankees dealt four minor leagues to Cincinnati on Dec. 28 for Chapman. 

Rafael Olmeda of the Miami Sun Sentinel reported on Jan. 21 that Chapman wouldn’t face criminal charges in the case. 

However, per Tyler Kepner of the New York Times, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said on Feb. 19 he expects “that we will have some action on at least two out of the three [domestic violence cases] in the next few days.”

Chapman has stated to the media he plans to appeal any suspension MLB hands down in the case. It’s unclear how many games the 27-year-old could be suspended for, as Manfred can decide appropriate punishment at his discretion, per terms of the agreement between MLB and the union. 

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Toronto Blue Jays superstar Jose Bautista is entering the final season of the five-year, $65 million contract he signed in 2011 and is looking to cash in after establishing himself as one of baseball’s most feared hitters.

Continue for updates.

Latest on Bautista’s Reported Contract Demands

Wednesday, Feb. 24

According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, reports of Bautista wanting five years and $150 million are “not exactly accurate.” He added that the demands include more years and money. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports confirmed Heyman’s report but added that the average annual value was “below” $30 million.

Rick Westhead of TSN reported Tuesday that Bautista wants a five-year extension worth more than $30 million per year.  

Bautista Comments on Reported Contract Demands

Tuesday, Feb. 23

“False,” Bautista said, when asked about his reported $150 million extension demands, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.

“There’s no negotiation,” Bautista told Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet Magazine on Monday. “I told them what I wanted. They either meet it or it is what it is.”

The team has yet to contact him since he made his demands.

Bautista Comments on Potential Hometown Discount

Monday, Feb. 22

When asked by Zwelling about giving the Blue Jays a hometown discount, Bautista said, “Doesn’t exist. Not in my world. In my eyes, I’ve given this organization a five-year hometown discount already.” 

He then offered more thoughts on the business side of baseball:

Bautista Provides Elite, Middle-of-the-Lineup Power

Bautista, 35, hit .250 with 40 home runs and 114 RBI in 153 games for the Blue Jays in 2015, helping lead the team to a playoff berth. It was his sixth straight season with at least 27 home runs and his fourth season in the last six years with 100 or more RBI.

The six-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger has shown little sign of slowing down well into his 30s, though his comments suggest that he wants the team to pay him for what he has done, not what he will do for the duration of his next contract. Bautista can certainly make a strong argument that he outplayed his previous contract by a significant margin. 

One issue for the Blue Jays will be making an enormous financial commitment to a player who will be 36 to start the 2017 season. The general rule of thumb for a club when signing players is to pay them for what they are expected to produce going forward, not what they’ve produced in the past.

The other issue will be that the younger Edwin Encarnacion will also become a free agent after this season, and the Blue Jays almost assuredly won’t be able to sign both players to extensions.

In other words, there are multiple obstacles between Bautista and the Blue Jays in contract-extension talks. Based on Bautista’s comments and the Blue Jays’ reluctance to respond to his demands at this point, it seems the sides are far apart on reuniting. 

You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter.

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All New York Yankees can check their attitudes at the door—along with any other excessive outward emotions or opinions.

Following the trend of encouraging progressively more prescribed athlete reactions, the renowned baseball organization aimed to instill within its players the makings of a proper postgame interview.

Their subjects of study? Quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Cam Newton.

According to ESPN New York’s Andrew Marchand, the session went something like this: 

During the Yankees’ media training, the Super Bowl is being used to portray the right and wrong way to act. Part of a video shown to pitchers and catchers compares how Cam Newton handled his Super Bowl loss to the way Russell Wilson dealt with his defeat the previous year.

Sports fans are already well aware of the dichotomy between Wilson’s polite bow and Newton’s abrupt exit, but as many have pointed out, passion is a difficult thing to quell.

Wilson’s teammate Richard Sherman was mightily criticized for his own postgame outburst. Recently, fellow Seahawks defensive back Earl Thomas took to Twitter to criticize the NFL’s restrictions on individual expression. 

The various personalities seem to suit Seattle, but don’t expect the Yanks to be embracing the assortment of commentary. If tight-lipped is what they’re aiming for, however, perhaps Marshawn Lynch would have been the best example of all. 

[Yahoo Sports]

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New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has been through some dark times during his 21-year MLB playing career.

For starters, playing for a club like the Yankees can bring a lot of pressure.

“I think it always starts on the field, especially when you’re a New York Yankee,” Rodriguez said, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. “You expect to go to the World Series every year. But in a world where we get judged by wins and losses, home runs and RBI, I started thinking about other things.”

He’s dealt with injuries and fan disdain, but a yearlong suspension during the 2014 season resulting from the Biogenesis scandal was his lowest point. However, after resurrecting his career with 33 home runs and 86 RBI in 2015, Rodriguez said he is in a great place now, per Nightengale:

There were a lot of doubts, a lot of sleepless nights. But I think the suspension in many ways was a catalyst for me. It really helped me.

In order for me to move things forward and to really understand myself, I was going to have to have a paradigm shift.

It’s propelled me to be in a much better place.

That’s a major revelation for a player who at 40 years old is defying the odds and still producing in a game meant for the young and spry. The steroid scandal would have been the end for a lot of players. However, Rodriguez has always been stubborn, and he fought through it, according to friend and mentor Jim Bernhardt, per Nightengale:

He has grown up and has started to accept who he is. The difference in him now is night and day. To watch his progress is fascinating.

When he first came back, he told me, “Mr. Bernhardt, I made a lot of mistakes. I’m going to surround myself with better people. I want to meet good people.” That’s one of the things that got him into a lot of trouble. He was hanging with the wrong people.

You look at him now, and he not only has lived through it, but, really, he has become a true man. He took a few different side roads to get here, but now he’s heading down the right path.

While Major League Baseball handed out the yearlong suspension, and Rodriguez sued MLB and the MLBPA, he also was at odds with the Yankees, with whom he had signed a 10-year, $295 million contract in 2008. Initially refusing to pay Rodriguez’s home run bonus, New York barely acted like he existed outside of putting him in the lineup.

Now, it’s scheduled Alex Rodriguez Bat Day for May 14 and has plans to celebrate if he hits 27 home runs and ties Babe Ruth for third on the all-time list with 714, per Nightengale.

Rodriguez seems like he’s at peace for the first time since the Seattle Mariners took him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1993 draft, per Nightengale:

One of the things I focused on a lot serving my suspension was the impact my actions had on other people. Just the responsibilities for my actions. I spent a lot of time thinking about that.

I’m a better teammate now, a better father, a better friend, a better partner in business. Really, everything.

I’m in a good place now. A great place, really. I never knew it was possible for me to feel like this.

It seems as though he’s happy being around a baseball diamond, even if it’s at the home of the Miami Hurricanes and not Yankee Stadium:

While focused on playing, Rodriguez is also putting his talents and fame to good use. After New York was knocked out of the playoffs last season, he served as a commentator with Fox Sports and received rave reviews from executive producer John Entz, per Nightengale:

I’ve never seen anybody hit the ground running like Alex did. From Day 1 on the air, it was hard not to stop what you were doing to hear what Alex had to say.

I think people had this image of Alex. But once you got to know him and people saw his personality, how humble he was and how much passion he had for the game, they really embraced him. His ceiling now is through the roof.

Rodriguez also said he wants to be more involved in helping the Hispanic community around the country, especially focusing on financial literacy, per Nightengale.

It’s quite a turnaround for a player many thought would never step foot on an MLB field again after his 2014 suspension, and it was easy to root against the player who seemingly had it all and threw it away with unethical decisions.

He has paid his dues and is looking to give back to the game, and everyone else around him, as much as he can, per Nightengale.

“I know I’m only going to be a player for a short time longer, but I know I can make a difference off the field forever,” he said.

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The New York Yankees have the right idea. The bigger question is whether they have the right players.

The Yankees are trying to rebuild without rebuilding, to get younger and better without coming close to any charge of tanking a season. The process is difficult enough that they haven’t won a playoff game since 2012 but so far painless enough that they’ve stayed in the 84-87 win zone that at least guarantees some form of contention.

They spent 100 days in first place in the American League East last year, with a team built mostly on the very old (Alex Rodriguez, Carlos Beltran, Mark Teixeira) and the fairly young (Didi Gregorius, Nathan Eovaldi, Dellin Betances). They hung on to win a spot in the American League Wild Card Game, in large part because when they needed late help, then-22-year-old Greg Bird and 21-year-old Luis Severino were there to provide it.

So now we come to 2016, after another winter where the Yankees stayed out of the free-agent market and their biggest position-player acquisition was again a 20-something infielder acquired in a trade. If new second baseman Starlin Castro does as well as his new double-play partner Gregorius did in his first Yankee season, the building process will be seen as working.

But just as the Yankees eventually needed Bird (after Teixeira got hurt) and Severino (after Eovaldi got hurt), they’re sure to need help from the farm system again this year. That’s even more true now, with Bird out for the season after shoulder surgery.

And that’s why two of the first players featured in stories coming out of Yankees camp were outfielder Aaron Judge (by Dan Martin in the New York Post) and catcher Gary Sanchez (by Anthony McCarron in the New York Daily News). They’re not the two best prospects in the Yankees’ improved farm system—20-year-old shortstop Jorge Mateo is an even better long-term bet—but they could be the ones who make a difference in 2016.

Neither figures into the Yankees’ projected everyday lineup, but when your everyday lineup includes seven guys on the wrong side of 30, it’s best to figure some of those guys won’t make it every day. The Yankees got 500-plus plate appearances out of A-Rod, Beltran and catcher Brian McCann in 2015, and 462 from Teixeira, but a plan built around them better include backup plans.

That’s especially true behind the plate, with the Yankees trading John Ryan Murphy to the Minnesota Twins in the deal for outfielder Aaron Hicks. While Sanchez hasn’t been handed the backup spot behind McCann, the path is certainly open for him.

One rival scout who follows the Yankees system closely predicted Sanchez will open eyes this spring with his powerful arm and powerful bat, but he said big questions remain.

“His bat’s going to play,” the scout said. “But defensively, he’s got a really long way to go. He doesn’t block balls well, and he doesn’t have good hands. He’s probably a 35-40 [on a 20-80 scouting scale] defensively.”

Sanchez, who will play all this season at 23, hit 18 home runs in 365 minor league at-bats in 2015. He led the Arizona Fall League with seven home runs in 88 at-bats.

He still may not have as much power as Judge, the 6’7″ outfielder who has 37 home runs in two minor league seasons.

The trade with the Twins that potentially opened a spot for Sanchez created something of a roadblock for Judge, with Hicks now an option to start in the outfield if one of the three starters (Beltran, Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury) is hurt. One scout who follows the American League Central said Hicks could be a surprisingly important addition.

“I think he’s ready to click,” the scout said.

Judge will still get attention, and with his .224 batting average and .680 OPS after last year’s midseason move to Triple-A, you could argue he’ll benefit from some more minor league time.

“Every place he’s gone, he’s gotten better the longer he has stayed,” said the scout familiar with Yankee prospects. “The slider is still an issue for him, and he tends to be tentative, taking pitches and getting himself into bad counts.

“But he has monster power.”

That power has had Yankee fans wanting to see more of Judge, and it earned him the top spot among Yankee prospects in a winter ranking by MLB.com. It’s why Judge will be one of the biggest names to watch when the Yankees start playing exhibition games—and why he could be one of the Yankee keys later this summer.

It may not matter, if the fragile starting rotation doesn’t hold together. It may not matter, if all the old guys start to show their age.

But if this latest stage of the Yankees’ building plan goes pretty much the way the last few have, there’s going to be a point during the season when they’ll need a boost. There’s going to be a point when they’ll need some help.

Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez could be the two guys who provide it.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball.

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Hanley Ramirez reported to Boston Red Sox camp Wednesday, six days before the deadline for position players, and he talked about the upcoming season, including his move to first base, with Rick Weber of ESPN.com.  

When asked if his move to first base was temporary until he could take over as the designated hitter for David Ortiz, Ramirez slyly responded, “What if I win a Gold Glove? What is going to happen next year? It’s too far [away]. I don’t make those decisions. I have a boss.”

Ramirez added that his main goal is to make sure the rest of the infield grows comfortable with him playing first base:

We’re going to work a lot. I just want to make my infielders comfortable. Catch the ball and throw it. That’s the main key right now. I told Bogey [shortstop Xander Bogaerts] right away, “Just throw the ball in this area and you’ll be fine. Don’t worry, I got you.” Pedey [second baseman Dustin Pedroia], he don’t make bad throws. “I’m always going to hit you in the chest.”

While Ramirez knows playing first base will be a challenge, he seems excited to make the shift to a new position.

“I know that area in the infield,” he told Weber. “It’s different. Like I say, I’m really happy to be back in the infield. It’s been a while that I haven’t taken ground balls in a real game, and I’m really excited.”

It’s hard to imagine things could go much worse for Ramirez in his new position than they did a year ago. He struggled immensely in left field, hit just .249 with 19 homers, 53 RBI and six stolen bases and missed 57 games last year, suffering a shoulder injury that ended his season in early September. 

The entire team struggled, however, finishing 78-84, the worst record in the American League East. 

But there is reason for optimism, both for Ramirez and for the Red Sox. He acknowledged he’s lost some weight coming into the season, altered his diet and added muscle, telling Weber, “I feel really good. Like I say, more athletic.”

He’s also pleased with the team’s offseason, praising the improvements the team made to both the bullpen and the starting rotation with the addition of David Price. 

The Red Sox certainly have the pieces to compete for a playoff spot again this year. They have a mix of talented veterans (Ramirez, Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Pablo Sandoval) and talented, intriguing youngsters (Xander Bogaerts, Mookie Betts). And with Craig Kimbrel locking down the ninth inning and Price and Clay Buchholz atop the rotation, the Red Sox are positioned to compete for a postseason spot. 

But, of course, Ramirez’s adjustment to first base and his health will play a major factor in any postseason run. As of now, the new first baseman is the picture of optimism.

You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter.

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Nobody can say the Boston Red Sox are lacking in stars heading into 2016. To rise from the depths of the AL East, all they need is for their stars to live up to their track records.

Now for the part where we cast the ol’ side-eye at Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval.

Signed for a combined $183 million last winter, their first season in Boston was…not great. FanGraphs says Ramirez and Sandoval combined for a minus-3.8 WAR, making them arguably definitely the worst tandem in Major League Baseball. That leaves the Red Sox no choice but to hope for the best.

“We need them to produce, there’s no doubt about that,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said in December, per Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. “And talking to both guys, they’re working extremely hard right now to get back to the years of performance that they’ve had in the past.”

For now, the good news is that the projections expect Ramirez and Sandoval to get back on track. FanGraphs, for example, projects them for a combined 3.7 WAR in 2016. That’s a 7.5-win swing in the right direction, and a notable contribution to a strong overall projection for the Red Sox.

But how, exactly, are Ramirez and Sandoval supposed to live up to these projections? Glad you asked. Let’s take a look, shall we?

What Hanley Ramirez Must Do

The only impressive thing about Ramirez’s 2015 season is the totality of its awfulness. His .249/.291/.426 batting line resulted in the worst offensive season of his career. He was also a liability on the bases and one of the worst defensive left fielders anyone’s seen since, well, ever.

But it’s a new season now, and Ramirez is getting a fresh start in more ways than one. Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reported last month that Ramirez has lost some weight this offseason, and the 32-year-old former shortstop is confident about his move from left field to first base.

“I’ve always been an infielder, so it’s going to be easy,” Ramirez said recently, per Ricky Doyle of NESN.com. “I think I know more of the territory, and I’m going to feel more comfortable at first.” 

Should anyone else feel confident in Ramirez’s ability to play first base? Given that he was a lousy shortstop before he was a lousy left fielder, not really. And remember, first base isn’t easy. Right, Wash?

But because first base is the least important position on the defensive spectrum, the Red Sox could live with any characteristically poor defense from Ramirez if he produces on offense. To that end, there’s at least room to hope that his weight loss will help him on the bases.

The big question, though, is if Ramirez can rediscover his power stroke. With his approach much more aggressive than it used to be, his ability to sting the ball is now his only real source of value as a hitter. And to show he still has it, he needs to prove not only that his weight loss isn’t a problem, but also that he’s past the injuries that killed his power in 2015.

Things started well enough for Ramirez last year. At the end of April, he was slugging .659 with 10 home runs. But then, on May 4, this happened:

That play only injured Ramirez’s left shoulder badly enough to keep him out of action for a few days, but the effects seemed to linger for much longer. He was slugging .609 at the time he hurt his shoulder. For the rest of the season, he slugged just .372 and hit nine home runs.

According to the data, Ramirez’s power dried up just as much as that decline suggests. After that shoulder injury, he hit more ground balls, made slightly more soft contact and a lot less hard contact:

Granted, it wasn’t just Ramirez’s left shoulder that was hurting after May 4. As he told Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald last August, he also spent a good chunk of the season battling injuries to his right shoulder and left hand. 

How will anyone know if Ramirez is all better? At the risk of sounding like Captain Obvious, when the ball is jumping off his bat again. Speaking more specifically, it’s also important for him to turn on fastballs again.

This chart from Brooks Baseball suggests that Ramirez lost the ability to do that, as he suddenly found himself hitting a notably higher percentage of fastballs to the opposite field:

Per Baseball Savant, this happened despite the fact that Ramirez was seeing a career-high number of inside fastballs in 2015. He also slugged a career-low .260 against those, driving few inside heaters to left field.

If Ramirez starts hitting the ball hard again? Good. If he does so while showing he can get around on fastballs again? Even better. That’ll mean his power stroke is back and ready for duty.

For the Red Sox, that would be good enough. It would be nice if Ramirez went back to being the offensive dynamo he used to be, but him hitting enough bombs to account for what will presumably be lousy defense at first base would at least make him a solid regular. After 2015, even that would be quite the improvement.

What Pablo Sandoval Must Do

Hey, you can’t blame that one Red Sox fan for asking the question. Sandoval had his worst offensive season in 2015, slashing just .245/.292/.366. He also rated as one of the game’s worst baserunners and went from pretty good to very bad on defense. He was like Ramirez, except worse.

Boston’s grand solution is the same one that’s usually associated with Sandoval: weight loss. According to Mastrodonato’s report, that’s going well. After looking especially fluffy last spring, Sandoval has dropped 20 pounds this winter.

The 29-year-old’s defense should be the most obvious beneficiary of that. Matthew Kory of FanGraphs didn’t even need the context of Sandoval’s weight loss to conclude that he’s likely to improve on defense in 2016, but it’s something that could erase last year’s biggest shortcoming: range. According to ultimate zone rating, he saved fewer runs with his range than any other qualified third baseman.

Having less weight to carry should help fix that, as we know Sandoval was capable of making plays like this as recently as 2014:

But the real challenge concerns Sandoval’s bat. On that front, it didn’t help that the switch-hitting Sandoval struggled so much from the right side that he eventually gave up switch-hitting. But seemingly an even bigger problem was that his bat often looked slow.

The numbers back up the eye test, as Sandoval struggled to pull the ball and had a hard time making good contact. His hard-contact rate, in particular, was the worst of his career. 

Regarding their offensive outlooks, this puts Sandoval in the same boat as Ramirez, save for another, more unique wrinkle.

Before 2015, Sandoval was the league’s most notorious bad-ball hitter. He swung outside the strike zone more often than any other qualified hitter (minimum 3,000 plate appearances) between 2008 and 2014 and, according to Baseball Savant, he led or co-led baseball in out-of-zone hits in 2011, 2013 and 2014.

But in 2015, Sandoval stopped being a bad-ball bad boy. What he did against pitches in the strike zone was nothing out of the ordinary—and quite good—but Baseball Savant tells us that his ability to hit pitches outside the strike zone completely fell apart:

It’s notable that Sandoval’s chase rate in 2015 was the highest of any of his full seasons in the big leagues. But his rate of contact outside the zone was in line with his career rate, so it’s not as if he was swinging and missing outside the zone too much. It would appear he simply lost his ability to make good contact against bad pitches. 

Fixing that could go a long way toward fixing Sandoval’s offensive problems as a whole. If he can do that while also turning his lighter build into improved range at third base, he stands to be an even more improved player than Ramirez. 

So the Red Sox must hope, anyway. And no matter what happens, they at least have the comfort of knowing that it’s not like Ramirez and Sandoval can get any worse in 2016, right?

…Right?

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked. 

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The New York Yankees made the biggest splash of their otherwise subdued offseason when they acquired a Cuban-born player. That’d be flamethrowing closer Aroldis Chapman, whom they netted in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds.

Now, with spring training so close you can smell the sunscreen and fresh-cut grass, the Yanks can grab another game-changing Cuban. And while there’s risk and red tape involved, New York should pounce as soon as possible.

Yulieski Gourriel. Learn to spell it, learn to say it, because it’s a name you’ll be hearing a lot. The 31-year-old Gourriel and his younger brother, Lourdes, recently defected and are seeking big league deals, per Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com.

Because of his age and service time, Sanchez added, the elder Gourriel is exempt from international signing guidelines. In other words, he’s a free agent, though there are hurdles and complications, as we’ll get to in a moment.

An infielder who’s played the bulk of his innings at third base, Gourriel owns a career .333/.415/.576 slash line with 235 home runs in 849 Cuban National Series contests and is “widely regarded as the top player on the island,” per Ben Strauss of the New York Times.

Gourriel most recently turned heads at the Caribbean Series in Puerto Rico. 

“Some scouts consider him a plus-defender with plus-makeup and instincts,” Sanchez wrote in a dispatch from the tournament on Feb. 6, 2015. “He’s also surprised a few scouts with his speed on the bases. There’s belief that he could hit .300 in the major leagues with 40 doubles tomorrow.”

Two days after finishing this year’s Caribbean Series, Strauss reported, the Gourriel brothers walked out of their hotel in the Dominican Republic and into the presumably open arms of MLB.

Yulieski represents a tantalizing, instant-impact option for many clubs, but he should particularly excite the Yankees, who could use another bat and are facing uncertainty in the infield.

First baseman Greg Bird is out for the season after undergoing shoulder surgery. Mark Teixeira, bounce-back 2015 campaign aside, turns 36 in April and will likely need reps at designated hitter to stay healthy and productive. The same, and then some, goes for Alex Rodriguez, who is entering his age-41 season.

Chase Headley can handle both corner-infield positions, but he’s coming off a dormant season in the Bronx that saw him post a pedestrian .693 OPS and hit just three home runs after the All-Star break.

The point is, there’s room for Gourriel. And if he can translate the power and on-base capabilities he flashed in Cuba, he’ll take pressure off the Yanks’ cast of creaky veterans.

OK, back to those complications that could stall Gourriel’s debut in pinstripes or any other uniform. While Yulieski, as mentioned, is free from international signing restrictions, there are still ponderous hoops to jump through, as Baseball America‘s Ben Badler outlined:

While MLB no longer requires Cuban players to obtain a specific license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), there is still a bottleneck in the time between when players apply for free agency and when the commissioner’s office clears them to sign. … the lag time can still take months, and with more Cuban players going through that process than ever before, that window might continue to grow.

Badler speculates it could be up to seven months before the elder Gourriel can sign, which would eliminate his chances of contributing this season. 

It’s possible the process could move more quickly, however. And it’s not as if the Yankees’ need for a corner-infield thumper will diminish next season, when their veterans will be a year older and the free-agent pool will be much shallower than this winter’s.

Speaking of which, whenever he becomes available, Gourriel is guaranteed to draw widespread interest.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post confirmed that “the Yankees’ international scouting director, Donny Rowland, has long liked Yulieski.” 

However, as Sherman added, “he can be bid on without restrictions by all 30 teams, and because he has drawn comps to players such as Adrian Beltre and Bobby Grich, he likely will have many suitors.”

Many suitors equals many dollars. Think somewhere in the neighborhood of the six-year, $68 million deal the Chicago White Sox gave Jose Abreu or the seven-year, $72.5 million pact Rusney Castillo inked with the Boston Red Sox. The length could be shorter due to Gourriel’s age, but he’ll undoubtedly get paid.

There are no guarantees about production. The above comparisons are instructive, in fact. Abreu was an instant star, clubbing at least 30 home runs and compiling at least 100 RBI in each of his first two big league seasons. Castillo, on the other hand, is still looking to break through at age 28.

Gourriel is older and theoretically more polished. The scouts like him and the stats jump off the page. But it’s possible he’ll fizzle on baseball’s biggest stage. That’s always a risk with international players, no matter the hype and pedigree.

Once upon a time, the Yankees were the club that stared risk in the face and laughed maniacally. The franchise that handed out cartoonish checks as a hobby.

Those days are temporarily over as New York and general manager Brian Cashman wait out some albatross contracts and rebuild the farm system. 

Then again, there’s no such thing as a rebuild at 1 E 161st St. The Yankees are always focused on winning, and Gourriel could help them do exactly that in a balanced AL East.

“I’ve played 12 years in Cuba and now I want to play outside,” Gourriel said prior to his defection, per MLB.com’s Sanchez. “I want to see what it’s like and improve.”

Even if all he does is approach his Cuban output, he’ll be fine. And he’d look more than fine in the Yankees lineup, quiet offseason be damned.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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Mariano Rivera helped the New York Yankees win five World Series, and many consider him to be the game’s greatest closer. As such, he’ll become the 37th Bronx Bomber to receive a plaque in Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park this summer, according to the Associated Press.

Rivera is Major League Baseball’s all-time leader with 652 regular-season saves, but his dominance in the postseason, where he holds career bests in both ERA (0.70 over 141 innings) and saves (42), was even more impressive.

Rivera closed out three of the Yankees’ five World Series-clinching wins (1998, 1999 and 2000).

Mike Foss of USA Today put Rivera’s dominance into context:

More people have walked on the moon (12) than men who have scored against Mariano Rivera in the postseason (11). … Mariano Rivera has been pitching in the postseason since [1995]. The Apollo Program launched in 1963 and concluded in 1972.

In other words, Rivera has been clutch in the postseason for [eight] years longer than NASA was clutch at sending Astronauts to the moon.

The Yankees retired Rivera’s No. 42 during his final season in 2013, marking the last time it would ever be used. MLB retired the number throughout the big leagues in 1997 to honor Jackie Robinson, though all players who were already wearing it at the time were allowed to keep it, and none lasted as long as Rivera.

The Yankees will hold the sure-fire Hall of Famer’s plaque ceremony Sunday, Aug. 14, before their game against the Tampa Bay Rays and celebrate their 1996 team, with whom Rivera won his first ring, a day earlier.

Rivera, 46, will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2017.

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New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is inching closer to a full return to the mound after undergoing elbow surgery in October. It appears he could be ready to pitch in time for Opening Day.

Continue for updates.

Tanaka Comments on Recovery Timeline

Friday, Feb. 12

Tanaka told Erik Boland of Newsday that he’s “perfectly healthy,” though he’s uncertain about Opening Day. He added, “Can’t say for sure just because…I’m building myself up toward the season.”

Tanaka Throws off Bullpen Mound for the 1st Time

Tuesday, Feb. 9

Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild confirmed Tuesday that Tanaka’s rehabilitation remains on track this spring, per the Associated Press (via ESPN.com).

Tanaka Battling Injuries Throughout Short MLB Career

Tanaka’s arm issues go back to July 2014, when he was diagnosed with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. Generally, Tommy John surgery is the next step, but Tanaka and the Yankees opted against that approach, and the All-Star pitcher returned in September.

However, he headed back to the disabled list late last April and missed all of May before coming back on June 3 against the Seattle Mariners. The arm problems persisted, leading to his eventual surgery.

Not only will Tanaka play a big role in the Yankees’ playoff hopes in 2016, but the team is also paying him $22 million annually for the next four years and then $23 million in 2020. New York won’t get anything close to a return on that investment if Tanaka’s injuries keep affecting his performance going forward.

Judging by his continued progress, it looks as though the Japanese star will be ready for Opening Day on April 4. Both the team and Yankees fans alike will be monitoring his every move during his rehab throughout spring training to ensure he doesn’t suffer any setbacks.

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