YANKEES CORONAVIRUS UPDATES & THE 2020 OPT OUT

This weekend was a hard one. This fourth of July holiday weekend looked a lot different than others. I keep reminding myself that it's not different just for us but for all players and every single team. The hope of baseball is now linked to consistent testing for Coronavirus and enhanced health and safety measures. Both of those we saw center stage over the weekend at Yankee stadium.

I'm really hoping for the best for Masahiro Tanaka. We've been so focused on Coronavirus, but the reality of getting hit by a comeback pitch is still as likely today as it was before Coronavirus and we were reminded of that. The same dangers surrounding baseball are still there...and now new ones. Reports say that Tanaka was showing concussion symptoms that have since subsided, thankfully but Tanaka will indeed go into concussion protocol. Definitely not the exciting news we were looking for as Spring Training 2.0 is now underway. Now we sit and wait and hope for good news.

In the meantime, as Tanaka recovers we get other results that hit close to home. As the Yankees completed their first round of Coronavirus tests of many to come....we hear that Luis Cessa and DJ LeMahieu have both tested positive, read more HERE. While Cessa was experiencing "mild symptoms" LeMahieu is asymptomatic, reminding us how scary this virus is. It's hard to fight and protect others from what you can't see. LeMahieu won't be the last, there will be more. So the next few weeks and months are going to be hard for baseball.

It is hard enough that some players have exercised their option to not participate in the 2020 season, and now that we have our first big names to opt out who will be next? Or who is on the fence?

David Price and Felix Hernandez are not playing this season. Price is a huge loss for the Dodgers who expected Price to be a good addition for another run at the World Series. No Yankees have opted out yet, but could that change?

Maybe but I hope not. Mike Trout is one of the biggest names in baseball, and he is considering not playing this season. He and his wife are expecting their first child soon, and is concerned with their health and safety. Yesterday Sean Doolittle and Buster Posey also said he has reservations about playing and will continue to evaluate and will opt out if they feel it is necessary, read more HERE.

These are unprecedented times for sure. We still want baseball to happen, perhaps now more than ever....but what if some of our favorites or big names in the game decide to sit this season out? If the big names don't play how does this affect the game? I know I am still going to watch no matter what, but it is definitely going to be a big change.

This season isn't going to be easy, but I think Aaron Boone is right....we are as hungry as ever. The Yankees will find a way to rise to the challenge, and baseball will find a way to persevere.

Keep your fingers crossed for Tanaka, LeMahieu and Cessa!

--Jeana Bellezza

BYB Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

THE CRASH & BURN OF A PATHETIC ASTROS FRANCHISE

They were brazen and they got caught... and now the entire world is falling down around the Houston Astros.  They deserve every ripping, pile-on, fine, punishment they deserve. They are absolutely disgusting.

You can't down play this clip:

Rays @ Astros, Aug. 1, 2017 (🎧)
(This might be one of most egregious uses of the banging for Houston)

Chris Archer vs. Carlos Beltran

0-0 slider: 1 bang
0-1 changeup: 2 bangs
1-1 changeup: 2 bangs
2-1 slider: 1 bang
2-2 fastball: no bang pic.twitter.com/1M3DkZjdeF

— Max Wildstein (@MaxWildstein) November 15, 2019

You just can't.

While sign stealing has always been a thing, sign stealing using new technology... sign stealing being communicated among a Astros brazen front office IN WRITTEN EMAILS, and then executing is just wrong if not worse. They need to be held accountable.  This image is one of the Astros personnel literally trying to clean up as fast as he can after a game is over.  You can't sit here and look at this and say, "Hey, that guy was just playing Fortnite."

Nope, the Astros were strategic and they knew what they were doing... and it's bigger and bigger and bigger and when they kept winning at home and they got too big for their britches... and now, they got caught.  I love it.

But it's not just cheating at this point... it's lying too. This article from USA Today from 2018 has this headline:

MLB clears Astros of cheating, Houston GM Jeff Luhnow says team was 'playing defense'

In that article, this: "Major League Baseball cleared the Houston Astros of any illegal activity Wednesday, but ordered them to stop doing surveillance on teams they suspect of cheating by using electronic equipment to steal signs. 

Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow vehemently denied any wrongdoing in an impromptu news conference, saying the Astros have never used illegal surveillance to steal signs, only to detect whether their opponents were cheating. "

But it turns out the Astros WERE "doing surveillance on teams" and they were "using electronic equipment to steal signs."

So Jeff Lunhow should lose his job and be banned for life just like and anonymous GM told Andy Martino of SNY:

"'If Jeff Luhnow knew about this, he should be banned for life,' the general manager said. Another team executive said he wanted to see the league throw the book at the Astros. 'How naive I was,' the executive told Martino. 'I hope MLB buries the Astros.'”

In fact, the Astros need to be fired... all of the front office.  And no fines for the players folks... this is bigger than a fine.  STRIP THE CHAMPIONSHIP.

They did no earn it.

Remember that guy Pete Rose? Remember when the baseball world not only turned his back on Pete Rose for gambling, but for betting on baseball as a manager for the Reds? The Astros Scandal is just as bad if not worse.  The Astros are frauds.

Look at AJ Hinch? He's openly mocked anyone trying to accuse the Astros of doing wrongdoing. But he's in trouble just like everyone else. AJ HINCH IS THE FACE OF THE FRANCHISE. He is guilty. He too is a cheater.

Remember when @AJHinch said the #Yankees were wrong about their whistling allegations regarding the #Astros?

Let’s revisit this topic now. pic.twitter.com/byPTzi2hVx

— Chris Dixon (@cdixon25) November 17, 2019

He said "There's no evidence of anything." Oh... but there is.

Hinch gets defensive when others come out and say things about the Astros cheating. Listen to his say it.

He said not to be anonymous when they make accusations against their Astros team. In other words, make the accusation like a man. Use your name.  What he forgot was that players leave teams and Mike Fiers did.  And thank god for Mike Fiers… because without him, we wouldn't be talking about this.

I have news for you. AJ Hinch? He needs to be fired.  His coaching staff... they need to be fired.  They too are lying and trying to deceive. Disgusting.

And then of course there's this.  The moving of the Astros center field camera after the 2016 season.  Wow.  How obvious are they?

This year vs last year pic.twitter.com/Kb6v9mcG0V

— Hill (@Hill713) March 31, 2017

Back then Reid Ryan told MLB this... courtesy of Larry Brown Sports:

“'We think the new angle will give viewers a better look at the strike zone and advertisers more balanced signage placement,' Astros president of business operations Reid Ryan said of the move via the Houston Chronicle. 

'We wanted a new camera angle that improves the strike zone the fans see on TV as well as the benefit of the advertisers getting more value for their signs,' Ryan told MLB.com. 'Before, you always had a little bit of brick on the side. It didn’t look centered.'"

Now to be honest, for advertisers, the change of angle really doesn't make much of a difference.  For the fans, it certainly does, and I guess when he said "fans", he meant Astros front office fans.  So they could get a better view of the signs to benefit their team. FIRE THEM ALL.

They really have some dumb folks in that front office.  CLEAN HOUSE... FIRE THEM ALL. They are all cheaters.

Sean Doolittle says it best:

Sign stealing is part of baseball. It’s gamesmanship. A runner picking up signs from 2nd base or looking for how a pitcher might be tipping his pitches based on how he comes set is fair game. If you can do it using your eye balls it’s ok. If you’re using technology it’s cheating.

— Obi-Sean Kenobi Doolittle (@whatwouldDOOdo) November 15, 2019

This tweet needs to be placed into the investigation. It's simple, but it's accurate.  MLB needs to take this into account.

And CBS Sports says it best in their report on the scandal:

"An email from the front office to the scouting staff discussing the use of cameras to steal signs is a damning piece of evidence, and the Rosenthal and Drellich report says the Astros also discussed stealing signs with their scouts over the phone and in an online chat room."

Ladies and Gentlemen... there is proof.

There is no "accusing" and fake news and no made up story here.  The Astros organization is a disgrace.  And to all the Astros fans out there that want to jump down our throats calling us cry babies and liars and stupid.  You should be mad at the Astros. You are their fans and they lied to you too.  They disappointed you.  They messed things up for your fandom.  No one likes cheaters... they cheated... you should demand your money back on a fake team.

YANKS 'COULD' LOCK IN SOME NICE OAKLAND RELIEVERS...

The key word is "could" because this comes from the Rumor king himself, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe...

(May 15, 2017 - Source: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images North America)

"Relievers Ryan Madson and lefty Sean Doolittle are both having good years and are likely to change addresses soon. Doolittle is more of an injury risk. Both relievers could be targeted by the Nationals and Yankees."

And truly that is the extent of the nugget.  There is no new information. No indication that the Yankees are eyeing Madson and Doolittle... just that they "could" be.

(April 5, 2017 - Source: Jason O. Watson/Getty Images North America)

Not a bad duo though.  Doolittle currently has a 3.54 ERA in 22 games.  He has 3 saves. Madson's ERA is 2.17 in 38 games.  Both could be pretty helpful, especially with the recent inconsistency or Tyler Clippard and Dellin Betances.  It could as least bring some stability.

We will see... but again, it's a "could" not a "will".

Happy Friday.

NO DICE!

Brett Gardner had 2 hits tonight.  Jayson Nix had 2 hits tonight.  CC Sabathia pitched 6 innings, allowed 8 hits and 2 runs. Those 2 runs were all the Oakland Athletics needed.

In fact, they really only needed 1.  The Yankees were blanked tonight, not scoring and leaving 6 on base.  Sabathia threw a season high 118 pitches.  That's alot for 6 innings. 

Plus, the Monster was Monsterless... not dominant, but like always, he does what he needs to do to at least try and re-adjust to keep the team in it.  There was 1 obstacle... the A's pitching.

The combination of AJ Griffin, Sean Doolittle and Grant Balfour was excellent for the A's. The Yanks just couldn't crack the combination and you know what? That's baseball.  I'd love to give you a doom and gloom scenario or tell you that the Yanks "almost" pulled out a win, but they didn't. 

Sure, it's a short recap, but I swore I wasn't going to bullshit our audience if there was nothing to write about.  The Yankees lost.  So, they'll go home, go to sleep and tomorrow they will come back and win.  That's what I tell my little league team after a loss and that's how it works, even in the Major Leagues. The End.

Final tonight: Athletics 2 - Yankees 0.

I'm going to bed.  Don't get upset, it's 1 loss. We'll survive.

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A'S STAY COMFORTABLE IN OAKLAND AS YANKEES LOSE AGAIN

At game time, the 70 degree, cool, clear air in Oakland Coliseum finished the job on the already cooling Yankee offense. The Yankee hitters turned completely anemic! Blame it on the transition from the heat and humidity of New York to the cool, clear air of northern California. Blame on the Oakland pitching, or blame it on Yankee ineptitude! Whatever the cause, the Yankees could not generate any offense last night.

No New York batter reached base via a walk in the first two games of this series, and as you know, both were Yankee losses. Curtis Granderson finally broke that string and worked a walk in the top of the sixth, but he was the last Yankee to reach base until a lead off single by Alex Rodriguez in the ninth inning. More on that in a minute.  The walk saved the Yankees the ignominy of going three straight games without earning a walk for the first time since 1991.

Nick Swisher's hip-flexor strain/quad injury forced DeWayne Wise into right last night.  His offensive performance was similar to Cano's ineptitude.  Wise's three at bats produced two weak unassisted ground outs to first and a strikeout leading off the eight inning.  The Yankees did produce a lone run in the fourth inning.  ARod led off the inning with an infield single and subsequently scored on an RBI single to center by Eric Chavez. The Chavez hit followed ground outs by Cano and Teixeira that had moved Rodriguez to third.

 Phil Hughes, pitched adequately.  He struck out six, allowed four hits and two walks in 7.2 innings of work.  The problem was he allowed two monster home runs.  One to Yoenis Cespedes in the the fourth inning and another to Brandon Inge in the eighth.

(In Photo: Brandon Inge)
In typical fashion, Hughes missed location a few times and two pitches thrown middle-middle were hit hard, high, and far. In fairness, Cespedes is a red-hot hitter. He is now 18 for 31 since the All-Star Game, a .581 average, so he has torched a few pitchers other than Hughes. Likewise Oakland is a hot team at 13-2 for the month of July. Boone Logan recorded the final out for the Yankees in the eighth on a pick off play.  He actually picked off A's base runner Coco Crisp twice, but on the first play the Yankees badly botched the run down, and Crisp was able to safely return to first.

(In Photo: Sean Doolittle)
As for that single by Rodriguez in the ninth, Oakland reliever Sean Doolittle struck out Robinson Cano, Mark Teixeira, and pinch hitter Andruw Jones in succession to end the game, earn his first career save, and secure the third consecutive one-run win, 2-1, over New York for the surging A's. With the strikeout of Cano in the ninth, Doolittle also stopped the second baseman's 23 game hitting streak.  Cano went 0 for 4 on the night, and frankly looked pathetic in the process. Weak ground outs to second and first followed by two strikeouts ended the longest hitting streak in MLB this year and the longest such streak in Cano's career.

The third straight Yankee loss to Oakland has this seven game west coast road trip headed for disaster.  The Yankees have lost three games off their AL East Division lead already on this trip, and the suddenly struggling offense, combined with the injuries to Brett Gardner and Swisher, offers little hope for immediate relief. Bottom line, the Yankees need to turn it around...fast.

This 2-1 loss to Oakland makes it crystal clear... the Oakland A's are very comfortable playing home and were able to keep the Yankees just out of reach 3 days in a row with great pitching.

They held the Yankees down and they just couldn't get over the hump. Meanwhile, it's left Yankeeland quite uncomfortable...we need a win today boys...let's do it!

--Frank Gentry, BYB Writer




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