TBNL: Yankees depth being tested early; Bonds is unimpressed by Ohtani

Brian Cashman was named the Yankees' general manager in February 1998. The club has 27 winning records in the 27 seasons since. They’ve reached seven World Series, winning four championships.

Despite that history of success — and the belief that he’s a surefire Hall of Fame executive — many feel the time has come for Cashman to move on. The game has evolved, and he has seemingly been unable to respond in kind. His unwillingness to make a big move has often left the team just short in the end.

New York made their way to the World Series last season — the first time since 2009 — but really didn’t do enough this offseason to return.

Already, the club’s depth is being tested.

Giancarlo Stanton arrived at spring training with soreness in both elbows to the point where he hasn’t swung a bat in weeks. Manager Aaron Boone likened it to tennis elbow at the time.

Stanton left spring camp on Feb. 24 to return to New York for personal matters, but it would also be reported a few days later that he received a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection in his elbows. Brian Cashman told reporters Thursday, including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, that Stanton received a second round of injections. The team is expecting him back in camp this weekend.

Cashman said surgery would be a last resort, but it hasn’t been ruled out. Hoch notes such a procedure would keep Stanton out at least three months.

No timeline has been set for when Stanton might resume baseball activities.

DJ LeMahieu, meanwhile, told reporters that an MRI revealed he has a strained calf muscle. He is expected to miss at least a “couple of weeks” before resuming activity. Foot and hip injuries already limited him to just 67 games last year.

Luis Gil was also shut down on Monday for at least six weeks with what the team is calling a high-grade lat strain. Even in a best-case scenario, that likely rules him out until early June.

On top of injuries to those key players, the club has also seen right-handed pitcher JT Brubaker go down with multiple broken ribs and two minor league pitchers (Chase Hampton and Thatcher Hurd) undergo Tommy John surgery since spring training started.

FanGraphs’ Jay Jaffe took an extensive look at the injuries the Yankees are dealing with, specifically examining the depth options the club will look at to replace these players. The team will certainly be tested.

This was expected though when watching how Cashman handled the offseason. The lack of depth has been an issue many have seen coming.

Replacing LeMahieu might be the easiest challenge of the three, considering he already was expected to play a limited role. The veteran was already coming into camp fighting for playing time at third base with Oswald Peraza, Oswaldo Cabrera, and Jorbit Vivas (who has also been slowed by a shoulder issue this spring).

Filling Gil’s innings might not be a challenge either, assuming the rotation doesn’t see any other injuries before the season starts. New York spent half the winter trying to trade Marcus Stroman (and the $18M he’s due this year, plus the player option for 2026 he’s almost certainly going to exercise for another $18M) without finding any takers. Now, with Gil out, they’ll need him to step up and pitch to his worth.

Plugging the Stanton-sized hole in the lineup is a different story. And a bigger concern to overcome. As Jaffe notes, the two biggest beneficiaries to this situation are likely Trent Grisham and Ben Rice.

With Stanton out of the lineup, the likelihood that Aaron Judge sees more time at designated hitter increases. That means the Yankees slide Cody Bellinger over to right field and Grisham sees more time in center field. Grisham is an excellent defender in center (a two-time Gold Glove winner) and one could even argue that this alignment gives the team a better defensive outfield, but he’s a major step down with the bat. Grisham is a career .213/.313/.384 (94 OPS+) hitter over his six seasons in the majors.

Rice tore his way through the minor leagues last year but struggled once he reached New York. He was likely heading back to Triple-A Scranton to begin 2025 but now faces better odds to start the season on the Yankees bench. There’s reason to be optimistic that he’ll hit better than last year’s 178 plate appearances would suggest, but it’s too soon to expect him to play a big role in this lineup.

The free agent market doesn’t have much in terms of appealing options at this point either. The club likely won’t look outside the organization for another bat unless/until Stanton requires surgery and is ruled out for the season, but the options available right now aren’t likely fits. Reunions with Anthony Rizzo or Alex Verdugo aren’t going to happen. J.D. Martinez remains available but is arguably just as unappealing a solution.

Right now, the Yankees can probably get by on their depth but losing any of these three players — or losing another key player on the roster to an injury — will drastically change things.

Cashman is already taking some of the blame for the club’s lackluster offseason. Those groans will only grow louder if the Yankees fall out of the race.

Bonds suggests it was “easier” for Ohtani

Barry Bonds accomplished quite a bit during his MLB career. Seven MVP Awards. The all-time MLB leader in home runs, walks, and WAR. He has, in recent years, also become quite the cycling legend in the Bay Area.

Bonds isn’t all that impressed with what Shohei Ohtani has been able to do on the baseball field though.

Bonds appeared on Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson’s “All The Smoke” podcast on Thursday and seemed to insinuate that things were “easier in his day.”

Bonds is likely embellishing some — this stuff really wasn’t as intentionally widespread and violent as these players like to suggest — but he also shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Later in the interview he suggested he could still catch up to a 100 mph fastball, which is unlikely for a nearly 60-year-old no matter what kind of shape they’re in. Plus, it’s Barry Bonds and Shohei Ohtani. There’s not a fan of the game who would side with Bonds here. Even without the PED-connections, he generally never seemed to embrace the spotlight in the way Ohtani has.

Elsewhere, around the sport …

• Plácido Polanco and Fernando Tatis Sr. are among the former players who will join Albert Pujols’ coaching staff for the Dominican Republic team for next year’s WBC.

• Twins shortstop Carlos Correa has committed to playing for Puerto Rico in the WBC. He missed the 2023 tournament to attend the birth of his second child.

• Benji Gil, who really should have gotten a chance to manage in the majors by now, continues to have a successful career leading teams in Mexico. The Mexico WBC team finished a surprising third in the last tournament under Gil’s leadership, and to no surprise, he will return to manage the club next year.

• Marlins right-hander Sandy Alcántara will work on an innings limit early in the season as the team works him back from Tommy John surgery. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that part of the plan is so that Alcántara will still be available to pitch in the playoffs this year, which is a curious note. The Marlins are not expected to figure in the playoff picture, suggesting the club is preparing to make Alcántara available on the trade market this summer.

• The city of Mesa approved $16M in public funding for improvements that will be made to the Cubs’ spring training facilities. Work will begin later this month so that it will be complete in time for next year’s spring training. Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports the improvements will be geared towards the addition of pitching and hitting labs, motion-capture technology to help analyze player performance, and a women’s locker room.

• Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks are progressing in their efforts to secure public funding for a major refurbishment of Chase Field. Despite objections from Phoenix city leaders, the state House has approved a bill. The Senate and Governor are both expected to also approve it. Sportico’s Barry Bloom writes that the efforts would be focused on the “deteriorating internal infrastructure such as plumbing, the electrical grid, and a failing air conditioning system.” Chase Field’s capacity, which is already one of the largest in MLB, will not change.