Yankees hope Anthony Rizzo is part of the 2023 team
Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo (48) walks to the dugout after line drive out in the eighth inning in Game 3 of the ALCS at Yankee Stadium on Oct 22, 2022. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
The Yankees intend to pick up Luis Severino’s $15 million club option and have an interest in retaining Anthony Rizzo, who has a player option for the 2023 season, according to general manager Brian Cashman.
The remarks came during a year-end news conference Friday in which Cashman and manager Aaron Boone spoke highly of Rizzo, who reportedly intends to decline the $16 million player option and become a free agent. That, however, is not a certainty, Cashman said. Additionally, the Yankees could try to extend the first baseman, whom Boone talked up on the Michael Kay Show on Thursday. Added Cashman: “Rizzo did a great job. We’re certainly happy that we retained him and we’d be happy to have him playing first base for us going forward.”
Severino will stay in pinstripes after a year in which he pitched to a 3.17 ERA in 19 games. He was waylaid by a lat injury that landed him on the 60-day injured list and hasn’t pitched a full season since 2018, but his upside is enough to make the decision a bargain.
Shortstop battle
Boone continued to support Isiah Kiner-Falefa, reiterating comments he made on the Michael Kay Show on Thursday that Kiner-Falefa is a better fielder than he is given credit for. Boone also had positive words for Oswald Peraza, the September call-up who could take the job from Kiner-Falefa come spring training. Cashman said there will be a competition at shortstop.
“I know there are some frustrations with the error that he would have on occasion,” Boone said of Kiner-Falefa, who won a Gold Glove at third base in 2020. “We’re evaluating every play that’s made [or] not made . . . and on the balance of the season, it was very good.”
FanGraphs has Kiner-Falefa as seventh-highest in defensive runs saved among shortstops, but Baseball Savant has him as the 10th worst in outs above average.
As for Peraza, 22, “he’s very young,” Boone said, “but he only helped himself moving forward . . . He'll certainly be in that competition."
Donaldson has more
Boone doubled down on his belief that Josh Donaldson can continue to help the Yankees. He was strong defensively but had the worst offensive season of his career, hitting .222 with a .682 OPS and 15 homers in 132 games. “I was just blown away at how he played third,” Boone said. “I think he was better than he showed this year . . . Physically, I still feel like he has a lot in there on the offensive side."
Donaldson, who will turn 37 on Dec. 8, would be difficult to move. He’s owed $21 million next year and repeatedly has embroiled himself in controversy over the course of his career.
Extra bases
The Yankees will consult more specialists to determine if the toe injury that cost DJ LeMahieu most of September and all of the postseason will require surgery, Boone said . . . Cashman would not say whether the team will look to trade Aaron Hicks but did add that leftfield is a position they’ll look to address in the offseason . . . Boone said that though Giancarlo Stanton was hindered by his Achilles injury late in the season, the intention is to keep playing him in the outfield occasionally. “I maintain, I think it’s something that, at its best, helps keep him a little healthier, helps keep him a little more athletic throughout the course of the year,” he said. “Now, obviously, you’ve got to be smart about that.”
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
