Yankees' vote to stay unified can only be a good thing for them
The Yankees voted unanimously to stay in Tampa on Friday after the MLB announced that spring training was canceled. Credit: AP/Carlos Osorio
FORT MYERS, Fla.
When they showed up for spring training this year, the Yankees probably envisioned a clear path to the World Series.
Not guaranteed, of course. But after spending $324 million to remove every variable in the pursuit of Gerrit Cole, along with the return of a deeply talented roster, general manager Brian Cashman thought he had done everything possible to build a firewall against the unpredictable.
Then came the unimaginable.
So here we are, battling a global pandemic known as COVID-19, and now the Yankees are trying to stay the course like the rest of us, striving for some sense of normalcy amid these turbulent times.
Also, like everyone else, they’re sort of feeling their way through the dark, doing what they think is best now that the world has been turned upside down.
On Thursday, the start of the regular season (March 26) was postponed for a minimum of two weeks, and likely more. On Friday, MLB camps were granted the freedom to disband, with players either heading home or choosing to stick near spring training sites to work out.
The Yankees, same as us, are left dealing with an unprecedented chain of events beyond their control. And from a strictly baseball sense, no idea of when their dream of a championship might resume, if ever.
Cashman figured he had come up with some answers during the offseason. Now all he has is more questions.
“There’s no script here that we can fall back on and rely upon,” he said Friday during a conference call. “There’s a lot of unknown. It’s a very fluid situation.”
It tends to shift by the day, too. Sometimes by the hour. But even in this extremely volatile, ever-changing landscape, the Yankees are sticking by their clubhouse compass. They unanimously voted Friday to remain in Tampa and continue working out together for as long as necessary leading up to Opening Day.
“We have a shot at a World Series title,” Zack Britton told reporters Friday outside Steinbrenner Field. “We want to be prepared to seize that opportunity. Guys aren’t panicking about this thing. We understand it’s serious, but the Yankees have a ton of resources in the area. We feel like this is a good place for us to be.”
From a baseball perspective, Britton probably is correct. Now that spring training has been suspended, after the Yankees had played 27 exhibition games, it makes sense to stretch that level of preparedness for as long as possible. And no one knows for sure how long that delay will be.
Going by Thursday’s announcement, MLB had loosely circled April 9 as a possibility for the new Opening Day, but that feels unrealistic after what transpired only 24 hours later. With other camps breaking up — those who don’t stay can travel home or relocate to their team’s city -- that will add another complication to this extended limbo.
Once MLB does settle on this next Opening Day, clubs will have to reassemble their rosters in Florida or Arizona, then work on getting everyone ready for games that count — again.
As a point of reference, when the 1994-95 strike ended and the replacement players were sent packing in early April, the fast-track spring training lasted only three weeks leading into a 144-game season.
Those ’95 players came in cold that April — unlike this year’s group, who were stunningly upended only two weeks from Opening Day, at a higher state of readiness. That would suggest less of a ramp-up this time around, but it’s too early to tell for sure, based on the duration of this workout-only period and how much players are able to accomplish.
Cashman didn’t even venture a guess when asked Friday. “It’s hard to say,” he said.
We’re confident saying this much: The Yankees are giving themselves a better chance to succeed by sticking together, a decision that apparently speaks to the chemistry of this roster as well as a renewed focus aimed at that World Series title Britton mentioned.
Cashman and manager Aaron Boone also will remain in Tampa with the team, so it will be as close to business as usual as possible for the Yankees — under very unusual circumstances.
“This is going to be something that changes on a daily basis,” Boone said. “It’s going to have to evolve each and every day.”
Cashman and Boone weren’t part of the players-only meeting that plotted this unified course through uncharted waters. But they had to be thrilled by the resolution and what it could mean peering ahead into a hazy, anxious future.
Everything may be different now in the midst of this COVID-19 crisis, but for the Yankees, there could be some solace found in rallying around the same baseball goal.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
