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New York Daily News | Mike Mazzeo: Brian Cashman and the Yankees have not had any discussions with not-an-ace Masahiro Tanaka about a possible contract extension. Tanaka, who can opt-out after this season, is coming off an extremely impressive season in which he could have been a Cy Young candidate. Cashman says he hopes Tanaka has another similar season in 2017 and then the team will have a decision to make, but also says that if Tanaka has a bad year, then he might not opt-out. Cashman also mentioned that he’s not in any active trade talks for Brett Gardner or Chase Headley.
New York Times | Tyler Kepner: Jorge Posada is in danger of falling off the Hall of Fame ballot after his first year of eligibility. Of the 190 ballots that have been made public so far, Posada only appears on eight of them, or 4.2%. In order to stay on the ballot, individuals must have at least 5% of the vote. While he may not belong in Cooperstown, he definitely had enough of a career to hang on the ballot for a few years. He deserves that much at least.
CBS | Sweeny Murti: Speaking of Jorge Posada, he knows that if he were to make it into Cooperstown, it won’t be an easy journey. He knows he’s a long shot to ever get in, and knows he definitely won’t get in on the first ballot yet he remains hopeful. He understands his numbers don’t pop and that he’s not Ivan Rodriguez, but still hopes gets votes. Maybe voters will see the rings and at least keep him on the ballot for a few years.
MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Gleyber Torres is still seen by the organization as a shortstop, however he has started to play a bit of second base and third base. Thanks to the emergence of Didi Gregorius, the Yankees’ top prospect has started to look at other potential positions for when he hopefully makes it to the Bronx. Additionally, this piece talks about how Starlin Castro could eventually move to third, the team’s streak of winning seasons, the pitching need, and Rob Refsnyder’s role on this team.
Sun Herald | Patrich Ochs: Drafted in the sixth round of the 2014 MLB draft, Jonathan Holder is doing whatever it takes to get ready for spring training and get a shot at making the major league club. What that means for Holder, who made his major league debut this season, is practicing at his old high school and pitching to eighth graders. As PSA’s own Greg Kirkland says, “Good. That'll show the little pricks not to mess with the Yankees.” Never too young to learn a lesson!
Baseball America | Vince Lara-Cinisomo: The countdown to spring training is official. Here’s a full list of when spring training reporting dates for all 30 teams. Including dates for pitchers & catchers as well as full squad. The Yankees pitchers & catchers will have to report on February 15th, and the full squad will report four days later on the 19th.
Clickhole: The most important news for last. The good folks over at Clickhole painted a statistical portrait of Babe Ruth, who is considered the greatest hitter of all time. In order to better understand his greatness, there are charts provided comparing Babe Ruth’s total home run number to other numbers, NASA’s official baseball player ranking, and just how greatly Ruth was able to stretch out. Finally we get some real perspective on Babe Ruth.