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Around the Empire: Yankees news - 2/24/17

Romneys looking to buy ownership stake; Rotation will at least be intriguing; Betances sharp early in spring; Girardi advocates for headsets; Judge, destroyer of baseballs; Torreyes will see time in OF

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Mitt Romney Takes On Evander Holyfield In Charity Boxing Event
“Is this not baseball?”
Photo by George Frey/Getty Images

FanRag Sports | Jon Heyman: Mitt Romney’s family is apparently in talks to buy a small stake of the Yankees. The Romneys had previously tried bidding for the Marlins (offering $1.4 billion) but when that fell through set their sights on the Yankees. If this does go through, nothing would really change as the Steinbrenners would still likely be the majority owners and the Yankees have other minority owners. If you’re into 2012 jokes, one would say they’ve got binders full of owners. Or:

CBS | Jason Keidel: Stop me if you’ve heard this before: the Yankees’ rotation has questions and needs work. However, even though it’s a work in progress, the rotation will be at least be intriguing. After the three definite starters in Tanaka, CC Sabathia, and Pineda , the team has the talent to fill out the rotation, it’s just upto them to perform and show the organization if they’re any good.

Newsday | Erik Boland: “Not a closer” Dellin Betances is with the team after his arbitration fiasco and getting ready for the season. Before he goes off to pitch for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic, Betances spent time facing live hitters for the first time and the overall consensus is they’re glad he’s on their side. Betances faced Chris Carter, Brett Gardner, and Chase Headley and all three reported that his pitches were sharp. It’s almost as if he’s one of the best players on the team so maybe the team shouldn’t trash him. Almost.

USA Today | Steve Gardner: For a while now, MLB has been talking about what they can do to improve pace of play. Earlier this week the league approved a rule to replace the four-pitch intentional walk with a dugout signal. Joe Girardi has his own idea to speed up the game. He wants to see MLB implement headsets similar to the NFL that would allow communication between the dugout and the players. He makes some valid points.

New York Post | Ken Davidoff: Aaron Judge can absolutely crush baseballs. So far this spring, he’s been doing just that. Watching what Judge can do during batting practice basically shows exactly why the Yankees are willing to be patient with Judge. That kind of power potential is rare. Matt Holliday says Judge is “right there with” Giancarlo Stanton in terms of power. Hopefully he can translate his batting practice show to major league success. Judge, for his part, thinks he found and fixed what was wrong with his swing.

CBS Sports | RotoWire Staff: Utility infielder Ronald Torreyes might soon just be “utility fielder.” The Yankees are reportedly giving Torreyes a look in the outfield this spring. With the addition of Chris Carter potentially decreasing versatility, Torreyes being able to play in the outfield could end up helping Girardi with defensive adjustments in any event. Certainly can’t hurt and would help further secure his already almost-guaranteed roster spot.