Around the Empire: Yankees news - 1/26/18

MLB.com | Jon Paul Morosi: The Yankees’ plan has been to get under the $197 luxury tax threshold and gosh darnit they’re going to do exactly that. Most people thought that meant the Yankees might be done making moves, but it looks like they may not be done yet. They went digging in the couch and found out they have about $15 million they could spend this offseason and still have money left over for midseason trades. If that’s the case, there’s still room to add a free agent or two.

NJ.com | Brendan Kuty: After Aaron Boone was hired, his coaching staff slowly started to fill out (except Larry Rothschild returning was reported before Boone was hired, but whatever you get the point). While the team previously announced Marcus Thames as the hitting coach, yesterday Suzyn Waldman announced on WFAN that P.J. Pilittere and Thames will both serve as hitting coaches. Pilittere was previously the Yankees’ Triple-A hitting coach, so adding him to the staff makes sense considering the roster.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: The 2018 Hall of Fame class results came out on Wednesday and unfortunately Mike Mussina still did not make the cut. He’s more than worthy of inclusion, but he just doesn’t have the support yet. What’s good is that, he has momentum building for his bid and could be inducted as early as next year. He jumped from being on 51.8% of ballots last year to 63.5% this year. Another big jump like that and he’ll clear the 75% threshold. #Moose4Hall

MLB.com | Lindsay Berra: CC Sabathia is back and ready to roll. However, at 37 it’s not as easy for him as it used to be so he’s taking some extra steps. Sabathia has a whole new conditioning routine worked out and has also gone vegan in an effort to keep him strong this season. If you’re worried about the last time he tried being healthier, he’s not looking to shed weight, just get stronger. Plus, I confirmed that Cap’n Crunch cereal is vegan so no worries there!

Chicago Tribune | Pat Disbato: A cool little profile on Mark Payton, a left-handed outfielder in the Yankees system. Payton spent most of last year in Triple-A and played well, but was sent down to Double-A to make room for Tyler Austin’s rehab assignment. When he was sent down, he played poorly and blames himself. He was sent down after playing well and that hurt. Payton is looking to have a big bounceback season and put himself in a position where he could advance.

Fun Question

What do we think the home run call will be? I think it’ll be something lame like “Giancarlo hits one Gian-far-lo” but I’m really hoping it’s this:

I kind of love this way too much and I might just adopt it myself.