:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68631262/1228218454.0.jpg)
To put it lightly, there are many things that are much more important than Yankees baseball going on. In a normal year, baseball news isn’t high on anybody’s priority list in early January — and this is most certainly not a normal January. We here at Pinstripe Alley hope that our site can remain a safe space for all our readers and commenters. To our readers near Washington, D.C., or any other location with an outbreak of violence, please stay safe.
New York Post | Dan Martin: The hot stove heated up all the way to 200 Kelvin yesterday, as the Yankees traded minor league reliever James Reeves for San Diego Padres outfielder Greg Allen. The 28-year-old Allen, who was traded from Cleveland to San Diego as part of the Mike Clevinger deal, has 618 plate appearances across a four-year career, posting a .239/.298/.343 line. While not the high-profile deal that many Yankees fans have been hoping for, the team has had a habit in recent years of turning these kinds of minor trades into impact players.
New York Post | Joshua Rhett Miller: Former pitcher Tommy John, whose name has been immortalized as the first to receive elbow ligament replacement surgery, has been hospitalized on three occasions since being diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus on December 13. Despite this, however, he has downplayed the outbreak, telling a reporter who reached out to him that he was “making a mountain of a molehill” and saying that “these people here would put you on anything!” in reference to the fact that he was on oxygen when speaking with the reporter. Additionally, he claimed to have no symptoms of the virus, and has come out against taking a vaccine.
Readers, please take this pandemic seriously. Listen instead to Hank Aaron, who got himself inoculated as soon as possible in order to inspire Black Americans to get the vaccine when it becomes available for them. Wear a mask, stay socially-distanced, and when possible, stay home.
NJ.com | Mike Rosenstein: Could the Yankees have the inside track on free agent pitcher Corey Kluber? They very well might, as Yankees director of health and performance Eric Cressey has been working with Kluber through his rehab. Current Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake, meanwhile, was the director of pitching performance for Cleveland before joining the Yankees staff last season.