Around the Empire: Yankees news - 2/8/21

NJ.com | Brendan Kuty: The Yankees’ roster going into the 2021 season appears to have mostly taken shape. Earlier in the winter, there had been rumors that they were looking at Yasiel Puig, but it appears that won’t be happening. They still seem somewhat likely to bring back Brett Gardner, on the other hand.

New York Post | Ken Davidoff: Here is a look at the various divisions and how compelling they are based on what’s happened over the offseason. Unsurprisingly, the NL East, spearheaded by the Mets’ moves are number one, but the AL East comes in at number three. While the Yankees made a major headline with the re-signing of DJ LeMahieu, a lot of the intrigue in the division came via the Blue Jays.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | Jason Mackey: In former Yankee news, Chasen Shreve has found a new home with the Pirates. With Pittsburgh, Shreve signed a minor league deal with an invitation to major league camp. It seems like he has a pretty decent chance to make the MLB roster, although it is the Pirates.

Meanwhile, Aaron Judge was in attendance at the Super Bowl, hanging out with Alex Rodríguez (and Shaq, apparently). It won’t be long now until he’s in Tampa for reasons related to baseball.

A sad note to end the news this morning: longtime ESPN reporter Pedro Gomez suddenly passed away on Sunday. He was a prominent baseball figure for a long, long time, and in addition to being a total pro, was well-liked by pretty much everyone he came across.

Rest well, Pedro. Our thoughts are with your friends and family.