Today on Pinstripe Alley - 1/5/23

A quiet start to the new year in the baseball world was disrupted yesterday, with the Red Sox making some noise. For once in their chaotically disastrous offseason, it was good news for the Yankees’ archrivals — after avoiding arbitration with Rafael Devers, Boston inked their star third baseman to an 11-year contract extension. In effect this should make Devers a member of the Sox for life, preventing the worst-case scenario for Boston after losing so many of their notable players in the past year and with Devers’ potential free agency approaching. It’s a shame that we’ll still have to see him 16 times a year, but it would be too dull of a rivalry if the antagonists had nobody on their side I suppose.

There’s nothing new to report from the Yankees themselves though, so let’s get into what we’ve got planned for the day. Josh takes a look into the notion of adding character guys to the clubhouse and what happens when it has an adverse effect, while one of our newest writers Casey debuts with a look at the opposite in Harrison Bader’s immediate rise to popularity. Sam takes us back to the iconic 2012 ALDS where Raúl Ibañez cemented his place in Yankees lore, Malachi makes the case for an immediate six-man rotation to open 2023, and Matt provides a history lesson on a strange day against the White Sox in 1918.

Questions/Prompts:

1. Who is the next young star that will command a $300 million contract?

2. Were you surprised that the Red Sox managed to convince Devers to stay long-term?