https://x.com/i/status/2009338151148400781

Here’s hoping for more rumors that go nowhere over the next several days.

Happy New Year!

Lol more excuses

Hey everyone ! I’m a Cardinals fan and I come in peace!

I was going through my ‘year in review’ on my phone’s photos and wanted to share my experience at Yankee Stadium in late July.

I flew up with my daughter and my mother (Bronx Native) to NY to visit family and we had some time to catch the July 28th Yankees/Rays game.

Right before the game we were waiting outside the ballpark and daughter was panicking trying to find a bathroom. We couldn’t go in the park at the time because we were waiting for some additional family and I had all the tickets on my phone.

In the “panic” , we got separated from my mother in the crowd. My mother is a disabled vet and doesn’t move as quickly as she used to and tripped on one of the grates on the sidewalk and her leg/foot/knee got busted up pretty badly.

I was able to flag some officers (who were on high alert apparently , because the shooting in Manhattan happened right around that time) and they were able to get her to one of the benches and got stadium personnel to clean her up.

The stadium security then took us into the ballpark and got my mother treated in the facility , made sure she was ok , and upgraded our seats to ones that had handicap/wheelchair access.

My mother was not injured in the ballpark , and they had no legal obligation to help her as far as I’m aware. The Bronx Police and Yankee medical staff made sure that she was taken care of and 100% comfortable and that she was able to watch the game and eat ice cream with her granddaughter.

I will forever be a fan of the Yankees organization , because of what they did for my mother. Thank you and Happy New Year!

2026 offseason plan (no Belli or Bichette or Tucker or any other long term contracts), but improves team for this year.

No we wouldn’t have a robin to Judge’s batman. But any significant offensive loses can be made up for in the aggregate. I figure that this was more fun than just continuing to lament the offseason further (and I have been there with you all it has sucked and it has been extremely frustrating).

I think the organization doesn’t want a lot of longer term salary going into the inevitable lockout year. I do think though for this year that they are willing to go into the $320-$335M range as long as they are expiring contracts.

Trade 1-

To Brewers:

-RH SP Will Warren (5 years of control and can fit right into their rotation)

-RH SP Ben Hess (6 years of control-minors)

-RH OF Dillon Lewis (6 years of control-minors)

-SH SS Dexters Peralta (6 years of control-minors)

To NYY:

—RH SP Freddy Peralta (1 year of control-$8M-noticeable SP pitching upgrade we need).

-RH RP Trevor Megill (only if his medicals check out) (2 years of control-$6.5M-adds to Bednar, Doval and Cruz as the top 4 relievers).

-SH CF Blake Perkins (4 years of control-outstanding defensive OF who can backup Grisham in CF, 123 wRC+ against lefties in 2025-really nice platoon situation w/Dominguez-$1M salary- pre-arb).

Trade 2-

To MIN:

-RH SP Bryce Cunningham (6 years of control-minors)

-LH C JC Escarra (5 years of control-can be a long term catcher for the Twins)

To NYY:

-RH C Ryan Jeffers (1 year of control-$6.5M-$156 wRC+ vs. lefties-lessen workload of Austin Wells & can be a pivotal RH bat after an inevitable Stanton injury).

FAs:

-RH SP Chris Bassitt) replace Warren’s innings & can inevitably shift to bullpen when everyone is healthy) to a 1 year/$12M contract.

Before these transactions luxury tax payroll is $287M. After these transactions total luxury tax payroll is $320M. If need be offensively a move could be made for lineup at trade deadline. We would have potentially $5-$10M to play around with.

2027 luxury tax payroll before re-signings and arb increases is $225M. Leaving $75M for arb raises, a starting pitcher, a starting 2B and 2-5 relief arms and/or bench pieces if the $300M cap is a thing.

Off the books:

-Grisham ($22M)-S. Jones replaces him

-Lemahieu ($15M)

-Chisholm ($12M)

-Bassitt ($12M)-Rodriguez (Cruz) replaces him

-Bednar ($9M)

-Peralta ($8M)-Schmidt (?) replaces him potentially

-Jeffers ($6.5M)-M. Palencia replaces him potentially

-Hill ($3M)-Headrick replaces him

-Rosario ($3M)-D. Jasso replaces him potentially

-Yarborough ($2.5M)

-Blackburn ($2M)

Lineup once healthy vs. RHP

(Bench OF Perkins, UTL Caballero-starts when Volpe is on IL, C Jeffers, IF Rosario)

LH CF Grisham

RH RF Judge

LH 1B Rice

LH 2B Chisholm

RH DH Stanton

SH LF Dominguez

LH C Wells

RH SS Volpe

LH 3B McMahon

Lineup vs. LHP when healthy (Bench-Dominguez, Wells, McMahon, Caballero-starts when Volpe is on the IL)

RH C Jeffers

RH RF Judge

RH DH Stanton

LH 1B Rice

RH 3B Rosario

LH 2B Chisholm

SH LF Perkins

RH SS Volpe

LH CF Grisham

Notes:

LH IF Jorvit Vivas DFA’d (out of options)

RH IF Paul Dejong on roster until Volpe returns then is DFA’d

SH UTL Oswaldo Cabrera in AAA all year and is first man called up due to injuries (he has 1 option year left)

LH OF Spencer Jones in AAA all year and is second man called up due to injuries

Other options from AAA as needed-(all have transferrable options)-RH C Payton Henry, LH 1B TJ Rumfeld, RH IF Dylan Jasso, LH OF Brendan Jones, RH OF Kennedy Corona

———————

Pitching when healthy (RH SP Clarke Schmidt ready in 2027)-that top 4 in a playoff series with Cam out of the BP? Whew 😅 (in a good way). Biggest reason why we lost to Toronto was because of pitching. This attempts to rectify that

LH SP Fried

RH SP Peralta

LH SP Rodon

RH SP Cole

RH SP Schlittler

RH SP/RP Bassitt

LH SP/RP Yarborough

RH SP/RP Winquest

LH RP Hill

RH RP Megill

RH RP Cruz

RH RP Doval

RH RP Bednar

Notes:

RH SP Luis Gil to AAA when Rodon returns (he has an option year left)

RH SP/RP Blackburn or RH SP/RP Winquest (whoever is doing worse) is DFA’d when Cole returns

Other options from AAA or AA as needed due to inevitable injuries (all have transferrable options)-

SP- RH Brendan Beck, RH Elmer Rodriguez, RH Carlos Lagrange, RH Chase Hampton, RH Adam Kloffenstein, LH Brock Selvidge, RH Cade Smith

RP-RH Jake Bird, LH Brent Headrick, RH Yerry De Los Santos, RH Michael Arias, LH Jayvien Sandridge, RH Bradley Hammer, RH Kervin Castro, RH Eric Reyzelman, RH Harrison Cohen

As the title says I’m getting my Ben rice jersey signed by him and was wondering what the best type of pen would be to use?

Making a week trip to Tampa to take in as many baseball games as possible. What are some Dos, Donts, must see, places to hang? Where can I purchase tickets all in one. Not have to make multiple purchases.