About Spring Training: Meanderings of My Mind

About Spring Training: Meanderings of My Mind

By Tim Kabel

March 1, 2026

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The Yankees were eliminated from the postseason in the ALDS last season. Spring Training is well underway. The games have begun. Opening Day is less than a month away. Since I don't have any games to recap, I will now move from topic to topic as if I were a raccoon burrowing through the mountains of snow in my backyard looking for some discarded delicacy.

·      I am trying very hard to be excited about the upcoming season for the New York Yankees. I shouldn't have to try hard but that is where we are now. It is comparable to when my first wife used to serve me one of her various bean concoctions for dinner. I was never a big fan of beans. Mr. Bean, I liked. Bowls of beans with rice, not so much. However, to maintain peace, I would muster up as much enthusiasm as I possibly could. At the end of the day, it was still a plate of beans. No matter how many fancy garnishes or extra bits of flavor she put in there, it was still beans. Yes, they were filling. Yes, they provided all the various vitamins and nutrients I needed. However, they were still beans. No matter how enthusiastic I was or what magic tricks she performed on them, they were still beans.

I feel the exact same way about the 2026 New York Yankees. This is essentially the same team that could not beat the Blue Jays or the Red Sox regularly during the season in 2025. Although they tied with the Blue Jays for the best record In the AL East, they did not win the division. They were severely outclassed in the ALDS and lost to the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays, Red Sox and even the Orioles have all improved. The Yankees have not.

I know, the argument is that they will be getting Gerrit Cole back. That's great. But he might not be back until May. If he comes back at the end of May, that's one third of the season that's already gone. Also, we all know that he won't be able to pitch deep into the games at the beginning. The Yankees will understandably be very careful with him. It will take him time to round into top condition. Also, Carlos Rodon will not be there at the beginning of the season. He should be back sooner than Cole but again, there is uncertainty involved.

The other argument was that the Yankees will have a full season of Cam Schlittler. Aaron Boone announced the other day that due to his soreness; I won't characterize it as an injury, he will be limited at the beginning of the season. It seems that Schlittler will be able to pitch but he won't be able to go very deep into games. That will put extra strain on the bullpen. The point is, that I do not have a great deal of excitement or enthusiasm regarding the Yankees’ prospects this season. To me, they are just a plate of beans.

·      My son Jack is set to graduate from basic training on March 12th. He has completed all the tests, programs, and training that he needed to and now it is just an issue of maintaining things until the actual graduation ceremony. From there, he will be sent to Missouri for another nine weeks of specific training for the job he will hold during his weekends of service while he is in the Army Reserves. He excelled at all the physical conditioning and was at the top of his platoon in just about everything. Unlike many of the people in his platoon, he not only has an undergraduate degree, but he also has a master's degree. Once he completes all facets of his training and is back home, he should have no trouble finding a full-time job, with all his education and experience. I am extremely proud of what he has done in all areas of his life. When my physical condition improves to the point where I can go places, perhaps he and I can go to a shooting range and do some target shooting. I used to be pretty adept at it. One year when we were on vacation, I surprised and impressed my kids when we went to the bow and arrow course at the resort because they had no idea that I used to be a very good shot with a bow. However, no one volunteered to put an apple on their heads.

·      So far in Spring Training, Jasson Dominguez is 5-12. That is a .417 batting average. Of those five hits, two were doubles and one was a home run. Spencer Jones is 3-8. That's a .375 batting average. All three hits have been home runs. I know it's early, but both young men are doing everything they possibly can to make it extremely difficult for the Yankees to send them down to the minor leagues. Yet, we all know that's what they will do. Randal Grichuk will make the roster but neither Jones nor Dominguez will. Trent Grisham will be the starting centerfielder. The only way either of these two young men will make the roster on Opening Day is if Giancarlo Stanton remains unable to open a bag of chips or brush his teeth or comb his hair or do practically anything. I would assume that if he has trouble opening a Snickers bar, he would not be able to hit a baseball very well. Anyway, the fact that two of the more exciting players in Spring Training will not be on the team on Opening Day is yet another reason to be not so excited about the prospects for the Yankees this year.

·      I have not written about my delightful upstairs neighbor, the Roadrunner, in quite some time. His younger brother, the Coyote, has joined in the fun and mayhem by frolicking about with his brother back and forth all day long. Apparently, they have learned how to throw a bowling ball on the floor. I noticed that all the cabinets in my kitchen are separating from the ceiling. There are cracks opening between the cabinets and the ceiling of varying thicknesses. In addition, the recessed lighting is no longer recessed. I am concerned that at some point, one or all the cabinets could simply pull away entirely and land on my head. I alerted my management company to this situation, and they sent a repairman out. Actually, the repairman was already here, dealing with other issues and was told to address the cabinets as well. He stated that the situation was a result of having a family of circus acrobats living above me. He volunteered to address this situation with the upstairs neighbors. He has not been seen or heard from since. I thought it was just annoying, now I found out that it is destructive as well. I have to look around for my father's old army helmet from World War 2. I think I will need to wear it.

·      As we get closer to Opening Day, it will be interesting to see how the roster shakes out. I don't know if any of the young pitchers, such as Carlos Lagrange or Ben Hess has a chance of making the bullpen, but it would be nice if they did. It wouldn't just be for them to sit there. I imagine if either or both of them made the bullpen, they would eventually begin to play a prominent role. One could hope that happens, but remember Aaron Boone is still the manager so it is possible he will trot out the same tired old options until he doesn't have a choice. I think that if the Yankees are going to have any hope for this season or any chance to advance into the postseason, they will need significant contributions from their young players. At this point since most of the young players will be in Scranton or other minor league destinations, that seems unlikely.