About Spring Training: Meanderings of My Mind

About Spring Training: Meanderings of My Mind

By Tim Kabel

March 16, 2026

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The Yankees were eliminated from the postseason in the ALDS last season. Spring Training is almost over. The games are being played daily and the regulars are playing deeper into those games. Opening Day is ten days away as I write this. Since I don't have any games to recap, I will now move from topic to topic with unbridled enthusiasm like a bear emerging from hibernation and realizing that it hasn't eaten in six months.  

·      It seems very clear that despite doing extremely well in Spring Training, Jasson Dominguez will be starting this season in Scranton. It does not seem fair. It also seems that it is not in the best interest of either Dominguez or the Yankees, yet it is the reality of the situation. By virtue of the $22 million qualifying offer the team unwisely made to Trent Grisham, they are locked into him at least for the time being. Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman do not seem inclined to return Grisham to the backup outfielder role he held prior to last season. Whereas Dominguez has been completely overwhelming this spring, Grisham would have to improve his performance to be underwhelming. Yet, he will be given the benefit of the doubt and the bulk of the playing time in centerfield. Randal Grichuk will be the fourth outfielder. Giancarlo Stanton will be the designated hitter when his severely compromised elbows allow him to be. Meanwhile, Dominguez will most likely go to AAA and dominate along with Spencer Jones, who has already been banished to Pennsylvania. Perhaps they can present Senator Fetterman with a Yankees sweatshirt to add to his collection. The primary argument for sending Dominguez and Jones to the minor leagues is that the Yankees are a “win now” team. That may be true, but it could certainly be argued that keeping Dominguez and Jones in the Bronx would put the Yankees in a much more likely position of winning now than would sending them to the minor leagues. We will soon see.

·       I am rethinking my position regarding my diminutive upstairs neighbor, the Roadrunner, and his younger brother, the Coyote. I no longer suspect that they are circus acrobats or clog dancers. Instead, something else came to mind. Recently, I saw one of the original Pink Panther movies with the late, great Peter Sellers. By the way, there are other actors who have played Inspector Clouseau, but there was only one Inspector Clouseau. And that was Peter Sellers. Anyway, in the scenes that I saw from the movie, Inspector Clouseau and Cato were having an all-out brawl in Inspector Clouseau's apartment in an effort to hone the inspector's fighting skills. In the process of doing this, they managed to destroy not only Inspector Clouseau's apartment, but his neighbor’s as well. I have now determined that my neighbors are reenacting scenes from these movies. It would seem that the Roadrunner, being older, would be portraying Inspector Clouseau, while his brother would be Cato. Next time they get going, I will make some popcorn, pour myself a soda and go upstairs to watch the show.

·      There seems to be a great deal of debate over whether the Yankees should turn Carlos Lagrange and possibly Ben Hess into relief pitchers. Many people seem to feel that they should remain as starters because that would provide greater long-term benefit to the team. However, it's not as if the Yankees don't have a wealth of starting pitchers. They do. In fact, they have so many that it seems likely that when Carlos Rodon, Gerrit Cole, and eventually, Clarke Schmidt, return, pitchers who are in the starting rotation at that time will need to shift to the bullpen. In the case of Schmidt, it is Schmidt himself who may shift to the bullpen. However, the bullpen is a weakness for the Yankees. It was last season and they have done nothing to strengthen it. Converting LaGrange and possibly Hess to relief pitchers would seemingly provide the Yankees with a major upgrade that would not require a trade. I am very familiar with the old adage, “you can never have too much starting pitching." Well, you can if you don't have a very good bullpen. The Yankees would also have Elmer Rodriguez, Chase Hampton, and others working as starters in the minor leagues. Remember, Mariano Rivera was a starting pitcher when he first came to the Yankees. So was Dellin Betances. I suspect and hope that at some point this season, we will see Lagrange or Hess, or possibly both pitching in relief for the Yankees. That would be a positive thing for the Yankees, as long as they are correctly utilized by Aaron Boone.

·      Tomorrow is Saint Patrick's Day. I will be cooking corned beef with cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and onions. I am fully aware that this is not a traditional Irish dish, as there was not a lot of corned beef available or consumed in Ireland. It was more common to have bacon with cabbage and potatoes as pigs were easier to raise and occupied a lot less space. Be that as it may, I love well prepared corned beef and if it's available on Saint Patrick's Day, historically accurate or not, I will load up my plate and wash it down with a green bagel. I love it on rye bread with some mustard. Easter is coming as well which means that so is kielbasa in all forms and ham. I have to be careful with my salt intake so, I make sure that the hams I purchase and prepare are not extra salty. I can no longer eat country hams because no matter how well you soak them and then boil them, they are still salty. There are several very good kielbasa manufacturers in Connecticut, but my favorite is Martin Rosel and I have a friend who lives near their factory and retail store. So every Easter, she comes to me with a large brown bag full of them. As a child I always looked forward to the Easter Bunny, now I much prefer the Kielbasa Bunny.

·      It is somewhat hard to believe that in just ten days, the Yankees will be opening their season in San Francisco against the Giants. Although I have expressed a great deal of doubt regarding the Yankees in this upcoming season, their schedule to open the season is not particularly difficult. They do open with the Giants and the Mariners but after that, they play the Marlins, the Athletics, the Rays, the Angels, and then the Royals, before playing the Red Sox on April 21st. The thing is that if the Yankees get off to a slow start against those teams, it could be a very long season. If at the end of that stretch on April 21st, they are only one or two games above .500 for example, I don't think it would bode well for the Yankees winning the division. Don't forget, you have to factor in the annual Boone-Swoon at some point. It is essential that the Yankees take advantage of that early schedule. I'm not sure if they will be able to do so.