About The Off-Season: Meanderings Of My Mind

About The Off-Season: Meanderings Of My Mind

By Tim Kabel

November 9, 2026

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The postseason is underway. It seems quite likely that there will be a lockout beginning at midnight on December 1st. I don't anticipate that it will be a lengthy one, but I think it will happen. Lockouts and strikes are much like visits from relatives; there's no way of telling how long they will last. If it is like the last lockout in 2022, It might go into next year and right up against the beginning of the season. That becomes problematic for teams that are trying to construct their rosters. During a lockout, nothing can happen. Therefore, it has been predicted that teams will make a flurry of significant transactions before the end of November so they can have a solid framework of their roster in place, at the very least. The Yankees need to make major moves. The last time there was a lockout, between the 2021 and 2022 seasons, the Yankees made no significant moves. How Brian Cashman and company handle the next few weeks will be extremely significant in regard to building the roster for the 2027. If the Yankees are inactive, it could very well indicate that they don't plan on making many changes at all. That would be a concern. The Yankees have come up short year after year since last winning the World Series in 2009. They need to show the players currently on the roster and the fans that they are serious about improving and winning. Doing nothing is not the best way to show that. Since I won't have any games to recap until at least March, I will now wander from topic-to-topic as if I were strolling through the mall, doing some early holiday shopping. (Does anyone still do that?)

·      Luis Garcia, junior is a very good player. He had an excellent year in 2026 and was solid once he became a Yankee. However, when it comes to the Yankees, he doesn't exactly fit. It is like taking a Great Dane and trying to make it part of a sled team to compete in the Iditarod. The Great Dane is impressive but really isn't going to work on that sled team. Garcia was a second baseman prior to last season but the reason he was moved was that he wasn't very good defensively. That's putting it nicely. He did very well at first base, particularly with the Yankees. Usually, when he was playing first base, Ben Rice was the designated hitter. Rice and Garcia are essentially redundant on the same team. The other issue is that Rice is a better hitter with more power. He had a breakout season in 2026. Now, I don't put much stock in the notion that Giancarlo Stanton will be able to fill the role of DH next year. He played in 24 games last year. He was limited to two at bats in the Divisional series. He struck out in both of those at bats. It is time to move on from Stanton. At this point, the Yankees are unwilling to do so but that could change very quickly. In fact, the most likely way that it will change is that Stanton will simply not be able to play. There has been some talk about the Yankees moving Garcia back to second base. The problem with that is that he wasn't a very good second baseman in the first place, which is why he became a first baseman. If he wasn't a good second baseman before, what makes us think he will be a good second baseman now? The answer is nothing. There has also been some speculation that the Yankees might try Garcia at third base since switching from first to third is not unheard of. However, that seems to be a rather risky move and does not make much sense. Let's face facts, if Garcia remains on the Yankees in 2027, he will switch between DH and first base, flip-flopping with Ben Rice. That ties up the designated hitter position. At this stage of his career, Aaron Judge, who is coming off a major injury in 2026 would probably benefit from a significant number of at bats as the designated hitter. If that happens, then either Rice or Garcia will sit. At this point, maybe the best thing to do with Garcia is to trade him for either a right-handed hitting catcher or some quality relief pitchers.

·      I was thinking the other day about how my viewing of sports has evolved over the years. I have been a Yankees fan since 1975. Growing up, I didn't really follow football much. I did like boxing, particularly heavyweight boxing. Now, when I happen to be looking at the Internet, whenever I see clips of Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Evander Holyfield, and other fighters from that era, I stop to watch them. I couldn't tell you the name of any major boxers or UFC fighters or whatever they are called these days. I do follow football more than I used to but I'm still more of a casual fan. Since the team I do follow is the Jets, that is understandable. It gives me culpable deniability.  Other than that, I really don't follow sports. I have a very slight interest in basketball, and that is on the professional level. I don't really follow any college sports, although I do have some slight knowledge of college football, since the Jets always seem to have high draft picks due to their terrible performances. Unfortunately, they never seem to do anything with them. I enjoy watching the Olympics both summer and winter, but I have not become a fan of curling or synchronized swimming. I view the Olympics the way I view certain types of food, I'll have them every now and then but they're not about to become staples in my diet. The only thing that I can say I truly enjoy watching and always do other than baseball is horse racing, and that is restricted entirely to the Triple Crown races. Someday, I would like to see a horse race in person. I wouldn't make a wager on it. I just like watching the horses run. My dream would be to have enough land someday so that I could acquire some retired racehorses and other horses that needed to be rescued and just have them live there on my property. I suppose I could ride one, if he had a particularly strong back, and my family members could ride some as well but mostly it would just be to give the horses a place to live and me the opportunity to watch them. But back to sports, I've never watched golf or auto racing or most other sports. I took my son to a hockey game once. That was nice. Years ago, I watched bowling on ABC on a Saturday afternoon and I'm not sure why. I also smoked a cigarette once when I was 18, and I'm not sure why. So, it's baseball for me and specifically, the Yankees. If there was not a Yankees game on TV but there was a game between the Cubs and the Cardinals, I probably wouldn't watch it. I would find something else to do.

·      If the Yankees do trade Luis Garcia and return Ben Rice to first base, what would they do regarding the designated hitter? I think the Yankee should rotate the designated hitter spot in the lineup among a few players. Aaron Judge should be the designated hitter at least two days a week. That will help keep him fresh for the season and hopefully for several more seasons to come. I don't think that Jasson Dominguez was treated fairly by the Yankees, and I also believe that he was more injured last season than we were told. That would not be an unusual situation when it comes to the Yankees. Last year, they kept everyone in the dark regarding Austin Wells’ brain injury. Two years ago, the Yankees never said anything about Anthony Volpe being injured until the very end of the season. The way that Aaron Boone reveals these injuries when he finally does is amazing. Either he says very little or openly denies that there are injuries or issues but then when he finally reveals it, he acts completely mystified and dumbfounded that the media and fans didn't know about it. So, regarding Dominguez, I don't know that the Yankees can get very much for him in a trade. He is still only 23 years old. I think he is a better player and a better fit for the Yankees than Heliot Ramos. Ramos may serve a role as a right-handed pinch hitter and extra outfielder. I would take Dominguez and make him as close to being a regular as you could. In other words, if Aaron Judge is the designated hitter two days a week, you also give Cody Bellinger and possibly Spencer Jones a day each there, Dominguez could be the DH  the other three days a week. On the days when Judge, Bellinger, or Jones is serving as the DH, Dominguez can go into the outfield. I would then make Dominguez the leadoff hitter. The Yankees don't have a leadoff hitter at this point. Basically, they haven't had one for a while. Trent Grisham did not do a good job as the leadoff hitter or as any type of a hitter last year. I would have Dominguez serve as the primary DH and leadoff hitter.

·      The problem with having Jasson Dominguez as a regular player next year and particularly having him bat leadoff is that it is extremely unlikely to happen with Aaron Boone as the manager. Aaron Boone has repeatedly demonstrated that he will only support, encourage, and nurture the development of young players if he has no other choice. Last year, Spencer Jones played a lot because of injuries to Aaron Judge, Trent Grisham, and Cody Bellinger. When Anthony Volpe was anointed as the starting shortstop, there really were not any other options. When Volpe was pushed aside in favor of George Lombard, junior, again it was because the Yankees didn't have anyone else. What you saw when Dominguez was on the team was much different. Boone had other options. I can't tell you how many times I would see a game in which Dominguez had two or three hits or did something impressive. And I would think that he was about to go on a roll. Naturally, he was then benched for two days. A young player like Dominguez needs to play every day to learn and progress. This has been the case with Aaron Boone ever since he became the manager. With the pitching staff, it's a little different because Matt Blake serves as a buffer between Boone and the pitchers. However, Will Warren and Cam Schlittler became mainstays in the starting rotation because other pitchers were injured and Boone did not have another choice. I think Dominguez can really flourish if the Yankees actually give him a chance and he avoids injury in 2027. It just seems unlikely that  will happen as long as Aaron Boone is at the helm.