MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Hoch opens up one of the first offseason mailbags of the winter, and in it he dives into questions about the Yankees’ recent results and coaching changes. The lead question and biggest answer he provides focuses on the question of who is better suited to win a World Series first between the Mets and Yankees, after CC Sabathia recently remarked that he thinks the Mets will be hyper-aggressive after missing out on the postseason altogether. Hoch thinks that is true, but that the Yankees are
better situated coming off of a 94-win year without a single pitch from Gerrit Cole and having Aaron Judge deal with his elbow issue.
NJ.com | Randy Miller: It’s no secret that the Yankees’ rotation is a double-edged sword entering this offseason: they’re loaded with talent after Max Fried and Carlos Rodón stepped up in Gerrit Cole’s absence, Cole himself will be returning, and Cam Schlittler emerged as a young phenom to look out for. However, Cole will not be ready for Opening Day and neither will Rodón, and Clarke Schmidt won’t be back until the second half. They’ll need to beef up the staff for the beginning of the year, and while they’ll likely play it conservative with who they add, there are some big fish out on the water to reel in if they wanted to build a super rotation instead. No one stands out more than Tarik Skubal, who undoubtedly will be testing free agency in a year and is now increasingly likely to be traded by the Tigers after they lowballed him in 2024. A superstar rental got them to the World Series a year ago, and while they have even less odds of contending for Skubal’s long-term services than they did Juan Soto’s, could this be the all-in move that they need to win it all?
NJ.com | Manny Gómez: Alex Rodriguez has an HBO documentary coming out on November 6th, and for the first time we’re going to see a side of A-Rod that he fought very hard to cover up during his playing days: the steroid scandal that enveloped his otherwise Hall of Fame-worthy career. Rodriguez is still on the ballot of course, but his odds are miniscule after being at the center of the Mitchell Report in the mid 2000s and later being suspended by MLB for his use of the Biogenesis clinic’s performance-enhancing drugs. A-Rod said that he cost himself the Hall with his stupidity, but tackling that decision-making and going through therapy has made him a better man.
