Yankees officially meet with Patrick Corbin in the Bronx

In a buildup that began last April when Patrick Corbin glowingly spoke about his desire to pitch for the Yankees, the 29-year-old left-hander finally met with team brass on Thursday.

The most desirable free agent starting pitcher on the market met with the Yankees and their key decision makers on Thursday. Of course, I’m talking about Patrick Corbin.

Although Andy Martino of SNY.com reports that Corbin’s meetings this week, which include already completed stops in both Philadelphia and Washington D.C. are more exploratory rather than having actual negotiations take place, it’s expected that contractual terms were discussed.

While having a superimposed image of a player wearing his potential new uniform shown up on the scoreboard seems to be a natural marketing tool, the Yankees also rolled out manager Aaron Boone, pitching coach Larry Rothschild, bullpen coach Mike Harkey and analytics expert Zac Fieroh.

Corbin, who was also scheduled to have dinner with team officials on Thursday evening, just so happened to bump into C.C. Sabathia. Sabathia was reportedly at the stadium rehabbing his surgically repaired knee.

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General manager Brian Cashman was interviewed by YES, giving minor details about Corbin’s time in the Bronx. Per the New York Post:

“We’re in the middle of certainly a very active winter, whether it’s trade or free agents, and in some cases free agents want to come visit. So Patrick Corbin is here at Yankee Stadium and in New York today,” general manager Brian Cashman said on YES. “I wouldn’t call it a recruiting effort as much as an educational effort, where [he’s] getting a chance to see the facilities from the home side, because clearly he’s played here as a visitor and he certainly has traveled to New York as a visitor. He’ll get access to all aspects of what we’re about, the brand, our efforts, the people, with Aaron Boone and our coaches and myself and hopefully he’ll walk away getting a better feel for who we are.“He’s obviously on a journey of decisions with his family that eventually will conclude a new landing spot probably — I can’t rule out, who knows if Arizona is still in on the situation or not? We’ll see.”

Later in the day, Ken Rosenthal tweeted that he was told by someone that attended Corbin’s recent wedding, that Patrick’s younger brother pulled out a Yankees hat towards the end of his best man’s speech, saying that he hoped Patrick and Jen would soon be moving closer to home. Corbin grew up near Syracuse.

Personally, I would have done all I could to get Yankee legend, Andy Pettitte, to make an appearance at the sales pitch. After all, Corbin, who wears No. 46 in honor of Pettitte, is a lifelong fan — and having Pettitte in-house, may have been the icing on the cake that is getting Corbin’s signature on a contract.