Yankees: 3 Players Who Should Sit Out Shortened Season

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Rob Manfred is getting close to mandating a 50-game MLB season, and these Yankees should skip it.

Throughout the negotiating process, Rob Manfred and his MLB cronies have repeatedly preached their willingness and apparent desire to fairly compromise on an extended 2020 schedule before employing a “nuclear option” and instituting a 48-to-54-game package. This would leave the Yankees on a near-even playing field instead of allowing their depth to shine through in what should’ve been a World Series window type of season.

Despite the league’s assurances, though, the MLBPA is the only side we’ve seen negotiate in good faith in a while. Steadfastly set on full prorated salaries, MLB players have decreased their ask from 114 games to 89, while the league has continually repackaged the same amount of money in different sliding scales and playoff-contingent cash grabs. We wouldn’t be shocked if their final offer was 154 half-games instead of 76 full games.

With all that being said, unless a drastic reversal takes place, Yankees fans will be looking at a Manfred-owned 50-game season, which’ll be instituted some time next week. These three New York standouts should say thanks, but no thanks, keeping their service time for a fuller season.

3. Aaron Judge

Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees celebrates a home run. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

Aaron Judge should sit out a 50-game season, and it might not be his choice.

OK, this one’s easy (and depressing) — perhaps Aaron Judge should consider sitting out a 50-game season considering his ongoing rib injury is a problem that’s far from solved.

If Judge wasn’t swinging a bat yet two weeks ago, and things have been dead silent ever since, what is there to assure any of us that he’s ready to go? A July 10 season start date is only a month away. Back when Spring Training was normal and all our concerns were about nicks and bruises instead of a global pandemic and the future of the sport, surgery was a consideration for Judge. Um, I’d love to hear a little bit more about whether that’s still necessary when a season plan is laid out in the next week or so?

Judge would not accrue any service time if he sits out the 2020 season, keeping him in pinstripes until 2024 without an extension. Hopefully, he’s healthy, ready, willing and able, but…there’s no reason to say that’ll be true with any certainty.

2. Masahiro Tanaka

New York Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

New York Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka has nothing to prove in a 50-game season.

Not to depress you all more than you’ve already depressed yourselves, but Masahiro Tanaka’s Yankee career may be coming to a close.

His free agency this winter was already poised to be tough to parse — after all, we know Tanaka by now. He’s hit or miss in the regular season, and he’ll throw two-to-three mistake pitches per game that generally get tattooed to the Metro North tracks. But for teams competing for Tanaka’s services, they’d like to see a little more — would they be theoretically paying only for Playoff Tanaka, or is there a chance he could level up once more in the regular season and find his groove?

Therefore, what would a 50-game season really do for him?

If Tanaka sits out the abrupt 2020 campaign, he won’t receive service time, and will buy himself another full year (hopefully) in 2021 in a rotation that will feature Gerrit Cole and a returning Luis Severino, at the very least. Then, he’ll hit free agency after a lot more normalcy. Of course, we’re not simply dealing with altered-schedule weariness here — as it stands, Tanaka isn’t even in the country. He fled home to Japan amid the coronavirus pandemic.

If he sits out the year with a health and safety waiver at his disposal, he could get full pay for missing the campaign, and would hit free agency at the end of the year. He could opt for a full 162 under his belt before doing so, though, even if it would hit the Yanks rotation hard this year.

1. Gerrit Cole

New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

A 50-game season could have Gerrit Cole reconsidering his participation.

Yankee ace Gerrit Cole is going to have a lot of thinking to do, as the 2020 season picture finally clarifies itself.

After starting with Pittsburgh and learning to dominate in Houston, Cole’s realized his dream of financial security with his boyhood team. He’s a Yankee fan today, tomorrow, forever, with a contract that ensures as such through 2028.

He’s also a soon-to-be father; his wife Amy is due this summer.

Amy Cole + Gerrit Cole = Relationship Goals 🙌⚾️ (via @PitchingNinja) pic.twitter.com/HZCFAsdvTC
— Baseball Bros (@BaseballBros) April 8, 2020

If Cole opts to sit out the 2020 season, he’ll be missing a chance at October glory with his chosen team for the very first time — but then again, the Bronx faithful might not even be there to cheer him on.

This really boils down to: What does Cole want, and what do the Yankees want?

There are many legitimate reasons for him to securely reconsider his position and help keep his family risk-free. Would New York rather have his age-38 season than an abbreviated version of his age-29 campaign? Does the potential pending lockout following the 2021 season render this whole thing moot? At some point, Cole and the team should get together to share any potential concerns.

Suddenly, there are many motivations at play here, and it may be worth keeping Cole bubble-wrapped and gaining an extra year of control, rather than rushing him back up to full speed into potential injury for 50 games this year.

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Of course, we’re quite certain that Yankee fans — starved for baseball AND their new ace — would not take kindly to that idea.

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