Yankees: Brian Cashman Sneaks Weird Giancarlo Stanton News Into Positive Update

Brian Cashman says every New York Yankees star is healthy! Including Giancarlo Stanton, kinda.

Well, this was a whirlwind for every Yankees diehard, but not an entirely unexpected one!

GM Brian Cashman hopped on with Meredith Marakovits to deliver a diabolically packed news update, first highlighting that he believes Aaron Judge is recovered from his cracked rib, and the intention is for him to play Opening Day.

Cashman also highlighted Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks, and James Paxton as three other beleaguered Yankees who he believes will be ready to participate, too. That’s rad!

Additionally, he believes that the entire 2020 team will be playing, without any opt-outs being exercised. That’s somewhat remarkable — though we wouldn’t begrudge anyone for opting out in this climate, we certainly expected one or two.

So, all good, right? Everything’s hunky dory? Everyone’s healthy and rarin’ to go, full bore, at their primary position in the fiel–oh, got it.

Yes, since it’s Giancarlo Stanton we’re talking about here, there simply had to be a corollary.

The Stanton update came shortly afterward, and though he’s just about ready to DH, he hasn’t done outfield drills since the spring.

*rubs eyes to clear them 100 consecutive times* Sorry, come again?

This has been an offseason unlike any other, of course, and it would make perfect sense that Stanton would want to take things outside of the cage very slowly. Cashman clarified a step further in his later remarks, reiterating that Stanton’s readiness (and Judge’s, and Hicks’) is mainly a matter of conditioning.

We heartily endorse taking this trio of outfielders’ recovery process more slowly, especially since they can’t be lost for any long stretches, with only 60 games to work with.

We also won’t freak out if Stanton’s a DH only in 2020 — it might very well be the position that suits him best for the next decade, and the Yankees have plenty of other outfield options who need chances to get ABs this year.

But to find out he hadn’t gotten on the field yet in three-plus months after what seemed to be a minor calf pull? A bit disheartening, especially buried in such a feel-good day overall (comparatively so).