Yankees News: Mark Leiter Jr. arbitration, 60-day IL candidate, Pat Hoberg fired

Not much going on but here's what we got.

Championship Series - New York Yankees v Cleveland Guardians - Game 4
Championship Series - New York Yankees v Cleveland Guardians - Game 4 | Maddie Meyer/GettyImages

The New York Yankees offseason has gone completely silent, with no notable action since the Paul Goldschmidt signing back in late December. Once again, the roster is incomplete, but ownership and the front office are abiding by self-imposed restrictions in order to keep the payroll flexible before hitting the Cohen Tax threshold ($301 million).

So maybe that's why the Yankees went to arbitration with reliever Mark Leiter Jr.? Was there no way they were going to spend another $500K if they didn't have to? When fans learned of this weeks ago, it sounded objectively ridiculous.

And honestly ... it is. But apparently it was worth it for New York after the organization won the arbitration hearing against the veteran righty. Leiter Jr. filed for a $2.5 million salary and the Yankees countered at $2.05 million. They couldn't meet in the middle, and then an arbitration panel determined the Yankees' $2.05 million number was what Leiter would get.

About to turn 34 years old, LeiterJr. was acquired at the 2024 trade deadline from the Chicago Cubs, and very much did not perform up to expectations. He ended up pitching in the playoffs out of necessity when injuries struck, and he actually redeemed himself, but a costly error against the Guardians in the ALCS nearly ruined everything. Thankfully, the Yankees came back to win the game and it was no longer a talking point.

Leiter Jr. was projected to make $2.1 million, so we'll rescind our anger toward the Yankees for going to arbitration with a player who hardly changes the 2025 outlook. They were right in their filing.

Yankees News: Jonathan Loaisiga to 60-day IL? Umpire Pat Hoberg fired

Staying on the bullpen topic, MLB Trade Rumors released its list of possible 60-day injured list candidates with spring training around the corner, as teams are looking to complete one final round of roster housekeeping.

They listed Jonathan Loaisiga as the Yankees' 60-day IL candidate, which isn't going to make fans happy after the team paid him $5 million for 2025 with an option for 2026. The right-hander has only let the Yankees down during his tenure, pitching in just 20 games the last two seasons, regressing in 2022, and performing poorly in the playoffs from 2019-2021. Not sure why the Yankees couldn't quit this guy, but if he ends up on the 60-day IL after undergoing Tommy John last April, we are looking at history repeating itself.

As for history repeating itself, at this point how does everybody associated with professional sports not understand they need to be as far away from gambling as possible? Didn't anybody learn from Pete Rose decades ago followed by countless others in the modern era who have gotten caught?

On Monday, MLB fired umpire Pat Hoberg for ""sharing" legal sports betting accounts with a friend who bet on baseball, and for "intentionally deleting messages key to the investigation into his conduct."

Hoberg was actually one of the better umpires in the game, so it's unfortunate how this all transpired. As for his Yankees ties, he ejected Aaron Boone for the first time in the manager's career back in 2018. The two had gotten into it multiple times after that, resulting in a few more tosses.

Hoberg was suspended back in June of 2024 after the allegations of a link to sports betting surfaced, and the decision was finally made to cut ties with him eight months later.

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