The Yankees and Orioles are playing a four-game series this weekend at Oriole Park in Baltimore.
BALTIMORE — Riding in an Oriole Park elevator with fans and media before Saturday’s Yankees-Orioles game, someone brought up a fellow Hall of Fame pitcher to Orioles great and long-time broadcaster Jim Palmer.
“I just saw Sandy Koufax in Cooperstown,” Palmer said.
After a few seconds of silence, the 79-year-old three-time Cy Young winner broke into a story about another Dodgers legend, late Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda
“I remember Lasorda telling me that he could have been as good as Koufax,” Palmer said. “I told Tommy to walk over to that mirror and take a look at that body, then come back and tell me again you could have been as good as Koufax.”
Everyone laughed.
Lasorda never had much of a playing career as a left-handed pitcher, and he was known for being pudgy. In 26 big-league games in the 1950s, a few with the Brooklyn Dodgers when Koufax was a rookie, Lasorda finished with an 0-4 record and 6.48 ERA.
A few minutes later, Palmer began an interview with NJ Advance Media by taking a shot at another former big leaguer in order to praise the Yankees.
While handicapping the American League playoff field, which still is far from finalized with the regular season ending next Sunday, Palmer brought up a Blue Jays broadcaster’s recent on-air criticism of the Yankees.
“Buck Martinez saying, ‘I don’t care what the Yankees’ record is, they’re not a good team,’ I disagree,” Palmer said. “The Yankees have Aaron Judge and they have really good starting pitching, which is important because they can match up with anybody in the playoffs, especially if they’re in that Wild Card Series.”
Palmer sees the Yankees, who beat the Orioles 7-1 in 10 innings on Sunday, as a real threat to get to the World Series for the second year in a row because he thinks general manager Brian Cashman has put together the most complete team in the league.
Heading into their final six games, the Yankees hold the top AL wild-card spot and trail the Blue Jays by two games in the AL East. Their 88-68 record is second-best in the league and tied for the fifth-best in the majors.
“I think Cashman should be GM of the year,” Palmer said. “He gave the Yankees everything they need. He got them position players, pitchers. They have the starters.”
The Yankees’ active roster includes 15 players who weren’t on last year’s team. Nine were acquired in nine offseason and July trades, five were free agent signings in the winter, spring and summer. The Yanks also have a rookie in their rotation who debuted in July.
Their World Series roster was blown up after star right fielder Juan Soto used free agency to go to the Mets for $765 million over 15 seasons instead of returning to the Yankees for $760 million for 16 years.
“That worked out for the Yankees,” Palmer said. “They wouldn’t have the same team paying Soto $50 million a year.”
After losing Soto, Cashman spent big to add another ace, and by spring training, the signing of Max Fried for $218 million over eight seasons became more important with former Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole being shut down with an elbow injury that quickly turned into a season-ending Tommy John surgery.
The Yankees also brought in two former MVPs for their lineup, outfielder Cody Bellinger in a trade and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt on a one-year deal. Trading for star reliever Devin Williams hasn’t worked out like the Yankees thought it would, but a couple of Cashman’s trade-deadline deals have, especially bringing in closer David Bednar and super-utility player Jose Caballero. The Yanks also made a good call in giving a first big-league opportunity to Cam Schlittler, a hard-throwing right-hander who has been so good that he could be their No. 3 starter in the playoffs.
Despite all that, Palmer stopped short of labeling the Yankees favorites to win another pennant.
“We still need to see who gets home-field advantage,” Palmer said. “I think that’ll be huge because there’s only one team in baseball that plays really well on the road and that’s the Brewers, who obviously are in the other league.”
The Yankees finished their road schedule with a 44-37 record that is best in the AL.
If the Yankees end up with the first wild-card spot, they’ll secure home-field advantage for every game in a best of-three Wild Card Series.
“That should get them through that round, but then they might have to have to play Toronto not having home field,” Palmer said. “Can they win there?”
The Yankees were 1-6 in Toronto this season.
“It’ll come down to who’s playing better,” Palmer said. The Yankees have been playing pretty good. They’ve got a shot.
“But who knows how it plays out in October? People play and pitch a little differently in October.”
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Category: General Sports
