Yankees All-Star Betances: ‘We welcome A-Rod with open arms’
Different doesn’t even begin to describe what Spring Training will be like for the Yankees.
Gone is the calming, almost majestic, presence of future first-ballot Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter. Heightened is the sense of panic for a team that has missed the playoffs despite sporting a payroll that tops $200 million annually. Returning, in theory, is the circus that is Alex Rodriguez.
With pitchers and catchers reporting in just over two weeks, things seem bleak enough right now that there’s actually some internal excitement surrounding Rodriguez’s return. Even so, the disgraced slugger is far from the player, artificially enhanced or not, that he once was. He’s now dominating headlines rather than opposing pitchers.
“I don’t think [Rodriguez] is going to be a distraction,” Yankees reliever Dellin Betances said. “For us, we welcome him with open arms, we just want everybody to contribute and if everybody can contribute and get us back to the playoffs, that’s what matters to us this year.”
Despite reciting the company line and being a good teammate when it comes to Rodriguez, Betances has to know there will be a media frenzy surrounding the team because of the 39-year-old’s controversial reputation.
Regardless, the All-Star reliever kept his cool when asked about what it will be like to take the field with the maligned star.
“I’m looking forward to playing with [Rodriguez] again, he’s somebody who I got to play with a few years back,” said Betances, who was accepting the Thurman Munson Award as part of a charity event benefitting the AHRC New York City Foundation.
“He’s a great guy,” Betances continued “[There won’t be any issues] for me. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing him play and helping us win.”
Betances projects to be one of the bright spots on a team that, for the first time in 20 years, won’t have a member of the famed “Core Four” its roster.
Now, while the past two seasons’ failures have been overshadowed by Rivera and Jeter’s retirement tours, the focus shifts to the hodgepodge of veterans that Brian Cashman has brought together. In fact, just three players, C.C. Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and Rodriguez, were on the Yankees roster when they won the World Series in 2009.
“[Spring training is] definitely going to be different, Betances said. “When you think about the Yankees, Derek Jeter is one of the names that comes up so it’s going to be weird not seeing him around. I think Brian McCann can be one of the guys who can step up and someone I look forward to seeing step up.”
And as far as a potential Jeter return, Betances put that rumor to bed – sort of.
“If I know Jeter, I don’t think he’ll [visit us in Spring Training], but you never know.”
