NEW YORK – Limited to one inning in two years, Corey Kluber believes his skill will appear in the New York Yankees.
“I consider myself healthy at this point. I am not rehabilitating anything or dealing with any problems with anything left over or anything,” said the right-hand man on Thursday, the day after signing a $ 11 million year contract. “I’m basically at a normal stage in my off-season now.”
Kluber concluded his contract on the day that AL batting champion DJ LeMahieu signed a $ 90 million contract for six years to stay with the stripes.
“It’s no secret that I wanted to be back with the Yankees, I wanted to go back to New York. It was frustrating at times because it took so long,” said the relieved second baseman. “I just think that the whole market for free agents in general was slow.”
Three-time All-Star turning 35 on April 10, Kluber enters a new look rotation that includes returnees Gerrit Cole, Deivi García and Jordan Montgomery, along with Jameson Taillon, who was acquired from Pittsburgh last weekend after losing most of the past two seasons while recovering from Tommy John’s surgery.
Kluber won the 2014 and 2017 AL Cy Young Awards with Cleveland, going 56-20 in the 2016-18 seasons. He was hit on the right forearm on May 1, 2019, by a comebacker off the bat from Brian Anderson of Miami and finished 2-3 with a 5.80 ERA in seven games, then was traded to Texas. Kluber broke a muscle in his right shoulder on his debut at Rangers on July 26, ending his season after an entry. The lesion healed without surgery.
“It was an extremely frustrating season for me, but I don’t think I ever stooped,” said Kluber. “I think it’s probably more about overcoming the mental as opposed to the physical … getting out of that rehab mentality where you try to work or feel things.”
An All-Star three times, 98-58 with an ERA of 3.16 over 10 seasons, Kluber worked with Eric Cressey, who started last year as the New York player’s health and performance director.
With age, Kluber was prepared to make changes to his preparation.
“The biggest thing with these adjustments is listening to my body when something is telling you something, you have to listen,” he said. “I think there are times when you have to be smart and probably not try to have that mindset just to push, push, go further. I think there are times when you are going to need a little more treatment or maybe back off.”
He has already prepared himself to report to the Yankees by shaving his beard to obey a team rule.
“It looks a little naked, but I’m getting used to it,” said Kluber.
He is one of the few additions to the Yankees, who switched appeaser Adam Ottavino to Boston and has a pending $ 2.5 million deal with Darren O’Day, a bullpen switch that helps them stay below the luxury tax threshold. US $ 210 million. In addition, Luis Severino is expected to return sometime this season from Tommy John’s surgery on February 27 and Sunday Germán is expected to return from a suspension for domestic violence that made him miss last season.
New York said goodbye to Masahiro Tanaka, who announced on Thursday that he had agreed to a two-year contract to return to Japan with the Pacific League’s Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
LeMahieu joined the Yankees in 2019 and was thrilled to stay put and try to win the first New York title since 2009.
“This is just a group that I wanted to be a part of. This is an exciting group and we need to overcome this obstacle,” he said. “There is a goal with the Yankees: winning the World Series. And in my years we have not succeeded. So, I wanted to be a Yankee, but I want to be part of this group even more. It is just an unbelievable group. I had guys reaching the entire off-season: What’s the delay? What’s going on? And I really liked that. “
LeMahieu, 32, receives $ 15 million a season. The agreement includes a total ban clause during the first two seasons and a limited ban on trading from then on, which gives you the right to block negotiations for five teams. He would have the right to approve an exchange starting in the 2023 season, under the collective bargaining agreement, as a 10-year veteran who spent five years in his current club.
Also an All-Star three times, LeMahieu had 10 homers and 27 RBIs in the shortened 2020 season after reaching 0.327 with 26 homers and 102 RBIs in his first year in New York. He doesn’t think the Yankees fell far short of last season when they lost a series of five games to eventual AL champion Rays.
“I think we found a really hot team from Tampa. I thought we were better than them,” he said. “I think they made some plays that we didn’t make, and that was the end result. And moving forward, we have to make those plays, whatever they are. I felt last year that they only had our number was disappointing. And I really I think we will overcome the problem here. “