TAMPA — Saturday is reporting day for the Yankees infielders and outfielders.
What does this mean?
Not much.
Basically, Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury, Starlin Castro and Co. simply must check in with management to let them know that they’re in Tampa and will be showing up for Sunday’s first full-squad workout, which is when spring training really begins.
Here’s what Yankees fans need to know Saturday:
A decision is expected to be announced on All-Star reliever Dellin Betances’ arbitration hearing, which was held Friday in St. Petersburg.
Betances and the Yankees argued their cases for four hours on Friday.
If Betances wins, he’ll make $5 million in 2017. If he loses, his salary will be $3 million.
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Rookie first baseman/outfielder Tyler Austin and rookie outfielder Mason Williams already are hurt, the Yankees announced Friday.
Austin’s injury is more serious, as he suffered a fractured navicular bone in his left foot when fouling a pitch during live BP earlier this week at the Yankees’ minor-league complex. He’s expected to be sidelined for six weeks.
Williams has inflammation in his left patella tendon and will be shut down for two weeks.
Both players had been expected to begin the season in Triple-A, although Austin officially was a candidate for the Yankees’ open first base position yet realistically a long shot as of Feb. 7. That’s when slugging right baseman Chris Carter, a right-handed hitter, was signed to compete with Greg Bird, who bats left.
Like Carter, Austin bats right, but he has minor-league options. Meantime, Carter comes with a $3.5 million salary this season as well as a resume: He hit 41 homers last season for Milwaukee to tie for the NL lead.
Here’s a look at how these early spring injuries will affect Austin, Williams and the Yankees:
Austin, Williams hurt: What it means
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An NJ Advance Media interview with Hall of Fame reliever Goose Gossage on Friday turned into a rant that included the Yankees great taking shots at Mariano Rivera’s legacy, Barry Bonds plus players and executives in today’s game, among others.
The original intent of the interview was to get comments from Gossage on the Yankees’ offseason moves, especially on the re-signing of star closer Aroldis Chapman … a great hard-throwing reliever from yesteryear talking about the hardest-throwing reliever in today’s game.
Pretty quickly, Gossage made it clear that he felt slighted being compared to Chapman (and Rivera) because late-inning relievers nowadays generally pitch just one inning rather than two or three like Gossage often did in the 1970s and ’80s.
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Goose Gossage signs autographs
Before Gossage’s interview, he signed autographs for 10-to-15 minutes at the Yankees dugout at Steinbrenner Field.
Interestingly, Gossage takes his time signing so that fans can read his signature clearly (as you can see by the video that we shot).
That’s another big change from his era to today’s players.
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Nick Swisher, a popular Yankees outfielder from 2009-12 who spent part of last season playing for their Triple-A club, officially announced his retirement from the game Friday in the Player’s Tribune.
Swisher, 36, added that he’ll be joining the media this season as a studio analyst for Fox Sports’ baseball coverage.
Here are the switch-hitter’s final big-league numbers: .249 average, 245 homers, 817 RBIs, 1,527 games for Oakland Athletics, (2004-2007), Chicago White Sox (2008), Yankees (2009-12), Cleveland Indians (2013-15) and Atlanta Braves (2015). He was an All-Star in 2010 when he hit a career-best .288 with 29 homers and 89 RBIs as a Yankee.
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Gary Sanchez vs. Adam Warren in live BP
Adam Warren and Luis Severino, two contenders for the two openings in the Yankees’ rotation, were among the pitchers throwing live BP on Friday to three hitters: Gary Sanchez, Gleyber Torres, Austin Romine and Tyler Wade.
We shot video of Sanchez in the batter’s box with Warren throwing.
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Outfielder Slade Heathcott, the Yankees’ top draft pick in 2009 who was released last May with 17 games of big-league experience, signed a minor-league contract with the San Francisco Giants on Friday, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reported.
Heathcott, 26, hit .400 with two homers in 25 at-bats during two brief call-ups in 2015, but is a just a career .266 hitter over eight minor-league seasons. A left-handed hitter, Heathcott finished last season in the Chicago White Sox organization, but he played just seven rookie league games.
Here are 5 other recent Yankees’ posts worth reading:
— Outfielder prospect Clint Frazier outlines 2017 mission
— 9 burning Yankees questions as position players report
— Why optimism for Severino comes with caution
— Pineda: My friend Familia is great guy who made mistake
— Yankees will limit Kaprielian’s innings
Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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