THE $162M QUESTION: HOW SERIOUS IS THE INJURY TO THE YANKEES' STAR CODY BELLINGER?
Yankees star Cody Bellinger is sidelined with a minor back tweak, but Boone expects his $162.5M man back in action by Tuesday.
Yeah, it’s only February. I get it. The Grapefruit League standings matter about as much as the promises you made to yourself back in January, already collecting dust. But you can’t just shrug off a 7-2 start, not when the Yankees are making the Blue Jays look like they wandered in from Triple-A. Saturday’s 5-1 win? Pure business. No drama, no nonsense, just the kind of quiet dominance you want from a team that spent the winter actually strengthening itself, not just slapping on a fresh coat of paint.
On the mound, Paul Blackburn grabbed the spotlight. Let’s be honest: when the Yankees signed him to a one-year, $2 million deal, half the fanbase probably rolled their eyes. But he just went out there and threw four scoreless innings, looking like he’s been here forever. He knows he’s fighting for a spot in long relief or as a bridge guy, and he didn’t waste a single pitch against a Toronto lineup that usually feasts on mistakes.
Now, about Cody Bellinger. During that 17-5 blowout over the Twins on Friday, he tweaked his back. Suddenly, that five-year, $162.5 million contract felt a little more breakable.
But look, it’s not supposed to be serious.
“Cody Bellinger’s back went out on him yesterday, per Boone. The Yankees think it’s minor, and the hope is to get him back in a game potentially on Tuesday,” Greg Joyce wrote on X.
It’s the kind of update that makes you want to wrap Bellinger in bubble wrap and hide him until Opening Day. But the guy played 152 games last season. A little back hiccup in February isn’t going to keep him down.
Bryan Hoch pointed out that this is basically the same issue Bellinger had last spring. Honestly, that’s good news. If he can play almost every game, hit 29 homers, rack up a 4.9 fWAR and a 125 wRC+, and carry the outfield even with a cranky back, I’m not going to panic over him skipping a couple of bus rides to Dunedin. The Yankees are doing the smart thing here. There's no reason to have your $160 million player grimacing over a meaningless fly ball in a game nobody will remember.
So, the plan: keep him out until at least Tuesday. Boone can afford to be cautious because the rest of the team is humming, and let’s be real, the standings mean basically nothing right now. If you’re 7-2 and your “project” pitchers like Blackburn are dealing, you can let your stars take a breather. Bellinger is the heart of the lineup. After last year’s resurgence, he’s the guy you want healthy when it really counts.
If he’s back Tuesday, awesome. If it’s Thursday, who cares? The Grapefruit League doesn’t hand out rings. The real goal is to have Bellinger healthy and ready to start launching balls into the Short Porch when the games actually matter. Let the man rest.
EXECUTIVE "EXPECTS" JOE BURROW TO REQUEST OFFSEASON BENGALS EXIT NOW
Bengals in crisis: Explore why Joe Burrow is tired of losing and if the Chase-Higgins era is officially over in Cincinnati.
An NFL executive thinks Joe Burrow is ready to move on from the Bengals this offseason. According to him, Burrow’s tired of losing, and he wants a real shot at winning.
This past season didn’t help things. The Bengals missed the playoffs again, mostly because Burrow, 29, sat out nearly the entire year with a turf toe he picked up in Week 2. He hasn’t played a postseason snap since the 2022 AFC Championship loss to Kansas City.
Burrow’s still under contract until 2029, but that hasn’t stopped the speculation. “I could see him trying to get out,” the exec told SportsBoom. “Honestly, I kind of expect it. That’s a tough place to win, and he really wants to win.”
The Bengals’ track record is rough. They’ve never won a Super Bowl, and they’ve only made it to the big game once in the last 37 years.
Burrow was the first pick in 2020 and dragged the team to Super Bowl LVI in his second season, but they lost to the Rams. Since then, the Bengals have missed the playoffs three years straight. Even so, head coach Zac Taylor keeps his job, with owner Mike Brown backing him to stick around through 2026. But nobody’s sure if Burrow will still be his quarterback, and it’s not just Burrow. Guys like Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins have shaky futures, too.
“This is it,” an anonymous GM said about the Bengals’ situation. “They’re not trading for a star like Maxx Crosby. The defence is terrible. This is probably the last year Chase and Higgins are both around. It’s all coming to a head.”
Back in December, Burrow was asked if he could see himself not returning to Cincinnati next year. He said, “I can’t see that, no.” When pressed about whether he’s thought about playing elsewhere long-term, he admitted, “You think about a lot of things.”
He even suggested there’s friction inside the organisation. “It feels like everybody’s trying to stop me from playing football, and I’m fighting it, fighting everybody else,” Burrow said. “I just want to play ball; that’s all I want to do.”
SACRIFICE REQUIRED: MIKE BROWN’S NON-NEGOTIABLE RULES FOR REBUILDING THE KNICKS' WINNING CHEMISTRY
Are the Knicks contenders? Read Mike Brown’s championship claim, the KAT shooting crisis, and how to beat the dominant Pistons.
The New York Knicks kicked off this season with a lot of hype. After last year’s run to the Eastern Conference Finals, everyone figured they’d be pushing for a real shot at the title this time.
Knicks head coach Mike Brown isn’t shying away from that talk. He’s convinced this team can win it all. Sure, they've looked sharp in his first year at the helm, but it hasn’t been smooth the whole way. They started strong with 23 wins and 9 losses and even grabbed the NBA Cup. Then, out of nowhere, they crashed into a 2-9 skid that almost derailed everything.
After that rough patch, they rattled off eight straight wins, but since then, it’s been a lot of back-and-forth. One night they look like contenders, the next they’re just average. Even with the ups and downs, they’re sitting in third place in the East, just a game and a half behind the Celtics.
Brown still believes in his squad, despite all the turbulence. “I truly believe it,” he said Thursday. “We’re a championship team. But you have to be playing your best basketball;contenders; everyone has to be on the same page. Sacrifice is non-negotiable. If even one guy isn’t buying in, that wrecks your chemistry, and chemistry is everything. You need to want to compete every night. And you have to believe.”
He knows the pressure is there, but he keeps bringing it back to belief and accountability. “Even when things go south 2-7, 2-9, you can’t just believe in the process; you have to believe in each other. And everyone, starting with me, has to be held accountable.”
The Knicks have had their moments, but they still don’t look settled. Karl-Anthony Towns is having the worst shooting year of his career. Mikal Bridges can’t seem to find his rhythm, on offence or defence. It doesn’t help that tough, physical teams have given them nightmares. The Pistons, who are running away with the East, have manhandled the Knicks in all three matchups, outscoring them by a whopping 84 points combined. That’s not just a bad night; that’s a glaring talent gap the Knicks need to close.
If they want to be a real championship threat, everything has to come together. Right now, it’s obvious they’re still adjusting to a new system, and time is running out. The playoffs are coming fast. If they don’t figure it out soon, belief alone won’t be enough.
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