New York Post | Joel Sherman: Former Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel, who spent the end of this past season as a teammate of Roki Sasaki’s with the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan, told Sherman he spoke to the soon-to-be-posted 23-year-old about his potential landing spot in the MLB. Keuchel said he spoke to the phenom about both New York teams, but thinks the Dodgers have the “upper hand” to sign the right-hander due to their recent history with Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Yu Darvish. The 13-year MLB veteran also spoke highly of both Sasaki’s physical attributes and mental fortitude.
CBS Sports | Mike Axisa: Jon Morosi is reporting that the Yankees are interested in veteran reliever Carlos Estévez, among “many” others, as they seek to replace several departing bullpen arms. The right-hander began his career in Colorado before ascending to the closer role with the Angels in 2023. Between the Angels and Phillies, Estévez posted a 3.22 ERA and 57 saves in 117.1 innings across the past two seasons.
NJ.com | Randy Miller: Some backstory on Brandon Leibrandt, the 32-year-old journeyman who the Yankees recently signed to a minor-league deal. The left-hander — who was a college friend of Luke Weaver — was recruited by Mark Leiter Jr. to join a two-team league in 2020 organized by the Yankees’ Double-A affiliate, the Somerset Patriots. The league, organized in response to the cancellation of that minor league season due to COVID, gave opportunities to players like Leibrandt, who stayed in Leiter’s spare bedroom in Toms River while pitching for the New Jersey Blaster. Leibrant performed well enough to parlay the audition into an opportunity with the Marlins, with whom he made his MLB as a 27-year-old that same year.
