- Bob Saget’s wife Kelly Rizzo marks what would have been his 67th birthday with moving tribute post Daily Mail
- Kelly Rizzo Says It Was a ‘Privilege’ to Spend 6 Years with Bob Saget on What Would’ve Been His 67th Birthday PEOPLE
- Bob Saget Remembered By Kelly Rizzo On What Would’ve Been His 67th Birthday Access Hollywood
- Bob Saget’s widow Kelly Rizzo shares how to best honor the ‘Full House’ star on his birthday CNN
- Bob Saget remembered by ‘Full House’ stars, widow Kelly Rizzo on what would have been his 67th birthday Fox News
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tag Archives: Rizzo
Anthony Rizzo set to return to Yankees
NEW YORK — Anthony Rizzo is keeping his Yankees pinstripes for a while longer, agreeing Tuesday to a two-year contract with a club option for the 2025 season, the club announced. The deal is worth at least $40 million, sources told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, but the team did not disclose the terms.
Rizzo’s new pact will pay him $34 million over the next two seasons, with a $17 million club option or $6 million buyout for 2025, per sources.
Rizzo, who turned 33 in August, batted .224/.338/.480 in 130 games this season for the Yankees, his first full campaign in New York after being acquired from the Cubs ahead of the 2021 Trade Deadline.
A natural fit for Yankee Stadium’s inviting right-field porch, Rizzo tied his career high with 32 home runs, driving in 75 runs while providing needed left-handed balance to the lineup and a reliable glove at first base.
“He’s been everything we could have hoped for,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said recently. “He’s been an amazing person in our clubhouse, an amazing teammate, amazing leader, very productive on the field. I think [he’s] very much cut out to play for the Yankees. He handles all that goes with playing here as one of the premium players and leaders so well.”
Rizzo’s park-adjusted OPS+ of 131 put him in the top 30 among qualified hitters in 2022 and made him the second-most productive bat in a Yankees offense that struggled to find consistency behind Aaron Judge. Rizzo and Judge have developed a close friendship during their time together.
The Astros also reportedly had interest in Rizzo, a career .265 hitter over 12 big league seasons who won the World Series with the Cubs in 2016. A three-time All-Star while in Chicago, he has posted an above-average OPS+ (over 100) in 11 straight seasons and topped the 20-homer mark in each of his past nine full seasons (setting aside the shortened 2020 campaign).
Rizzo will enter 2023 with a career line of .265/.366/.481, needing 17 more homers to reach the 300 mark. On the defensive side, Rizzo won four NL Gold Glove Awards at first base from 2016 to ’20 but has posted -5 outs above average since joining the Yankees.
Speaking on Tuesday at the MLB owners’ meetings in New York, Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner indicated that Judge’s free agency would not necessarily preclude the club from moving on a free agent like Rizzo.
“Am I going to make moves before we’re able to, in my opinion, sign Aaron?” Steinbrenner said. “Yeah, that’s not going to stop me from signing other people. We’ve got to make the moves. It’s all about who’s going to come off the board. Some guys are going to come off the board sooner than others, and if it’s somebody we feel we need, then I’ve got to make the decision to continue to improve the club and not just hold back until we figure out Aaron.”
While Rizzo is back in the fold as the starting first baseman, the rest of the Yankees’ infield could change before Opening Day. Josh Donaldson is expected to return as the third baseman, with Steinbrenner lauding the veteran’s defense as well as a work ethic that he said is “second to none.”
Steinbrenner voiced concerns about DJ LeMahieu’s health coming off a lingering toe injury on his right foot that sapped his productivity and availability in the second half of the season.
“It’s not a usual injury,” Steinbrenner said. “It’s not a normal one we see on every team every year. I don’t know enough about it. We have not been told surgery is out. The question is, how long after surgery? We’re not there.”
“As far as the young kids — [Oswaldo] Cabrera included, who was a great surprise when he came up — we’re going to go with young kids,” Steinbrenner said. “Some of the veteran players, they’d like to see that, because I’ve talked to them.”
MLB.com’s Betelhem Ashame and Andrew Simon contributed to this story
Yankees To Re-Sign Anthony Rizzo To Multi-Year Deal
The Yankees and Anthony Rizzo are in agreement to reunite on a two-year deal with a $40MM guarantee. That comes in the form of a $17MM salary in 2023 and 2024, followed by a $17MM club option for 2025 with a $6MM buyout.
Rizzo, 33, spent many years with the Cubs, a key part of the club’s core that broke the 108-year curse by winning the 2016 World Series. From 2014 to 2019, he was remarkably consistent and productive, hitting between 27 and 32 home runs in each of those six years. His wRC+ was always between 126 and 155, indicating he was between 26% and 55% above league average at the plate. His wins above replacement tally, according to FanGraphs, was between 3.2 and 5.3 in each of those campaigns.
The next two seasons saw Rizzo slide from those great heights somewhat, though he was still a strong performer. In the shortened 2020 campaign, he hit .222/.342/.414 for a wRC+ of 103. The next year, which included a midseason deal to the Yankees, came in at .248/.344/.440 and a wRC+ of 113.
Despite the slight downturn, he was still above-average at the plate and is generally considered a solid defender at first base. He was ineligible for a qualifying offer because of the midseason trade. He and the Yankees agreed to a deal that would keep him in the Bronx, with Rizzo earning $32MM over two years, though he could opt out of the final year and its $16MM salary.
Despite dealing with various ailments throughout 2022, he ended up having a nice bounceback campaign. His 32 home runs matched a career high and his .224/.338/.480 batting line amounted to a wRC+ of 132. Based on that strong showing, he triggered his opt-out and returned to free agency in search of a larger deal. It’s also been speculated that the upcoming ban on aggressive defensive shifts will help him, given that his left-handed bat and low speed make him particularly vulnerable to those. The Yankees extended a $19.65MM qualifying offer to him, which he could have accepted and locked in a slight raise over his expected salary. But it seemed he had other suitors, with the Astros being one club known to have interest in him.
3pm Central time today was the deadline for players to accept or reject qualifying offers, with Rizzo among the 12 who declined, though reports emerged shortly thereafter that he and the Yankees agreed to a longer pact. Rizzo will return to his post at first base and earn $17MM per year, so very close to the QO, but he’ll actually have an AAV slightly ahead of it thanks to the buyout. His $40MM guarantee over two years comes out just barely ahead of the two years and $36MM projected by MLBTR.
By getting Rizzo to put pen to paper, the Yanks have prevented a key bat from departing in free agency. Of course, Rizzo is only the second most important player in this camp, as all eyes are squarely focused on Aaron Judge and whether the Yanks can convince him to stay. With Rizzo’s contract on the books, the club’s 2023 payroll is now around $207MM in the estimation of Roster Resource. Last year, they opened the season at $246MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, leaving them about $40MM in space before they’re caught up to that difference. Of course, if they are willing to increase their spending beyond last year’s levels, they should have even more to work with.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported that Rizzo and the Yanks were reuniting on a multi-year deal. Andy Martino of SNY first relayed the two-year plus a club option framework. Jack Curry of YES Network was first on the dollars.
Image courtesy USA Today Sports.
MLB rumors: Justin Verlander a fit with Yankees, Dodgers, Mets; Astros after Anthony Rizzo in free agency
The Major League Baseball offseason is up and running. We’re now more than a week removed from the end of the World Series, the General Manager Meetings took place last week and free agency is officially underway. Now, it’s still might be pretty slow for a few weeks. First off, the players who were extended qualifying offers still have until Tuesday to accept or reject them. Things are generally slow moving anyway, but that is the hold up here in the immediate future.
Be sure to check out Mike Axisa’s handy list of key offseason dates for more information. Also, here are R.J. Anderson’s top 50 free agents.
As for Monday’s rumors, let’s take a look.
Verlander sees fit with big spenders
Free agent and likely AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander may be headed elsewhere after winning his second ring with the Houston Astros. Ken Rosenthal reports that the 39-year-old future Hall of Famer may be open to a larger deal with a big-spending contender like the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, or New York Mets. The Mets may be hit hard by free agency in the rotation, which explains their potential interest. As for the Yankees, they could use an additional frontline starter, and the Dodgers have a rich recent history of adding superstar depth to a roster that’s been a colossus for some time. Yes, Verlander is pushing 40, but the skills seem to be very much intact. He’s an ideal fit for a win-now club with designs on the World Series.
Astros targeting Rizzo
Rosenthal also reports that the world-champion Houston Astros have pegged Anthony Rizzo as “their No. 1 free-agent target at first base.” Incumbent first baseman Yuli Gurriel is also a free agent, and he showed signs of steep decline at the plate last season. Rosenthal, however, notes that re-upping with Gurriel remains a possibility, as is a pursuit of José Abreu.
As for Rizzo, 33, he’s coming off a productive 2022 campaign with the New York Yankees. In 130 games, Rizzo slashed .224/.338/.480 (131 OPS+) with 32 home runs. The Yankees likely have some interest in bringing back Rizzo, and that interest could be mutual. If that’s the case, then the Astros may need to come in higher than New York does.
Pérez likely to accept qualifying offer
Left-hander Martín Pérez is coming off his career year. He made the All-Star team for the first time and was 12-8 with a 2.89 ERA (136 ERA+), 1.26 WHIP and 169 strikeouts against 69 walks in 196 1/3 innings for the Rangers. He compiled 5.0 WAR and his previous career high was 2.3, back in 2017. At age 31, it seems like this is the opportunity for the biggest payday of his life.
Instead, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reports that Pérez is likely to accept the qualifying offer from Texas. It’s a one-year deal for $19.65 million, so it’s not pennies or anything, but it sure seems like he could get a multi-year deal in free agency.
Multiple teams interested in Lugo as starter
Just to illustrate how much teams are willing to pay for starting pitching, the market for former Mets starter Seth Lugo is “robust,” according to The Athletic, with multiple teams viewing Lugo as a rotation option.
In 38 career starts, Lugo is 15-10 with a 4.35 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 174 strikeouts in 194 2/3 innings.
In 237 relief appearances, Lugo has a 2.91 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 334 strikeouts in 300 innings.
Rays continue to explore 40-man trades
The Rays have already traded Ji-Man Choi and declined the option on Kevin Kiermaier’s contract. Let’s go back about a week …
Sure enough, the Rays have been active in tweaking their roster in the days since and they’ll continue to do so. Morosi reported Sunday that the Rays “are engaged in advanced trade negotiations” and that we should expect to see multiple trades before Tuesday’s deadline to add players to the 40-man roster in order to protect them from the Rule 5 draft. That is, they are looking to shed veterans from the 40-man in order to protect against losing younger players to the Rule 5.
Surely there are lots of teams gazing in the direction of Tyler Glasnow and Randy Arozarena, but in all likelihood here — with the deadline looming and scrambling happening — the roster will be tweaked at the margins instead of carved up.
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Rosenthal: What I’m hearing about MLB free agency with Justin Verlander, Anthony Rizzo and more
What I’m hearing:
• The market for free-agent starting pitchers is quite active, and the early asks from the three biggest names — Jacob deGrom, Justin Verlander and Carlos Rodón— are, to no one’s surprise, quite high.
Rangers general manager Chris Young, who already traded for Jake Odorizzi and extended a qualifying offer to Martín Pérez, has said he will explore “all ends of the market.” But the early asks by the big three might compel the Rangers and other clubs to pivot to trades and lesser starters.
• Verlander, who personally negotiated his free-agent deal with Astros owner Jim Crane while vacationing in Italy last offseason, seemed a good bet to re-sign quickly with Houston. But it has not happened, perhaps because Verlander sees the potential for lucrative opportunities with the Mets, Yankees and Dodgers, among others. Unlike deGrom and Rodón, he was not eligible for a qualifying offer. And because he did not receive one, he is not subject to draft-pick compensation.
The likely AL Cy Young winner, who turns 40 on Feb. 20, could be a short-term, high-dollar fit for any of those clubs. The Mets face the losses in free agency not just of deGrom, but also Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker. The Yankees declined to pursue Verlander at the 2017 trade deadline and missed on him in free agency last offseason. The Dodgers might pursue Verlander if Tyler Anderson rejects their $19.65 million qualifying offer — and heck, even if he accepts, too.
• Lesser starters who did not receive qualifying offers (Andrew Heaney, José Quintana, etc.) also are drawing considerable interest. Some of those pitchers might come off the board quickly after Tuesday’s deadlines for teams to set 40-man rosters and players to accept their qualifying offers.
Nathan Eovaldi, who received a qualifying offer, is another starting pitcher to watch. The Red Sox reportedly made him a multi-year offer and are among the many teams that like the top Japanese pitcher in the free-agent market, Kodai Senga.
Anthony Rizzo (Dustin Satloff / Getty Images)
• The Astros have identified Anthony Rizzo as their No. 1 free-agent target at first base. They also are considering Yuli Gurriel and José Abreu, but signing Rizzo would serve the dual purpose of bolstering their own roster while weakening the Yankees’.
Rizzo, 33, faces an interesting decision on whether to return to the Yankees. If he accepts the team’s qualifying offer, he would earn a higher one-year salary than he might receive in a multi-year deal. He then could spend another season hitting at Yankee Stadium, while also benefitting from the new shift restrictions, and re-enter the market without a qualifying offer. A player cannot receive one twice.
• The Braves are not considering trading right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. — or, for that matter, any other young player they have signed to an extension.
While the club, as a matter of policy, does not award no-trade clauses, a player who signs an extension does it with the implicit understanding he will not be traded. Obviously, things can change — a player, for example, eventually might want out. But if the Braves break the trust they’ve created internally, players will become more resistant to the extensions that have positioned the team for long-term success.
• Two other things that are highly unlikely for the Braves: The signing of deGrom or a shortstop other than Dansby Swanson. If the Braves cannot keep Swanson, they probably will be out of the picture for Trea Turner, Carlos Correa and Xander Bogaerts, all of whom figure to be more expensive. Which is why president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos at the GM meetings mentioned Orlando Arcia and Vaughn Grissom as internal options.
No player currently with the Braves will earn more than $22 million in any season over the course of his contract, seemingly creating the flexibility for a major expenditure. But the Braves are reluctant to enter into a deal with any player who takes up too high a percentage of their payroll, knowing in future seasons the salaries of their young players will rise.
• The chances of the Brewers trading shortstop Willy Adames probably are slim. Luis Urías and Brice Turang both can play short, but Adames is a core player for Milwaukee. And the Brewers’ newly promoted GM, Matt Arnold, is well aware of what happened to the team after his predecessor, David Stearns, subtracted another core player, closer Josh Hader, at the deadline.
Granted, a clubhouse can more easily recover from an offseason trade than one at midseason. The Brewers, though, have other position players they can move if they want to reconfigure their payroll. Second baseman Kolten Wong is set to earn $10 million. Right fielder Hunter Renfroe is projected to get $11.2 million in arbitration. Both will be free agents at the end of the 2023 season.
Adames, projected to earn $9.2 million in arbitration, is under club control through 2024.
• Free agent Adam Frazier is coming off a career-low .612 OPS in 602 plate appearances with the Mariners, but some teams see potential in him as a super-utility type. Not a bad thought, particularly if Frazier regains the offensive form he displayed in 2021 before his trade from the Pirates to the Padres.
Frazier, who turns 31 on Dec. 14, received Gold Glove votes in left field in 2017, his first full season, and was a top-five finisher at second base in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Last season, he played in all three outfield spots as well as second and short, his position at Mississippi State.
• This is my own speculation, and not anything I’ve heard specifically. But Matt Carpenter’s deep and enduring connections to the Cardinals would seem to make a potential reunion feasible.
Carpenter was a roommate in rookie ball with Cardinals manager Oli Marmol. His transformation last offseason included a visit to the Marucci’s baseball performance lab in Baton Rouge, La., with Cardinals stars Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, as well as hitting sessions with former teammate and new Cardinals bench coach Matt Holliday.
The retirement of Albert Pujols potentially creates an opening for Carpenter, who turns 37 on Nov. 26. And the departure of hitting coach Jeff Albert also could enhance the possibility. Carpenter did not blame Albert for his struggles in his latter years with the Cardinals, but said, “I just never bought into (analytics) like I should have.”
(Top photo of Justin Verlander: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
Yankees vs. Guardians score, takeaways: New York takes ALDS Game 1 behind Gerrit Cole, Anthony Rizzo
NEW YORK — Yankee Stadium was full of firsts Tuesday night. It was the first postseason game in the Bronx since Game 5 of the 2019 ALCS. It was Gerrit Cole’s first home postseason start as a Yankee. Two players hit their first career postseason home runs. And the New York Yankees won the first game of their ALDS matchup with the Cleveland Guardians (NYY 4, CLE 1).
Cole pitched around early trouble to give the Yankees 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball while striking out eight against the team with the lowest regular season strikeout rate in baseball. Anthony Rizzo put the game to bed with a two-run home run into the second deck in right field in the sixth inning. New York is now two wins away from advancing to the ALCS.
Here are takeaways from Game 1 between the Yankees and Guardians.
Cole navigates early danger
The Guardians certainly made Cole work in the early innings. They got a man to second base in the first and second innings, but Cole escaped with strikeouts, then some nifty defense helped him navigate a bases loaded, one-out jam in the third. Most notably, Josh Donaldson ranged to his left to scoop a ground, and threw home for the force out.
Following that out at home, Cole settled in and retired 12 of the final 14 batters he faced, and Cleveland did not have another runner advance as far as second base while he was on the mound. His only blemish was a Steven Kwan solo homer — it was Kwan’s first career postseason homer and only his seventh homer of 2022 — and in three starts this season, Cole held the Guardians to three runs in 19 innings.
It should be noted that, although he needed 39 pitches to get through the first inning, Cole was able to take the ball into the seventh inning. That’s important because the Yankees are without several key relievers due to injury (Zack Britton, Scot Effross, Chad Green, Michael King, etc.) and will need to cobble things together in the late innings this postseason. The more they get from their starters, the better.
“It was very special for me. It was very special,” Cole said with a smile when asked about the ovation he received after Game 1. “The game’s not over — I left with traffic — it’s not the most comfortable time to acknowledge the crowd but I appreciated it.”
The eventful fifth inning
There was some right-field funny business in the bottom of the fifth inning. First, Donaldson lifted what he and 47,807 people in the Bronx thought was a go-ahead solo home run into the right-field seats. The ball hit the very top of the wall and came back into play, however, and Donaldson was tagged out after rounding first base on his would-be home run trot. Replays confirmed the ball did indeed hit the top of the wall. It was not a home run.
The next batter, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, poked a single along the line in right field and Wild Card Series hero Oscar Gonzalez misplayed the hop, allowing the ball to go through his legs. Kiner-Falefa made it to third base on the error and Jose Trevino drove him in with a go-ahead sacrifice fly. Right field took a homer away from Donaldson and gave Kiner-Falefa three bases.
“That’s what he’s done all year. He made that error (in the first inning), he bounced back really well,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said about Kiner-Falefa after Game 1. “Obviously then gets a big hit in the corner to set is up. So yeah, it was good he got more chances and kind of bounced back from it.”
Trevino, who made his first All-Star Game this summer, was incredibly clutch during the regular season. He had two walk-off hits and hit .355 with runners in scoring position. The sac fly wasn’t a hit, but it came with two strikes and it gave the Yankees the lead in the postseason. Trevino has really been a godsend for New York this year.
Rizzo gives the Yankees insurance
The Yankees scored their first run on Harrison Bader’s first career postseason home run, and also his first home run as a Yankee. He came over from the Cardinals at the trade deadline and was on the injured list with a foot injury. It wasn’t until mid-September that he was activated, and he went 10 for 46 (.217) in a 14-game tune-up. Bader picked a good time for his first Yankees homer.
Bader tied the game 1-1 and Trevino gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead. In the sixth, Rizzo provided two insurance runs with a homer into the second deck in right field. With Andrew Benintendi hurt and Matt Carpenter currently relegated to pinch-hit duty, Rizzo is the only reliable source of left-handed power in New York’s lineup. The Yankees need him to pepper the short porch.
Prior to Rizzo’s blast, 62-homer man Aaron Judge reminded everyone he is so much more than a home run hitter. He worked a leadoff walk against Cal Quantrill, stole second, then took third when the throw went into center field. Judge went 16 for 19 stealing bases this year in addition to those 62 homers. He’s such a gifted, well-rounded player.
Once Rizzo gave the Yankees a 4-1 lead, manager Aaron Boone was able to navigate through the final three innings with righty Jonathan Loáisiga, lefty Wandy Peralta, and righty Clay Holmes. Game 1 was Peralta’s first appearance since Sept. 18. He missed the last few weeks of the regular season with a back injury. It was also Holmes’ first appearance since Sept. 26. He missed the end of the regular season with a shoulder issue. Clearly, the Yankees were comfortable throwing him (and Peralta) right into the fire.
Up next
Game 2, of course. Historically, teams that win Game 1 of a best-of-five series have gone on to win the series 71 percent of the time. The ALDS schedule is a little unusual this year, with an off-day between Games 1 and 2 and Games 2 and 3. Game 2 is scheduled for Thursday night, though the forecast suggests the weather could be an issue. Whenever Game 2 is played, it’ll be Nestor Cortes (12-4, 2.44 ERA) against Shane Bieber (13-8, 2.88 ERA).
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Mike Rizzo discusses potential Juan Soto deal
And while Rizzo carefully avoided offering any such prognostication, he did make clear that one line of Soto trade speculation — that the Nationals might use a Soto deal to try to offload big contracts, such as pitcher Patrick Corbin’s deal, was not part of the organization’s plans.
“We’ve never contacted a team and talked about Juan Soto and attaching any contract to any player. We’re not going to dilute a return for any player by adding a bad contract. That’s not where we’re at in our organization at this time,” Rizzo said. “We want to get the most for each and every trade that we do. So we’re certainly not going to tack on anyone’s contract to anybody’s deal including Juan Soto or Josh Bell or anybody’s.”
If the Nationals hold that line, that means interested parties will need to package numerous top prospects or big league-ready youngsters to pull Soto from Washington, that they won’t be able to mitigate the prospect loss by simply handing over money. Very few teams, if any, have enough of a surplus of prospects and young big leaguers to make a deal like that. And those that do may not feel the need to do so at this moment, particularly if a new ownership group makes Soto available again this winter.
“We’re in conversations with Juan Soto with several teams that I think have real interest in him,” said Rizzo, who declined to handicap the odds of the Nationals trading the star outfielder.
“I will say this: We’re going to have to get the deal that we want that makes the most sense that gets us an opportunity to become a championship organization than not trading him,” Rizzo said. “That’s it in a nutshell.”
That Soto became the center of attention for this year’s trade deadline is in large part the result of a now-infamous leak: A week and a half ago, Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported that Soto had declined what would have been the most guaranteed money in league history, $440 million over 15 years, and that the Nationals would therefore have to consider trading him.
Speculation flew about the source of the leak, since Soto was visibly upset after the information became public. Had the Nationals leaked the details so as to signal that Soto was available and make clear they had really, seriously tried to sign him?
“Leaks are so difficult. In this age of social media, who knows where some of these things come from. All I can tell you is unequivocally did not come from me for sure, 100 percent for sure, or from our front office. That much I know for sure,” Rizzo said. “We had this information three weeks before it leaked out. We had ample time to leak it out if we wanted to leak it out. Leaks never ever help the situation. It was disappointing to me.”
Rizzo, who in June told the Junkies that the Nationals wouldn’t be trading Soto, went on to add that the now-public information about the negotiations caused problems for Washington in the aftermath.
“It did not help us in anything we were trying to do. It didn’t help us in keeping a good relationship with Juan, and it didn’t help us in any kind of leverage at the trade deadline,” Rizzo said. “It really didn’t help us. It hurt us that the details got out.”
The source remains unclear. The Post confirmed the details of the discussions, and Soto has said he was disappointed that they came out, suggesting he wouldn’t have directed anyone in his camp to make them public. Ahead of the All-Star Game in Los Angeles, he answered questions about his future with his agent, Scott Boras, by his side, his Home Run Derby title overshadowed by the notion that the Nationals might be considering a nearly unprecedented deal for him. He suggested he didn’t know what to trust in the organization, since the situation had changed so dramatically.
“With his agent’s knowledge, we told him, when the deal was turned down, we said ‘We’re going to have to explore all our options.’ And that’s all we’ve ever said,” Rizzo said. “I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t explore all the options that now present us. We’ve got a pretty good option: We’ve got a talented Juan Soto for two and a half more seasons. That’s option A, that’s a good one. But we also have to think about options B and C.”
“My job is to make this organization a consummate winner again, like we did from 2012 to 2019, being a consistent winner,” Rizzo added. “I have to figure out ways as the caretaker of this franchise to make us a championship organization for a long time to come.”
Anthony Rizzo delivers Yankees’ ‘knockout blow’ again
TORONTO — On Thursday night, Anthony Rizzo homered to end the game.
On Friday night, he effectively did the same — in the fifth inning.
Rizzo crushed a grand slam to cap off an eight-run frame as the Yankees ran away with a 12-3 win over the Blue Jays in the series opener at Rogers Centre.
After his walk-off homer Thursday gave the Yankees a 2-1 win over the Rays, Rizzo left no doubt with his round-tripper against the Blue Jays, clobbering it an estimated 435 feet to the facing above the second deck in right field. That gave the Yankees a 10-1 lead in the fifth inning, all but putting their eighth straight win on ice.
“That’s kind of the knockout blow right there,” manager Aaron Boone said.
It was Rizzo’s sixth home run in his past 13 games as he continued to mash the ball in June. He drilled nine home runs in his first 20 games, then hit just two over his next 30 games before his latest hot streak.
Rizzo, who went 2-for-3 with a hit by pitch and walk on the night, has also been hitting the ball well lately, even when he is not homering. Over his past 14 games, he is batting .291 (16-for-55) with a .989 OPS and 18 RBI.
“Just ebbs and flows of the season,” said Rizzo, who is also 8-for-14 with runners in scoring position during that stretch. “Just working through kinks and always trying to find the right position to be in. … When I get hit by pitches, I feel like it really locks me in more, just staying on the ball.”
Sure enough, Rizzo was hit by a pitch on the left thigh to lead off the decisive fifth inning Friday.
Later in the frame, the Blue Jays intentionally walked Aaron Judge to load the bases with one out for Josh Donaldson, who struck out. But Rizzo didn’t let them off the hook, obliterating a hanging curveball from Trevor Richards for his sixth career grand slam and the Yankees’ third home run of the inning.
“Bases loaded, they walk Judgey and just to be able to come through there — our MVP getting walked, we all just want to make them pay, at all times, when anyone gets intentionally walked,” Rizzo said. “But the year [Judge] is having, we just want to always have his back. The grand slam’s the best way you can do it.
After seeing Rizzo scuffle in May with a .167/.268/.313 slash line, Boone is glad to have him back in a groove.
“It’s been good, because he was grinding there for that month,” Boone said. “He was still having some big at-bats, but he was grinding through it. It’s nice to see him, over the last week or 10 days, really start to — the quality of his contact is getting really good now.”
Yankees To Re-Sign Anthony Rizzo
The Yankees are in agreement with free agent first baseman Anthony Rizzo, as was first reported by Jordan Brown (Twitter link). It’s a two-year, $32MM guarantee with an opt-out clause after the first season, Brown adds. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports (on Twitter) it’ll pay flat $16MM salaries in each season, leaving Rizzo with a $16MM decision next offseason. The deal is pending a physical.
Rizzo will be returning to the Bronx, where he finished the 2021 campaign. New York acquired him from the Cubs in advance of the trade deadline, and he hit .249/.340/.428 in 200 plate appearances in pinstripes down the stretch. That was more or less in line with the .248/.346/.446 mark he’d put up in 376 trips to the plate with Chicago over the season’s first couple months.
It was the second straight season of reasonable but unexciting production for Rizzo. He’d posted a .222/.342/.414 line during the shortened 2020 campaign. Going back two seasons, he owns a .240/.343/.432 line over 819 plate appearances. By measure of wRC+, that production checks in nine percentage points above the league average hitter’s. It’s actually bit below the standard (.254/.335/.455, 113 wRC+) set by first basemen around the league.
It’s been a rather sharp downturn for Rizzo as he’s entered his 30s. The left-handed hitter broke out with the Cubs in 2014, his age-24 campaign. Over the next six seasons, he never posted a wRC+ below 126. Overall, Rizzo hit .284/.388/.513 between 2014-19, with his 141 wRC+ in that stretch tying for twelfth among 375 qualified hitters.
Rizzo was a lineup anchor for the Cubs as they emerged from their rebuild, and he was also highly-regarded for his leadership and presence in the clubhouse. That combination made him perhaps the face of the Cubs’ most successful run in over a century. He appeared in three consecutive All-Star games from 2014-16, finishing in the top ten in NL MVP voting each season. Rizzo played a key role on Chicago’s curse-breaking World Series winning club in 2016, and he remained highly productive for three years beyond that even as the team never recaptured that level of postseason success.
The Yankees would be thrilled with their investment if he were to recapture anything near that form next season in the Bronx. Yet there’s clearly some trepidation around the league regarding Rizzo’s back-to-back relative down years. Just 12 months ago, Ken Rosenthal and Patrick Mooney of the Athletic reported that the Cubs had put a five-year, $70MM extension offer on the table. Rizzo declined Chicago’s overture, preferring to bet on himself after his middle-of-the-road 2020 season. After continuing to produce at a similar level over a full schedule in 2021, though, Rizzo essentially finds himself accepting a pillow contract and betting on a bounceback once again.
More to come.
Bob Saget’s widow Kelly Rizzo grieves him in interview: ‘He was just so kind and so wonderful’
The comic was very happy to be out on the road again and felt compelled to make people laugh given the current state of the world, she said on “Today.”
Rizzo shared that their final communication was filled with love. “I think I said ‘I love you dearly’ and he said ‘I love you endlessly’ and then I said ‘I can’t wait to see you tomorrow,” she said. “It was just all love.”
Rizzo echoed that on “Good Morning America,” saying that when she last spoke with him on the phone “He was just on his way home, or back to his hotel, and he was telling me what a wonderful show he had, and how it was so amazing.”
“And he was happy and just loving what he did,” she said. “It made him so happy to just bring laughter to people.”
Saget met Rizzo, a food and travel blogger, via Instagram six years ago and the pair shared a deep and abiding love. Both she and Kotb were moved to tears when Rizzo talked about how her husband would rush back whenever he was on the road.
He would go to sleep at 2 a.m. and wake up at 4 a.m. just so he could be on a 6 a.m. flight to come home to her, Rizzo said.
“He valued every single second we had together,” she said, fighting back tears. “That is why this is so heartbreaking.”
In the wake of his death everyone, including fans, has rallied around Rizzo. “That has been the one silver lining from this is the incredible outpouring of love and support, not only from just everybody that loved Bob, but also his friends and family,” she said. “I don’t know how else I’d be getting through this right now.”
Rizzo shared memories about who her husband was — with a common theme being how incredibly loving he was to everyone he met, making sure to tell everyone he loved them.
Her husband was as wonderful as he seemed and tried to make everyone feel special, Rizzo said, with his constant message being to “treat everybody with kindness.”
Saget was “the best man I’ve ever known in my life,” she said. “He was just so kind and so wonderful and everybody that was in his life knew it,” Rizzo said. “And even anybody that would just casually meet him was like, ‘Wow, this is a special guy.'”
RIzzo is now concentrating on continuing his legacy, including his work with the Scleroderma Research Foundation.
Saget’s sister, Gay, died from the rare autoimmune disease and the SRF estimates that in the more than 30 years he volunteered with the organization he helped raise more than $26 million to help find a cure.
“He had three life’s works,” Rizzo said. “That was his children, comedy and then the SRF. He spent over 30 years tirelessly working so hard to try and find a cure for scleroderma and that’s why anything I can do to help keep that legacy going and just help with the SRF because it meant so much to him.”
Rizzo told Holmes that her husband seemed to be in good health prior to his death and that his having Covid in December “was not anything serious.”
The investigation into his cause of death is ongoing.