Domingo German is set to get another opportunity with the Yankees after serving his suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s domestic violence protocols.
Aaron Boone said Wednesday that he, general manager Brian Cashman and bench coach Carlos Mendoza had spoken with German “welcoming him back” from his ban, but adding that he would not be guaranteed anything this spring.
“We know he’s paid a significant price from a career standpoint, really having missed a full season-plus now,’’ the manager said in a Zoom call from Tampa. “Hopefully, that’s behind us. We feel like he’s in a good place coming in and now it’s on him to go out and kind of resurrect his career and compete for a spot on this team. … It’s been a very long year coming back.”
The Yankees need as many quality arms as they can get to back up Gerrit Cole, and if German can regain the form he had in 2019, when he won 18 games and threw 143 innings before his suspension, it would provide a boost.
But German needs to show he can still be effective on the mound — and stay out of trouble off the field. He was suspended for 81 games in January 2020 for violating the protocol and missed all of last season and announced he was leaving baseball — although he later took that back and pitched during winter ball in the Dominican Republic.
“Certainly nothing has been promised,” Boone said of German’s role with the team. “We’re going to be there and try and be supportive as we can moving forward to not only hopefully get the most out of himself on the mound and between the lines, but also becoming the best he can be off the field as well.”
