Breaking: Former Yankees star set for return
A healthier Domingo Germán expects to be back in Major League Baseball next season.
The former Yankee is in talks with six teams, a source familiar with Germán’s situation said, including AL East foes the Blue Jays and Orioles.
The Mets, too, have talked with Germán’s camp, though the source said the Yankees’ crosstown rivals are “the least favorites.”
Though several teams are engaged, there is no deal imminent after a season with one remarkable high and one remarkable low.
Germán, according to the source, has completed the required steps of an inpatient treatment program after his season ended on Aug. 3, when he sought help for alcohol abuse after an incident in the Yankees clubhouse.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Germán got into confrontations with members of the Yankees, flipped over a couch and smashed a television.
He was placed on the restricted list and left the team for the last months of the campaign.
He was reinstated in early November, shortly before he was non-tendered by the Yankees.
The source said Germán, while he has completed the requirements of the program, is still voluntarily checking in with professionals periodically to ensure he is on the right path.
“He’s doing well, working hard,” the source said. “He has moved away from a lot of the distractions he had before. He’s in a good place.”
The expectation is Germán will receive a major league deal.
Two teams have made an offer, the source said, but conversations are continuing.
If baseball were the only matter considered, the 31-year-old would not even be a free agent and would be in position to help a thin Yankees rotation.
He served as valuable depth for the Yankees for six seasons in which he pitched to a 4.41 ERA with more strikeouts than innings.
Germán is coming off a season with extreme on-field ups and downs.
He pitched a perfect game in Oakland in June, a masterpiece that followed two outings in which he allowed a combined 17 runs.
He was ejected from a May start after failing a sticky-stuff examination.
His season ended in the clubhouse, which became the second known off-field problem of his Yankees tenure.
Germán was suspended 81 games that spanned the 2019 and 2020 seasons for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy.
Germán was put on administrative leave on Sept. 19, 2019, after he allegedly was physically violent toward his then-girlfriend, who is now his wife. The Athletic reported that German was intoxicated that night.
After a rocky tenure in The Bronx and coming off an offseason during which he has attempted to improve himself as a human, Germán appears poised for another chance.
