The Yankees moved from Anthony Rizzo in the winter, but the former All-Star baseman is still looking for work when the spring training game begins.
Rizzo, 35, admits that if the MLB team doesn't make a call, it's considered the equivalent of forced retirement.
“I definitely thought about it. Rizzo T, 35,Old athletic on friday. “But at the same time, if the team doesn't want to pay veterans millions of dollars, I saw it in the last decade of my career. That's what happens to older guys. They It can be narrowed down a bit.
“You've seen it happen more and more. I'm not naive to it. That might be.”
Rizzo played 14 seasons in the majors. This includes three or more seasons with the Yankees following the 2021 trade deadline followed by the Cubs.
The four Gold Glove winners were limited to 99 and 92 games respectively over the past two seasons due to injuries, but the Yankees rejected the $17 million option in 2025.
They signed a one-year contract worth $12.5 million for former MVP winner Paul Goldschmidt in December.
“Two years ago, I had a strange year with a concussion. Then last year, I was injured twice,” says Rizzo, who missed the game in 2024 due to forearm and hand injuries. I did. “My power count has decreased. I'm surprised, but just because I'm a realist in the game and you're old doesn't seem to be familiar with crazy.
“The fact that you want your team to play essentially at the league minimum ($760,000) is crazy. You're almost trying to ruin the market for the next guy.”
Rizzo posted his career worst .637 OPS with just eight home runs in 92 games last season, but after sitting in the AL Division series, he's returned from a hand wound in late September.
The three-time All-Star will appear in 10 games of the ALCS and the World Series, hitting .267 (8-30) without a home run or RBI.
Rizzo also first explained the paralysis treatment he received during the postseason to join the lineup in October.
“I wash it off in a high pressure chamber and do all the treatments possible just to get that swelling out so that I can inject it again,” Rizzo said. “It was crazy.
“Obviously, you haven't done that during the regular season. But you do whatever you want to play, in the World Series or playoff time. It was worth it.”
Rizzo also admitted pitcher Gerit Cole still laments his role in Game 5 loss to the Dodgers in the fall classic, when he didn't cover one base on his grounder first .
“I do the exact same thing 100 out of 100,” Rizzo said. “I don't want to cry, 'Sadness is me,' in my hands. But the people on the inside know how bad my hands are.
“There's a lot of extra stuff in that play. First of all, you don't want to (drop). You have to catch that ball and secure it. It's probably one of the things Gerrit was gased. It's not too much.
“I always want them to go to the pitcher, but it was just a messy play. I don't think I could have charged it more for something like spin. It's pretty funky It was a spin. And you had a mookey. [Betts] He's a professional so he's going to take it out of the box and arrest him. That's what he does. The play was just not made. ”
Rizzo, who is hoping for his first child along with his wife Emily in June, claims he is healthy now, but that's the team taking his chances.
“I want to play,” he added. “I want to win. And I love talking about games with pitchers and batters. There's a lot to dive into.
“On the field, everything that's out of the field is still talking about it with the guy. I'll see if I'll continue playing.”
