If Aaron Judge wants to have a catch with new teammate Russell Wilson while he spends this week in Yankees camp, general manager Brian Cashman won’t be opposed to it.
Just don’t expect any footballs to be in sight.
When asked if he’d be against the idea of players running pass routes for the Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback, Cashman told the New York Daily News, “Yeah, probably. But he throws a good spiral and a great ball, I’ve heard.”
Although that particular image won’t come to fruition, Cashman didn’t rule out the possibility of Wilson receiving an at-bat in one of the upcoming exhibition games. Prior to Wilson’s arrival, a Yankees spokesman reportedly said that Wilson would only participate in batting practice and infield drills, but Cashman said, “I’m not opposed to any of that, personally.”
If this does happen, Cashman would likely need a stamp of approval from the Seahawks. However, Cashman told reporters that Seattle has yet to speak with him on the matter.
“I have no idea. [Seahawks head coach] Pete Carroll hasn’t reached out to me just yet,” Cashman said. “But after he sees that I’m open to it, I might get a call. I respect the hell out of Pete Carroll, so I look forward to hearing from him.
“A couple of the [Seahawks’] division rivals have called to make some suggestions, but I haven’t heard from the Seahawks.”
On Monday, Wilson surprised some fans by hitting six home runs during a batting practice session at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. The 29-year-old NFL star was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the fourth round of the 2010 June Amateur Draft, and played in 93 total games at the Single-A level.
Russell Wilson taking BP. After rough first go-round, here three of the balls leave the yard pic.twitter.com/iwZMrRV5LF
— Erik Boland (@eboland11) February 26, 2018
“Ever since I was a young kid I always dreamed to be a Yankee,” Wilson told ESPN on Monday. “I always watched them. My favorite player was Derek Jeter growing up, watching him, his professionalism and how he played.”
Wilson’s spring training activities may remain the same, but Cashman is thrilled to have him on the roster for a short time.
“It’s a good situation for us to kind of get some exposure to one of the premiere athletes in sports that checks all the boxes in terms of performance on the field — mostly success — but also failure and how you deal with it,” Cashman said. “I think just breaking up the monotony [at camp], and I feel fortunate that we have a chance to have our guys change it up for the next week here and have full access to him is pretty cool.
“And he gets full access to doing something he enjoys, which is play baseball with the team he grew up rooting for. Hopefully it plays out well for everybody involved.”
If you want to connect with Tom Hanslin, email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @tomhanslin.
