The Domingo German dilemma

In a rotation built on surgeries, it was a little surprising that Domingo German has emerged as one of the early question marks in Yankees camp. But while September of 2019 might seem like a long time ago given everything that’s transpired in the world, it’s clear that the 28-year-old still has a long way to go to rebuild his reputation, if it’s even possible at all.

German continued his, for lack of a better word, odd antics on social media last week with a quickly deleted Instagram post saying, “Everything is over” followed by “I’m ready,” both in Spanish. Odd due to its self-inflicting nature and exacerbated by an uncomfortable answer to a reporter’s question from Zack Britton in which he was less than supportive of his reunited teammate, to put it mildly:

“I think sometimes you don’t get to control who your teammates are and that’s the situation. I don’t agree with what he did. I don’t think it has any place in the game or off the field or at all.”

Britton’s response and correlated feelings on German are more than justified and probably a sentiment that most in the clubhouse, organization and even the fanbase feel. And it puts the Yankees in a spot where they’ll need to balance his abhorrent behavior with the belief that he paid for his actions and deserves a second chance, with the sentiment of the clubhouse, and, maybe ultimately, the sentiment of the fanbase. It’s enough to put Aaron Boone’s antenna up and presents him with his biggest off-the-field challenge to navigate in his tenure as skipper.

German seems to be getting in his own way to any semblance of redemption, but there’s one aspect where he can control his own destiny and at least alleviate some of the warranted scrutiny: how he performs on the mound. It’s a complete mystery given his lengthy layoff and perhaps more notably, his lack of a real track record to point to, but the ball is in his hands.

There’re two irrefutable facts of the situation he’s put himself in: what he did was completely vile, and the Yankees desperately need starting pitching. Balancing the two is a dilemma that the Yankees will have to figure out.