Hey, Max, Chris Kirschner with The Athletic.
Ultimately, why did you choose the Yankees?
As I kind of stated, it's winning.
Winning's a big priority for me.
And you know, at the end of the day, every
single year the the Yankees come to spring training, the
number one goals to winter World Series.
It's not to get to the playoffs.
It's not to do anything besides hold up the trophy
at the end of the year and knowing that I
was going to make a, you know, potentially a long
commitment.
I, I wanted to be able to be in a
place that I knew I was going to be able
to win.
You're in, you're out.
And, you know, it's I love, I love playoff baseball
and I love to be able to have meaningful baseball
at the end of the year.
And the Yankees are an organization that are going to
do that.
You're in, you're out.
Go to Peters all the way to the left.
I'm ex Peters Plendorio, New York Daily News.
I'm at what point in your free agency process did
the Yankees become, you know, in the mix?
And what stood out to you about that initial Zoom
call?
Yeah, Well, I would say that the last however many
weeks kind of been a whirlwind.
But I think initially I'd I'd heard that the Yankees
had interest and I wasn't.
I would, I would say that I was fairly surprised
at the beginning, but when the Yankees say that they're
interested in you, you perk up and you listen.
You know, there's a there's a standard and there's a,
you know, it's a extremely storied franchise.
So I was excited to hop on a call and
be able to, you know, talk with the group up
here.
And I just felt like a lot of our values
of what what we value and, you know, at the
end of the end goal was very similar.
And it was very just down to earth, easy to
talk to.
And I felt really comfortable.
So when going through the process and, you know, when
it came down to it, it, it just felt right
over to the right.
Bruce, do you have the microphone?
Yeah, Max, welcome.
Bruce Beck, NBC 4 New York.
What will it be like being in a rotation with
Garrett Cole?
I mean, he's he's one of the best pitchers of
of the generation.
He's had a lot of a lot of success.
You know, he's in Cy Young runnings year in, year
out.
And, you know, he's he's an established superstar in this
game.
So for me to be able to, you know, sure
be in a rotation, be able to pick his brain
a little bit, I feel like there's only going to
be benefits.
So I'm I'm excited to be able to sit and
watch every single one of the starts back to the
left run.
I'm Max Rumblum from AP Throughout your career, you've had
a lot of these soft tissue injuries, blisters and hamstring
pulls.
What have you done differently the last few years to
try to keep healthy?
A lot of trial and error.
I think being being down in the South in Atlanta
with, you know, the humid summers probably didn't help as
far as just blisters and things to that, that extent.
But the medical staff down there was fantastic and being
able to help me figure out a a routine that
kind of works and be able to kind of mitigate
all that.
But at the end of the day, it's it's about
trying to be as proactive as possible and, you know,
not allowing something that's as minors that being able to
affect me going forward and, you know, not plan on
missing starts.
So we'll take a couple more.
Laura on the left.
Hi, Laura Albanese from Newsday.
A lot has been said about just playing in New
York City.
What do you think about that challenge?
And is there any part of that that you look
forward to?
I think I think personally, you know, it's, it's the
same game whether you're playing and any kind of, you
know, whatever city you're in, it's, it's still 60 feet,
6 inches and you're going up against another guy.
There's just, you know, very passionate, passionate fans.
And, you know, I can control what I can control.
And that's to go out there and leave everything out
on the field and compete as best as I can
every single time.
And you know, at the end of the day, it's
it's about getting the Yankees to win.
And if I can go out there, put us in
the best position to win, then I'm I'm doing my
job.
Take two more, Brian, right in front.
Hey, Max, Brian Hook with MLB.com.
You said that there is a certain responsibility in putting
on the Yu.
What are you feeling as you sit there right now
wearing it for the first time?
You know, a sense of pride.
A lot of people have worn these pinstripes and you
know, there's a there's a certain feel.
And, you know, I'm I'm excited about being able to
put the pinstripes on in Yankee Stadium for the Yankees.
And it's, you know, it's one of the most storied
winning franchises and sports.
And, you know, I want to be able to kind
of do my part and, and adding to that, take
a last one, Peter all the way to the left.
Hey, Max, Peter Schwartz from WFAN, What are your thoughts
on pitching this ballpark?
I think you've had one start here.
Your thoughts on on on pitching here in the Bronx
Extremely excited.
There's, you know, there's no bigger stage in pitching, pitching
in New York.
And you know, I've been here for a couple series.
I got to throw my first time last year.
I'm still still looking to feel what that feels like
to be able to throw under the lights because I
got a day game, Sunday day game.
So I'm really excited.
But there's there's a different feel when you step into
the stadium and you feel the energy and the buzz
and I can't wait to kind of feed off of
that.