The New York Yankees made two shocking announcements that sent headlines throughout sports, and neither involved acquiring a player or firing someone. In a surprising turn of events, Yankees Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner sent out a memo saying that for the first time since his late father controlled the team, players would be allowed to sport “well-groomed beards” while on the roster.

Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman discuss the surprising turn of events, as well as the other notable announcement that the team won’t be playing Frank Sinatra’s iconic “Theme from New York, New York” after losses. The guys wonder what may have caused this change in tune from the new boss and if their World Series loss has anything to do with it.

Also on this episode of the Baseball Bar-B-Cast, Jake and Jordan talk about MLB trying out for the first time ever during Spring Training the Automated Ball-Strike challenge system and if this means it’s only a matter of time before Robo-Umps become a thing in the game. They then give their top thirty highlights for each team from Spring Training so far, including Dave Roberts learning about Roki Sasaki’s marriage, Mike Trout’s uneventful debut in right field and Elly De La Cruz on his NL MVP odds.

(2:14) - The Opener: Yankees change their tune on beards
(16:17) - No more “Theme from New York, New York” after losses
(20:32) - MLB gives ABS a try
(34:05) - 15 things from the AL from Spring Training
(55:33) - 15 things from the NL from Spring Training

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And check out Jake, Jordan & the show on X or Instagram:

🐦 @CespedesBBQ: https://twitter.com/CespedesBBQ

📷 @CespedesBBQ: https://www.instagram.com/cespedesbbq

⚾ @Jake_Mintz: https://twitter.com/Jake_Mintz

🧢 @J_Shusterman: https://twitter.com/j_shusterman_

Subscribe to Baseball Bar-B-Cast on your favorite podcast app:

🎧 Apple Podcasts

🎧 Spotify

🖥️ YouTube

📢 Check out the Yahoo Sports podcast network or yahoosports.tv

And check out Jake, Jordan & the show on X or Instagram:

🌤️ @CespedesBBQ: https://bsky.app/profile/cespedesbbq.bsky.social

🐦 @CespedesBBQ: https://x.com/CespedesBBQ

📷 @CespedesBBQ: https://www.instagram.com/cespedesbbq

⚾ @Jake_Mintz: https://x.com/Jake_Mintz

🧢 @J_Shusterman: https://x.com/j_shusterman_