Boone is hoping to avoid his team having to play three games within 24 hoursGETTY IMAGES
There could be a "major dispute" developing between ESPN and the Yankees after the net recently added Yankees-Blue Jays for "Sunday Night Baseball" on July 8, according to Bill Madden of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. ESPN is picking up the July 8 matchup, originally slated for 1:00pm ET, and the decision was announced just "after the Yankees and Orioles players had just agreed to make up Thursday's rainout as part of a doubleheader on July 9." ESPN maintained that plans for Yankees-Blue Jays on "SNB" had "been in the books since December." But the Yankees "insisted they would never have agreed to adding another game on July 9 had they known." Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, "Hopefully it's still happening behind the scenes and there's pressure being applied because that's just not good for the product on the field, for the safety of our guys to be having to go night game then fly into a doubleheader. That's ridiculous and anyone that would argue with that is not being truthful." A source said that MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred was "caught unaware of this development and was in contact by phone" by both Yankees Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner and President Randy Levine, who "implored him to resolve this by directing ESPN to pick a different game." A source said that if the Yankees are forced to play Sunday night on July 8, management and players are "prepared for an all-out war with ESPN in which they will refuse all interviews -- pre-game, in-game and postgame -- with ESPN broadcasters" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 6/4).
LOSE-LOSE SITUATION: In Newark, Brendan Kuty noted it is likely the Blue Jays "will want to keep the new time." The Blue Jays "haven't been featured" on "SNB" in 14 years (NJ.com, 6/2). In New Jersey, Pete Caldera noted Boone's concerns "echo former Yankees manager Joe Girardi's long-held beliefs that ESPN and MLB should either make more informed decisions regarding the schedule or follow certain guidelines -- such as a team on a road trip would have Monday off after a Sunday night game." Meanwhile, the Yankees' Aug. 5 game in Boston also was "flipped to Sunday night by ESPN," but with the Yankees playing in Chicago the next night (NORTHJERSEY.com, 6/2).
