The odds that Andrew Benintendi’s vaccination status will become a major issue for the Yankees have increased in recent days. Which is an issue in of itself.
Benintendi said he is “open-minded” to getting the jab over the weekend. But he hasn’t gotten it, or committed to it, since being acquired from the Royals. When the deal was made moments after the second Subway Series loss to the Mets, it didn’t seem like it mattered. The Bombers were running away with the AL East, they only had to deal with Canada’s border mandate once more — a late-September series at the Blue Jays — and it felt unlikely they would see Toronto in the postseason.