A suspension's unintended consequence, Hall of Fame vote and more

The remaining 63-game suspension of New York Yankees right-hander Domingo Germán will hurt the Yankees in the 2020 season, but could help them down the road.

Earlier this month Germán was suspended under Major League Baseball's domestic violence policy. The suspension is stemming from an incident in September involving Germán and his girlfriend. No criminal charges were filed against Germán, who has agreed not to appeal the suspension.

Germán was hit with an 81-game unpaid suspension, but 18 games were served last year and he also missed the playoffs. This season, he could return on June 5 and will be eligible for the playoffs. Last year, he went 18-4 with a 4.03 ERA over 27 games. He was a key member of the New York rotation.

Had Germán not been suspended and gone on to pitch a full year in the majors in 2020, he would have three years of team control left and would be eligible for free agency after the 2023 season.

But he will not get service time for the days suspended. That means he will end the 2020 season with less than three full years of service time - and that means he will get an extra year of team control. He will be a free agent after the 2024 season.

In my opinion, a team should not benefit in any way from a player's suspension. Gaining an extra year increases Germán's value, both to the Yankees and any team that might acquire him via a potential trade.

For now, New York will try to get by with a rotation this season that could include pitchers from this group: Gerrit Cole, Luis Severino, James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka, J.A. Happ and Jordan Montgomery.

They got the call to the Hall: Derek Jeter and Larry Walker were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame last night. Jeter got 396 of 397 votes (99.7 percent) from voting members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Walker got 76.6 percent and was elected in his final year on the ballot.

I agree with those that have said that rather than spend any time on the one person who didn't vote for Jeter (whoever that turns out to be), we should just focus on the players elected and their achievements.

They will be honored as part of the Hall's induction weekend from July 24-27 in Cooperstown, N.Y., along with catcher Ted Simmons and the late Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Marvin Miller, who were elected in December by the Modern Baseball Era Committee. Also being honored that weekend will be the Ford C. Frick Award winner for broadcasting, Ken Harrelson, and J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner for writing, the late Nick Cafardo.

While we knew Jeter would be elected, Walker made a 22 percent jump from last year. He became only the second Canadian-born player elected to the Hall, joining Fergie Jenkins, a Chatham, Ont., native who was inducted in 1991.

Orioles fans had a good seat, so to speak, to see Jeter's career with so many games each year between the teams. He had his share of success versus the Orioles. Maybe O's fans - while it would be hard for most of them to like a Yankee - respect him for his career. Jeter is the 55th Hall of Famer who played with only one club. That list includes three Orioles: Cal Ripken Jr., Brooks Robinson and Jim Palmer.

Ripken falls one spot now to holding the sixth-highest percentage of the vote.

100.0 - Mariano Rivera
99.70 - Derek Jeter
99.32 - Ken Griffey Jr.
98.84 - Tom Seaver
98.79 - Nolan Ryan
98.53 - Cal Ripken Jr.

O's topic for the day: As always, please discuss what is written here and/or any baseball or Orioles topic today and every day.

But here is one topic to start a discussion this morning. Yesterday, in this entry, I looked at seven pitching prospects that could move to Triple-A this year. Of that group - lefties Keegan Akin, Zac Lowther, Bruce Zimmermann and Alex Wells, and righties Dean Kremer, Michael Baumann and Cody Sedlock - which pitchers do you like to have the best career and why?

Here's video of Kremer via Twitter from the account of a coach from Driveline, a data-driven baseball performance center.

@DJ_KREY6 93-96 today in his bullpen.. pretty excited for him heading to camp in two weeks! pic.twitter.com/9DFBXERvdD

-- Joey Skracic (@JoeySkracic) January 22, 2020