May 2nd, 2025: Judge, Rice, Bellinger, Goldschmidt, Rodón, De La Cruz, Mailbag

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1. Weekday thoughts. The rational half of my brain: The Yankees dropped two of three in Baltimore because they lost one-run games started by Will Warren and Carlos Carrasco. The fanatic side of my brain: Can these doofuses actually complete a comeback for once? For real though, the Yankees should keep Aaron Judge in the No. 2 lineup spot. One one-run game ending with Judge on deck because he was batting third rather than second, like Wednesday, is one too many. Here are a few thoughts on the last few games.

Gibson gets Nestored

This sport is ridiculous sometimes. The Yankees have existed since 1913 and never once from 1913-2024 did they open a game with back-to-back-to-back home runs. They’ve now done it twice in a month. Kyle Gibson got the Nestor Cortes treatment Tuesday. Three homers on five pitches to start the game, plus a fourth homer later in the first inning for good measure (video). It was a five-run inning overall.

“I definitely haven’t seen anything like it,” Aaron Boone said after the game (video). “It’s hard to wrap your head around that.”

Tuesday was the 11th time a team hit three straight homers to begin a game and the 15th time a team hit four homers in the first inning. The Yankees are the first team to do either thing twice in one season, and they managed to do both twice this season. They saw Mr. Gibson pretty well in that first inning, I’d say:

Grisham has been awesome and Judge is Judge. The captain finished April with a .427/.521/.761 (262 wRC+) line. Entering Thursday’s off-day, Judge led baseball in AVG by 71 points, OBP by 47 points, SLG by 104 points, and wRC+ by 51 points. He’s reached base safely 73 times in 31 team games. Judge is the seventh player and the first Yankee to hit .400 with 10 homers in April. Good gravy.

“He’s kind of like a great three-point shooter. They shoot around 43% sometimes for an extended period,” Boone told Bryan Hoch after Wednesday’s game. “It’s remarkable. I always say we’re running out of superlatives or things to say about it, but what he’s doing, he’s playing a different game.”

Beyond the whole “scoring five runs and setting up an easy win” thing, two important things happened in that first inning Tuesday. First, Rice went deep on a changeup. His second homer came on a curveball. Those were Rice’s first two homers on non-fastballs this season. He hasn't been horrible against non-fastballs, but his numbers have been skewed towards heaters:

Rice vs. FB: .340 AVG and .740 SLG (.537 xwOBA) with 12.4% whiffs
MLB AVG vs. FB: .259 AVG and .423 SLG (.359 xwOBA) with 19.7% whiffs

Rice vs. non-FB: .182 AVG and .409 SLG (.280 xwOBA) with 43.2% whiffs
MLB AVG vs. non-FB: .222 AVG and .356 SLG (.286 xwOBA) with 32.4% whiffs

Rice had similar splits last season. It won’t be too long before he begins to see more breaking balls and offspeed pitches (I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet). Anything that represents a step forward against non-fastballs is important, and hitting two homers against non-fastballs in one game definitely represents a step forward. Rice showed us that he can put a breaking ball and a changeup in the seats.

And second, Bellinger pulled a ball! In the air too! I was excited about Bellinger coming into 2025 because he’s been one of the top pulled fly ball guys in the game throughout his career, and lefties who pull the ball in the air are an excellent match for Yankee Stadium. Instead, this has happened:

What gives? Bellinger is kinda sorta maybe starting to get it together – 6-for-19 (.316) with three doubles, a homer, five walks, and four strikeouts in his last six games – and yeah, it’s time. It’s early, but not so early that we can still chalk up poor performance to a poorly timed slump. It’s been long enough. The exit velocity is good, the best it’s been in a few years really, but Bellinger’s strikeout rate is up and he’s hitting too many grounders and lazy fly balls.

“(Pulling the ball is) a result of getting into good position and being on time,” Boone told Gary Phillips about Bellinger earlier this week. “That’ll happen once he gets going. You never go up there saying, ‘I gotta pull the ball.’ That gets you in a bad spot. His natural hitting will put him in that position. When he’s consistently getting into strong positions, making good swing decisions, because of his swing, I think that will be the result, and that’s what I expect from him moving forward.”

Grisham and Rice have picked up the slack offensively. What a godsend they’ve been. It’s time for Cody to start pulling his weight. Hopefully Tuesday’s pulled homer and these last few games are a sign he’s starting to get on track. The Verdugo precedent says the Yankees won’t take Bellinger out of the lineup no matter how poorly he performs, so he has to start hitting. He can’t be a glove-only guy.

The Yankees hit three straight homers to start the game and four homers in the first inning on March 29th, then they did it again on April 29th. Alas and alack, May 29th is an off-day. The Yankees will have to do it against the stupid Dodgers on May 30th instead. When things click, this offense can put a game to bed early. Three batters into the game early. It would rule if they started doing it a little more often.

On the lineup logjam

The Yankees have more players who belong in the lineup than lineup spots. Judge is not coming out of the lineup, which leaves two outfield spots for Bellinger, Grisham, and Jasson Domínguez. Rice is killing it at DH and Paul Goldschmidt’s playing well at first, which doesn’t ease the logjam. One of those five guys (Bellinger, Domínguez, Goldschmidt, Grisham, Rice) will be on the bench every game. That's the math of it.

“We have a lot of deserving people to play,” Boone told Greg Joyce earlier this week. “So I have a guy (on the bench) usually every day that I’d rather have in the lineup. But it also gives us a chance to keep guys fresh, keep guys playing a lot. Just feel like this’ll hopefully be a good thing in the long haul for all of us.”

There is no easy solution and someone has to sit each game. I understand that. The Domínguez thing in Baltimore confused me though. He sat against the righty Gibson on Tuesday but started against the lefty Cade Povich on Wednesday. Here are El Marciano's platoon splits after Wednesday’s 0-for-2 against Povich:

• vs. RHP: .316/.381/.491 (153 wRC+) with 28.7 K%

• vs. LHP: .086/.220/.171 (20 wRC+) with 39.0 K%

The platoon splits (and the eye test) say Domínguez should’ve started against Gibson on Tuesday and sat against Povich on Wednesday. Thursday was an off-day, so maybe the Yankees didn’t want Domínguez sitting two straight days? He did that last week though. Last Thursday was an off-day and he was not in the lineup Friday. Perhaps they changed their mind in a week’s time.

Are the Yankees force-feeding Domínguez at-bats against lefties because they want him to develop as a righty hitter? I have no idea, and if that’s why he sat against Gibson and started against Povich, okay, then I get it. The Yankees have faced seven lefty starters this season and Domínguez was in the lineup for six of them. He missed the Robbie Ray game. Otherwise he’s been in there against lefties. They haven't pinch-hit for him against lefty relievers either. Right now, the Yankees are willing to sink or swim with Domínguez at the plate against southpaws. Later in the season, they might not.

To be clear, I’m not complaining. I understand one player who should be in the lineup will have to sit every game. That’s just the roster right now and it’s a great “problem” to have. Starting Domínguez against the lefty but not the righty was odd based on the platoon splits though. I hope it’s a developmental thing and not a mindless lineup roulette thing.

Goldy goes deep

For only the second time in the last 97 games (postseason included), a Yankees’ first baseman hit a home run Wednesday. Goldschmidt took Povich deep (video) for his second dinger of the year and his first since his leadoff homer started the back-to-back-to-back jobs against Nestor in the second game of the season. One month into 2025, Goldschmidt’s hitting .356/.403/.475 (153 wRC+), albeit with a comical platoon split:

• vs. RHP: .281/.316/.315 (82 wRC+) with 21.9 K%

• vs. LHP: .586/.647/.966 (359 wRC+) with 11.8 K%

That platoon split and the .435 BABIP and career worst exit velocity/hard-hit rate strongly suggest Goldschmidt will return to Earth at some point, though I do want to note that he has been driving the ball more lately. Six of his 11 hardest hit balls of the season have come within the last week, which was his best week in terms of contact quality this year:

Goldschmidt homered Wednesday, might’ve had a homer robbed Monday (I’m not sure it would have gone out), and doubled to the warning track Sunday (video). He’s been driving the ball more lately than he did earlier this year, which is a positive sign. Without more thump, that sexy slash line is only going in one direction, and it’s not the good one.

It’s been almost 100 games of this now and the “first baseman who doesn't hit home runs” act is getting a little tired. I appreciate Goldschmidt’s production so far, he’s been great, and if he continues to hit .356, I won’t complain about the lack of homers. I’ll take the under on a .356 AVG the rest of the way though. As the AVG comes down, hopefully the SLG goes up now that Goldschmidt is driving the ball a bit more.

Miscellany

Another terrific start for Carlos Rodón, who took a perfect game into the sixth inning Tuesday: 6 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K, 1 HR (video). That’s three straight great starts, and Rodón was a hanging curveball to Jung-Hoo Lee away from a fourth straight great start. He has a 3.43 ERA (3.82 FIP) through seven starts and the contact quality numbers say he’s been even better than that (3.30 DRA and 3.01 xERA). Good stuff, Carlos … Anthony Volpe since I said I have to start saying mean things about him: 9-for-23 (.391) with five doubles and a homer. He’s hitting .237/.328/.456 (125 wRC+). For what it’s worth, Volpe was hitting .271/.358/.398 (120 wRC+) through 31 team games last season. I am declaring a temporary hiatus on Volpe analysis. Let’s check back in June … One more quick note on Volpe: He’s 3-for-6 stealing bases this year and stayed glued to first after drawing a leadoff walk down a run in the eighth inning Wednesday. The Yankees 22-for-32 (69%) stealing bases and that’s with Jazz Chisholm Jr. going 6-for-7. They’re 21st in stolen bases overall. I understand you’re not going to run every single time you reach first base, but it feels like Volpe and the Yankees in general have left some steals on the table this year. They’ve had chances to run, but haven’t … The Orioles have the fifth lowest chase rate and ninth most home runs in baseball, and teams that don’t chase and have power are going to beat up on Carlos Carrasco. Wednesday’s start was as bad as the line suggests: 3.1 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 2 HR. Maybe pair him with an opener to avoid the top of the lineup once per game? Worth trying at this point … Boone and I definitely aren’t the same, because I would have used Devin Williams with double-digit run leads Sunday and Tuesday. Boone used him in one-run games Monday and Wednesday. It worked, Williams threw a scoreless inning each time, and that’s why Boone’s the manager and I’m behind a keyboard. But still, give the struggling reliever a soft landing maybe? … And finally, a Fernando Cruz appreciation: 1.62 ERA (1.70 FIP) with 42.9 K% and 19.9% swinging strikes, and an acceptable 9.5 BB%. His 27 strikeouts led full-time relievers entering Thursday’s off-day. That is basically what I expected from Williams. Instead, Cruz is the lockdown reliever the Yankees added over the winter. He’s been so, so good.

Injury updates

Chisholm exited Tuesday’s game with right oblique discomfort. Looks like it happened on a swing (video). He stayed in and doubled on the next pitch, then was removed. Letting the injured guy stay in to finish his at-bat, then taking him out of the game is a Yankees’ specialty, I swear. Jazz went for tests Thursday and we should get an update later today. Hopefully it’s minor, though even minor oblique strains can be a few weeks. This might be Jorbit Vivas’ Big Chance. He's hitting .319/.426/.436 (140 wRC+) with 15 walks and eight strikeouts for the RailRiders … DJ LeMahieu (calf) felt something in his hip and went for a cortisone shot earlier this week. It’s his right hip, the same hip that ended his season last September. LeMahieu and the Yankees hope he will resume his rehab stint Friday. We’ll see … Jonathan Loáisiga (elbow) struck out three in a scoreless inning in his second rehab game Wednesday. He threw 15 pitches and Statcast says his sinker averaged 95.7 mph and topped out at 96.9 mph. That’s not peak Loáisiga velocity, but it’s good for the second rehab outing … And finally, a Triple-A injury update: Alex Jackson was activated off the injured list Wednesday. If needed, the de facto third catcher is healthy again. (Or is Rice the de facto third catcher?) 

Up next

A six-game homestand against a Rays team that scored three runs in three games while getting swept by the Royals this week, and yet another NL team (Padres). After that, the first of May's two West Coast trips. Adjust your sleep schedule accordingly. Here’s what’s coming up between now and Tuesday’s post:

• Friday vs. Rays: LHP Max Fried vs. RHP Ryan Pepiot (7pm ET on YES, MLBN)

• Saturday vs. Rays: RHP Will Warren vs. RHP Zack Littell (1pm ET on YES, MLBN)

• Sunday vs. Rays: RHP Clarke Schmidt vs. RHP Taj Bradley (1:30pm ET on YES)

• Monday vs. Padres: TBA vs. TBA (7pm ET on YES, MLBN)

Monday’s TBAs line up to be Rodón and old pal Mike King. King had a rough Opening Day (2.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 3 K, 1 HR) and has been lights out since: 1.50 ERA (2.25 FIP) with 30.7 K% and 5.7 BB% in six starts. I miss King, he’s awesome, though I’d feel a lot worse about the trade if Juan Soto hadn’t been a driving force behind the Yankees reaching the World Series last year, and Grisham wasn’t so good this year.

As for the Rays, they will be the first team the Yankees see a second time this season. I’m curious to see how Warren and the Yankees adjust after Tampa forced him to throw 53 pitches in 1.2 innings two weeks ago. He’s alternated good starts and bad starts all year and is due for a good start, ergo Warren will pitch well Saturday. That’s analytics, baby.

2. Rapid fire thoughts. The Yankees claimed outfielder Bryan De La Cruz off waivers from the Braves on Thursday, and optioned him to Triple-A Scranton. Giancarlo Stanton was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot. De La Cruz, 28, is a right-handed hitter who had some hype as an exit velocity/swing decision guy early in his career, but hasn’t hit the last few years (81 wRC+ since 2023). He’s a career .267/.311/.386 (89 wRC+) hitter against lefties, which ain’t good, but at this point the Yankees should claim any half-decent righty bat and see whether anyone sticks. Perhaps De La Cruz will join the Yankees later today if Jazz Chisholm Jr. goes on the injured list? They could lean on Oswald Peraza and Pablo Reyes at second base. Hmmm … And finally, the rookie Florida Complex League begins play Saturday. Here is the FCL Yankees roster. It includes a few of my Top 30 Prospects (RHP Sabier Marte, OF Brando Mayea) plus a few others who were interesting a year or two ago (RHP Angel Benitez, RHP Omar Gonzalez). Also, RHP Mack Estrada, one of my Not Top 30 Prospects, was placed on the full season injured list, so he won’t be making the jump into the Top 30 next year. Not much more to say about the FCL team, which is always a bit of a mystery box. Give it a few weeks and we’ll learn which random small bonus international signing is suddenly a dude.

Mailbag Questions of the Week

Moshe asks: Carlos Rodón. He's getting a lot more groundballs so far.  Could be a fluke, but also noticed that a good chunk of his fastballs (10% or so) are being categorized as sinkers, and the sinker has been a highly effective pitch.  Wonder if the sinkers and grounders are related.  

Rodón is a very different pitcher than the guy the Yankees signed three years ago. That guy threw 92% four-seamers and sliders with the Giants. These days Rodón throws 68% four-seamers and sliders, which is still a healthy amount, and now he also works in his changeup (15%), sinker (9%), and curveball (8%) regularly. The cutter he toyed with last season is on the shelf. Rodón hasn’t thrown it once in 2025.

This transformation started last summer, after three rough starts in June (21 runs and 36 baserunners in 13.2 innings). After that, Rodón began to work in his curveball and changeup more, and also that cutter. The sinker is pretty new. He threw more sinkers on Opening Day than he threw from 2019-24 combined, and he said he’s using it to get hitters off his four-seamer, and to be more unpredictable in general.

“The sinker helps as well. Gets them off the four-seamer,” Rodón said on Opening Day. “The scouting report on me the last few years has been four-seams up in the zone, sliders below … The broadening of the repertoire and adding a few other pitches that move a little different, the change of speeds, it definitely makes it less predictable. Especially the usage portion of it.”

Rodón’s 47.3 GB% is way above his 33.8 GB% last season and his identical 33.8 GB% from 2021-24. It is not the new sinker though! At least not entirely. This surprised me. His non-fastballs are getting all those ground balls. Here are the ground ball rates by pitch type:

At some point those ground ball rates on the slider, changeup, and curveball will come down, right? Those seem unsustainably high. Maybe I’m wrong though, and the new pitch mix throws hitters off enough that they put anything soft into the ground. And if those non-fastball ground ball rates do go down, perhaps the sinker ground ball rate will go up to compensate some.

I’m not sure I buy Rodón as a true talent 47.3 GB% guy now, but even leveling out at 40 GB% would be helpful. That would be one more ground ball per start compared to last season, give or take. That doesn’t sound like much, but when you give up as many homers as Rodón (13.7% HR/FB since 2024) and you play home games in Yankee Stadium, turning one extra fly ball into a ground ball can be the difference between a really good start and a bad one.

Rodón deserves a lot of credit. I was down on him after 2023, I think we all were, but these last 13 months he has completely changed who he is as a pitcher. He went from being the sport’s premier two-pitch starter to being a legit five-pitch guy. I wasn’t sure Rodón had that transformation in him. He’s been very good more often than not since the start of last season because he made that transformation.

Dan asks: The Yanks are getting insane production from Ben Rice and Trent Grisham. How sustainable do you think it is? Between the two, who do you think is more likely to keep producing at an above-average level? I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, but they both just keep mashing.

Self-promotion: I wrote about Grisham’s season earlier this week at CBS. Like Rice, Grisham is hammering the ball and being rewarded appropriately. Neither guy is dinking and dunking their way to a fluky stat line. Here are the Statcast sliders:

It’s important to remember Statcast sliders are not sticky. Average exit velocity and barrel rate and all that can go up and down just like batting average. The sliders tell us about the player’s swing decisions and how he’s hit the ball to date, and to date, Grisham and Rice are doing all the right things. Good discipline, good contact. Both guys deserve their slash lines. Good process is leading to good results.

I don’t expect Grisham (.292/.370/.629 and 187 wRC+) or Rice (.266/.373/.585 and 173 wRC+) to continue at this pace because very few hitters can do that across a full season, but I do think this is real-ish, and both guys have the skill set to be above average hitters. Rice bulked up in the offseason and is pretty much exactly the hitter he was in the minors in terms of contact rate, plate discipline, and pull rate, just with more exit velocity.

Grisham’s posted strong exit velocities and contact/discipline numbers the last few years. The difference for him is how often he’s pulling the ball in the air (much more) and how often he’s hitting line drives in general. When he hit .191/.300/.347 (86 wRC+) with the Padres from 2022-23, there were a lot of pop ups and lazy fly balls, which are close to automatic outs. He’s hitting the ball on a line more often now.

Force me to pick one and I’ll say I think Rice is more likely to keep this up, and that might just be because Grisham’s been around a while now and I’ve seen him fail at the plate for an extended stretch of time. His 2022-23 seasons did happen, after all. Rice certainly wouldn’t be the first player to struggle as a rookie, then figure things out as a sophomore. Good news is the Yankees don’t have to pick one. They have both guys.

Andrew asks: Oswaldo Cabrera. Any reason to believe in his early season success at the plate?

Nah, not really. All his under-the-hood numbers are right in line with last year, when he hit .247/.296/.365 (88 wRC+) in over 300 plate appearances. The difference between last season’s line and this season’s .291/.364/.354 (113 wRC+) line is this right here:

• 2024: .245 BABIP on ground balls

• 2025: .379 BABIP on ground balls

• MLB average: .243 BABIP on ground balls

Cabrera’s managed to sneak a few more ground balls through the infield, and hey, maybe it’s a new skill and he learned better batted ball placement. If this continues for a few more weeks, then it’s worth looking into. For now, I think it’s just a guy riding a good wave on grounders. I love Waldo's energy and versatility, but he’s a bench guy, and the Yankees need a full-time third baseman.

Mike asks: I planned to ask this question BEFORE Weaver returned to the closer's role, but should the Yankees be looking to extend Weaver now and what would an extension look like?

Devin Williams has earned Luke Weaver a bunch of money these last few weeks, eh? I think/hope Williams will get straightened out and be the closer the Yankees need him to be, but he is a reminder you really have no idea how even the best players will perform for you until they put on your uniform. We know Weaver can handle high leverage work for the Yankees. There’s value in that certainty.

Jeff Hoffman seems like a good comp for Weaver. Like Weaver, Hoffman was a first round pick as a starter who floundered/got hurt and bounced around for several years, then found a home in the bullpen. He had two excellent years for the Phillies leading into free agency. The numbers:

• 2023-24 Hoffman: 2.28 ERA (2.54 FIP) with 33.4 K% and 7.4 BB%

• 2024-25 Weaver: 2.48 ERA (3.16 FIP) with 30.7 K% and 8.1 BB%

Still a lot of season to be played and we’ll see where Weaver ends up, but the Hoffman comp is in the ballpark right now. Their ages line up too. Weaver will turn 32 in August. Hoffman turned 32 in January. For both, Year 1 of their free agent contract will be their age 32 season. The Blue Jays gave Hoffman three years and $33M with incentives that can push the total value to $39M.

Hoffman failed physicals with the Braves and Orioles before signing with the Blue Jays, so that gums up the works a bit, but three years and $33M seems like a decent starting point for Weaver. $11M a year is the going rate for high leverage relievers. Hoffman, Aroldis Chapman, Carlos Estévez, Kenley Jansen, A.J. Minter, and Blake Treinen all signed deals right around $11M per year this past offseason.

The question is term. Two years? Three years? Five? I dunno. Weaver turns 32 later this summer, so you would like to avoid going longer than three years. Two years with an option would be ideal. Two years and $22M with a club option? Add in a signing bonus and an option buyout and you could bump the guarantee to $25M pretty easily. My guess is Weaver would push for the third guaranteed year. I know I would.

The Yankees don’t extend players often and they’ve never extended a player in-season during the Brian Cashman era. I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for a Weaver extension, but the Yankees should at least ask, right? He’s a soon-to-be 32-year-old journeyman finally having success at the MLB level. Weaver might give you a (slight) discount and jump at the security. Only one way to find out, right?

George asks: What is your take on the Yankee future for Spencer Jones? The persistent Ks at every level make me envision more Joey Gallo than a much less productive  Aaron Judge. Will the Yanks wait yet another year to move him to AAA, a September call up, or just trade him ? What could he even bring in return?  I think it's a crucial year for him. 

Eddie asks: What's the best trade target the Yankees can get with Spencer Jones as the headline piece in a trade package?

Going to lump these two together, and also note I have more planned on Jones the next time I write about prospects. Probably in two weeks rather than next week. Jones went into Thursday's game hitting .232/.370/.561 (166 wRC+) with eight home runs and way too high strikeout (35.0%) and swinging strike (16.9%) rates. Those are better than last year’s numbers at the same level (36.8% and 18.0%), but still bad.

The Gallo comp fits as a big, athletic, good defensive outfielder with huge lefty pop and major swing and miss issues, though it is generous to Jones. Jones turns 24 in two weeks. Gallo had his second straight 40-homer season in the big leagues in his age 24 season. The skill set is similar, for sure, but Jones is good bit behind where Gallo was at the same age.

(We have bad memories of Gallo, but the guy averaged 43 homers and +3.5 WAR per 162 games from 2017-21. Sign me up for Jones having a five-year stretch like at some point.)

In the short-term, I think the plan is to keep Jones in Double-A for at least another few weeks, then move him up to Triple-A during the summer. Jasson Domínguez, Anthony Volpe, and Austin Wells did not spend much time in Triple-A at all, it was only a pit stop for them, though I think Jones is in for a longer stay just given his developmental needs. None of those guys swing and miss as much as Jones, and his contact issues haven't been a quick fix.

A midseason promotion to Triple-A and a September call up would be a great outcome, though the new September call up rules make it unlikely. You only get one extra position player now and that just makes it less likely it will be Jones. The Yankees have reportedly made Jones off-limits in trades in the past, most notably for Corbin Burnes and Dylan Cease last offseason, though I’m sure he’s available now. You can't take his guy off the table now.

Pinning down Jones’ trade value is tough. He’s a good prospect with tremendous upside but also major bust risk, and guys who are striking out close to 40% of the time in Double-A usually don’t headline trade packages for impact players. Looking through recent Baseball America top 100 lists, I find three players who were traded when they were in a similar spot as Jones is now:

• JJ Bleday (Marlins to Athletics)

• Nolan Jones (Guardians to Rockies)

• Yusniel Díaz (Dodgers to Orioles)

Those three were all middle of the top 100 guys one year who fell out of the top 100 the next, and got traded soon thereafter. Bleday was traded for AJ Puk in what amounted to a young player challenge trade. Jones was dumped for a good but not great Single-A prospect (Juan Brito). Díaz was part of the quantity over quality package the O’s took for Manny Machado at the 2018 deadline. Wide range of trade outcomes there.

If Jones can net you an MLB piece, even a rental starter or third baseman, I think the Yankees should do it. The bust risk is so high that I think they should cash him in as a trade chip while they can. Of course, other teams are aware the bust risk is high, and that will be baked into Jones’ trade value. It is an important year for him. Every year that passes without bat-to-ball improvement moves Jones closer to not making it.

Bob asks: What is J.C. Escarra’s ceiling and is he someone who should be getting more at bats?

He’s probably at or close to his ceiling now. A backup catcher who frames well and has enough thump to be more than a zero at the plate. A backup who looks like a starter when he stacks a few good weeks together, that kinda thing. Escarra is already 30, and while catchers tend to be late bloomers, that’s pretty late even for a late bloomer. Austin Nola is a good recent example of a late arriving catcher who hit some and was a framing god, then was pretty much unplayable within two years. If the Yankees give Escarra more playing time as a way to lighten the load on Austin Wells, who has started 24 games this year after not making his 24th start until May 16th last year, that works. I wouldn’t take playing time away from Wells just to find out whether Escarra has more to offer though. Wells should remain the No. 1 behind the plate.

Greg asks: Given that there seem to be fewer and fewer switch hitters around baseball (even the current ones seem to switch hit in name only) and the old adage that "every great Yankees team had three switch hitters in the lineup" — who is a somewhat realistic switch hitter, at a position of need, that you would add to this Yankees team? 

In terms of switch-hitters who qualified for the batting title, switch-hitting peaked in the mid 1990s. There were 35 of them in 1993 and a record 36 in 1994, and many were legit stars too: Roberto Alomar, Bobby Bonilla, Eddie Murray, Tony Phillips, Ozzie Smith, Bernie Williams, etc. Only 14 switch-hitters qualified for the batting title last year. That number hovered in the 17-22 range from 2010-23.

As for which switch-hitter I’d like to add to the lineup, the obvious answer is José Ramírez. Plop him at third base, in the No. 3 lineup spot behind Aaron Judge, and let him go. Greg took the fun out of it and said “somewhat realistic” though, and Ramírez isn’t going anywhere. Neither is Ozzie Albies, Elly De La Cruz, Francisco Lindor, or Ketel Marte. I’d figure out a way to make it work with them on the infield.

The only realistically available switch-hitters who make sense for the Yankees are Willi Castro and Luis Rengifo, and Castro’s out with an oblique strain. Rengifo’s been terrible early on too. Josh Bell and Jeimer Candelario wouldn’t do anything for the Yankees (Candelario’s been so bad the last two years). The time to get Bryan Reynolds was four years ago. Jorge Polanco’s a full-time DH now, though he’s been awesome this season. You can’t argue with these facts:

“This guy having the best few weeks of his career is about as good as Aaron Judge is all the time” is my favorite genre of broadcast graphics. The Max Kepler one is my favorite.

Anyway, here are switch-hitters by WAR since 2023. Seems to me the list of switch-hitters who could realistically be available at the deadline and make sense for the Yankees is Castro and Rengifo, and that’s it. The Yankees have two switch-hitters in Oswaldo Cabrera and Jasson Domínguez, neither of whom is all that good from the right side. Not sure I see a third switch-hitter joining the mix anytime soon.

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