September 17th, 2024: Judge, Stroman, Cole, Pitching Staff, Soto

Important mailbag follow-up: I answered a mailbag question about splash hits at Oracle Park before the Yankees visited San Francisco earlier this season, and whether Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton could become the first ever right-handed hitter to hit one into the water. Neither did it that series, but this past Sunday, it finally happened. Heliot Ramos hit an opposite field splash hit. Here’s the video. First righty to ever do it. Pretty cool. Now that that’s out of the way, here is today’s post. (I forgot to link to this last week: Jasson Domínguez has a thing up at The Players’ Tribune about his call up and journey to the big leagues. Check that out.)

1. Weekend thoughts. The Yankees won their 41st home game Friday night and clinched a winning record at Yankee Stadium for the 33rd straight season. That’s one year longer than the winning season streak. Even the 76-86 team in 1992 had a winning record at home (41-40). This is the second longest streak of winning seasons at home in baseball history, behind the 1918-64 Yankees (47 seasons!). The Yankees have been around an eternity and only five times have they had a losing record at home: 1965, 1966, 1968, 1990, 1991. For a few weeks there the Yankees were playing mediocre if not outright bad baseball at Yankee Stadium, though they’re 12-7 in their last 19 home games, so the tide is turning. Just in time for October too. Here are a few thoughts on the last few games.

Drought ender

The longest home run drought of Aaron Judge’s career reached 16 games last Thursday, when he hit three balls hard and watched all three turn into outs. Friday night, the drought came to end in a dramatic and the most grand fashion. Judge clobbered a seventh inning go-ahead grand slam (video) to turn a 4-1 deficit into a 5-4 lead and what I declare the Best Win of the Season. Please enjoy the dugout reaction:

“I really don’t focus on hitting homers,” Judge told Bryan Hoch after the grand slam. “I don’t focus on any of that. Sixteen games, is that a lot or not? I don’t know. It’ll probably be longer at some point in my career.”

Yankee Stadium was the loudest I’ve heard it all year when Juan Soto took ball four and Judge walked to the plate that inning. The offense had been listless through the first six innings and over the last few days, and it felt like the crowd was willing Judge to end the home run drought and give the Yankees the big moment, the big swing they’ve been searching for the last few weeks. The atmosphere was electric.

“Jazz came up to me after Judge hit the homer. Just to see our dugout erupt, to see Yankee Stadium erupt, he was like, ‘This is pretty sick,’” Aaron Boone told Hoch after Friday’s win. “That was one of those really cool regular season moments you get at Yankee Stadium.”

Judge’s grand slam came about 25 minutes after the Orioles made the final out in a 1-0 loss to the Tigers – Gunnar Henderson broke up the combined no-hitter with two outs in the ninth – and gave the Yankees a three-game lead in the loss column, their largest since June 6th. The lead remains three with 12 games to play. This is a good graph:

Judge went 75 plate appearances between home runs – that’s 11% of his season total! – but knowing him, he might hit 12 home runs in his next 75 plate appearances. He went deep again Sunday (video) and he hit 10 homers in the 13 games immediately prior to the 16-game drought. When Judge hits them, he usually hits them in bunches. Maybe the floodgates really burst open in Seattle.

With Sunday’s 1-for-2 with a homer and two walks effort, Judge has now reached base safely 300 times this season (169 hits, 122 walks, nine hit-by-pitches). He’s the first Yankee to reach base 300 times since Mickey Mantle in 1957 (319), though reaching base 300 times isn’t that rare. Ronald Acuña did it last year, Soto did it in 2021, Mike Trout and Joey Votto a bunch of times, so on and so forth.

Judge still has 12 games to play though. He’s averaging two times on base per team game, which a) lol, and b) puts him on pace to reach 324 times this season. Reaching base that many times is rare. Only 31 times has a player reached base 324 times and those 31 seasons belong to 13 players. The list:

• 7 times: Babe Ruth

• 5 times: Lou Gehrig and Ted Williams

• 3 times: Barry Bonds

• 2 times: Jeff Bagwell and Wade Boggs

• 1 time: Carlos Delgado, Lenny Dykstra, Norm Cash, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty O’Doul, Ty Cobb, Billy Hamilton

(That’s Hall of Famer Billy Hamilton, not fast guy Billy Hamilton.)

Judge is on pace to do something that hasn’t been done since Bonds and has only been done 10 times in the Expansion Era (since 1961). I mean, 324 times on base is a lot of times on base. The recent slump has knocked Judge off the pace for 100 extra-base hits and 400 total bases (current pace: 95 XBH and 393 TB), but he’s reaching base two times a night on average, and good gravy is that insane.

The home run drought is over and, with any luck, two homers in the last three games is an indication Judge is about to go on one of his 10 homers in 12 games hot streaks. Hopefully longer than that. The Yankees when Judge is hitting and the Yankees when Judge is in a slump are two very different teams. Signs point to the captain starting to get hot as the postseason approaches.

“Whatever he can do right now, I’m glad to see it in person,” Gleyber Torres told Hoch. “Sometimes we take it for granted, but it’s not that easy, what he’s doing right now. Every day, he’s doing the right things. It’s really special. I think he can do something special these last (two weeks). We’re here to see it.”

On throwing at Judge

Gerrit Cole (more on him in a bit) hit three Red Sox on Saturday and Alex Cora admitted Brayan Bello threw at Judge in retaliation. "We had our shot in the sixth inning and it didn't happen,” Cora told Ian Browne when asked whether he expected any carryover into Sunday’s game. Here are the pitches in question. Watching it live, I thought Bello was throwing at Judge. It seemed pretty obvious, no?

When you hit three batters like Cole did, even unintentionally, you have to expect the other team to answer. Judge had a good line after Sunday’s win – "Don't miss when you do it,” he told Hoch – though I have no doubt he was pissed. If Bello had hit Judge, all hell would have broken loose, and the Yankees don’t need that. This late in the season, they don’t need to get into it with a non-postseason team and risk injuries/suspensions. The Red Sox are done. Don’t give them the satisfaction.

Mark Sanchez reports MLB is “reviewing the situation” and yeah, they should. A manager saying his team intentionally threw at a player, let alone one of the biggest stars in the game, should not go unpunished. It’ll probably just be a fine, but at least that’s something (Cora has a way of avoiding serious punishment). Well, whatever. Fortunately it didn't escalate even though the Red Sox tried.

Stroman skipped, and the state of the rotation

To my surprise, the Yankees are skipping Marcus Stroman’s start this time through the rotation, and he will be available out of the bullpen this week (he was available Sunday but not needed). Nestor Cortes will remain in the rotation. What happens after that, I do not know, but the rotation hierarchy is coming into focus. The postseason is two weeks away and Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt are making starts, and Cortes and Stroman are seeing bullpen action.

“We’ll keep evaluating moving forward,” Boone told Mike Fitzpatrick about Stroman over the weekend. “I’ll try to put him in the best position, make sure we communicate well with him. He and I spoke yesterday about it. Nothing’s necessarily permanent, but with the off day coming I wanted to have us go five at least this time and maybe the next time around too. We’ll see.”

Stroman has limited bullpen experience (eight career relief appearances, including six as a rookie in 2014) though he came out of the bullpen twice for the Cubs late last year. He was coming back from a hip issue, and rather than spend time stretching him out when they were fighting for a Wild Card spot, Chicago put him in the bullpen. Stroman allowed an unearned run in three innings across two relief appearances.

“Stro has been so good for us and so good in the room,” Boone told Hoch. “He’s all about that team in there and all about the guys in there. Basically, his message to me is, ‘Whatever you need, and I’ll be ready to go.’ I think he just wants to be part of a winner.”

I’m not sure what Stroman will look like out of the bullpen, he’s not the kinda guy whose stuff will play up in a relief role, though it’s not unreasonable to think Stroman is one of the team’s 13 best pitchers. I count 11 locks for the postseason pitching staff:

• No. 1 starter: Gerrit Cole

• Nos. 2-4 starters: Luis Gil, Clarke Schmidt, Carlos Rodón (in whatever order)

• Circle of Trust™: Jake Cousins, Tim Hill, Tommy Kahnle, Luke Weaver 

• Middle of the bullpen: Nestor Cortes, Ian Hamilton, Clay Holmes

Eleven pitchers leaves at least one spot open and possibly two. Stroman’s in the mix for one of those spots along with Mark Leiter Jr., Tim Mayza, and maybe Lou Trivino? Cortes fills the second lefty role, so Mayza’s not needed (Mayza’s been good with the Yankees, albeit entirely in mop up duty), and the Yankees can’t carry Leiter on the postseason roster, can they? He’s been so bad. Six homers in 17 innings!

Stroman’s exact role in the postseason is a conversation for another time. When you have your core of 11 postseason pitchers and are filling out the roster around them, it makes sense to just take the best pitchers you have. I think that’s Stroman over Leiter, Mayza, et al. He’s stretched out, he’s the most veteran of the bunch, he’s experienced the postseason. Giving him a bullpen trial this week is sensible.

The pitching staff right now is healthier than it has been all season. When Schmidt was healthy in April and May, Cole was hurt, and when Cole returned in June, Schmidt was hurt. Tommy Kahnle started the season on the injured list, and when he returned, he and Ian Hamilton (who’s looked nasty lately) overlapped only for a little bit before Hamilton got hurt. Even Scott Effross is healthy, albeit in Triple-A.

At a time when so many other teams are trying to navigate pitching injuries (Dodgers, Guardians, Orioles, etc.), the Yankees are as close to whole as they’ve been all year. They have six starters for five spots, and while this is not the dominant bullpen we’re used to, it has a variety of looks and strengths. They can match up with lefties (Kahnle, Hill), righties (Cousins, Holmes), whatever (Weaver). Hopefully Stroman takes to the bullpen. Either way, the pitching staff is in really good shape for mid September.

The delightful Tim Hill experience

Sunday afternoon Hill faced three batters, recorded four outs thanks to a Jarren Duran GIDP*, and lowered his ERA to 2.06 with the Yankees. The Yankees signed Hill on June 20th, after he’d been released by a White Sox team that is going to lose 120-something games, and he gave up three runs in his first game in pinstripes. Since then though, he’s been nails, holding hitters to a .216/.257/.252 line.

* Duran entered Sunday’s game with four GIDP all season. He then hit into two Sunday (in consecutive at-bats!), including one to end the game. Such a shame.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the Tim Hill experience. He’s been really good, which certainly helps, plus he’s been successful in an unconventional way. 234 pitchers have thrown at least 60 innings this year. Among those 234 pitchers, Hill has the …

• … lowest strikeout rate (10.3 K%)

• … highest ground ball rate (68.3 GB%)

Ty Black is second with a 10.9 K% and no one else is below 12%. Andre Pallante is second with a 61.6 GB%. Shoutout to guys who go about it in different ways. Also, Hill is funky, and funky is fun, and he’s got the everyman look down pat. Like the Yankees signed him out of the bleachers. Hill is the platonic ideal of a lefty reliever. Effective and funky. Who knew the shutdown lefty reliever the Yankees needed was hiding in the White Sox bullpen?

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes

Intentionally walking Rafael Devers with one out, the bases empty, and a 1-0 lead in the FOURTH inning Saturday was obviously dumb. Devers owns Cole (.350/.435/.975 with eight homers), but the worst he could do there is hit a solo homer to tie the game with plenty of innings to play. If it happens, it would suck, but it’s not the end of the world. Instead, Cole gave Devers a free base …

… then completely unraveled. Cole retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced, gifted the Red Sox a rally starter, then retired only two of the final 11 batters he faced after the intentional walk. The 1-0 lead became a 7-1 deficit in the span of an inning. And after the game, the explanations were inconsistent at best. Either there was miscommunication or disagreement, neither of which is good.

"We were in the tunnel before the inning and had discussed that if Duran was retired, were we going to stick to it aggressively and intentionally walk him? That was the plan,” Cole told Hoch. "During the inning, I looked to the dugout and stuck to the plan … Evidently, the plan didn't work. I need to make better pitches afterwards in order for it to work."

Boone told Hoch his “preference would have been, ‘Let’s attack him,’ but obviously I didn’t communicate that well enough.” Austin Wells said he was “not in that conversation, I didn’t know that was in the plans,” per Hoch. The pitcher, the catcher, and the manager weren’t on the same page. (Reminder that, when Boone was hired, the Yankees touted him as an excellent communicator.)

I don’t want to harp on the intentional walk too much. It was dumb, but the Yankees won the series, and I would have signed up for winning three of four going into it. Also, the Yankees scored one run in the game. It’s not like they had it in the bag. But yeah, it was a dumb intentional walk, but that's all it was. A dumb decision. It'll be forgotten in a week. 

(Cora said the Red Sox would “thank Gerrit Cole for getting us going” if they make the postseason. The Red Sox then lost Sunday, because they’re losers. Also, Cole is beloved by his teammates. It wouldn’t shock me if the Yankees troll the Red Sox and Cora at some point after they clinch a postseason berth and Boston gets eliminated, even if only subtly. I’ll keep an eye out.) 

Miscellany

Grown Ass Man save for Weaver Friday night. Seven batters faced, six outs, five strikeouts with a one-run lead (video). Weaver is the go-to high leverage guy now. I understand wanting him to close, though I love the idea of a fireman who can get you 3-6 high leverage outs regardless of inning. We’ll see whether Weaver slides into a traditional closer’s role. Regardless, he was great Friday and has really stepped up since Holmes was bumped down the depth chart (Weaver wasn’t available Sunday after the 35-pitch outing Friday, hence the Cousins/Kahnle tag team save) … Anthony Volpe bums me out. He went 1-for-15 in the Red Sox series and his at-bats are rarely competitive. Since the admittedly arbitrary date of April 15th, he’s hitting .233/.274/.350 (74 wRC+) in close to 600 plate appearances. Volpe should spend the offseason with a private hitting coach. Get away from the Yankees and see what a fresh set of eyes see. Lots of guys have private hitting coaches (including Judge) and the smart teams let them because they know better than to think they have all the answers … Alex Verdugo was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double Saturday (video) for the second time on the homestand (here’s the first). In September, has one actual extra-base hit and twice been thrown out going for an extra-base hit. Boone said Verdugo was in the lineup Friday over Jasson Domínguez because he wants to “keep guys playing and active and in rhythm to the best degree possible,” per Sanchez. In other news, Trent Grisham has one plate appearance (a grand slam!) in the last 14 games … And finally, remember DJ LeMahieu’s grand slam in Philadelphia? That was the last home run hit by a Yankees’ first baseman. It was 40 games ago and I am not confident they'll hit another one the rest of the season. The first basemen are hitting .200/.255/.257 (45 wRC+) in the last 40 games. The Yankees have a black hole at a position with a high offensive bar. There are three innings of easy outs packed into every game between first base, left field, and shortstop.

Injury updates and roster moves

LeMahieu told Brendan Kuty (subs. req’d) he received a cortisone shot in his hip last week (ouch) and surgery isn’t on the table at the moment. “There’s some stuff going on in the hip there. Just trying to clear it up, get that hip moving a little better,” he told Kuty (subs. req’d). Last week Boone said he “wouldn’t count on” LeMahieu playing again this year, but if the cortisone shot works, then at least he’ll be available in the event the Yankees get hit with injuries. The injured list stint was backdated, so LeMahieu is already eligible to be activated … The Yankees did indeed extend Trivino’s rehab assignment 10 days. His initial 30-day rehab window expired last Thursday and the new 10-day window runs through Sunday. “Lou is making significant progress. He appreciates the club’s support and the extension made sense,” Trivino’s agent told Joel Sherman. If the Yankees wait the full 10 days to activate him, Trivino will have at most 3-4 appearances to show the Yankees he’s ready to be on the postseason roster … Cody Poteet (triceps) is “really close” to returning, Boone told Hoch. In related news, Poteet’s 30-day rehab window ends Wednesday. The Yankees could activate him and put him in the bullpen. My guess is they activate him and option him to Triple-A … JT Brubaker (elbow, oblique) started a new rehab assignment Sunday with Triple-A Scranton: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K on 11 pitches. It was his first game action since he pulled his oblique on July 11th. Brubaker came out of the bullpen Sunday and, this late in the season, there’s not enough time to stretch him out. Might as well prepare him for a short relief role just in case a need arises at some point … And finally, the Yankees released Victor González over the weekend. He had a 4.50 ERA (3.62 FIP) with 20.6 K% and 44.3 GB% in 22 innings with the RailRiders after clearing waivers and being sent down. A stinker of a bullpen trade, that was. At least Jorbit Vivas is hitting, uh, .231/.354/.364 (94 wRC+) in Triple-A.

Up next

The last road trip of the regular season, which also happens to take the Yankees to the West Coast. That’s unfortunate. I thought we were done with late night West Coast games, then I looked at the schedule a few weeks ago, and there was this road trip. One of these years I’ll get out to T-Mobile Park. It’s on the short list of ballparks I want to visit. Anyway, here’s what’s coming this week:

• Tuesday at Mariners: RHP Luis Gil vs. Bryan Woo (9:40pm ET on YES, MLB)

• Wednesday at Mariners: LHP Nestor Cortes vs. RHP Bryce Miller (9:40pm ET on Amazon)

• Thursday at Mariners: RHP Clarke Schmidt vs. RHP Logan Gilbert (4pm ET on YES)

The Mariners are still alive in the AL West and Wild Card races, so they’re a desperate team. If they can get to within three games of the Astros when they head to Houston for a three-game series next week, they’ll control their own destiny. Entering Monday, Seattle was five back of the Astros in the loss column with 12 to play*.

* I had to put together a tiebreaker thing for CBS and during that I learned the Mariners lost the season series to every single team they’re competing with for a Wild Card spot. Impressive, really. 

The Yankees will miss Luis Castillo (hamstring injury) and George Kirby this week, which is a bit of a break, but only a bit. Woo and Miller are really good. Woo took a perfect game into the seventh inning last time out and earlier this year he struck out seven Yankees in six scoreless innings. He’s one of those low arm slot guys with an analytics friendly fastball that jumps on hitters at the top of the zone.

"His ball was rising on a level I haven’t seen much,” Fernando Tatis Jr. told Daniel Kramer after Woo’s last start. “The guy has really good stuff. He was pounding the zone. His fastball was really alive, and he was making good pitches all the way from the beginning."

Speaking purely as a spectator, the Mariners are the worst kinda team to watch because their pitching is so good and their offense is so bad. Their games tend to be low scoring and low event. Give me a good offense and bad pitching over good pitching and a bad offense. Anyway, the magic number to clinch a postseason berth is three. Could happen as soon as Wednesday if the Tigers cooperate.

2. Mining the news. I have a few stray reports I’ve collected the last few weeks and I’ve been meaning to touch on them, and I’m going to do that now because some of this stuff is getting outdated. Here are a few Yankees-related and Yankees-adjacent tidbits.

Judge’s salary won’t be limit for Soto

It’s worded weirdly, so maybe I’m confusing a report for an opinion, but Jon Heyman says the Yankees will not use Aaron Judge’s $40M annual salary as a limit during contract talks with Juan Soto. It was reported the Yankees wouldn’t offer Yoshinobu Yamamoto more than Gerrit Cole’s $324M contract because they felt Cole should be the highest paid pitcher. They’ve done this before, so the Judge/Soto thing is a fair question.

Judge has a nine-year, $360M contract and Soto will clear that easily. He will clear it easily because he’s a comparable hitter and will be five years younger when he hits free agency than Judge was when he hit the market. Maybe there’s a world where Soto doesn’t beat Judge’s $40M annual salary, but in that world he’s probably looking at what, 13-15 years? A longer deal with a lower annual salary for luxury tax purposes. That kinda thing.

Also, is there any reason to believe Judge would be unhappy with no longer being the highest paid Yankee? I guess only Judge truly knows the answer to that, though I haven’t gotten that impression. To me, it seems like Judge wants to win, and re-signing Soto helps the Yankees win. I think Judge would be okay with Soto being the highest paid Yankee. He’s gonna have to be, otherwise Soto will be playing elsewhere in 2025.

The latest on Sasaki

The latest on Roki Sasaki is no one knows anything. Bob Nightengale hears Sasaki “now may be having a change of heart and could stay another season in Japan.” Kiley McDaniel (subs. req’d) says his sources have put the odds the Chiba Lotte Marines “will post him this winter at over 50%.” Jeff Passan (subs. req’d) has the most accurate information: “No one knows whether Sasaki will be posted.” There you go.

What we do know is Sasaki returned from what his manager called the “poor condition of his right arm” on Aug. 1st, and he’s been very good this year but also not as good as in the past. The quickie stats:

The NPB average is .241/.304/.348 slash line this year. Could you imagine watching an entire league hit like that? I would quit baseball and start watching golf, and golf is boring as sin. Anyway, Sasaki is healthy now, though he’s not quite as dominant as in the past.

Erik Boland says Yankees pro scouting director Matt Daley was in Japan to watch Sasaki recently. Eric Longenhagen hears the Yankees have $1.5M in international bonus pool money remaining and the space to acquire another $1.49M, so the max they could offer Sasaki after the season is just short of $3M. Several teams, including the Dodgers, are over $3.6M between bonus pool + trade space.

Sasaki staying in Japan another year to rebuild his stock doesn’t make much sense. He’s still going to be limited to the international signing rules next offseason (so his signing bonus won't change meaningfully), he’ll push arbitration and free agency back a year, and he’ll assume more injury risk. As long as his pitch data still pops, teams will line up to sign him this offseason. I don’t think the medicals scare them. It’s such a trivial amount of money to an MLB franchise, right?

The Marines don’t want to post Sasaki because they’re going to lose out on a massive posting fee. He is only eligible to sign a minor league contract right now, and the posting fee on that is 25% of the signing bonus. It could be only $1M or so this winter. Wait until he’s 25 and a true free agent to post him, and the posting fee will be much larger. (The Orix Buffaloes received close to $50M for Yamamoto.)

Everyone and their mother expects Sasaki to sign with the Dodgers. That’s not just fan speculation. That’s the belief within the game as well. Not all Japanese free agents go to the West Coast (Shota Imanaga, Kodai Senga, Masataka Yoshida, etc.), though Sasaki is said to be close with Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani, and only one team employs those two. We’ll see what happens this winter.

Marlins won’t trade Alcantara this offseason

Per Craig Mish, the Marlins have informed ace Sandy Alcantara he will not be traded this offseason. The 2022 NL Cy Young winner had Tommy John surgery last October and won’t pitch this year. His rehab is going smoothly (he’s been throwing bullpens for weeks) and the expectation is Alcantara will be Miami’s Opening Day starter next year. Here is his contract situation:

• 2025: $17M

• 2026: $17M

• 2027: $21M club option ($2M buyout)

I know it’s too early for offseason stuff, but I have Alcantara in mind as a trade target this winter since the Marlins are in everything must go mode. Trading for a pitcher mid-Tommy John surgery rehab is risky, no doubt, though that risk would get baked into the trade package, plus think of the upside. Alcantara is still only 29 and, when healthy, he’s one of the best pitchers in the world, and that contract is very team friendly.

The Yankees have traded for pitchers coming off a lost season to Tommy John surgery in the recent past (most notably Jameson Taillon, but also JT Brubaker), so they’re willing to do it. Marlins GM Peter Bendix went the Rays route at the deadline and hoarded several good prospects rather than one or two great prospects. Buying low on Alcantara and not giving up a tippy top prospect would be so great.

Nationals GM Mike Rizzo said he wouldn’t trade Soto two months before he traded Soto, so even though the Marlins say they’re not trading Alcantara, things can always change. This isn’t the deepest free agent pitching class behind Corbin Burnes and Max Fried (and Blake Snell?). Come January and February, the Marlins could dangle Alcantara and see whether anything makes sense. We’ll circle back then.

Yankees tried for Scott, Puk

According to Heyman, the Yankees tried for Marlins lefty relievers Tanner Scott and A.J. Puk at the trade deadline, either in separate deals or as part of a larger trade with Jazz Chisholm Jr. They didn’t show much interest in Carlos Estévez, however. Scott went to the Padres (for a lot), Puk went to the Diamondbacks (for a reasonable price), and Estévez went to the Phillies (for a package I think people are overrating).

In hindsight, Puk was the reliever to get (other than Lucas Erceg), and I’m mad at myself for not writing about him before the deadline. The Marlins gave him a look as a starter to begin the season and that was a disaster (13.2 IP, 19 H, 17 R, 17 BB, 12 K), so they pulled the plug and put him back in the bullpen. Some guys are just made for the bullpen, and that’s Puk: 1.40 ERA (1.75 FIP) with 34.4 K% and 5.2 BB% as a reliever this year.

Puk won’t turn 30 until next year and he’s under team control through 2026. He’s got an Andrew Miller thing going on as a great big lefty (listed at 6-foot-7 and 248 lbs.) with velocity and a wipeout slider. The D’Backs traded two prospects for Puk. The rough Yankees’ equivalents:

• 1B Deyvison De Los Santos: C/1B Ben Rice (bat-only corner guy)

• OF Andrew Pintar: IF Caleb Durbin (utility type who might be stretched as a starter)

De Los Santos is a power hitter (leads the minors with 39 homers) while Rice is more of a swing decision guy, and Pintar is in High-A whereas Durbin is knocking on the door of the big leagues, but those guys are in the ballpark. Point is, Arizona surrendered two good but not great prospects to get multiple years of a high leverage reliever. The Yankees could've used Puk both this year and the next two.

Yankees had interest in Urshela, Merrifield

One more from Heyman: The Yankees tried to sign old pal Gio Urshela after the Tigers released him on Aug. 18th. He instead went to the Braves, who lost Austin Riley to a broken wrist the day after Urshela hit the market. Gio went to Atlanta and has started 23 of 25 games since. He’s hitting .229/.256/.325 (59 wRC+) with the Braves, worse than his 75 wRC+ with the Tigers. Tough year for the most happy fella.

Also, on a recent ESPN Sunday Night Baseball broadcast, Buster Olney said Whit Merrifield told him his decision came down to the Braves and Yankees after the Phillies released him on July 12th. Merrifield hit the market right before Ozzie Albies broke his wrist, and Atlanta pounced. Merrifield is hitting .260/.364/.358 (107 wRC+) with the Braves, much better than his .199/.277/.295 (64 wRC+) line with the Phillies.

Timing is everything as the Riley/Urshela and Albies/Merrifield situations show. When Merrifield hit the market in mid July, the Yankees had DJ LeMahieu at third base and Ben Rice at first, and Gleyber Torres had not yet started hitting. Also, Alex Verdugo was stinking it up in left. Merrifield hasn’t played much third base, but he could have been an option there and in left. Instead, the Braves offered a full-time job at second base.

As for Urshela, he hit the market five days after Jazz Chisholm Jr. hurt his elbow, and there was still some uncertainty about Jazz’s status for the rest of 2024. The Yankees could have promised Urshela everyday at-bats at third base until Chisholm returns, then a utility role with platoon duty at first base? Not hard to understand why Gio would go to Atlanta with Riley sidelined. Full-time job > utility role.

The Yankees have been short a right-handed bat all season, though Merrifield or Urshela wouldn’t have solved anything. Gio is hitting .161/.227/.207 (21 wRC+) against southpaws. Merrifield’s at .198/.280/.311 (69 wRC+). The Yankees had interest in both guys as part-time role players, which is where they fit best at this point in their careers. It just so happened the Braves had everyday lineup spots to offer. So it goes.

Helmet ads coming this postseason

The ad-ificiation of Major League Baseball will continue with helmet ads this postseason. MLB has already used helmet ads in special event games (London Series, etc.), and now every team will have a big Strauss ad on the side of their helmets in October, the league announced last week. Here’s what it’ll look like:

So many of MLB’s ads fall into the “I have no idea what this company does” category – Strauss is now the Official Workwear Partner of MLB, by the way – but this deal with Strauss must be significant. They’re not only getting helmet ads in the postseason. They’re also getting commercials and helmet ads in the minors for all games from 2025-27. I have to think the Strauss deal is worth several million per team.

I don’t really care about the ads. I barely notice them after a while. It just loathe the owners who cry poor all the time even though they are very obviously swimming in money. The Yankees added the $25M a year Starr Insurance patch last season and Hal Steinbrenner is still whining about the current payroll level being “simply not sustainable.” Now he has the Strauss money too. Owners should be neither seen nor heard.

(Send your requests for Friday's mailbag to RABmailbag at gmail dot com. The random Yankee series is on hiatus, but feel free to send in requests for when it returns.)