Position players will join the pitchers and catchers in Tampa today, and the Yankees will hold their first full squad workout Tuesday. The first (not photoshopped) picture of Juan Soto in a Yankees uniform is coming soon. We’re getting close to real live baseball. Anyway, I have an extra post coming this week (it’s something I want to get in before Grapefruit League games begin) and I’m spacing things out to make my life easier, so here is Tuesday morning’s post Monday morning.
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2024-02-19 11:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Twenty years ago today – 20! – the Alex Rodriguez trade was finalized. It was agreed to on Feb. 14th, Bud Selig approved the money on Feb. 15th, and it was announced 20 years ago today on Feb 16th, 2004. That was before the days of MLBTR and your phone having access to the entirety of human knowledge. I found out about the trade when I saw it on ESPN’s bottom line at an Applebee’s. A simpler time, that was. Here now is Friday’s post as 2024-02-16 11:00:09 +0000 UTC
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UPDATE: I goofed. Aaron Boone's start of Spring Training press conference is Wednesday, not today. My bad. It will be on YES though (or maybe just the app, not 100% sure). Sorry about the mistake. Brian Cashman's press conference is Thursday.
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ORIGINAL POST: In case you missed it last week, my annual Top 30 Prospects List went live Friday. More than ...
2024-02-13 11:00:06 +0000 UTC
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2024-02-09 11:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Spring Training begins next week and my annual Top 30 Prospects List runs tomorrow. Baseball is fast approaching. On that note, the 2024 PECOTA standings projections were released earlier this week. They have the Yankees atop the AL East at 94 wins, well north of the second place Blue Jays at 88 wins. Focus on the range of ...
2024-02-08 11:00:09 +0000 UTC
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The Yankees have their Wandy Peralta replacement. On Monday, the Yankees acquired left-hander Caleb Ferguson from the Dodgers for lefty Matt Gage and rookie ball righty Christian Zazueta. It’s the second Yankees-Dodgers lefty reliever trade of the offseason, joining the Trey Sweeney for Victor González and ...
2024-02-05 23:07:13 +0000 UTC
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Reminder: My annual Top 30 Prospects List goes live this Friday. It’s written and organized and everything. I just need to read through a few times, and even then I know a few typos will slip through the cracks. Sorry in advance. Friday’s regularly scheduled post will run Thursday and will include the Not Top 30 Prospects. I’ve been doing those Not Top 30 posts long enough now that it’s tradition, so I might as well keep it going (2024-02-05 11:00:11 +0000 UTC
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Reminder: My annual Top 30 Prospects List will go live next Friday (one week from today). I wrote the 30th player capsule this past Monday, which has to be the earliest I’ve ever finished them. Now I’ll spend the next week hoping the Yankees do not trade any of the 30 players. Wait until after the post goes live, please and thank you. Other than that I just need to write the intro, organize things, and read through it a few times. Almost done. Here now is today’s post. (Patreon is on a ...
2024-02-02 11:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Pitchers and catchers will report to Tampa in two weeks and one day. The first Grapefruit League game is only three weeks and four days away. What is that, only seven RAB posts between now and the first spring game? Not counting today’s post and any extras that come along, yeah, it's seven. Baseball is getting close. Let’s get into today’s post.
1. Three ways Schmidt can improve in 2024. In what qualifies as both good news and bad news, Clarke Schmidt was the Yank...
2024-01-30 11:00:09 +0000 UTC
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January really flew by, huh? Can’t believe it’s already the 26th. Still so many free agents left to sign too. Teams should really get on that. Here now is today’s post. It’s a little shorter than usual only because there was an extra post this week.
1. Three voted into the Hall of Fame. There are three new members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Earlier this week...
2024-01-26 11:00:11 +0000 UTC
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In two weeks and six days Yankees pitchers and catchers will report to Spring Training, and the long journey that is the 2024 MLB season will begin. Position players will follow a few days later. The Yankees will play their first Grapefruit League game on the road on Saturday, Feb. 24th. That is four weeks and three days away. Closer than you think!
“I'm consumed with getting back to the play...
2024-01-24 11:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Do you know what happened 10 years ago today? The Yankees signed Masahiro Tanaka. Can you believe it’s already been 10 years? Seven-year contract and he pitched to a 3.74 ERA (3.91 FIP) in 1,054.1 innings. That’s 150.6 innings a year even though he missed a chunk of 2014 with his elbow injury and 2020 was shortened by the pandemic. Loved that guy. Too bad the Yankees never got ...
2024-01-22 11:00:08 +0000 UTC
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My annual Top 30 Prospects List goes live three weeks from today. I’d say I’m 35% done. Compared to most years, I’m ahead of where I usually am three weeks out, not that it matters any to you folks. Anyway, other than a few non-urgent minor league moves that can wait until next week, things are quiet around the Yankees. I figured I’d use today’s post as an opportunity to empty out the inbox. Here’s an old school Friday mailbag post as 2024-01-19 11:00:09 +0000 UTC
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UPDATE: I updated the Brendan Beck section because I missed some recent injury news. My bad.
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ORIGINAL POST: The offseason has been so slow and we’re down so bad for content at CBS that I wrote a quick thing explaining what the Yankees see in Luke Weaver. So if you’re...
2024-01-15 17:43:36 +0000 UTC
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The Yankees made it official earlier this week: pitchers and catchers will report to Spring Training on Wednesday, Feb. 14th. Position players will follow on Monday, Feb. 19th. We’re getting close enough to baseball’s return that reporting dates are being finalized. Here’s what I wrote about the Marcus Stroman and Luke Weaver signings. Now let’s get to today’s post.
1. Arbitra...
2024-01-12 11:00:11 +0000 UTC
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The Yankees added 40% of a rotation in the span of a few hours Thursday. The big move: Marcus Stroman. The two sides have agreed to a two-year contract worth $37M with an $18M option according to all the trustworthy reporters. As I understand the option terms, Stroman gets a player option if he throws 140 innings in 2025. It’s not a club option and it doesn’t automatically vest. He has the choice...
2024-01-12 02:51:28 +0000 UTC
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According to Jon Morosi, who’s had a very hit or miss offseason, the Yankees have emerged as the leading candidate to sign free agent right-hander Marcus Stroman. He says they’ve had “productive discussions in recent days.” It has been quite a few days on the Stroman front:
- Thu...
2024-01-10 17:29:46 +0000 UTC
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I am going to post one last reminder just in case some of you are just now sitting back down at your desk after a long holiday season vacation: I announced a small change to RAB and a new pricing tier. Thank you everyone for reading and your support over the years. Let’s get to today’s post.
1. The latest pitching rumors. Things are kinda sorta beginning to pick up. There h...
2024-01-09 11:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Another reminder: I announced a minor change to RAB and started a new pricing tier earlier this week. Now that that’s out of the way, allow me to note my annual Top 30 Prospects List is only five weeks away. I should get started on that, huh? Prospect season is right around the corner and then Spring Training will be here. Hooray for that. Let’s get to today’s post, shall we?
1. L...
2024-01-05 11:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Happy New Year, everyone. In case you missed it Monday, I announced a minor change to RAB. Thank you to everyone who’s upgraded their subscription. As far as content, it’ll be business as usual here, and that includes me pointing out the occasional “this date in Yankees history” nugget. For example, the Randy Johnson trade was 19 years and one day ago. The trade that brought him to the Yankee...
2024-01-02 11:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Happy New Year and welcome to 2024, everyone. May 2024 go better than 2023 for the Yankees, and for you as well. If you had a great 2023, I hope 2024 is even better. And if you’re like me and can’t wait to forget 2023, I hope 2024 is unforgettable.
This is hitting your inbox at an ungodly hour Monday morning on Jan. 1st (don’t worry, I wrote this Saturday and scheduled the post in advance) because I’m making a small change with the site, and it makes sense to announce it and mov...
2024-01-01 11:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Welcome to the final post of 2023. I’m glad 2023 is almost over. The Yankees were boring and mediocre, I had to say goodbye to my cat, and I had to cancel my first real vacation in forever because I got COVID the day before I was supposed to leave. Bad year, this 2023. I’m looking forward to better things in 2024. Let’s now get to today’s post.
1. Florial traded to Guardians. For the third time this month, the Yankees have made a trade involving an outfielder. P...
2023-12-29 11:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone. I hope Santa left you something better than the Josh Donaldson trade under the tree. What a gift that was, eh? Let’s get today’s post. I was tied up with Christmas and family stuff over the weekend, so I stuck to the latest news and kept today’s post a little shorter than usual.
1. Latest hot stove rumors. The Yankees are one of six teams to commit $0 to Major League free agents this offseason. The others: Blue Jays, Cu...
2023-12-26 11:00:06 +0000 UTC
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It has been not even a full 24 hours since Yoshinobu Yamamoto agreed to a 12-year contract worth $325M with the Dodgers, and I am no less let down or frustrated. I thought I might get over it quickly, but nope. There was always a chance Yamamoto would go elsewhere, I knew that, but I didn’t expect to find out the Yankees made the third best offer. From 2023-12-22 22:05:58 +0000 UTC
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The YamaSoto dream is dead. According to multiple reporters, Orix Buffaloes ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto has agreed to a 12-year, $325M contract with the Dodgers. The contract includes a $50M signing bonus and no deferrals. It is the richest pitching contract in history, narrowly edging out Gerrit Cole’s $324M deal. The posting fee will be $50.625M. That’s $375.625M all-in.
(I thought my 10-year,...
2023-12-22 04:48:30 +0000 UTC
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I'm aware of the new issue of post emails coming with a “Continue Reading” button that redirects you to the Patreon site. It hasn’t happened to me yet (even with non-RAB Patreon posts) but I’ve gotten multiple complaints. I’m trying to figure out how to get rid of it, so please bear with me. I swear, every Patreon update is worse than the last. Here now is Friday morning’s post Thursday afternoon just in case Yoshinobu Yamamoto decides to sign at some point in the next few hours (...
2023-12-21 18:32:16 +0000 UTC
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This is Day 30 of Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s 45-day posting window. All indications are his meetings are over – Yamamoto met with the Yankees in Los Angeles last Monday and again in New York (at Yankee Stadium?) this past Sunday – and the bidding process began in earnest this week. With any luck, he’ll sign before Christmas and we can all move on with our lives.
Here are the latest Yamamoto r...
2023-12-20 11:00:09 +0000 UTC
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First Juan Soto held up the trade market, then Shohei Ohtani held up the free agent market, and now Yoshinobu Yamamoto is holding up the pitching market. I feel frozen. I have a bunch of stuff on my to-do list but I don’t want to write anything without knowing where Yamamoto is going. I’m sorry today’s post is shorter than usual. I hope you know I’m good for it and will make it up later, once we get word on Yamamoto’s decision. Here is Tuesday morning’s post Monday afternoon just ...
2023-12-18 18:05:53 +0000 UTC
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The Yankees introduced Juan Soto with a Zoom call earlier this week (no press conference? weird) and boy, he certainly went to the Scott Boras school of media training. Soto answered everything by saying he’s excited and wants to win, and he expertly brushed aside contract questions. “About any contract stuff, they know where to call and who to talk to,” Soto said. You can watch the Zoom call here. Let...
2023-12-14 18:31:47 +0000 UTC
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At some point soon, likely within the next 7-10 days, Orix Buffaloes ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto will pick an MLB team and sign a contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The Yankees met in-person with Yamamoto on Monday and he’ll spend the rest of the week meeting with other interested teams, includin...
2023-12-13 11:00:07 +0000 UTC
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