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RAB Thoughts

RAB Thoughts

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RAB Thoughts posts

September 18th, 2023: Cole, Cabrera, Florial, Prospects, Trout, Imanaga, Rays

Only one week and six days remain in the season, and despite all my bitching and moaning about the 2023 Yankees, I know I’ll miss them once the season ends. The postseason will keep me occupied for a bit and the hot stove is fun in its own way, but I’m still going to miss watching the Yankees every night. They become part of your routine because there they are, playing every day for six months. The Yankees are a companion as much as a sports team you follow. Anyway, here is Tuesday mornin...

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September 15th, 2023: Judge, Rodón, Bullpen, Peraza, Weaver, Mailbag

I neglected to mention this the other day: Aaron Judge is the Yankees’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award. Sorry, I mean the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Capital One, which is now subject to fan voting so MLB can drive eyeballs to the official site and sell ads. The Roberto Clemente Award is a tremendous honor that recognizes philanthropy and charity w...

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September 12th, 2023: Yamamoto, Severino, Prospects

Only 19 games remain in this slog of a season. Hopefully no more top prospects suffer major injuries that will cut into 2024 in those 19 games, but there’s still plenty of time for Spencer Jones to step on a sprinkler head or Chase Hampton to feel soreness and not have surgery until March. Sorry, I’ve been a bit crabby since Jasson Domínguez tore his elbow ligament. Let’s get to today’s post...

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Quick thoughts after Jasson Domínguez tears his UCL

Hopefully martian blood allows for quick healing.

The cursed 2023 season managed to get even worse Sunday. Jasson Domínguez has a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right (throwing) elbow, Aaron Boone announced. “The plan is to go through surgery as soon as possible,” Domínguez told Pete Calde...

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September 8th, 2023: Domínguez, Cole, Bullpen, Rizzo, Mailbag

Self-promotion: I wrote a thing at CBS about the Yankees’ youth movement. I didn’t know what to do with it when my editor requested it (I hate writing off tiny samples), so I spun it forward and looked at 2024. I dunno. I’m not really happy with it, but that’s there if you’re interested. Let’s now get to...

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September 4th, 2023: Domínguez, Wells, Judge, Arizona Fall League, Torres

Michael Kay’s “Yankee Yutes” nickname is cheesy, but I kinda love it.

What a wonderful and cathartic weekend. The Yankees stopped pretending they’re a good week away from getting back in the race, dumped some dead weight and called up the kids, then went on the road and swept the defending World Series champs, the same team that has tormented them most of the last decade. This is the ...

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September 1st, 2023: Bader, Donaldson, Cole, King, Mailbag

The Yankees won a series! World Series back on, baby. The Yankees are now 3-12-3 in their last 18 series and the three series wins came against the Athletics, Royals, and Tigers. Those three clubs have a combined .346 winning percentage. That’s a 106-loss pace in a 162-game schedule. Maybe MLB would move the Yankees to the AL Central? Just for a few years. Doesn’t have to be permanent. Anyway, here...

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Quick thoughts before the Yankees call up Jasson Domínguez and Austin Wells

You’ll have to trust me that Jasson is No. 12.

The season is lost and the Yankees are putting the pedal to the floor with their quasi-youth movement. Outfielder Jasson Domínguez and catcher Austin Wells will be called up Friday according to the usual reporters (Jack Curry has it and that’s...

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August 29th, 2023: Pereira, Peraza, Wells, Domínguez, Judge, Cole, Severino, Kahnle, Donaldson, Yamamoto

Vacation’s over and thankfully my COVID symptoms went away pretty quickly, and I was able to get in a few days of R&R at the end of last week. Now it’s time to run out the clock on this turd of a season. The only question now is can the Yankees extend the winning season streak? Seems unlikely, but I’m foolishly holding out hope they’ll find a way. Let’s get to today’s post.

1. The kids, promoted. After getting swept at home by the Red Sox last weekend, <...

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August 21st, 2023: Cole, Prospects, Judge, Bullpen, Mailbag

Reminder: I’m on vacation this week. There won’t be a post Friday even if there’s breaking news. I had a lovely trip out of town planned, but instead I will spend the week at home because I tested positive for COVID on Sunday. Stupid virus. I’m okay though. It feels like a bad cold and is somehow better than watching the 2023 Yankees play baseball. I’m just annoyed I had to cancel my fir...

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August 17th, 2023: Braves Series, Old Timers’ Day, Mailbag

UPDATE (Aug. 18th): I had to correct something I wrote in the Everson Pereira mailbag question answer. The update is below.

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Reminder: I will be on vacation next week. I’ll have a post Monday morning – I’m going to include mailbag questions in that one, so send ‘em in – and that’ll be it for the week. Even if there’s breaking news, it’ll have to wait, not that I expect there to be any breaking news. The trade deadline has passed and I do...

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August 14th, 2023: Cortes, Rotation, King, Volpe, Cashman, Torres, Kiner-Falefa, Lee

Self-promotion: I wrote a thing at CBS about all the mistakes that led the Yankees to where they are today, which is the AL East cellar. It was originally on our schedule for Tuesday, but after that loss Sunday, my editors decided to push it up. Strike while the iron is hot and all (hate clicks are still clicks!). Anyway,...

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August 10th, 2023: Severino, Schmidt, Loáisiga, Volpe, Holmes, Rortvedt, Postseason Race, Mailbag

UPDATE: Not even five minutes after I hit publish Erik Boland reported the White Sox claimed Deivi García off waivers, so that's that. So long, Deivi.

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Old buddy Chad Green is working his way back from Tommy John surgery with the Blue Jays, which is bad news for the Yankees and their fading postseason hopes. I bring this up because, during a rehab game Tues...

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August 7th, 2023: Severino, Cortes, Rodón, August Targets, Prospects

PSA: I have a vacation coming up. CBS is making me take a few days because I haven’t taken any time off since the season started (much further back than that, really). I’m gonna escape the city for a bit and put in some beach time. My vacation is the week of Aug. 21st, so two weeks away. I’ll have a post that Monday morning, and that’ll be it for that week. Thank you as always for reading and your support. As for today, the Astros series is over and I already have all this written, so...

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August 4th, 2023: Rizzo, Germán, Rest of 2023, Mailbag

Updated ZiPS projections are out and the Yankees managed to decrease their postseason odds from 21.3% to 18.0% at the trade deadline. The 3.3 percentage point decrease is the third largest in baseball behind the Mariners (5.9 percentage points) and Mets (9.4 percentage points). The decrease is not because the Yankees added bad players in Keynan Middleton and Spencer Howard...

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Thoughts following the 2023 trade deadline

Gonna need a new number, Keynan.

Would the Yankees buy or sell at the trade deadline? That was the question entering the week and the Yankees answered it with a shrug of their shoulders. They neither bought nor sold. They could have gone all-in and tried to get to the postseason, or they could have taken a step back and focused on 2024 and beyond, but they did neither. It was the worst thing ...

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July 31st, 2023: Judge, Cole, Kiner-Falefa, Trade Deadline

The trade deadline is a day away and the Yankees begin a series Monday night against the Rays at Yankee Stadium. I assumed the series was at Tropicana Field because, you know, teams go on road trips after homestands, but nope. It’s in the Bronx. The Yankees played five games at home, then three in Baltimore, and now they’re back home for another seven games. Huh. Anyway, here is Tuesday’s regular post on Monday so I can spread the trade deadline workload out a bit, and also chime in on ...

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July 27th, 2023: Judge, Rodón, Germán, Marinaccio, Trade Deadline, Mailbag

The trade deadline is Tuesday, which is inconvenient for me because Tuesday is also post day. I tentatively plan to run a shorter version of Tuesday’s regular post on Monday instead, then play things by ear around the deadline. Don't worry, I won't abandon you. I just don’t want to write a bunch of stuff, hold it until Tuesday, then have to put it all in the 2023-07-27 18:00:46 +0000 UTC View Post

July 24th, 2023: Royals Series, Trevino, Trade Deadline

The Yankees are 3-0 in the Starr Insurance jersey patch era. That’s analytics, baby. This is their first three-game winning streak since a four-gamer at the end of May. That was the last two games of the Padres series and the first two games of the Mariners series in Seattle. It was so long ago that Nestor Cortes and Ryan Weber pitched in the fourth of the four wins. Anyway, here is Tuesday morning’s post Monday afternoon since the Yankees have an off-day.

1. A Royal sweep.<...

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July 20th, 2023: Ohtani, Bullpen, Rodón, Carlson, Luxury Tax, Mailbag

Do you think Gerrit Cole is jealous he doesn’t get to face the Yankees?

The Yankees are in sole possession of last place this late in the year for the first time since the final day of the 1990 season. Granted, being 50-47 and in last place in the five-team AL East this year is a lot different than losing 95 games and being in last place in the seven-team AL East in 1990, but last place is ...

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July 17th, 2023: Trade Deadline, Rizzo, Peraza, Higashioka, Torres

Clay Holmes and Nick Ramirez giving up their first home runs of the year, and Alan Trejo hitting his first home run of the year, all within the span of four innings, is a pretty good sign it’s just not your season. Here is Tuesday morning’s post Monday afternoon because the Yankees are in Anaheim and my days of waiting until West Coast night games end to finish posts are over. (Three West Coast trips in eight weeks? Get outta here schedule-makers.)

1. The Yankees should sell...

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July 14th, 2023: All-Star Game, Jersey Patch, Bellinger, Mailbag

The Yankees open the second half Friday night at Coors Field and it is a damn shame Aaron Judge will miss the series. I want to see what happens when he connects with a ball a mile up. The Yankees have not been to Coors Field since 2016 (they have played in every other current stadium at least once since then) and, the last time they played there, Ike Davis started at first base. Feels like...

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Thoughts following the 2023 Draft

No. 21? Can’t wear that here, George.

The 2023 MLB Draft is complete and 614 picks were made across 20 rounds. The Yankees made 18 picks after surrendering their 2nd and 5th round selections to sign Carlos Rodón, and 14 of the 18 picks were college players. They drafted four high schoolers this ...

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July 10th, 2023: Lawson, Casey, Rodón, Stanton, Midseason Grades, Prospects

The All-Star break has arrived and not a moment too soon. I think we can all use a little break from our underperforming pinstripers. I finished today’s post (much) earlier than I anticipated, so I’m going to hit publish now rather than wait until Tuesday morning. Let’s get to it now that Gerrit Cole has been named the AL's All-Star Game starting pitcher, per Jon Heyman.

1. Law...

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July 7th, 2023: Cordero, Orioles, Vásquez, Donaldson, 2023 Draft, Mailbag

The draft begins Sunday night and the All-Star break is next week. Letter grades usually aren’t my thing but I have the itch to hand out midseason grades for some reason, so I might as well scratch it. This is what I’m thinking next week:

July 4th, 2023: Bader, Severino, Leadoff Spot, Rotation, All-Star Game, Breaux, Nationals

The Yankees have a +35 run differential and you can break that down into +34 against the Athletics and +1 against everyone else. You can also break it down into -17 against the Red Sox and +52 against everyone else. Take your pick. Let’s get to today’s post.

1. Weekend thoughts. I swear, only the 2023 Yankees could throw a perfect game and still have a bad road trip. The road to the postseason is paved with wins against bad teams and the Yankees just split six games...

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June 30th, 2023: Germán, Torres, Kiner-Falefa, Stanton, Volpe, Judge, Futures Game, Lee, Mailbag

1. Perfection in Oakland. Last Thursday Domingo Germán became the third Yankee to allow 10 runs and four home runs in a game. This Wednesday Germán became the fourth Yankee to throw a perfect game. He joined two exclusive clubs in a week! Domingo Germán, perfect game thrower. Can't say I had that on my 2023 Y...

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June 26th, 2023: Judge, Donaldson, Little Things, Hamilton, Rodón, Volpe, Schmidt, McKinney, Prospects

Happy 11th anniversary to one of my all-time favorite dumb plays: Dewayne Wise’s phantom catch (video). Wise flipped into the stands to make the catch along the left field foul line, except he didn’t make the catch. He came out of the stands with an empty glove and the umpire called Jack Hannahan out anyway. A fan a good 10 feet away picked up the ball:

2023-06-26 19:15:31 +0000 UTC View Post

June 23rd, 2023: Cole, RailRiders, Kiner-Falefa, Cabrera, LeMahieu, Kahnle, Germán, Stanton, Donaldson, Mailbag

Did you know the Cardinals and Cubs are playing in London this weekend? I like to think I have my finger on the pulse of the league, but this trip snuck on me. This is the first London Series since the Yankees and Red Sox played arena baseball in 2019. They reconfigured the seating at London Stadium and pushed the walls back a bit, so Cubs-Cardinals probably won...

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June 19th, 2023: Red Sox Series, All-Star Game, Prospects

On this date in 2015, Alex Rodriguez took Justin Verlander deep for his 3,000th career hit. And the Yankees have not scored a single run since. Let’s get to today’s post. It’s yet another off-day, so here is Tuesday morning’s post Monday afternoon.

1. Swept in Fenway. How are the Yankees supposed to win a World Series while Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole are in their primes without ...

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