Remember the guy who caught Aaron Judge’s 62nd home run ball and turned down $3M so he could sell it at auction? Well, the auction was this past weekend, and the winning bid was $1.5M. ...
2022-12-20 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
In case you missed it Thursday night, Carlos Rodon is coming to the Yankees. It's a six-year contract worth $162M. Not gonna lie, I didn't think the Yankees would do it after locking up Aaron Judge. Glad to be wrong. The Yankees still haven't made the Judge and Tommy Kahnle signings official. Add in Rodon and that's three pending deals and two corresponding 40-man roster moves. It'll all happen soon ...
2022-12-16 13:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
2022 fastball whiff rate leaders: 1. Gerrit Cole, 2. Carlos Rodon.
The Yankees just made the 2023 team a whole lot better. Lefty Carlos Rodon is coming to the Bronx on a six-year contract worth $162M, according to all the trustworthy reporters. That’s a $27M luxury tax hit – it’s the same contr...
2022-12-16 02:03:22 +0000 UTC View PostOn this date 21 (!) years ago, the Yankees signed Jason Giambi to a seven-year contract worth $120M. At the time it was the fifth largest contract in baseball history behind Alex Rodriguez ($252M), Derek Jeter ($189M), Manny Ramirez ($160M), and Mike Hampton ($121M). Giambi hit .260/.404/.521 (145 wRC+) in pinstripes and averaged 37.7 homers and +4.0 WAR per 162 games, though he didn’t always play a full season. His signature game as a Yankee was Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. He took Pedro Marti...
2022-12-13 13:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostBy projected 2023 WAR, 13 of the top 30 free agents remain unsigned, and the trade market has been weirdly quiet this offseason. The most notable trades involved Teoscar Hernandez, Hunter Renfroe, Gio Urshela, and Jesse Winker/Kolten Wong. That’s about it. Still waiting on that Sean Murphy deal or a blockbuster involving a Marlins starter. Anyway, let’s get to today’s post.
“Just park the Brinks truck over there.”
In the end, the Yankees couldn’t afford to let Aaron Judge leave and Judge wanted to remain a Yankee. Judge is returning to the Yankees on a nine-year, $360 million contract according to basically every baseball reporter who matters. There are no opt outs or anything like that as far as I can tell, though Judge gets a full no-trade clause. The co...
2022-12-07 15:15:57 +0000 UTC View Post
Tuesday was a day. I don’t know if it was a good day or a bad day, but it was definitely a day. We seem to be inching closer to Aaron Judge’s decision and I’m ready for this to be over. His free agency, I mean. Not his time as a Yankee. Anyway, I’m hitting publish on this before I go to sleep just to get it out there as soon as possible. Will any of it still be relevant when I wake up? Maybe!
1. Kahnle returns. Welcome back, Tommy Tightpants. The Yankees agreed ...
2022-12-07 05:25:37 +0000 UTC View PostThe first real day of the Winter Meetings is in the books and Aaron Judge remains unsigned. The good news is he’s unsigned and not a San Francisco Giant or a Los Angeles Dodger or a Yakult Swallow or whatever. But, he’s still unsigned, which means he’s not a Yankee. Not a fan. I hope the Yankees can wrap this up soon and move on to other offseason business.
Aaron Boone will hold his Winter Meetings availability at 7:40pm ET on Tuesday. These manager scrums almost never bring news....
2022-12-06 14:14:55 +0000 UTC View PostGood thing I ran that Jacob deGrom vs. Max Scherzer poll Friday morning, eh? That one avoided the Content Graveyard by a few hours. What’s the point of having a cartoonishly rich owner who spends $141.3M on 2022-12-05 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Why not both?
The calendar has flipped to December and the No. 1 priority in Yankeeland remains Aaron Judge. He has not signed yet but might at the Winter Meetings next week. The Yankees are said to have made an offer “in the neighborhood” of eight years and $300M and yeah, I buy it. I assume the ...
2022-12-02 13:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostI apologize if you saw this post in your inbox and thought it was Friday. I know how soul-crushing it can be to think it’s Friday, only to realize it’s really Thursday. It’s the worst. I have something else in the works for Friday though, so I figured I’d run this post a day early. Sorry it's shorter than usual, but again, something else is coming Friday. Let’s get to it.
1. Latest hot stove news. There’s not a whole lot going on right now. Here’s the late...
2022-12-01 13:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe long holiday weekend is over and I’m already out of leftovers. I am sad. I didn’t miss anything important by skipping Friday’s post, so I feel less guilty, though early 2023 ZiPS projections are out. The projected AL East standings:
This is a good snapshot of wh...
2022-11-29 13:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostReminder: I am skipping this Friday’s post and
2022-11-22 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostReminder: I am planning to skip next Friday’s post. I’ll cover any breaking news that pops up, otherwise I’m going to take it easy during Thanksgiving weekend and I hope you do too. It’s good to take your mind off the Yankees every once in a while. Let’s get to today’s post.
1. Hot stove rumors. A new batch of free agents will hit the market Friday evening after the non-tender deadline. 2022-11-18 13:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
I apologize for pushing Tuesday’s post back a day, but a) the Offseason Plan went live Monday, and b) I figured I’d wait a day so I could cover Tuesday’s various deadlines. That proved to be a good decision. Here is today’s post as we await Aaron Judge being named the AL MVP on Thursday.
1. Rizzo returns. Welcome back, Anthony Rizzo. The Yankees have signed Rizzo to a...
2022-11-16 13:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostOffseason Plan update: It will be published next week. I hope to get it up before the Rule 5 Draft protection deadline Tuesday so it doesn’t look like I’m just copying whatever the Yankees do, but I’m also not going to work myself to the bone this weekend. I’m going to try for Tuesday. If it’s Wednesday, then it’s Wednesday. I am efforting. Now let’s get to today’s post.
1. Latest roster moves. Thursday was a busy day on the ol’ 2022-11-11 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Site note: I am planning to skip the regularly scheduled post on Friday, Nov. 25th. That is two weeks from Friday and it is the day after Thanksgiving. If there is breaking news, I will happily cover it, otherwise I’m going to lay low during the long holiday weekend. Thanks as always for reading and your support. Let’s get to today’s post.
1. World Series thoughts. I guess I need to say something about the World Series, huh. It’s a minor miracle the series went ...
2022-11-08 13:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe Astros are the 2022 World Series champions and the offseason is here. This will be the first “normal” offseason in a few years. Last offseason was cut into two halves by the lockout and the offseason before that was mid-pandemic, when no one knew its long-term financial impact on the sport (everyone got rich anyway). The Yankees have been in offseason mode for two weeks now, but the offseason officially begins Sunday. Here is the offseason calendar and a look at what each date means f...
2022-11-06 14:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe Yankees finally put the 2004 Red Sox highlights away and will hold their end-of-season press conferences with Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman on Friday. Cashman’s contract expired on Oct. 31st, so the fact the Yankees are trotting him out there to represent the organization tells you he either has a new contract, or will soon. There might be some actual news Friday (DJ LeMahieu foot surgery?), otherwise it’ll be the standard fare (we would like to re-sign Aaron Judge, we’ll explore al...
2022-11-04 12:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe Yankees’ season ended nine days ago and we’ve yet to hear anything from the organization beyond a few quotes from Hal Steinbrenner. Eventually they’re going to march Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman out in front of reporters to talk about the season, but it likely won’t be until after the World Series. So, we wait. Let’s get to today’s post.<...
2022-11-01 12:01:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Another year, for some reason. (Getty)
The only manager in Yankees history to return for a fifth season after failing to win a World Series within his first four years gets to come back for a sixth season. On Wednesday, Hal Steinbrenner told Mark Didtler ...
2022-10-26 22:07:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe first post of the offseason. Always a weird one. We haven’t heard a peep from the Yankees since their season ended Sunday night, and if they're going to make a significant change (like firing Aaron Boone), I think Wednesday would be the day. Thursday is World Series media day and the start of MLB’s unofficial “don’t announce major news” period. Until then, let’s get to today’s post.
1. World Series thoughts. The 2022 World Series begins Friday night in...
2022-10-26 12:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post
See ya. (Getty)
You know when I knew the 2022 Yankees were doomed? It wasn’t when they crashed in August or when they waited until the postseason to make a change at shortstop or when Aaron Judge grounded out for the final out of Game 4 of the ALCS. No, it was before Game 4, when Aaron Boone admitted mental skills coach Chad Bohling sent the players highlights of the 2004 Red Sox erasing t...
2022-10-24 15:22:19 +0000 UTC View Post
The end is coming. (Getty)
The Yankees are down 3-0 in the ALDS and, honestly, that makes the series seem closer than it really is. This has been a dismantling. Maybe the Yankees will win Game 4, but the series is over, and the worst part is not that the Yankees have been unable to beat the Astros since 2017. It’s that the gap between the two teams has never been wider. The Yankees are to t...
2022-10-23 02:34:52 +0000 UTC View PostThe ALCS resumes Saturday evening at Yankee Stadium and it is as close to a must-win as it gets without being a literal must-win. The Astros are starting Cristian Javier in Game 3. He of course started the combined no-hitter earlier this year. The Yankees then get Lance McCullers Jr. in Game 4, and if they manage a win at some point, they’ll get Justin Verlander again in Game 5. Fun. Here are a few quick thoughts prior to Game 3, plus some postseason-relevant mailbag questions.
Yawn. (Getty)
New day, same ol’ loss to the Astros. The Yankees are down 2-0 in the ALCS because Houston capitalized on the few opportunities they had while the Yankees struggled to get the bat on the ball. They’ve struck out 30 times in two games and have had six or fewer hits in their last nine games dating back to the regular season. That’s the longest such streak in franch...
2022-10-21 04:46:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Go away, Josh. (Getty).
Hey, the Yankees batted with a lead against the Astros! That lead lasted only six batters, but they had a lead. That’s more than they could say during the regular season. Game 1 was winnable, but alas and alack, the Yankees came out on the wrong side of a close game against the Astros. I feel like I’ve watched that same exact game a couple dozen times the last six ...
2022-10-20 04:55:14 +0000 UTC View Post
This place again. (Getty)
The ALDS finally concluded Tuesday night in the Bronx and the ALCS begins Wednesday night in Houston. The Yankees are right back at it with Game 1 against the Astros. All seven ALCS games are on TBS. Here are the start times:
Three wins down, eight to go. (Getty)
What felt like the longest best-of-five series in baseball history is finally over. The Yankees are going to the ALCS and the Guardians are going home, and truth be told, the Yankees controlled the entire series outside the tenth inning of Game 2 and the ninth inning of Game 3. They scored in the first inning in three of the five games. The Guardians wer...
2022-10-19 03:38:28 +0000 UTC View Post