UPDATE: The Game 1 starting lineup is exactly how I laid it out below. Every so often I guess right and look smart. Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ben Rice are on the bench, and Amed Rosario and Paul Goldschmidt are starting.
ORIGINAL POST: Once again, it is Yankees vs. Red Sox in the postseason. It is their third postseason meeting in eight years and things havenâ€...
2025-09-30 15:52:56 +0000 UTC View PostThe Yankees did what they had to do these last two weeks, but it was what they did two months ago that cost them the AL East title. The Yankees finished with the same 94-68 record as the Blue Jays – the same 94-68 record as the 2024 Yankees – and the American League’s best run differential by 54 runs, but the tiebreaker was not in their favor. The Blue Jays are AL champions, the Yankees are a Wild Card team.
"A month and a half ago we were teetering on – when it wasn't going gre...
2025-09-29 10:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostEarlier this week I said I hoped we would have clarity about the AL East race by the end of the White Sox series, and clarity we have. The Yankees erased a five-game deficit in the last 10 days and are tied with the Blue Jays atop the AL East. They’re both 91-68, though Toronto has the tiebreaker, so the Yankees must win one more game than them this weekend to win the division. The Yankees get the...
2025-09-26 10:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostUPDATE: It's convoluted, but the Yankees can clinch a postseason spot tonight with a win, per MLB. A win tonight gets the Yankees to 89 wins, and because the Guardians and Tigers play this week and the Red Sox and Tigers play this weekend, it's not possible for all three of those teams to get to 90 wins and finish ahead of the Yankees. So, the magic number is not actually three. Win tonight, and they're in.
ORIGINAL POST: What a tremendous weekend of ba...
2025-09-23 10:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostThe AL is an argument for the third Wild Card spot and the NL is an argument against it. Without it, the NL races would be over. We’d know exactly who’s going to the postseason already, if not the exact seeding. In the AL though, the Wild Card race would be so much more interesting with only two Wild Card spots. Here are the Wild Card standings (the Astros and Mariners are tied atop the AL West):
1. Yankees: 86-67 (+3 GB)
2. Astros/Mariners: 84-6...
The consecutive winning seasons streak lives on. Friday night was the 82nd win of the season, giving the Yankees their 33rd straight season with a winning record. They haven’t had a losing season since going 76-86 in 1992. The current streak is the second longest in the history of the four major North American pro sports leagues. Here are the longest consecutive winning seasons streaks:
1. 39 seasons: 1926-64 Yankees
2. 33 seasons: 1993-2025 Yankee...
What a rancid few days for the organization. Let’s just get right to today’s post. (Davy Andrews had a good piece on Cody Bellinger’s season and the player he is these days. Check it out.)
1. Volpe has a partial labrum tear. The team that let Anthony Rizzo play through a concussion for two months is back with another banger. After four months, ...
2025-09-12 10:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostThe Yankees had a pregame ceremony to honor CC Sabathia’s Hall of Fame induction on Sunday (here’s the full ceremony) and they did not announce No. 52 will be retired. That doesn’t mean it won’t happen at some point. It just didn’t happen Sunday, which seemed like a good time to do it. Alas. The Yankees have not issued No. 52 since Sabathia retired and I ...
2025-09-09 10:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostCody Bellinger was named AL Player of the Week for last week. He went 12-for-27 (.444) with two home runs. Who do you think was the last Yankee other than Aaron Judge to win AL Player of the Week? Okay, it was Juan Soto. That was easy. But who was the last before Judge or Soto? It was Anthony Rizzo! 2025-09-05 10:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post
On this date in 1996, David Cone returned from his aneurysm and threw seven no-hit innings in Oakland. Here’s the box score. The Yankees were reeling at the time. They’d lost 15 of their previous 23 games, then Cone returned and the tide turned. A coincidence, most likely, but maybe not? Magical things happen during magical seasons. Anyway, here is today’s shorter than usual post comi...
2025-09-02 10:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostJust a heads-up, it’ll be a shorter post Tuesday. It's Labor Day weekend and I’m gonna take it easy and recharge a bit before things get crazy the next few weeks. Anyway, I was flipping through games Wednesday night and saw the Angels started Oswald Peraza at first base, in case you’re wondering how things are going for the Angels and Peraza these days. Kyle Higashioka took Peraza deep later in the game (2025-08-29 10:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post
It’s behind the paywall, but the Baseball Prospectus crew had an interesting piece last week on what they called Adversarial Pitch Location. In a nutshell, they measured the pitcher’s ability to attack the hitter’s weak spots. Command guys Jose Quintana a...
2025-08-25 10:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostSpencer Jones got back on the horse Wednesday and slugged his minor league leading 31st home run of the season (video). He hit it off Alek Manoah. I’m not sure if that makes it more or less impressive. With his next dinger, Jones will become the first Yankees’ minor leaguer with 32 homers since Pete O’Brien hit 33 in 2014. Let’s get into today’s post.
1. Judge’s throwi...
2025-08-22 10:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostOn this date in 1997, the Yankees got blown out by the Angels (box score), and Wade Boggs threw the eighth inning. He broke out his famed knuckleball (video). The story for years was that Boggs had a great knuckleball and would torment his teammates playing catch, and we finally saw it in action. He walked o...
2025-08-19 10:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostHere’s a thing I realized this week: MLB still hasn’t released the 2026 schedule. The new schedule usually comes out during the All-Star break. It is now Aug. 15th and we’re still waiting. I’m sure MLB has a preliminary schedule drawn up. The league might be waiting to see if the Rays can return to Tropicana Field before making it official, or maybe they’re trying to line up a novelty game (Field of Dreams Game, etc.). It is definitely not the norm that we’re still waiting on next...
2025-08-15 10:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostThe Yankees cut Aaron Boone out of Old Timers’ Day. He was on the list of attendees but wasn’t involved in the ceremony. A team spokesperson told Gary Phillips that Boone was absent because the ceremony ov...
2025-08-11 10:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostOne of my all-time favorite comebacks happened on this date in 2000. The Yankees went into the ninth inning down 3-2 to the Athletics. Jason Isringhausen’s first pitch: Bernie Williams game-tying homer. Jason Isringhausen’s second pitch: David Justice walk-off homer. Two pitches, two homers. Here’s the video and 2025-08-08 10:00:15 +0000 UTC View Post
On June 2nd, the Yankees had a 6.5-game lead in the AL East. On July 2nd, they lost and slipped into second place. On August 2nd, they lost and slipped into third place. The Yankees are 60-53 even though their run differential says they should be 66-47 and BaseRuns says they should be an MLB best 67-46. "The reality is, I think we should be better than what our record is and that starts with me. We got to...
2025-08-05 10:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostUPDATE: Forget about Cam Schlittler being sent down for Luis Gil on Sunday. The Yankees released Marcus Stroman today. I didn't expect that given the precarious state of the rotation (and no starter trade Thursday), but you can't say it's undeserved. Stroman has a 6.23 ERA (5.15 FIP) in nine starts and 39 innings around his knee injury. The Yankees owe him the rest of his $18M salary. The $18M vesting option for next year was a non-issue anyway because he wasn't getting to 14...
2025-08-01 10:00:15 +0000 UTC View Post
I did not realize this going into trade deadline day, but there were only three games on the schedule Thursday. The Yankees played in one of them, and of course it featured an almost three-hour rain delay. Because of the rain delay, the timing meant no one was pulled off the team plane to Miami after getting traded. For the best, I suppose.
This was, by frickin’ far, the busiest trade deadlin...
2025-08-01 02:09:42 +0000 UTC View Post
Happy thoughts: CC Sabathia was officially inducted into the Hall of Fame this past weekend. Here’s his speech. “Thank you most of all to the great players sitting behind me. I’m so proud and humbled to join you as a Hall of Famer. Even Ichiro, who stole my Rookie of the Year...
2025-07-29 10:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post
The trade deadline is 6pm ET Thursday, and because the Yankees have a 1pm ET getaway game that afternoon, there’s a chance someone will get pulled off the team plane because they’ve been traded, Rafael Devers style. That would be a hoot. The Yankees got...
2025-07-28 10:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post
UPDATE: Want to add two things quick. One, the injury is to Judge's throwing arm, his right arm, which is his back arm when hitting. That's good. Injuries to the front elbow (like Didi Gregorius back in the day and Bryce Harper more recently) are the scary ones just because of the way you extend and all that when you swing. An injury to the back elbow is still bad. It's just less bad...
2025-07-26 20:59:31 +0000 UTC View Post
UPDATE: The Yankees have announced the trade. It is as reported: McMahon for Herring and Grosz with no money changing hands. Aaron Boone said he's not sure when McMahon will join the team. Doesn't sound like it'll be tonight and another Headley situation.
"I'm really excited," Boone told 2025-07-25 18:34:55 +0000 UTC View Post
Let’s open with a positive: Spencer Jones hit three home runs Thursday (video) and batted twice with a chance to hit a fourth (strikeout and popup). He’s up to 13 homers in 19 games with Scranton and has a minor league leading 29 homers overall. That’s despite missing close to a month with an injury. Part of me wants to see things through with Jones even though I am all ...
2025-07-25 10:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostSo much for a David Robertson reunion. He signed with the Phillies over the weekend. It will be his third stint in Philadelphia. Robertson will make about $6.2M the rest of the year. It’s more than I thought he would get. With the 110% luxury tax rate, it would've been close to $13M all-in for the Yankees had they matched the offer and Robertson said yes. Can’t say I’m su...
2025-07-22 10:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostOver the weekend the Yankees announced they have signed 18 of their 19 draft picks. Only 19th rounder RHP Hayden Morris hasn’t signed, and Adam Busack says Morris is going back to school. I’ll have a signing breakdown after the trade deadline. Just putting it on your radar that everyone but Morris has signed. He...
2025-07-21 10:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostUPDATE: The Yankees say Ian Hamilton is starting tonight. Will Warren and Marcus Stroman will start Saturday and Sunday, respectively. I'm not sure if Hamilton is just an opener for Cam Schlittler, or if this is a full blown bullpen game. Today would be the day to do it with the bullpen rested out of the All-Star break. It would also allow them to push Max Fried's next start as far back as July 29th, if needed. They don't expect him to miss that much time though. If they did,...
2025-07-18 10:00:13 +0000 UTC View Post
The 2025 MLB Draft is complete and 615 picks were made across 20 rounds. The Yankees forfeited their second round pick as part of the Juan Soto leaves/sign Max Fried series of moves, so they had 19 selections. They drafted one high schooler and 18 college players, their usual split these days. College heavy is the trend across baseball. It’s not just the Yankees. 2025-07-16 10:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post
The Yankees used their first 2025 draft pick, No. 39 overall, on Georgia HS SS Dax Kilby on Sunday. Of course he wasn’t one of the 18 players I wrote up. The Yankees didn't draft any of those guys. So it goes. I’ll have a full draft recap later this week. I’m shooting for Thursda...
2025-07-15 10:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post