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Showing posts from 2019

Possible Yankees’ trade targets

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The Yankees’ offseason is off to a great start. The club’s main focus all along was to add Gerrit Cole, finally giving New York the true, dominant Ace, they have needed.  In the days following, the team was able to retain veteran outfielder Brett Gardner.  Now, the Yankees could look to the trade market to round out their roster and get set for 2020. Let’s take a look at who could be available and how they could fit in pinstripes. Photo Credit: CBS Sports

Yankees re-sign Brett Gardner to 1-year deal with option for 2021

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It’s official: Yankee veteran Brett Gardner will remain in the Bronx in 2020. Photo Credit: Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports

Yankees' next order of business: Getting the band back together

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With Cole-a-palooza officially out of the way , the Yankees can turn their attention on filling out the remainder of their roster this Winter, and the first moves to be made should be taking care of the family business.   Per SNY’s Andy Martino, the Yankees could be closing in on a deal to bring back Brett Gardner soon.

BREAKING: Yankees sign Gerrit Cole

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Rejoice. The New York Yankees have signed Gerrit Cole to a nine-year deal worth $324 million. The deal comes with an opt-out clause after the 2024 season, according to Jeff Passan. It’s an obvious record-breaker for a pitcher, shattering the seven-year, $245 million pact signed earlier this week by Stephen Strasburg, who also happens to be a Scott Boras client. Photo Credit: AP Cole shined this past season in just about every way possible. The California native went 20-5 for the Houston Astros, leading the league with a 2.50 ERA (185 ERA+) and a whopping 326 strikeouts in 212.1 innings. He was the runner-up for the AL Cy Young award, finishing behind his former teammate Justin Verlander. He continued his dominance in the postseason, where in five starts (36.2 IP) he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA. Cole’s path to pinstripes has been a unique one. He was a 1st round draft pick of the Yankees in 2008, but opted instead to attend UCLA and was selected 1st overall by the Pirates in 20

Attention Brian Cashman: Blake Treinen is a free agent

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The belief around the league is that the Yankees have pushed all other free agents to the back burner during their paramount pursuit of Gerrit Cole. Initial offers have been made within the last 24 hours and a potential deal could come to fruition by the end of the week. While the priority this winter is clear, that isn’t to say there’s no other business Brian Cashman needs to attend to. See here: Blake Treinen became a free agent last Monday, and the Yankees would be foolish to let him pass.

Yankees meet with Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg

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It's the offseason news that Yankees fans have longed to hear.   While nothing is "in stone" yet, and anything can change in the coming weeks, the Yankees Front Office is reportedly in talks with both Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg.  Photo Credit: New York Post

Yankees trade LHP Nestor Cortes Jr. to Seattle Mariners

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The Yankees announced on Monday that they finalized a trade deal that will send Nestor Cortez Jr. to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for $28, 300 in international signing bonus pool allocation.   Photo Credit: Newsday 

BBB Writers' offseason thoughts and season review

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With the Yankees' season nearly a month over, the dust has finally settled and the offseason is in full swing. The Yankees had strong aspirations for the third consecutive year and came up short of their goal for the third straight year. With this being said, there is a lot to discuss and speculate, and here are a handful of our writers' takes on what happened in 2019 and what may go down in the 2019-2020 offseason as the Yankees strive to finally get back to the Fall Classic for the first time since 2009.  Photo Credit: NY Post

Aroldis Chapman restructures deal with Yankees

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According to ESPN’s Jeff  Passan , Aroldis Chapman has reworked his contract with the Yankees, adding an extra year at $18 million to the two years, $30 million he already had, keeping him in New York until 2022.    https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1190851498122653696   Photo Credit: Getty Images Chapman had an excellent 2019, posting 37 saves with a 2.21 ERA, good enough to win him AL Reliever of the Year honors.  This deal keeps together a Yankees bullpen that is among the very best in the major leagues, and ensures Zack Britton, Chad Green, Tommy Kahnle and others will not deviate largely from their 2019 roles.  Article by: Gus Wetekamp Follow @gus_wetekamp_23 Follow @bronxbomberball

Larry Rothschild will not return to Yankees for 2020 Season

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The Yankees announced in the morning of October 28th that Larry Rothschild, veteran pitching coach who started in his position in 2011, has been relieved of his duties and will not return for the 2020 season.  Photo Credit: New York Post “I want to personally thank Larry for his near decade of commitment to this organization,” Brian Cashman said in a statement. “Larry cares deeply about his craft, and the pitchers under his tutelage, and he played a significant role in our success over the past nine seasons.” The New York Yankees today announced that Larry Rothschild will not return to the coaching staff for the 2020 season. pic.twitter.com/5rTA6a3noA — New York Yankees (@Yankees) October 28, 2019 Going into the 2020 season, Cashman will have to look for a replacement for Rothschild to work alongside Aaron Boone with the Yankees’ pitching staff. Possible candidates discussed by Yankees color commentators include the likes of David Cone, Brent Strom currently o

Three Keys for the Yankees to take ALCS Game Three

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Sunday night’s ALCS Game Two loss for the Yankees was devastating, at best. Photo Credit: Newsday/William Perlman

American League Championship Series Preview: New York Yankees vs. Houston Astros

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Ladies and gentlemen, we have finally arrived.   The matchup the baseball world has been patiently awaiting since mid-summer is finally here. Yankees. Astros. The 2019 American League Championship Series. A shot at a World Series title on the line.   How the two teams got here, however, could not be any more dissimilar.

Yankees sweep Twins, advance to ALCS

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It is officially acceptable to say “next team up” as the Yankees have swept the Minnesota Twins and will be moving on to face the winner of the Astros and Rays in the 2019 ALCS. Despite only being two games better than the Twins in the regular season and losing their home run record to the AL Central champs, the Yankees absolutely dominated the Twins in this series. With this series now concluded, the Yankees have won 13 straight playoff games against the Twins. This series also resulted in the Yankees having the second-best run differential in a three-game playoff series ever at a mark of +16. Photo Credit: Twitter

American League Division Series Preview: New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins

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The best news surrounding the American League Division Series, at least for the Yankees, is that they will be heading right out of the metaphorical gate at Yankee Stadium.   Oh, and that if they are forced to head to a Game Five with the Minnesota Twins when vying for a ticket to the American League Championship Series, they will be able to play that important fifth game at home as well.   Out of the 103 wins recorded in the regular season for the Savages, 57 of them came in the Bronx.   What’s more, out of their 59 regular-season losses, they only lost at home 24 times.   That’s it.   Photo Credit: Wikipedia

How does Luke Voit factor into the Yankees' postseason?

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October baseball is finally upon us. On the heels of a 103-win season and an A.L. East division title, the Yankees will host the Minnesota Twins tonight as they embark on the chase for their 28th World Series Championship. In revealing their Division Series roster earlier this afternoon, the Yanks answered one of the bigger questions fans were left with at the end of the season, opting to carry slumping first baseman Luke Voit while omitting the white-hot Mike Ford. Photo Credit: NY Daily News Envisioning an infield rotation that didn’t include Voit would have been ludicrous just a few weeks ago, and to consider leaving him off the roster altogether unfathomable. At the end of August, he carried a .280 batting average with 19 home runs to his name. However, the 26-year-old slugger very nearly wrote himself out of the Bombers’ October plans in the season’s final month. Voit ended the season on a 1-for-32 skid with an alarming 41% strikeout rate over that span.  That being sa

Yankees playoff preview: The Outfield

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The postseason is finally upon us, and it’s time to look at the options present for the Yankees in terms of who will patrol the  outfield.  It ’s a mix of established names and some key players who have stepped up in a major way this season.   Right Field: Aaron Judge   The Yankees’ talisman and  one of the brightest young stars in baseball, Judge was able to hit 27 homers and drive in 55 runs despite being limited by injury some of the year.  He’s also coming in hot, posting a .991 OPS through the last 20 games of the regular season.  Judge is also terrific defensively, with 7 outfield assists in the regular season.  He will look to carry a lot of the load offensively in this postseason, batting out of the #2 spot almost exclusively.   Photo Credit: Getty Images Left Field: Giancarlo Stanton   Stanton’s 2019 regular season has been one to forget,  having only played 18 games due to a variety of injuries. However, this is still a man who drove in over 10

Injuries to look at heading into the ALDS

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Just like that, the 2019 New York Yankees regular season has come to an end. The Bombers finished with a 103-59 regular-season record, being one of four teams to end the season with more than 100 wins for the first time in MLB history. Calling this season a rollercoaster would be an understatement. It seemed like another name was hitting the IL at every corner that was turned. The Yankees lead the league in both the number of different players that spent time on the injured list (30) and lead by almost 600 in total days spent on the injured list with 2,614. But, ironically, the Yanks head into the postseason looking about as healthy as they have throughout the duration of the season with just a couple names to keep an eye on. Photo Credit: Noah K. Murray/USA Today Sports

Yankees Postseason Pitching Overview

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October is here and 11 wins and 297 outs separate the New York Yankees from their 28th World Series title. To get there, Aaron Boone will have to get creative with his pitching staff. Gone are the days of counting on a starter to go more than five innings in a postseason start, and the Yanks just won 103 games despite having a starting rotation that was, at times, shoddy. In last year’s postseason, New York got 27 innings out of the bullpen and just 17 frames from their starters. Ideally, it will be more of a 50/50 split this season, but the team only has three true starters heading into October due to injuries, ineffectiveness and a suspension. Photo Credit: Elsa/Getty Images

ALDS Game 1 Lineup Prediction

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The Yankees have completed the regular season, closing out 2019 with a record of 103-59. Next up: ALDS Game 1 against the Minnesota Twins. Coming off a 101-win season of their own, the Twins will not be easy, so New York can’t afford to look ahead to a potential ALCS meeting with the Astros. With that in mind, it’s time to look at who will crack the starting lineup on Friday.   Photo Credit: MLB.com

#NextManUp: The 2019 Yankees have been a joy to watch

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The 2019 New York Yankees have been riddled with injuries from the beginning of the season.   That statement is no exaggeration. Photo Credit: Getty Images Before the season even officially began, Didi Gregorius found himself on the Injured List after undergoing Tommy John surgery.   Giancarlo Stanton’s first injury of 2019 came in the form of a biceps injury, then a shoulder injury, then a calf injury and finally, a knee sprain during one of the nine games he played throughout the season.   Fans looked forward to the return of Miguel Andjuar, only to have him sidelined with a labrum injury from May 21 onward.   Aaron Hicks didn’t make his 2019 season debut until May 19 thanks to an injury to his back.   And mostly everyone forgot about the likes of Ben Heller and… dare I say it… Jacoby Ellsbury.   Oh, and Greg Bird finding himself injured once again, seemingly eliminating any battle for the job at first base between him and Luke Voit. While us fans were pret