Bronx Bomber Ball

The Yankees may have won big last night against the Kansas City Royals, but suffered one of their most significant losses of the season when they lost Aaron Judge for at least the next three to four weeks to an ulnar styloid fracture after being hit by a pitch on his right wrist. This injury sent the Bronx Faithful into a panic; they conducted a candlelight vigil at Yankee stadium for their wounded outfielder, and everyone suggesting their ideas of how Brian Cashman and company should fill the enormous hole left by their gargantuan slugger.  AP

Amidst  some recent struggles from veteran Brett Gardner, some Yankees fans might find themselves watering at the mouth of the idea of replacing Gardner with free-agent megastar Bryce Harper next season.  Yes, the Yankees have prospects Clint Frazier, Billy McKinney and Estevan  Florial  waiting for their chance with the  big-league  club, not to mention the albatross and seemingly immovable contract of Jacoby Ellsbury, but since the CBA restructure a few years ago and the team's ability to get under the Luxury Tax threshold this season, the Yankees always had their eye on Harper for next offseason.  However, there's another player, who doesn't get much hype playing on the West Coast, who might be an even better fit for the Yankees, and that is the reigning National League Player of the Week and April NL Player of the Month:  Arizona Diamondbacks'  centerfielder A.J. Pollock.  

I’m going to preface this article by saying that I’m aware that it doesn’t make much sense to sign any slugger heading toward the wrong side of 30 to a big money deal. This is especially true for the Yankees since they seem to be shying away from lengthy contracts for older players and because they just brought in Matt Holliday whose best fit for the team is at the designated hitter position. In spite of those reasons, I think they should sign Edwin Encarnacion anyway.   My reasoning for this is that simply put, even at the age of 33 and even though he’s pretty much only a DH just like Holliday, he’s still a hitter to be feared at this point in his career. Photo Credit: Dan Hamilton | USA TODAY Sports

In a rather surprising move, the San Diego Padres non-tendered former All-Star Tyson Ross last night. The move comes as such a surprise as Ross posted a 2.81 ERA in 2014 and a 3.26 ERA in 2015. On top of that, he's only 29 years old. 2016 was a bit of a train wreck for the righty, however, as he was held to just five innings pitched due to injury. Injury is quite obviously the determining factor here in San Diego's decision to decline to tender Ross a contract. In October, Ross underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome and is expected to miss 4-6 months as a result. San Diego likely didn't feel comfortable paying for a player who could miss parts of the season while they try and recover from their colossal failure when they built an on-paper super-team a few years back. Via FoxSports.com

It's no secret the Yankees have been linked to just about every free agent on the market this offseason. From Chapman to Cespedes, you name a free agent, the Yankees have contacted them. One free agent of particular interest that the Yankees have been linked to is Rich Hill. At first glance the Yankee interest makes a little sense. The Yankees rotation is short handed and the team could use a left handed starter to limit opposing lefties from taking advantage of the short porch in right - but that's really the end of the reasons why the team should sign him. Rich Hill seems to be a disaster waiting to happen for whatever team steps up and pays him. Via Fox Sports

Photo Via Getty Images Jason Hammel pitched his way to a very successful campaign for the Chicago Cubs in 2016 going 15-10 with a 3.83 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP in 30 starts. However, after experiencing elbow tightness late in the season, Hammel was kept off the postseason roster, and soon had his $12 million option declined by the team. With a Yankees rotation that has as many question marks as ever, Hammel is the newest pitcher the Yankees have reportedly been linked to according to George King of the NY Post .

Photo Credit: Joe Nicholson | USA TODAY Sports The New York Yankees joined the San Diego Padres and the Pittsburgh Pirates as the three teams who have contacted left handed starter Derek Holland about acquiring his services according to Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram . The Texas Rangers had recently declined the 30-year-old’s $11 million team option for 2017, effectively making him a free agent.

While the New York Yankees impressive youth movement and shocking playoff push continue, it’s never too early to start taking a look at pieces to potentially add to the team. We shouldn’t expect the Yankees to be major players this winter, in what is shaping up to be a fairly weak free agent class. However, they are the Yankees, and no scenario should be thought of as impossible. Let’s take a look at some potential names and positions that could be of service to the Yankees.

In a deal that many were expecting to transpire at some point, the Yankees agreed to trade Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs. It was a trade that most fans campaigned for; however, there were other fans who were staunchly opposed to an Aroldis Chapman trade, as well as his teammates, and perhaps Chapman himself. Chapman clearly thoroughly enjoyed his brief time dawning Yankee Pinstripes, and that is something that he has not only expressed interest in doing again, but has blatantly hinted at returning when he hits free agency this winter. Photo Credit: Mike Stobe | Getty Images

The year 2016 has been an underwhelming year for the New York Yankees, to say the least. GM Brian Cashman and the rest of the Yankees front office are in an odd position right now, as they are trying to balance the act of competing and “rebuilding”. I put quotes around the word rebuilding because in the case of Yankees’ brass, they don’t believe in that word. This comes as a result of the the Yankees mindset that we’re all used to. It comes from always trying to have a packed house every night, when that’s been far from the reality. Or the attempts to boast about the history of the illustrious ball club, nice throwbacks, but not relevant to the team today. Photo Credit: AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

As we have known for some time, the Yankees don’t have a legitimate backup for Chase Headley at third base. Not only is there no backup, there is no legitimate candidate for the starting third base job in AAA. The White Sox just recently released former first round pick Mike Olt and here is why the Yankees should pick him up. Photo Via ESPN

Is there a better bullpen duo in baseball than Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller? Probably not. Another duo that is amongst the best in the MLB is Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis. But do you remember when the Royals had a big 3? The other member was closer Greg Holland who was non-tendered by the Royals recently and is now a free agent. Certainly there will be numerous clubs in the mix for Holland, but his story has a twist to it. He will not be able to pitch in 2016 because he underwent Tommy John surgery late in 2015.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman arrived at the winter meetings with a solid bullpen and a second base situation filled with question marks. Although Cashman’s decisions were considered a success by many Yankees fans, the Yankees left Nashville with this situation reversed. To mitigate this problem, the Yankees should look to the help of some former pinstripers – who could help bolster the pen.   The hole in the Yankees bullpen began when the Yankees acquired 3x all-star Starlin Castro from the Cubs. After moving from SS to 2B in August, Castro hit .339 in 38 games, finishing the season with a respectable .265/11 HR/69 RBI line. Although this deal solves the Yankees pressing need of 2B help, the bombers unfortunately had to part ways with RHP Adam Warren, whose versatility and effectiveness will certainly be missed, as he pitched to a 3.29 ERA in 43 appearances (17 starts). Instead of following up this deal by acquiring an arm as many expected, Cashman left Yankee...

Cashman via Jim McIsaac We’re new nearly a month into the offseason and other than acquiring OF Aaron Hicks from the Twins for backup catcher John Ryan Murphy, the offseason has been rather quiet for the New York Yankees as well as most of baseball. As a team, there aren’t many glaring holes on the Yankees roster and the argument can be made that the Yankees are faced with a good problem: they have too many serviceable players. But that doesn’t mean they won’t make any more moves.

As the 2015 World Champion Kansas City Royals proved, a good bullpen can take a team deep into the postseason. As we all so helplessly witnessed last season, the New York Yankees bullpen needs some work. Both Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances were virtually lights out for the majority of the season and the Yankees also received solid 2015 showings out of LHP Justin Wilson, RHP Adam Warren, and LHP Chasen Shreve. Outside of those 4 relievers, the Yankees bullpen was wildly inconsistent the entire season which left Miller and Betances with over strenuous workloads. With a lot of question marks in the Yankees bullpen, signing multiple relief pitchers with a strong track record will be imperative to their success heading into 2016. Let’s take a look at some of the arms that could help bolster the Yankees bullpen at a reasonable price tag.

Although the offseason is young, the hot stove in the AL East is already burning. Yankees GM Brian Cashman has already made a few moves of his own and the Red Sox made a bold move in acquiring flamethrower Craig Kimbrel. Cashmans’ moves were relatively minor ones and under the radar, so as Yankee fans, we can hopefully look forward to some bigger ones as the offseason rolls on. Lots of rumors have been floated around by analysts and fans alike, some more believable than others.

This past season the Yankees surprised many when they over-achieved and made the postseason. They did this with timely hitting (that was extremely streaky at times), a pretty lethal back-end of the bullpen, and a so-so rotation. It is expected that teams like the Red Sox and Orioles won’t just sit back and do nothing this offseason, so if the Yankees expect to make the postseason next season they need to upgrade their rotation. One guy who in my opinion is one of the most underrated starters in the Bigs is former Baltimore Oriole Wei-Yin Chen. Here are 3 reasons the Yankees should sign Wei-Yin Chen.

Ten Years, $200,000,000. This is the contract, free-agent left-handed hitting outfielder Jason Heyward, is projected to receive this offseason according to the MLB Trade Rumors website. The team they are predicting to sign Heyward is the New York Yankees.

With the devastating imminent departure of Chris Capuano (I kid, I kid), the Yankees may look to the market to acquire a finesse left-hander to “replace” Capuano. Obviously, Capuano was absolutely dreadful and the need to a replacement for him isn’t necessary, but what if you can get a better version of him? What if that better version is Rich Hill? Am I going crazy for saying what I am about to say? I want Rich Hill.

According to many sources, the Yankees will not be pursuing any top tier free agents such as David Price and Yoenis Cespedes. For a few reasons, I think it is a good idea to steer clear from most of these players that are in for a huge raise. One reason being, like so many other times, the Yankees would be paying huge money for past performance and the decline years and like so many times before, I want to at least wait until the other headache contracts expire. For this article, I decided to take a different and possibly more realistic path to free agency and who I would like to see the Yankees target this winter to fill areas of need.