Bronx Bomber Ball

  On Tuesday evening, the New York Yankees agreed to terms with all but one of their arbitration eligible players, the one being star right-fielder Aaron Judge who is seeking a long-term extension with the club.   The Yankees have not gone to an arbitration hearing with any of their players since the 2017 debacle with Dellin Betances.   Aaron Judge has requested a salary of $21 million for the 2022 season and the Yankees have countered with an offer of $17 million.   If the two sides cannot settle in the middle or reach that extension, they’ll head for a hearing, which due to the delays brought on by the lockout, will likely occur in-season.

Weekly Preview: NYY @ KC 8/9 - 8/11,  NYY @ CHW 8/12 (Field of Dreams Game), 8/14-8/15   We should have so many reasons to be happy heading into the week of the highly-anticipated (and postponed) Field of Dreams game.   Photo credit: CBS Sports

***Edit*** This was supposed to be a Series Preview before the Yankees got fucked up by Covid, so maybe enjoy the little bit of optimism I had before this news, if you want to, and watch my reaction to the news as it came out *s show order of edits  Photo by Alex Trautwig/MLB Photos Yankees vs Red Sox Preview 7/15-7/18 The Bombers start their second half tonight  tomorrow night, beginning a four game series with the first  place Red Sox. The Yankees (46-43) enter the second half of their schedule 8 games behind the Red Sox (55-36) for first place in the AL East and 4.5 games behind the Oakland Athletics (52-40) for the second Wild Card spot after their nightmare first half of the year. Winners of five of their last seven games entering the All Star Break, this series will be a play a huge factor in determining how they play out the rest of their season. Will they look like the confident team, who was having fun playing baseball, that we saw about to sweep the Astros this ...

  The question on everyone’s mind as we head into this week is: Are the Yankees back? 

  We are now firmly underway with this 2021 MLB season. At 34 games in, we are a little bit past “it’s still early” territory and at this point we can start to discuss some of what we’ve seen with a more meaningful sample size behind it. The Yankees did not get out of the gates strongly this season and while they have played better and strung together wins the past few weeks, their performances have been uneven. While several key names are still worth being concerned about offensively, the Yankees have managed to not lose a series since the Tampa Bay series from April 16th-18th. The obvious strengths of the team to this point of the season have been 1) Gerrit Cole, 2) The bullpen and 3) The recent white hot hitting streak of Giancarlo Stanton. While the Yankees starting rotation and offense had both been inconsistent to start the season, it is the rotation that is leading this Yankees charge back into solid baseball and series wins. Specifically, it is the stabilization of Corey Kl...

  The Yankees wrapped up their nine-game homestand this weekend taking two of three from the Washington Nationals, finishing the homestand 7-2 overall.   Both of the Yankees’ wins came in walk-off fashion, following an ugly loss on Friday night in the series’ first game.  The Yankees will hit the road at 18-16, in second place in the AL East, 3.5 games back of Boston.

  Fresh off a weekend sweep against the lowly Detroit Tigers, the Yankees welcome the Houston Astros to the Bronx in a long-awaited rematch.   This will be the first time since the 2019 ALCS that the two teams have faced off against one another, the first time since the Astros were caught cheating during their 2017 World Championship campaign, and the first time fans will be in attendance to hopefully boo the ever living shit out of them.   Following the three-game set against the Astros, the Yankees will wrap up their homestand with a weekend series against the Washington Nationals.

Photo credit: Rome Sentinel

  Photo credit: Lineups.com

  Well that stunk. The Yankees got their season underway with a series loss against the Blue Jays this weekend. While their pitching was very solid and left reasons for optimism, it was a very frustrating weekend of hitting to watch. For most of the weekend, the Yankees had a lot of traffic on the bases, but were not able to cash in time and time again. The hits and the RBIs will eventually come but until then, lets look at what the Yankees have coming up. Credit: ESPN.com

Coming into this offseason, the starting rotation was at the top of Yankees fans’ minds along with a new contract for DJ LeMahieu.    After allowing JA Happ to leave in free agency and Masahiro Tanaka returning to Japan, and still awaiting the return of Luis Severino after Tommy John surgery prior to Spring Training last season, the Yankees have some new faces in the rotation, as well as a few familiar ones returning.    Welcome to the 2021 BBB Preview of the Yankees Starting Rotation.                                  Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images

It’s obvious that pitching has been an issue for the Yankees over the past few years. It’s early, but through Spring Training, this year seems a little bit different. Starting from the top, you’ve got the ace, Gerrit Cole. The 300 million dollar man. He’s going to be leaned on a lot all year. Expect big things from him every five days on the mound. He is the leader of this staff. So far this spring, through 12 innings, he’s 3-0 with a 3.55 ERA and adds in 19 strikeouts. These are numbers we’re looking for, and we can only expect more during the regular season.

Say it isn't so. Photo credit: DSK

  The New York Yankees have seemingly filled out their starting rotation after acquiring Pirates right hander Jameson Taillon in a trade today.   News that the Yankees were first pursuing Taillon broke last night from MLB.com insider Mark Feinsand .   The Yankees, up against Major League Baseball’s luxury tax line with little room to spare, were looking to add to their starting rotation at a lower AAV than would be available on the free agent market.   Today, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Yankees were able to complete the deal for Taillon, sending minor league prospects Miguel Yajure, Roansy Contreras, Maikel Escotto and Canaan Smith to Pittsburgh to complete the deal.