Bronx Bomber Ball

On Sunday afternoon, I parked myself on the couch, pulled the emergency brake, and settled in for nine innings of Yankee baseball.   Apart from some Yankee fielding errors, it was a good game to watch.   It was a divisional match-up that featured two fantastic pitchers on the bump.   For the Yanks it was, Masahiro Tanaka and for the Blue Jays, Marcus Stroman.   I love watching Stroman pitch; he has some of the nastiest stuff in the league.   His command is phenomenal and he fields his position incredibly well, a rare trait for a pitcher.   My “dumb fan brain” is taking the image of him pitching in Yankee Stadium, but this time it’s October and he’s wearing pinstripes.   It’s a wonderful image and not completely far-fetched.   Stroman has been linked to the Yankees as a trade target at the deadline along with Madison Bumgardner, Trevor Bauer, and a few others.   Of those three listed, Stroman would be my top option, but I tend to think the ...

It’s no question that the Yankees need to add a starting pitcher prior to the July 31 deadline. The Yankees need a proven starter who could take the ball in big games and thrive under the pressure of pitching in October. No pitcher on the trade market, and arguably in all of baseball, has the postseason credentials of Madison Bumgarner. Photo Credit: gettyimages/ Mike Stobe

The Yankees currently sit at 32-17 and are on top of the AL East. Despite this, the team has some areas it could improve in; however, Brian Cashman will not have to dig into his pocketbook or pick up the phone to get all the help this team needs. The team is expecting reinforcements off of the IL on both sides of the ball over the course of the next two months, which should give this already successful team an even bigger boost. However, this does not mean the Yankees will be silent on the trade market as more injuries could amount, setbacks can happen, and other teams will acquire big pieces resulting in the Yankees not wanting to fall behind. The Yankees are coming off two consecutive successful regular seasons followed by postseason failures, and still have the minor league talent to swing some game-changing deals. With this in mind, here are six early candidates to keep an eye on as the major league season transitions into the summer months. Photo Credit: Balt...

Remain calm. Everything is going to be okay. Well, at least I think they will. The Yankees have undergone an almost comical string of injuries to key players in 2019 and yet have still managed to play at such a competitive level that they find themselves just one-half game back of the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East.   And yet, all I see on fellow blogs, the New York tabloids and Twitter is that this team is a mess and is in urgent need of a top-shelf starting pitcher in order for them to remain in the race over the course of the 2019 season. Photo Credit: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images Let me make this unequivocally clear: such takes are nothing but stark overreactions.

As we close in on the Major League Baseball non-waiver trade deadline on July 31st, it's about that time of year where we start analyzing potential trade targets as well as which prospects might be on the move as part of those deals.  Our own Maxx Hotton recently completed a series of pieces in which he previewed potential trade packages for  Jacob deGrom ,  Cole Hamels , JA Happ , and  Madison Bumgarner .  However, the trade deadline (as well as the weeks immediately following the conclusion of the World Series) are also a time for teams to starting thinking about future roster constructions and get their 40-man rosters in shape.   Left to Right: Justus Sheffield, Chance Adams, Dillon Tate Photo Credit: Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

Last year Cashman acquired Sonny Gray, Jaime Garcia, David Robertson, Tommy Khanle, and Todd Frazier before the July 31st deadline, which helped drive the Bombers to game seven of the ALCS, but they gave up some of their better prospect in the process. The team has its sights set on a championship, so GM Brian Cashman will undoubtedly upgrade the starting pitching at the deadline, but who and for what? Getty Images

Since Spring Training, it has seemed like a foregone conclusion: the Yankees will make a deal for a starting pitcher. Now, with the announcement on Tuesday that left-hander Jordan Montgomery will require Tommy John Surgery to repair his throwing elbow, the need is more pressing than ever. Thanks to a lack of consistency from everyone in the Yankees rotation aside from ace Luis Severino, Brian Cashman will have to work his magic again to ensure that New York has a fighting chance against their American League foes if the Yankees make a playoff run. So, what moves can Cashman reasonably make that would bolster the Yankees rotation for October baseball?   Photo Credit:  Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images

As we enter the final weekend of the month of April, the Bronx Bombers find themselves on a tear. They got off to a bit of a rough start to their season, going 9-9 in the first 18, but finished their homestand winning six straight games, with the most recent victory being a come from behind walk off win. All is good in Yankee land at the moment; the bats are coming to life, the bullpen seems to be getting it back together after a few implosions, and there have been some terrific performances from the starters over the past week; yet not from all the starters. While Luis Severino, CC and Gumby have all looked sharp through their first few starts, Sonny Gray has been downright dreadful, and Masahiro Tanaka has also been shaky despite a couple of stellar performances. The Yanks find themselves on the outside looking in when you talk about elite rotations. The Astros, Red Sox and Indians all have superior rotations to the Yanks at this moment, which as we saw last postseason, is usually t...