Bronx Bomber Ball

The Yankees dropped a heartbreaker by a score of 2-0 to the LA Dodgers yesterday after Dellin Betances had a ninth inning he would like to forget. The Yankees closer had an abysmal inning allowing two LA runs to score leading to New York losing two of three. The Bronx Bombers head North on I-95 for a four game weekend showdown against their long time rivals the AL East division leading Boston Red Sox. The Yankees have played their way back into the playoff race along with Baltimore and Toronto as they all sit just a few games behind the first place Boston Red Sox. New York could really push themselves even closer to a playoff spot with a good series against their historic foes. It has been ten years since both teams were really fighting hard for a playoff spot this late in the season. Strap in folks there is sure to be some fireworks at Fenway this weekend, it’s Yanks and Sox with the division title on the line.

The Yankees will head to Boston Tuesday night for a three game series with their longtime AL East rivals. The two teams have met nine times this year with the boys from the Bronx victorious in three of those games. New York is coming off an impressive series win against the Cleveland Indians taking two of three games. Since the Yankees decided to sell the team has become so much more exciting to watch. Over the weekend the Yankees had two huge events happen: Mark Teixeira announced he would retire after the 2016 season and on Sunday the team announced that DH Alex Rodriguez would play his last game this Friday and then take on a special advisor role with the team thus effectively ending his playing career. As if times weren’t exciting enough the rivalry is renewed again, the Red Sox are in the thick of the playoff hunt though they have struggled as of late and the Yankees are not quite out of things yet as they could sneak back into contention with a good series against Boston.

Clint Frazier Photo Credit: Cheryl Pursell | Pinstriped Prospects Trade deadline sellers for the first time in over 25 years, the New York Yankees made an abundance of trades in an attempt for a rebuild of some sort. Although the Yankees will remain competitive, the moves made were clearly in the interest of the team in the long term as opposed to this year's team. First, they went out and dealt Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs for four players including Gleyber Torres and Adam Warren. The Yankees next move was trading Andrew Miller to the Indians for four prospects including Clint Frazier. Then, the team acquired Tyler Clippard from the Diamondbacks to fortify the bullpen for the time being. But the Yankees weren't done there. On the day of the trade deadline, the Yankees traded Carlos Beltran to the Rangers for three prospects, and they got rid of Ivan Nova for two players to be named later from the Pirates. Now, hear from our very own writer's with their thoughts on the ...

The Yankees will open up the second half of the season with a weekend series against their historic rivals, the Boston Red Sox. The Bronx Bombers come into play sitting at .500 with a 44-44 record. The Yanks are 2-4 against their long time foes this season with Boston sweeping the first series of the season in late April and the Yankees taking two of three from Boston in early May. This series is important for New York for not only bragging rights against Boston, but this series could make or break what the Yankees do at the deadline. GM Brian Cashman is reportedly at odds with team President Randy Levine and owner Hal Steinbrenner on whether to buy or sell at this year’s trade deadline. Buckle up for a series of four hour games; its Yankees and Red Sox live from the Bronx.

The Yankees are coming off a split against the American League’s top team, the Texas Rangers. After being outplayed and games one and two and for the most part of game three the Bronx Bombers were able to rally late on Wednesday and walk-off thanks to a Didi Gregorius home run. Michael Pineda came up huge in game four and “No Runs DMC” lived up to their name, the Yanks were able to walk off again after Robinson Chirinos let a Tony Barnette pitch by to the backstop allowing Chase Headley to score. The Yankees now sit with a 39-39 record good for 4 th  place in the AL East. That being said these last two wins over the Rangers were beyond impressive and showed that these guys still have some fight left in them. That brings us to this weekend series where it will be a rematch of the 1998 World Series when the Bombers travel west to sunny San Diego to take on the Padres.

Picture Credit: Steve Mitchell | USA TODAY Sports Let me just say this first and foremost the Yankees should sell. Sell sell sell sell! As of right now, they sit with a record of 28-30 with three far better teams in front of them in the division. After years and years of dominance the Yankees just haven’t been the same. They missed the playoffs in 2013 and 2014 and were eliminated by Dallas Keuchel and the Astros in the play in game last year.

The Yankees earned their first three game win streak of the season last night after a 8-3 victory over the Athletics last night in Oakland. CC Sabathia picked up the win for the Bronx Bombers in his first start off the DL, besting Oakland’s Sonny Gray. Today’s game saw Masahiro Tanaka against the southpaw Sean Manaea, who came into today’s game toting a hefty 7 plus ERA. Tanaka has struggled in his last two outings, but the Yankees offense led by the suddenly red-hot Jacoby Ellsbury should tee off on the Athletics once again. Picture Credit: Associated Press/Eric Risberg

Below is the fantasy draft results from the BBB's fantasy draft for those interested. We have a 12 team league which is comprised of all of the writers here at the BBB . We held the draft Sunday, March 20th. The link to the fantasy league if you would like to view it is at the bottom of this page.

There aren’t many times you get to hear both ends of this rivalries spectrum in one article, but alas, you have a Yankees and a Red Sox fan willing to share our most riveting experiences – both good and bad. We're unique at the BBB, as we are a group of Yankee fans writing about the organization, but we happen to have one Red Sox fan who graciously writes for us. Even though the two sides will never get along, for the most part, and never share the same outlook on things, we do agree on one particular thing: we all are a part of the best rivalry in sports. And the stories and experiences that come with the best rivalry in sports range from walk-off winners, to fights and sometimes outbidding the other team for a lucrative free agent. Yankees versus Red Sox. There's nothing better. Photo Via jZTours

Last week I wrote an article comparing the Yankees offensive players to their counterparts on the other four teams in the division. With the news that promising youngster Greg Bird will miss the entire 2016 season this seems like a good time to mention some of the positives the Yankees have going for them. The bullpen in 2016 should be the Yankees strongest area but again not to be outdone as their four AL East foes have also done some retooling. Let’s see where the Yankees stand in the battle of the bullpens.

About a year ago I wrote an article comparing the Yankees to their four division rivals at each position. Due to that article receiving good feedback I have decided to do the same. We know how 2015 ended, the Yankees made the play in game and were dominated by Houston Astros ace Dallas Keuchel. The Yankees went into the offseason at a bit of a crossroads. They addressed some issues and made drastic improvements while other needs have been left untouched by Yankees ownership.

In the sixth episode of the Bronx Bomber Blog Podcast, Bryan Peng, Matt Cote, and Phil Akre break down the David Price signing for both the Red Sox and the Yankees and the impact on both, the current status of Yankees pitching and looking at both the free agency and trade market, and further analyze the outfield situation with Brett Gardner potentially on the trading block. Unfortunately, due to some technical difficulties, the final 3 minutes of this podcast was cut out and lost but due to the majority of it being uploaded, we'll keep it up for you all. Follow Bryan Peng  @bpeng7 Follow Matt Cote  @mcote31 Follow Phil Akre  @philakre Follow the Bronx Bomber Blog  @bronxbomberblog

On the fourth episode of the Bronx Bomber Blog Podcast, Matt Cote, Aaron Carroll, and Bryan Peng discuss the trade rumors surrounding Andrew Miller, debate Jason Heyward and Justin Upton, whether the Yankees need a starting pitcher or a more consistent outfielder, talk Ben Zobrist, and finish with a discussion on how the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry needs to be more intense. If you'd like to watch it on Youtube, you can watch directly from here or follow this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez7jtKoSZ7U ! If you'd like to listen to the audio version on soundcloud, it is below so you can listen here, or follow this link to our soundcloud  https://soundcloud.com/bronxbomberblog/bbb-episode-four-andrew-miller-heyward-vs-upton-and-ben-zobrist . Follow Matt Cote  @mcote31 Follow Aaron Carroll  @ACarroll116 Follow Bryan Peng  @bpeng7 Follow the Bronx Bomber Blog  @bronxbomberblog

On the third episode of the Bronx Bomber Blog Podcast, Chad Raines and Matt Cote discuss more on free agency, which begins Saturday. Topics include Justin Upton, the Yankees needing a reliable left-handed pitcher, the inflation of MLB contracts, and trading for Craig Kimbrel. They also discuss free agent bidding wars in the AL East and look forward to the division for the 2016 season! Follow Chad Raines  @chad_rain Follow Matt Cote  @MCote31 Follow the Bronx Bomber Blog  @bronxbomberblog

Here is the first Bronx Bomber Blog Podcast! We look forward to bringing you guys many more in the future. In this episode, our very own Nick Scott, Matt Cote, and Bryan Peng break down Nick's newest article on potential trades for three talented pitchers: Carlos Carrasco, Tyson Ross, and Sonny Gray! Enjoy! Follow Nick on twitter  @TeixeiraFanClub Follow Matt on twitter  @MCote31 Follow Bryan on twitter  @BPeng7

The Yankees made the playoffs for the first time since 2012 in 2015, yeah I know it shocks me to even write it. But despite injuries to key players the Yankees were able to snag a Wild Card slot and they were awarded home field advantage against the exciting Houston Astros. Sadly lady luck was not on New York’s side as Houston through their ace Dallas Keuchel and he stifled the Bombers bats for the third time this year allowing zero runs and keeping his ERA at 0.00 against the Yanks. Questions lingered after the loss? Why was the $153 million dollar man Jacoby Ellsbury on the bench? Should Masahiro Tanaka have been left in longer or pulled sooner? All of these questions brought up others like should the Yankees of countered the Blue Jays trade deadline moves? (New York blew an 8 game lead in the AL East after Toronto traded for David Price and Troy Tulowtizki.) Why did Stephen Drew and Chris Capuano have roster spots? How come Rob Refsnyder was rotting away in Scranton with Michael ...

Something about the Cleveland Indians just gets in the Yankees head. The Bronx Bombers dropped three of four from the Tribe at the stadium this weekend and five of seven overall against Cleveland. A team like the Indians shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath as the Yankees and that is what makes these losses so frustrating. Whether it be Didi Gregorius failure to move runners home who are in scoring position, Stephen Drew’s ineptitude with a bat or Dellin Betances not being able to contain Francisco Lindor. Any way you slice it this was a bad weekend for the Yankees. Oh and lets not forget the surging Toronto Blue Jays who are now in sole possession of first place after their victory against the Angels yesterday. To make matters worse the red hot Houston Astros have come to town this weekend (now the title makes sense right?).

Bet you didn’t expect song lyrics in the title did you? Maybe the hate isn’t what it used to be but Friday night in Boston the greatest rivalry in sports continues as the first place Yankees take on their historic foes, the surging Boston Red Sox. The Yankees have taken four of six from the Red Sox this year including a three game sweep in early May. New York is fresh off a series win against the Oakland A’s while the Red Sox have won their last four series and won nine of their last twelve. The Bronx Bombers have 5.5 game lead on the Red Sox who currently sit last in the division. This series could cement the division for the Yankees or allow the Red Sox to get right back in the thick of things in the AL East.

  This wasn’t how it was supposed to be and yet I doubt Alex Rodriguez envisioned it any differently. The longtime Yankee star collected his 3,000 th career hit on Friday, launching and opposite field A-Bomb off Detroit starter Justin Verlander. Yankee Stadium erupted in applause for Alex as he circled the bases and I’m sure 150 thoughts raced through his mind (one being how to get my ball back from the guy who caught it). As he crossed home plate he was greeted with hugs from his teammates. After he entered the dugout he retreated and waved fondly to the legions of Yankee fan so ecstatic they had seen history and were gracing their star with a well deserved curtain call. For a moment Alex Rodriguez was King again. Reality would soon set in with the explosion of “A-Fraud, and steroid user” taunts on social media. People yelling for an asterisk and saying that his accomplishment is tainted. Regardless of your opinion (mine being I would never vote a PED user into the Hall of Fame)...

The Queen City of Cincinnati, Ohio will play host to the 2015 MLB All Star game in a little over a month. The first place Yankees should be well represented at this year’s midsummer classic.  Gone now are the core four who would regularly make the All Star team year after year but that doesn’t mean the Yanks lack any star power. Let’s take a look at some possible Yankee All Stars.