Bronx Bomber Ball

  The Yankees have been the hottest team in baseball for a decent while now, extending their winning streak to 12 late last night in Oakland. The hitting has become more consistent with clutch at-bats taking place now that were missing earlier in the year. The starting pitching has been perhaps the biggest surprise, pitching as well as any other staff across the league, and that’s without Luis Severino and Corey Kluber.

With the playoffs coming up in just over a month, the end of the season looms near. Furthermore, there’s several significant decisions to be made this offseason for the Yankees. For one, the front office must figure out the starting rotation situation. The retirement of CC Sabathia and underperformances of a few starters in 2019 means they’ll look to possibly execute some reinforcements, such as free agent right-hander Gerrit Cole. Past that though, the free agency of infielder Didi Gregorius sits atop the priority checklist. Photo Credit: Julio Cortez/AP

The Yankees have signed right-handed reliever Trevor Rosenthal, Andersen Pickard of Fan Source Network has reported. The agreement is a minor-league deal and the move should be seen as nothing more than a depth signing, as relievers Dellin Betances, Jonathan Holder, and others still remain on the Injured List. Rosenthal is the latest reliever the Yanks have acquired in attempting to get through the month of August. Photo Credit: Tony Gutierrez/AP

No matter how you felt about the deadline, it progressed differently than most would have expected, given the Yankees lack of moves. While it is undebatable that this team still has World Series talent, it is still unlike a championship contender to not address its most glaring needs. Here is what our staff had to say about what transpired: NJ.com

As we approach the Trade Deadline this afternoon, the Yankees have placed 1B Luke Voit and RHP David Hale on the 10-day IL, calling up INF Breyvic Valera and RHP Jonathan Holder to take their spots. Photo Credit: Canadian Press

The Rockies come into this series at Yankee Stadium struggling, going 2-11 over their last 13 games and now sitting dead-last in the NL West. Their struggles have been due in large part to the 5.44 ERA their pitching staff has, second-worst in baseball to the Orioles. The Yankees are certainly not the team you want to face when dealing with issues like they have. The Yanks head into the series with the best record in baseball at 62-33, eight games up on the second-place Rays in the AL East. Photo Credit: Julio Cortez/AP

Heading into Wednesday, the Yanks owned a 5.5 game lead on the Rays atop the AL East. The Rays currently have home-field advantage in the AL Wild Card game, sitting at 50-36. A series win from the Rays at Tropicana Field would put them right back into the race heading into the All-Star break. Photo Credit: Julio Cortez/AP

Right-hander Deivi Garcia of the Trenton Thunder has been selected to represent the Yankees in the upcoming 2019 MLB Futures Game.   Garcia’s value has skyrocketed this season after starting the season in High-A Tampa before eventually being promoted to the Double-A Trenton Thunder.  Photo Credit: Kevin Pataky/MiLB.com

As a follower of the Yankees, the richest franchise in baseball and fifth in all of sports, they’re often associated with superstar names when guys become available because they have the money, pedigree, and even the assets if it’s via trade. Look no further than the latest example of a potential trade target that would require a massive package, shortstop Francisco Lindor of the Cleveland Indians. Photo Credit: Ken Blaze/USA Today Sports

Right-hander Chad Green and backup catcher Kyle Higashioka have been optioned to Triple-A. In the corresponding moves, left-hander Stephen Tarpley has been called up and Gary Sanchez has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list. Jomboy of Talkin’ Yanks was first on the Green demotion and the moves were later confirmed by Yankees PR. Photo Credit: Chris Carlson/AP

The first in a five-installment series of previews on the 2019 Yankees, today we preview the projected Starting Rotation. Seen as perhaps the biggest reason as to why the Yankees haven’t nabbed a 28 th  World Series ring over the past few years, this year’s starting rotation should be an upgrade. Three of the five in the rotation are mainstays in Luis Severino, CC Sabathia, and Masahiro Tanaka. Add onto that JA Happ who was a fantastic trade deadline acquisition in 2018 and was later re-signed this offseason and James Paxton, brought over from the Mariners this offseason. Photo Credit: Kim Klement/USA Today Sports

With Yankees’ Spring Training games starting this week, writers of the BBB weigh in on what topics and they are most interested in following early in camp. Photo Credit: Eve Edelheit/New York Times * * * * * * * * * *

The Yankees have reached an agreement with right-handed free-agent reliever Adam Ottavino, as first reported by Robert Murray of The Athletic and Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reports the deal is expected to be for three-years, $27 million. Ottavino becomes the third former Rockie to sign with the Yanks in the past few weeks, joining DJ LeMahieu and Troy Tulowitzki. Photo Credit: David Zalubowski/AP

The Yankees built off last night’s win by dominating the Red Sox throughout the game to a 10-1 win on Wednesday Night Baseball on ESPN. Luis Severino outmatched lefty David Price, as the Yanks offense, unsurprisingly led by Luke Voit, continued its dominance on Price. Photo Credit: Frank Franklin II/AP

This season has been one full of ups-and-downs so far and you can look no further than the starting rotation. Jordan Montgomery, looking to build upon his strong rookie campaign, had to have Tommy John Surgery back in the early stages of the season. Luis Severino was perhaps the best pitcher in the AL for the first few months of the season and was a legitimate option to start for the AL in the All-Star game. Now, he’s a shell of the guy he was in the first half and hasn’t been right for about two months now. Severino is still surely an option to start the AL Wild Card game for the Yanks, but he’s not one of the top ones as of now. Sonny Gray, expected to establish himself as the Yankees’ #2 starter when acquired last July, has fallen off mightily to the point that he’s now a long reliever in the bullpen. As for the top three, most realistic options to start the AL WC game, it comes down to Masahiro Tanaka, JA Happ, and ageless wonder CC Sabathia. Photo Credit: AP

Facing off against another measly team in the Twins, the Yanks took advantage of another great performance by deadline acquisition JA Happ and won the first game of the series with ease.   After each offense was quite silent the first five innings, the Yanks dominated to a 7-2 win. Photo Credit: Jim Mone

On ESPN for the second consecutive night, the Yanks let go of a 2-0 lead in the middle innings against another lowly team in the Chicago White Sox. The offense was virtually nonexistent in the 6-2 loss at Yankee Stadium in a poor outing by Masahiro Tanaka. Photo Credit: Bill Kostroun/AP

The Yanks head to Cleveland for a four-game series in a rematch of the 2017 ALDS, where the Yanks fought back from a 2-0 deficit to win in five games. Despite being 10 games better than the Indians, the Yanks find themselves in second place in the AL East with the Indians sitting at first in the embarrassingly easy AL Central with a 50-31 record.   Photo Credit: Getty Images

The Yankees come into this series a bit cold after being swept by the lowly Tampa Bay Rays. They still sit at 50-25, tied for the best record in baseball with the Red Sox and Astros. The Phillies come into this series 2.5 games behind the division-leading Braves in the NL East, as they come in at 41-34. An array of young, rising stars, it should make for an intriguing series between these two.

As we near the All-Star break, the Yankees currently hold the best record in baseball at 47-22. As the best team in baseball, they’re surely expected to have multiple representatives at the All-Star Game. Who will make it? One can only guess and I made some predictions below*: Photo Credit: Getty Images