Recent passings. One is Billy Gardner, a member of the 1961 Yankees.

Before I get into recent passings from the baseball world, just a note:

If a trade happens, it may be by Friday. Friday is when arbitration numbers have to be filed and the yanks will have a better idea of where they stand number wise as far as budget goes and where they want to go as far as luxury tax. Thanks to 161 river avenue for reminding us of this.

There’s a reason for the slowness. Most top free agents are Boras clients. Boras is notorious for overvaluing his clients. He waits out teams hoping one gets desperate and cracks. It may be going the other way. Teams waiting out Boras to have him lower unreasonable demands. That’s why we’ve seen dumpster diving moves only. There are things brewing but at what price as far as money or players.

The Yanks did sign an infielder, Kevin Smith, yesterday. They have recently picked up Smith, Jeter Downs and Vivas as infielders, so I expect a trade soon involving an infielder. You trade out of surplus, not lack of depth, and with the recent dumpster diving pickups of infielders, the Yanks seem to have a surplus there. Smith, 27, is a 3B/SS who has played in the majors (2021-2023) with Toronto and Oakland. Despite some great power numbers in the minors recently, his MLB numbers in 114 games are .173-8-25, OPS+ 47.

Billy Gardner passed away last week at the age of 96. He was a member of the 1961 Yankees, and other than Tony Kubek and Bobby Richardson, I don’t know how many members of that legendary team are still alive. Gardner, an infielder, played for the NY Giants (1954-1955), Orioles (1956-1959) Washington Senators (1960) Minnesota Twins (after the original Senators moved to Minnesota) (1961), Yankees (1961-1962), and Red Sox (1962-1963). He hit .237 in his career with 41 HR. His 162-game average was .237-6-42, OPS+ 70. In 1957 he finished 12th in MVP voting after a .262-6-55 season in which he led the AL with 36 doubles. The Yankees picked him up in the middle of the 1961 season, and he got into 41 games with the Yankees, 99 at bats, .212-1-2. In 1962 he got into only four games with one at bat before being dealt to Boston. He was a member of two WS champs, the 1954 Giants and the 1961 Yankees. He didn’t play in the 1954 WS, but did get one at bat, making an out, in the 1961 Fall Classic.

Other notable passings.

1B Chuck Harrison, 1B. 82. Played for Houston (1965-1967) and the Kansas City Royals (1969, 1971). Hit .238 with 17 HR in 328 MLB games, of which 119 were in 1966 when he hit .256-9-52.

Carlos Pulido on Dec. 28. 52. LHP. Twins 1994, then came back to them in 2003-2004. 3-8, 5.98 in his career in 32 games, 15 of them starts.

Ryan Minor. 1B/3B. Died Dec. 22 at the age of 49. Played for the Orioles (1998-2000) and Expos (2001). 142 MLB games, .177-5-27, OPS+ 26. He was the guy who played 3B, taking over for Cal Ripken Jr., when Ripken ended his record consecutive game streak at 2632 at the end of the 1998 season.

Gardner, pitcher for Yanks and Mets, passes away, age 78.

Rob Gardner, a lefty spot starter/long reliever who pitched for the Yanks and Mets in his career, has recently passed away at the age of 78.

Gardner pitched for the Mets (1965-1966), Cubs (1967), Indians (1968), Yankees (1970), A’s (1971), Yankees again (1971-1972), A’s again (1973) and Brewers (1973).

His main seasons were in 1966, 41 games, 17 starts, 4-8, 5.12 for the Mets and in 1970 for the Yankees, when he went 8-5, 3.06 in 20 games, 14 of them starts.

For his career, he was 14-18, 4.35 in 109 games, of which 42 were starts.

Yanks sign OF/1B Franchy Cordero; Volpe to wear #11

The Yankees signed OF/1B Franchy Cordero to a contract on Wednesday. Cordero, 28, lefty bat, has played all 3 OF positions and 1B in his MLB career. In 227 MLB games, he has hit .221 with 21 HR and an OPS+ of 83. Not impressive, but maybe the Yanks can tap into his lefty power (6’3″, 225 lb) at Yankee Stadium.

Cordero has played for the Padres (2017-2019), Royals (2020) and Red Sox (2021-2022). Last year for Boston, in 84 games, he hit .219-8-29, OPS+ 92.

Anthony Volpe, who wore #77 in spring training, has switched numbers, He will wear #11, last worn by Brett Gardner. Some other notables in Yankees history to wear #11 include Lefty Gomez (probably the best and most notable of the bunch), Joe Page, Johnny Sain, Hector Lopez, Fred “Chicken” Stanley, Dwight Gooden, Chuck Knoblauch, Gary Sheffield, and Gardner. There were others, but I just wanted to list a few. In a classy move, Volpe asked Gardner for permission to wear it, and Gardy approved.

S.T. Game 28. Afternoon (home) game of split squad. Volpe homers, Cole sharp, Abreu not. Yanks lose, 6-4.

The Yanks had split squad games, one at home in the afternoon and one on the road at night.

This is the afternoon game. Anthony Volpe (more on him in a bit) homered, and Gerrit Cole was in midseason form, but Albert Abreu blew a Yankees lead late and the Yanks (10-16-2 in spring training) lost to the Twins, 6-4.

Meanwhile it was reported that Carlos Rodon should be ready in early May. He will miss the first month of the season.

The race for the SS job may come down to the last day, but as far as I’m concerned, I’d go with Volpe. A few tidbits, most if not all by Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.

Volpe, if he is the opening day starter, would be the youngest opening day starter since Derek Jeter in 1996.

He would be making his MLB debut. Since 1951, the only Yankees to make their MLB debut on opening day have been Mickey Mantle in 1951, Jerry Lumpe in 1956 and Hideki Matsui in 2003.

The last Yankee players who had rookie qualification to be in the Opening Day lineup were Aaron Judge in 2017 and Brett Gardner in 2009.

Aaron Judge was in LF and threw out a runner at second today. I don’t think CF or LF would be a problem for him.

Volpe 1 for 4, HR, 2 RBI #1 prospect. Will be interesting to see if he is opening day SS. I think he should be.
Willie Calhoun 1 for 4. Will be interesting to see if he makes the team.
Jose Trevino 2 for 3.
Estevan Florial 1 for 2, 2 RBI.

Those are all five of the Yankees’ hits. They were 1 for 10 w/RISP.

Cole 5 2/3 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 0 W, 3 K.
Cordero (H) 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K. Will he make the bullpen?
Abreu (BS, L) 1 1/3 IP, 5 R, 4 H, 1 W, 0 K. Gave up 2 HR.
M. Gomez 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.

Yanks sign Cordero, Inciarte to minor league deals.

With the lockout, not much is going on, but the Yankees did sign two to minor league deals yesterday.

RHP Jimmy Cordero, 30. Washington, 2018, Toronto 2019, and the White Sox 2019-2020. 3-5, 4.55, ERA+ 99 in 83 MLB games, all in relief. Pitched in 2 games, 3 2/3 scoreless innings of relief for the White Sox in the 2020 postseason. He missed all of 2021 after having had TJ surgery in March, 2021.

They also signed Ender Inciarte, 31, lefty hitting OF. Inciarte is a 1x All-Star, and 3x Gold Glove winner. He’s stolen 20 or more bases in three separate seasons. A .280 lifetime hitter, his 162 game average is .280-8-50 with 22 SB and an OPS+ of 91. But in 163 games since 2018, Inciarte has only hit .223-8-44, 12 SB and an OPS+ of only 67. He hit .215-2-10 for the Braves in 2021, OPS+ 55. He was released by the Braves in July so he wasn’t part of their WS Championship run. He signed with the Reds, didn’t play for them, and was released by the Reds in August. He has played with Arizona (2014-2015) and Atlanta (2016-2021).

Inciarte provides some depth (along with maybe Estevan Florial) in case Aaron Hicks can’t pick up the slack in CF. Hicks missed most of the 2021 season with a wrist injury and has been injury prone. Florial, 24, has shown flashes but despite hitting .300 (6 for 20) in the majors last year (and 7 for 23 in his MLB career), he only hit .219-17-47 with 13 SB between AA/AAA in 2021.

With Hicks injury last year, Brett Gardner was forced into more playing time than expected in 2021. Not only that, at times Aaron Judge started in CF, along with some appearances by journeymen Greg Allen and Jonathan Davis. Allen and Davis are both gone, and Gardner is now a free agent, but Gardner is 38 years old. Gardner only hit .222-10-39 in 2021, OPS+ 90. With Inciarte being younger, having had some speed and a lefty bat, you wonder if the signing is to replace Gardner on the roster with Inciarte and you wonder if this is a goodbye to the long-time Yankee in Gardner. Also, don’t be surprised if the Yankees still pursue someone else for CF.

Speaking of Judge, he just got married last week in Hawaii.

Free agents and players lost on waivers.

Here is a list of free agents. We will see who, if anyone, the Yankees bring back.

Corey Kluber (doubtful. 36 in April, missed 1/2 of 2021)
Andrew Heaney (definitely not)
Anthony Rizzo (maybe)
Joely Rodriguez
Brett Gardner (at 38, could retire)
Darren O’Day (39, could retire)
Ryan LaMarre
Brody Koerner
Adam Warren

The best shot of anyone returning seems to be Rizzo, and that is a question mark.

These players were placed on waivers and claimed by another team.

Greg Allen by Pittsburgh.
Tim Locastro by Boston.
Andrew Velazquez by the Angels.

I don’t understand the love and weeping over Velazquez. He was a nice story. Hometown lad, nice glove. But in 68 plate appearances struck out 23x and drew only 1 walk. Hit .224. A .184 career hitter in the majors with an OPS+ of 43 (100 is average). Besides, Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza are their top two prospects, both a year or two away, and both are SS. Not only that, the Yanks will probably make a big splash on the free agent market (Corey Seager?) for a SS.

Lastly, Rob Brantly was outrighted off the roster right to the SWB roster.
UPDATE: He refused the assignment and became a free agent.

Yanks season over. Lose wild card game 6-2 to Boston.

Until he dominates in the postseason, until he wins a big postseason game for the Yankees, Gerrit Cole is going to have to carry last night’s performance like a millstone around his neck.

Ask A-Rod. A-Rod’s postseason failures haunted him until the Yanks finally broke through in 2009, led by a lot of A-Rod heroics.

Unfortunately, it comes with the territory. $36MM a year and $324MM over a 9-yr. deal come with high expectations and demands. It comes with the territory.

Getting knocked out in the third inning of a postseason game isn’t one of them. Neither is having a 7.00 ERA at Fenway this year while being 2.94 everywhere else.

Cole, and manager Aaron Boone, denied anything was physically wrong with Cole, but you have to wonder. After leaving a game because of left hamstring tightness about a month ago, Cole hadn’t been the same since. Last night, the Yankees’ ace, who led the AL with 16 wins, gave up a 2-run HR (Xander Bogaerts) in the first inning, a solo shot (Kyle Schwarber) in the third, and only got six outs. When he departed, the Yanks were down 3-0.

He had to be near perfect, because the Yankees’ offense, so disappointing all season, disappointed again, save for Giancarlo Stanton. The Yanks got only six hits, three by Stanton. All three of Stanton’s hits seemed like they would leave the park. One did. Two were singles banged off the Green Monster, the third a HR that snuck around the Pesky Pole in RF. But other than Stanton, not much.

Anthony Rizzo hit a solo HR in the top of the sixth for the Yanks that made it 3-1, then came a huge mistake. Aaron Judge singled and Stanton hit a rocket. It seemed like the Yanks were coming back, but Judge was thrown out at the plate on an awful send by 3B coach Phil Nevin. It wasn’t close. The Yanks got something like 23 runners thrown out at home this season. That is unacceptable and that play at the plate took all the starch out of a possible Yankees comeback. Getting so many runners thrown out at home, whether it be bad coaching or bad base-running, has to change in 2022.

After that misplay in the top of the sixth, Boston scored once in the sixth and twice in the seventh (all 3 RBI Alex Verdugo) to go up 6-1. Stanton’s HR in the ninth made it 6-2, but the Yanks are going home for the winter.

In what could be the last game of his career, Brett Gardner was 0 for 3 with 3 strikeouts.

Changes need to be made. Lots of them. If not, the Yanks won’t get further than this (and they barely made the postseason, squeaking in by one game over Toronto with a 1-0 win on the last day of the season) and may become worse, what with teams like Toronto and Seattle catching up. Those changes may be many, and yes, could involve some favorites. And those changes could involve everyone from the top down (except some high-salaried and some other players who can’t be moved).

I’ll be writing more about some changes I think need to be done later.

Rizzo solo HR
Stanton 3 hits, solo HR.


Cole (L) 2+IP, 3 R, 4 H, 2 W, 3 K. Gave up 2 HR.
Holmes 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Severino 1 1/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K.
Loaisiga 1 IP, 2 R, 0 H, 3 W, 2 K.
Green 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K.

Yankees pitchers walked 7. You can’t do that, especially in a postseason game. The Yanks struck out 11x.

The Yanks made a few moves before the game. 3rd catcher (Brantly), more speed (Allen). To bring them up, starters who they knew they wouldn’t/couldn’t use, like Kluber, Montgomery and Taillon were left off the roster, only to be reinstated for the ALDS had the Yanks won. They were going for speed and defense, figuring a close game. In the end, it wasn’t necessary.

Game 161. The “Lowe”-down. It’s a mess. Yanks 12-2 loss causes Sunday scramble.

How to be nice. I turned the game off in the middle of it, it was embarrassing. Later I read that Gleyber Torres had to have a talking-to by Aaron Judge and Brett Gardner for lack of hustle—which is unacceptable, but even more so in the last weekend of a pennant race scramble.

Jordan Montgomery had nothing, while Tampa Bay’s Brandon Lowe hit 3 home runs and drove in 7 runs. Tampa Bay got 19 hits to the Yankees’ 4, and crushed the Yankees, 12-2. The Yanks struck out 13x.

Boston’s win put Boston in the driver’s seat to host the wild card game. A 4-way tie for the two wild card spots is still possible. A 3-way tie is also possible. A Game 163, and even a Game 164 is still possible.

Wild Card Standings.

Boston 91-70 —- Top wild card seed for now.
YANKEES 91-70 2nd wild card seed for now.
Seattle and Toronto. 90-71 -1

If all teams win, or all teams lose Sunday, the Yanks head to Fenway for the wild card game.

If the Yanks win, they are in. Simple as that. If they win and Boston loses to Washington, the Yankees host whomever in the wild card game. If Boston wins, they host whomever in the wild card game.

If the Yanks lose on Sunday, then they are still in as long as Seattle (vs. Angels) and Toronto (vs. Baltimore) both lose. The Yanks must win and Boston lose for the Yanks to host the wild card game.

And not to go any further, there are still the possibilities of a three or four-way tie, as mentioned above. There will be a lot of scoreboard watching since all games start at approximately the same time.

Jameson Taillon will start for the Yanks today. With that ankle, I’m not sure that is a good idea. You don’t know how it will respond or how long he can go. I think I would rather start Luis Severino (who has been great since returning off the IL), see how long he can go (he isn’t stretched out) then go to the bullpen.

Obviously the Yanks are saving Gerrit Cole (who hasn’t been that good lately) for Game 163 or the wild card game.

The Yanks, before yesterday’s game, brought up Andrew Velazquez and sent down Albert Abreu. D.J. LeMahieu has a sports hernia which requires surgery after the season. He will try to play through it. He couldn’t go Friday or Saturday.

Montgomery gave up a 3-run HR in the first inning to Lowe. Anthony Rizzo homered (22) in the bottom of the first to cut the Rays’ lead to 3-1.

Tampa Bay got four runs in the third, knocking Montgomery out, and the game was basically over at that point. Lowe hit another 3-run HR. Mike Zunino followed with a solo shot. 7-1.

With one out in the bottom of the fourth inning, Joey Gallo singled and Gio Urshela tripled and it was 7-2.

A single, a couple of SB (with a 7-2 lead, kind of rubbing it in) and another single made it 8-2 Rays in the sixth. Anyone notice runners are stealing more bases off the Yanks in the past week?

In the seventh, Lowe led off the inning with his third HR of the game. 9-2. Then a single, another single, and a 3-run HR by Austin Meadows. 12-2. Ugh.

As for the Yanks, forget the scoreboard watching. Just go out and win today and then see if you stay home or pack for Boston. Lose and things have to get sorted out. Just win, baby.

Depending on how things work out, this could be 38 year old Brett Gardner’s last home game. We hope not.

Yankees’ broadcaster Ken Singleton made it official. Today will be his last game. He is retiring.

Rizzo solo HR (22; Cubs/NYY)

Montgomery (L, 6-7) 2 2/3 IP, 7 R, 6 H, 3 W, 3 K. gave up 3 HR. 3.83. Bad time for a bad game.
Luetge 3 IP, 1 R, 4 , 0 W, 4 K. 2.74
King 1/3 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. 3.55
Rodriguez 3 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 1 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR. 4.66 (Tex/NYY).

Game 160. Yanks lose, 4-3. M’s loss means Yanks magic # to get in is 1. Guarantee Game 163 if nec.

The Yanks lost to Tampa Bay Friday night, 4-3, but did get help as the Angels beat the Mariners 2-1. The Yanks control their own destiny as far as getting into the playoffs. They do NOT control their own destiny as to where the wild card game would be. There are just two games left in the season, with a Game 163 a real possibility.

WILD CARD STANDINGS:

YANKEES 91-69 — top wild card as of now.
Boston 90-70 -1
Seattle and Toronto 89-71 -2, and 1 game behind Boston.

If the Yankees win both Saturday and Sunday, they host the wild card game. That is the easiest way. They can also host it if they win one game and Boston loses one game. They just may not know who they host. If the Yanks and Boston tie with 92 wins, Boston hosts the Yankees. The most Seattle and Toronto can get is 91 wins. Of course if Boston finishes with 92, the Yanks 91 and the other two at 90, Boston hosts the Yankees.

But what if there is a three or four way tie at 91 wins? We won’t go there. Of course (and doubtful, since Boston and Toronto are playing cellar-dwellers) is that the Yanks end with 91 and the others all tie at 90.

One thing we know. The Yanks have at least guaranteed themselves a game 163 tiebreaker if necessary.

Got all that? Easy solution. Just win.

Nestor Cortes is not flashy or dominant, nor does he go deep into games, but he does keep you in them. Nestor did so last night, but the Yankees bats didn’t help him out. Cortes gave up a HR to Nelson Cruz in the first inning and Tampa Bay was up 1-0. It was HR #449 of Cruz’ career.

Gleyber Torres led off the bottom of the first with a double, and scored on a Giancarlo Stanton single as the Yankees tied the game. They wouldn’t score again until the ninth.

A nubber and a blooper helped Tampa Bay score a run in the second and the Rays were up 2-1. It stayed that way until the ninth.

A couple of walks by Domingo German (pitching for the first time in quite a while—just off the IL) led to two Rays’ runs and a 4-1 lead in the ninth.

The Yanks almost came back. With one out, Stanton doubled and went to third on defensive indifference. Joey Gallo did what he had to do. With the Rays putting on the shift and conceding the whole left side, Gallo bunted there to bring in Stanton and bring the tying run to the plate. Gio Urshela singled and was PR for by Tyler Wade. Brett Gardner singled to make it 4-3. But then PH Gary Sanchez and Rougned Odor both struck out to end the game.

Stanton 2 hits, RBI
Urshela 2 hits
Gardner 2 hits, RBI

Cortes (L, 2-3) 4 2/3 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 0 W, 5 K. Gave up 1 HR. 2.90
Holmes 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K. 3.65 (Pit/NYY)
Peralta 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K. 1 HBP 3.44 (SF/NYY)
Loaisiga 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K. 2.21
German 1 1/3 IP, 2 R, 1 H, 2 W, 3 K. 4.58
Abreu 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. 5.15

Game 159. Yanks inch closer to WC berth with 6-2 win over Toronto. Smash 5 HR.

The Yankees are thisclose to a playoff berth after beating Toronto 6-2 Thursday night. That, coupled with Boston losing to lowly Baltimore again, gave the Yanks a little cushion in the wild card standings.

WILD CARD STANDINGS

YANKEES 91-68 — Top wild card as of now, game would be at home.
Boston AND Seattle 89-70 -2 (if tied, Game 163 in Boston)
Toronto 88-71 -3; 1 game behind Boston and Seattle.

Hey, as Blondie sang, Dreaming is Free. We can dream the Yankees get the top seed, and that there is a tie for the other wild card game and that that game wears out whoever the Yanks have to play. Nothing wrong with dreaming, right?

The AL has their division winners. The wild cards are unknown. The winner of the wild card game takes on Tampa Bay in an ALDS. The other ALDS is Chicago vs. Houston. The NL has the Cardinals taking on either the Giants or the Dodgers in the wild card game, winner faces Giants or Dodgers. Atlanta faces Milwaukee in the other NLDS.

I ain’t going into wild card tie scenarios, especially if the AL comes down to three or four-way ties.

Just win, Yanks.

The Yanks hit five home runs in their 6-2 win. Aaron Judge got the Yanks on the board right away in the first inning with a 455 ft. HR, his 38th of the season. 1-0 Yanks, and Judge wasn’t finished.

Thorn-in-the-Yankees-side Bo Bichette started a Blue Jays rally and scored in the second inning to tie the game. Judge made a diving catch for the third out to save another run. Toronto went up 2-1 in the fifth, when Vlad Guerrero’s RBI double just missed being a 2-run HR.

In the top of the sixth, the Yanks dropped the hammer. With one out, Anthony Rizzo and Judge homered back-to-back to put the Yanks up 3-2. For Rizzo, HR #21 (Cubs/NYY) and #250 of his career. For Judge, #39, this one a 441 ft. HR. Giancarlo Stanton then walked, and Gleyber Torres joined the HR party with #9, a 425-ft. blast, to give the Yanks a 5-2 cushion.

Brett Gardner made it 6-2 in the top of the ninth with his 10th HR of the season.

Before the game, Luke Voit to the IL, Albert Abreu brought up. X-Rays on Joey Gallo were negative and he entered the game late as a defensive replacement.

D.J. LeMahieu had to leave the game with a hip injury.

Rizzo solo HR (21; Cubs/NYY) #250 of his career
Judge 2 solo HR; 2 RBI (39) and a fine diving catch to save a run
Torres 2-run HR (9)
Gardner solo HR (10)


Kluber 4 2/3 IP, 2 R, 7 H, 1 W, 2 K. 3.83
King (W, 2-4) 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K. 3.14
Severino (H, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 0.00
Green (H, 18) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K. 3.16
Chapman 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. 3.42

King and Severino could really be weapons out of the bullpen.