Game #33. Misplay in LF costs Yanks. 5-4 loss drops them 10 back.

After keeping Aaron Judge, owner Hal Steinbrenner promised him that there was enough money to make more moves.

But the Yanks only made one move after that—signing Carlos Rodon, who hasn’t pitched at all yet for the Yanks this year. More on that later.

One move the Yanks didn’t make, and it is costing them now, is that they didn’t address left field. They wanted to retain Andrew Benintendi but lost him in free agency to the White Sox (the White Sox have a terrible record right now at 10-22 before last night, and although Benintendi is hitting .275, it is without any power. His OPS+ is just 83, 100 being average).

I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Yanks do something to address LF. There has been misplaced trust that Aaron Hicks should have a bounce back season. Hicks before last night’s game was hitting .146 with no extra base hits and is below a converted infielder (IKF) on the totem pole. IKF is a converted infielder hitting .196 with no extra base hits before last night’s game. Oswaldo Cabrera has not built on the success he had in his MLB beginnings last year. He is struggling at .196. Franchy Cordero had a hot week but has been sent back to the minors after hitting just .151. Willie Calhoun has been DH-ing because his defense is subpar. The Yanks’ LF production may be the worst in the majors at that position this year.

With the struggles of those players, and injuries, the Yanks have brought up Jake Bauers. The journeyman OF hit a HR the other day, but in just his third game with the Yanks, he misplayed a fly ball last night into a run-scoring double, and that proved to be the deciding run in a 5-4 Yanks loss last night. The loss to Tampa Bay dropped the 17-16 Yanks ten games behind those first-place Rays in the AL East.

So yes, injuries have hurt, but LF is a place where no one has gotten injured. The Yanks just haven’t received any production there and I would expect and hope that something is done to fix that soon.

Speaking of Rodon, the lefty pitcher will have a cortisone shot in his back next week. His condition is chronic. Sigh. He was just signed to a 6-year deal for $162MM. When right, he is lights out, but now you wonder if he can manage that back issue or if he turns out to be another Pavano.

I wanted and applauded the Rodon signing. Of course, I, and probably the Yanks, not to mention Rodon, didn’t know there was going to be a chronic back issue to come with it.

Last night’s game started poorly. Starter Jhony Brito gave up a HR to Randy Arozarena in the bottom of the first. Arozarena was HBP twice later in the game, causing Arozarena and the Rays to become infuriated and causing Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash to be ejected.

Tampa Bay, who are 18-2 at home this season, scored in the bottom of the second to make it 2-0. Yandy Diaz touched Brito for a HR in the bottom of the third, and the Rays tacked on another run after that. 4-0 Rays after three.

The Yanks tied it up in the top of the sixth. With one out, Anthony Rizzo singled. Gleyber Torres doubled home Rizzo. D.J. LeMahieu walked and after Willie Calhoun struck out, Harrison Bader hit his first regular-season HR as a Yankee (he had five in last year’s postseason) to tie the game.

In the bottom of the seventh, with one out and a man on first, Wander Franco hit a fly ball to left. Stats said there was a 95% chance of it being caught for an out. Instead, Bauers misplayed the ball into a double. The Yanks almost got the runner at home. He was originally called out, but the play was overturned upon review. The run turned out to be the deciding run.

In the postgame show, Jack Curry on YES mentioned what I believe. That instead of Jimmy Cordero pitching in that seventh inning, that it should have been Michael King. Manager Aaron Boone needs to realize that too, that King is his best reliever right now and to use him as such. Forget roles. You go by what you see and adjust to that.

Yes, injuries have hurt. But the Yanks have to make adjustments. In the bullpen, with King taking on the go-to role, and also in LF, where the Yanks’ LF production so far this season has been weak.

GM Brian Cashman said they tried to make more moves in the off-season but no move made sense. We will see if one makes sense soon. Someone in LF needs to step up or a move has to happen.

And with Rodon’s back being chronic, and with no pitching depth in the minors, a move for a starting pitcher may have to happen as well.

Volpe 2 hits, SB (11).
LeMahieu 2 for 2 with 2 walks.
Bader 3 RBI. 3-run HR (1).

Brito 4 IP, 4 R, 6 H, 1 W, 2 K. 1 HBP. 2 HR given up. 6.08
Abreu 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1 HBP 4.60
Hamilton 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1.50
J. Cordero (L, 1-1) 1/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K. 3.09
King 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K 1.42

Game #31. Volpe sparks Yanks, Calhoun HRs in 4-2 win.

Anthony Volpe homered, and later stole two bases to set up an insurance run, and Willie Calhoun hit his first Yankee HR as the Yankees (16-15) beat Cleveland 4-2 last night.

The Yanks have won each of Gerrit Cole’s starts this season, even though, like last night, Cole didn’t get the decision in all of them.

Cole wasn’t on his “A” game, but still gave up only two runs (both in the third) in six innings of work.

Volpe hit his third home run of the season with one out in the bottom of the sixth, then Gleyber Torres doubled. Torres came around to tie the game on a single by Anthony Rizzo.

Calhoun homered (1) in the bottom of the seventh to give the Yanks the lead.

In the bottom of the eighth, Volpe led off with a single, stole second and third, and scored on a D.J. LeMahieu single. Volpe is 10 for 10 in stolen base attempts this season.

Harrison Bader came off the IL. Franchy Cordero was sent down.

Jonathan Loaisiga had surgery for bone spurs in his elbow. His expected return isn’t until August or September. Lou Trivino had TJ surgery and will miss all of this season and most of next year.

Carlos Rodon’s back is still acting up. At this point, I don’t expect him before the All-Star break. I wanted Rodon (who didn’t) but the 6-year, $162MM pitcher hasn’t pitched a game for the Yanks yet and pitched in only one game in spring training. Sigh.

Volpe 2 hits, 2 SB (10) solo HR (3).
Rizzo 2 hits, RBI.
LeMahieu RBI
Calhoun solo HR (1).

Cole 6 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 3 W, 8 K. 1 HBP 1.35
Marinaccio 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 0 K. 2.19
Peralta (W, 2-0) 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. 2.38
King (S, 2) 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 3 K. 1.56.

I wouldn’t mind King as the closer. Clay Holmes ERA since the All-Star break last year is 5.29.

Game #17. Yanks fall to Angels 5-2.

It would have been nice to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the opening of the original Yankee Stadium with a win. It wasn’t to be however, since the Angels beat the Yankees (10-7) 5-2 last evening.

The Yanks have a problem. With Rodon, Severino and Montas on the IL, that is three starters. Others have to step up, and there is a reason those other starters are 6-7-8 and not in the top 5. Brito (who starts tonight) gave two solid outings. German was solid last time out.

But Clarke Schmidt has been awful. He has not gone more than four innings in any of his four starts this season. The Yanks are 1-3 in his starts. His ERA is close to 9.00.

The game started with Schmidt giving up a double, then Shohei Ohtani, the 2021 MVP and the runner-up to Judge for MVP last season, hit a 2-run HR. After that HR, lefty hitters had a .452 batting average vs. Schmidt this season.

Schmidt as a reliever is 5-3, 3.32 in his MLB career. In his nine MLB starts, he is 0-4, 6.55. After a while, you just have to face the facts that he may not be cut out to be a starter. The problem is, who (outside of a trade) would replace Schmidt in the rotation? There really isn’t anyone at AAA, and most top pitching prospects are at AA. Luis Gil is out for most if not all of the season after TJ surgery last year. A lot of pitchers (Sears, Wesneski, Waldichuk, Medina) were traded at last year’s trade deadline in various deals. Randy Vasquez, a top prospect at AAA, has an ERA over 8.00 himself right now. Schmidt’s number of strikeouts show potential, but he hasn’t put anything together and at some point, you wonder if he ever will. You hope, but …

The Yanks are still a few weeks away from getting Severino back. Rodon could be even longer due to back problems he is now facing. Sigh. But Schmidt can’t keep giving performances like this. Hopefully he can right himself until Sevy or Rodon come back.

The Yanks had the bases loaded in the bottom of the first but didn’t score. They left two on in the second. They drew seven walks in the game, but only got four hits.

The Angels got two more runs off of Schmidt in the fourth, knocking him out of the game.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Yanks got their two runs on a bases-loaded walk to Anthony Volpe and a SF by Aaron Judge. Judge just missed hitting a grand slam, and had to settle for the SF.

Two errors (both by Kyle Higashioka), a SB by Ohtani and a SF gave the Angels a run in the top of the fifth, making it 5-2 Angels, and there was no further scoring in the game after that.

Josh Donaldson went 1 for 3 for AA Somerset in a rehab assignment, but still felt tightness in his hamstring. Harrison Bader should be starting a rehab assignment soon. Don’t expect Giancarlo Stanton back from his hamstring injury until late May.

Volpe RBI
Judge RBI
Peraza 1 for 3, walk. First game played for Yanks this season.

Schmidt (L, 0-1) 3 2/3 IP, 4 R, 6 H, 0 W, 5 K. 1 HBP. Gave up 1 HR. 8.79
Weissert 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 0 K. 0.00
Marinaccio 2 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 1.13
J. Cordero 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K. 1 Balk. 2.70
Abreu 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. 0.00

Game #2. Yanks fall to Giants, 7-5.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this, you know.

When the Yanks signed Carlos Rodon to a six year, $162M contract, he was supposed to follow a Gerrit Cole gem with one of his own. Not only that, but Luis Severino was supposed to follow Rodon.

Instead, with both Rodon and Severino (and also Frankie Montas) on the injured list, the game 2 starter yesterday was Clarke Schmidt, who was projected to be in either the bullpen or AAA, and today’s game 3 starter, making his MLB debut, will be Jhony Brito, who was projected for AAA. This month of April will be interesting, at least until Rodon and Sevy return.

Schmidt got through three scoreless innings, but at a price. His pitch count was up. He took a 2-0 lead into the fourth, courtesy of a run the Yanks got on a Giants’ error in the bottom of the first, and on a third inning solo HR by Giancarlo Stanton (1).

But Schmidt gave up 3 runs on 2 HR while getting knocked out in the fourth, and relievers Michael King and Clay Holmes got knocked around later on in the Yankees’ (1-1) 7-5 loss to San Francisco yesterday.

The Yanks tied the game in the bottom of the fifth on an Anthony Rizzo double but after that double, with men on second and third with no one out, Stanton grounded out, Josh Donaldson struck out and Gleyber Torres grounded out. The failure to add on proved fatal. Stanton would get another chance later, but once again, wouldn’t come through.

The Giants got two runs in the top of the sixth off of King. A little dribbler in front of the plate brought in one run, and another scored on a ball that ate up rookie SS Anthony Volpe.

The Yanks made it 5-4 in the bottom of the eighth on a HR (1) by Josh Donaldson, but Holmes gave up two runs in the top of the ninth to put SF up 7-4.

The Yanks got a run back in the bottom of the ninth on a single by Aaron Judge and had the bases loaded with one out. But Stanton GIDP to end the game.

On Opening Day, Gerrit Cole pitched six shutout innings to gain the win for the Yankees. Yesterday, his brother-in-law, Brandon Crawford got Cole and the Yanks back by going 3 for 5, driving in 3 runs (a double and 2-run HR) and also getting a SB.

Yanks’ rookie SS Anthony Volpe got his first MLB hit.

Judge 3 for 5, RBI
Rizzo RBI
Stanton solo HR (1)
Donaldson solo HR (1)
Volpe 2 for 4, SB First MLB hit.

Schmidt 3 1/3 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 1 W, 5 K. Gave up 2 HR. 8.10
Peralta 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 1 HBP 0.00
King (L) 1 2/3 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 1 W, 3 K. 1 HBP 10.80
Abreu 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 3 K. 1 WP 0.00
Holmes 2/3 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 0 W, 0 K. 27.00
Cordero 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 0.00

Before the game, Colton Brewer placed on MLB roster and Estevan Florial DFA’d.

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.

S.T. Game 13. Yanks lose 11-7, but bigger news is that 3 pitchers (including Rodon) join Montas on the IL.

Forget the score today. It’s only spring training. I’ll get to today’s game in a moment. The bigger news is that three more pitchers join Frankie Montas on the injured list to start the season. They are Tommy Kahnle (strained biceps), Lou Trivino, and Carlos Rodon.

Rodon has a mild strain in the forearm, which set off Tommy John surgery concerns, but it doesn’t affect the UCL. He won’t throw again for 7-10 days.

So, with Montas down, and also Rodon for a short time, it appears as if the rotation on Opening Day will be Cole, Severino, Cortes (himself just getting over a hamstring issue), German and Schmidt.

Clarke Schmidt pitched today, and so far, his spring training has been meh. (8.10 ERA) He gave up 2 runs (2-run HR) in 3 IP today as the Yanks (7-6 in spring training) lost 11-7 to Boston. Tyler Danish has had an atrocious spring training (ERA 94.50!), and that continued today.

Jasson “The Martian” Dominguez continued to have a hot bat, hitting a 3-run HR. The 20-year-old is targeted for AA, but we can dream about him making the big leagues soon. Also homering was Andres Chaparro, who also is having a hot spring. Chaparro has shown a good bat, but when he goes back to the minors, he needs to work on his defense. The minor league numbers for the 3B/1B defensively don’t look good. Improve that, continue to hit, and maybe he can be a future option. After all, Josh Donaldson is 37 and the Yanks probably will not pick up Donaldson’s option after this season.

Volpe 0 for 3. #1 prospect.
Judge 1 for 1 with a walk.
Dominguez 1 for 2 with a walk and a 3-run HR. #2 prospect
Chaparro 2 for 2, solo HR. He and Dominguez went back-to-back.
Peraza 1 for 3 #3 prospect.
Trevino 1 for 2, 2 RBI

Schmidt 3 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 0 W, 3 K. Gave up HR.
Cordero 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. With Trivino and Kahnle out, has shot at opening day roster.
Marinaccio (H) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.
Danish (BS, L) 1/3 IP, 6 R, 6 H, 0 W, 0 K. Gave up 3 HR. As mentioned, a brutal spring training. ERA 94.50.
Jennings 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K.
Evans 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Vasquez 2 IP, 2 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR. #14 prospect.

S.T. Game 10. The Martian keys 8-run 9th as Yanks comeback to win 10-6.

The game didn’t start out well as new Yankee Carlos Rodon, in his first spring training outing, gave up 2 HR and 5 runs. Also, the streaky Giancarlo Stanton doesn’t have a hit in spring training so far and was 0 for 3 Sunday with 3 strikeouts.

Down 6-2 going into the top of the ninth, Jamie Westbrook and Jasson “the Martian” Dominguez each hit 3-run homers in an 8-run inning to give the Yankees (6-4 in spring training) a 10-6 win.

Notes:

Harrison Bader 0 for 2, walk.
Everson Pereira 1 for 2, double (#6 prospect)
Gleyber Torres 0 for 3
Oswaldo Cabrera 1 for 3, solo HR. Looking for LF job, looks like he will be utility man. “where’s Oswaldo?”
Stanton 0 for 3, 3 strikeouts.
Kiner-Falefa 0 for 3. It appears both Peraza and Volpe are beating him out for the SS job.
Westbrook 1 for 2, 3-run HR.
Estevan Florial 0 for 2. Out of options and I think he gets DFA’d
Higashioka 0 for 2
Dominguez 1 for 2, 3-run HR (#2 prospect)

Pitching:

Rodon 2+ IP, 5 R, 6 H, 1 W, 2 K. Gave up 2 HR. 1 HBP
Abreu 2 IP, 0 r, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. trying for bullpen job, out of options
Krook 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 4 K. Lefty trying for bullpen job. longshot but would give Yanks 2nd lefty (Peralta)
Evans (Winner) 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K.
Santos 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K.

Judge named captain; Yanks DFA Luetge. NFL Legend Franco Harris passes away.

At the press conference yesterday to announce his signing, Aaron Judge was named the Yankees’ captain, their first since the retirement of Derek Jeter after the 2014 season.

A press conference regarding Carlos Rodon’s signing will be today.

In order to make room on the team for the signing of Tommy Kahnle, Lucas Luetge was DFA’d.

Sad news: Another part of my childhood is gone. I am a Steelers fan and growing up in the 1970s the Immaculate Reception kind of sealed the deal as far as me becoming a fan of the Steelers. Just a few days before the 50th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception, and a few days before weekend celebrations about that play, and a few days before the Steelers were to retire his #32 at halftime of the Steelers/Raiders game Saturday evening, Franco Harris died at the age of 72. RIP, Franco.

Yanks get their man! Rodon to Yanks on 6 yr/$162MM Deal.

The Yankees promised Aaron Judge there would be upgrades around him and they delivered, signing Carlos Rodon to a 6 yr/$162MM deal. Outside of bringing back Judge, Rodon is the one free agent I wanted the most. Of course, there is more that needs to be done.

Rodon is younger than DeGrom or Verlander. He just turned 30 five days ago.

Rodon has pitched for the White Sox (2015-2021) and Giants (2022; poor Giants, lose out on Judge and now Rodon to Yanks, too).

For his career, Rodon is 56-46, 3.60, ERA+ 115. A 162-game average of 13-10, 3.60.

But it is the last two years that stand out.

A lefty pitcher, Rodon hopefully adds to the lefty pitcher legacy of the Yankees. Pennock, Gomez, Lopat, Ford, Guidry, Pettitte, Sabathia. The Yankees have won on lefty hitting and pitching.

Are there risks? Of course. You can’t predict health, and Rodon has had shoulder and elbow issues in the past. we can only hope those are behind him and that the last two years show someone coming into his own and peaking.

From 2015-2020, Rodon was 29-33, 4.14, ERA+ 100. Average. He missed over half of 2017, and most of 2019 and 2020. His 2019 and 2020 can best be described as forgettable.

But here are the last two seasons.

2021 with White Sox: 13-5, 2.37. ERA+ 185. All-Star. 5th in CYA voting. 185 K in 132 2/3 IP. Average 12.6 K/9.
Threw a no-hitter.
2022 with Giants. 14-8, 2.88. All-Star. 6th in CYA voting. 237 K in 178 IP. Average 12.00K/9 (led MLB). ERA+ 140.

So in the last two years, he is 27-13, 2.67 ERA, ERA+ 157. 12.2K/9

It could be an interesting K battle between Rodon and Cole on the Yankees. And Sevy isn’t bad, either.

He replaces the departed (via free agency) Jameson Taillon in the rotation. No offense to Taillon, who is a decent pitcher (went to Cubs, 4 yr/$68MM) but when on, Rodon is just dominating. It is an upgrade.

It gives the Yanks more balance in the rotation. Righties of Cole, Severino and Montas. Lefties Rodon and Cortes.

It makes this rotation one of, if not the best rotation in baseball, and makes the Yankees deeper. If you need a sixth or seventh starter, Domingo German and Clarke Schmidt are still there. They can be used in long relief until needed.

Now to solve the LF situation. Be it with Benintendi, Brantley, Conforto as free agents or a trade for a Bryan Reynolds (Pittsburgh) or maybe Daulton Varsho or Jake McCarthy from Arizona. All are lefty bats or switch-hitters, which the Yanks need for balance in the lineup.

Rodon down. LF to go.

P.S. Apparently the Yanks and Rodon met in the middle. MLB Trade Rumors predicted Rodon at 5/140 and talk was that Rodon and his agent, Scott Boras, wanted 7/200 or thereabouts. With 6/162 they met close to the middle.

JUDGE RETURNS! But more needs to be done and a LF option is off the market. What about Rodon for rotation?

He is back! Aaron Judge will be a lifetime Yankee. 9 yrs. $360 MM. No trade clause. Expect him to be named captain as well.

Until a few days ago, the Yanks were still at 8/300 then 8/320 but with the Giants offering a 9th year, Judge and Hal Steinbrenner had a conversation. Judge really wanted to stay a Yankee, Hal really needed him back and so he got the extra year and $$.

The Padres tried to sweep in and offer a bigger deal at the last minute. Some say 10 yrs/and $400-410MM. But Judge wanted to stay a Yankee and needed to see fair market value and then give the Yanks a chance to match which he thought was fair, which they did.

I think of things on a couple of ends. For Judge, it is a chance to cement his legacy. An iconic player like a DiMaggio, Mantle or Jeter who is great for only one team, and that team is the most iconic in baseball. To go into the HOF as a lifetime Yankee. To have #99 forever on the wall in Monument Park. To be mentioned in the same breath as those Yankees whose numbers are retired.

Not only that but think of the endorsements Judge gets in NY. No offense to San Francisco, but Madison Avenue is in NY. Commercials, magazine covers, advertisements. That is just to name a few outside ventures that could bring Judge more money.

For Hal, marketing as well. How do you sell your team without its franchise player? Not only the face of the Yankees, but one of the top 10 if not the #1 face in the game itself? The Yankees had about 3.14 million fans come to Yankee Stadium last year. Without Judge, what would 2023 be? Would they lose 600,000 in attendance? 1 Million? Parking money? What about the YES network’s rating? The price of commercials on the YES network? Souvenirs? EVERYTHING would go down. Far less revenue.

MLB network surmised that in the last few weeks of the season, in which the Yankees had the division wrapped up and were playing Pittsburgh and Baltimore, that the Yanks still got $40MM more than usual because the fans came out and filled the Stadium because of Judge’s HR chase.

They needed each other. The deal had to be done. Imagine if free agency were around in the old days. Imagine the Yankees losing Joe DiMaggio right after WWII or Mickey Mantle after his triple crown season of 1956.

Yes, the last few years could bite the Yankees in the ass. But they couldn’t let Judge go. Judge wanted to stay. The Yankees NEEDED him to.

I am happiest for the little kids who wear Judge’s number. Remember the little boy in Toronto gifted a Judge HR ball and who met Judge? Remember his reaction? Now think how heartbroken he would have been if Judge departed. We are so happy when we get a great free agent. We forget how heartbreaking it can be on the other end, especially for a youngster. I still remember how I felt in 1974 when Bobby Murcer was traded to SF for Bobby Bonds.

But there is still a lot of work to be done and I am eagerly awaiting the Yankees next move. They are heavily involved in trying to get Carlos Rodon. I have advocated getting Rodon (27 wins and ERAs of 2.37 and 2.88 in the last two years) to make the rotation top notch. Cole/Rodon/Severino/Cortes/Montas. And you still have Schmidt and German in long relief if not traded to fill another need.

Speaking of that other need, the Yanks still need a LF. If you sign Rodon (looking for six years at $30mm per) and are then able to trade Schmidt or German, then they could be included in a deal with Pittsburgh for Bryan Reynolds. Benintendi, Conforto and Nimmo are still out there.

One guy that could have filled LF is Masataka Yoshida. He was posted this morning by Japan but went quickly even though there was a window for him up to January 20. Boston got him for $90MM over 5 years with a $15.4MM posting fee.