Pinstripe Alley Jan 20, 2021
There is a home for the Yankees’ rookies in the bullpen
Photo by Jim McIsaac/ The rotation was an ambitious ask, but the Yankees’ pitching youth movement now might shift to the bullpen. Although the Yankees’ rotation is still a bit thin, it’s starting to come into shape. With the signing of Corey Kluber, the team can now roll out a rotation of Gerrit Cole, Kluber, Jordan Montgomery, Deivi García and Domingo Germán, plus Luis Severino once he gets healthy again. Although Kluber comes with risks, he is still a good addition for a team that desperately needed a veteran starting pitcher. Kluber’s arrival also affects...
Newsday Jan 16, 2021
Yankees taking quite a gamble with Corey Kluber (and possibly no Masahiro Tanaka)
Behind Gerrit Cole, they have an awful lot of question marks.
Pinstripe Alley Jan 16, 2021
The Yankees have re-signed DJ LeMahieu. Now what?
Photo by Christian Petersen/ It’s Moby Dick all over again. For the second offseason in a row, the Yankees caught their white whale. Now what do they do? After a half-decade during which the biggest splash the Yankees made in free agency was the ill-advised $153 million splurge on Jacoby Ellsbury, and during which they skipped out on bidding wars for the game’s best available targets, the Yankees have landed the top player on my team’s wishlists for the second year in a row. After nabbing Gerrit Cole for a gargantuan sum of $324 million over nine years last...
Pinstripe Alley Jan 15, 2021
Yankees Mailbag: Supporting Gerrit Cole, playoffs and front office dynamics
Photo by Sean M. Haffey/ Check out the answers to the latest round of mailbag questions. Good morning everyone, are you ready for another round of mailbag questions? Remember to send in your questions for our weekly call by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com. Ruff Trade asks: Shouldn’t the front office be doing more to support the signing of one Gerrit Cole? Isn’t it a waste to throw 324 million dollars at an ace and then stop? Re-signing Tanaka and/or Paxton could still happen, of course, but shouldn’t there be a stronger desire to pry loose a...
Pinstripe Alley Jan 14, 2021
Yankees Free Agent Target: Julio Teherán
Photo by John McCoy/ A check-up for the almost entirely absent Yankees starting rotation, and a budgetarily conscious minor patch-job. The only absolute certainty in the Yankees’ rotation going into 2021 is Gerrit Cole. James Paxton and Masahiro Tanaka seem to be headed out of town via free agency. Deivi García has flashed promising moments, but at just 21 and without any supercharged fastball or offspeed offering, it remains unclear if he’s ready for the big time. Jordan Montgomery might be the closest to a sure thing to receive a steady slot in the five-man...
Pinstripe Alley Jan 10, 2021
Gerrit Cole’s sticky situation: The latest chapter in ball doctoring
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports The Yankees’ ace was named in a court filing as one of several pitchers meddling with the ball. Is this a big deal? Ray Chapman didn’t actually die on the field. The only player that we know of to be killed by a beanball died 12 hours later, after failed brain surgery. The shortstop was hit in the head in the fifth inning on August 16, 1920, by Carl Mays, the Yankees’ best pitcher and a notorious ball-meddler. Mays’ unconventional, near-submarine delivery, combined with his penchant for spitballs and dragging baseballs across his...
rssfeeds.lohud.com Jan 8, 2021
Yankees' Gerrit Cole named in case involving MLB pitchers' use of foreign substance
Yankees star Gerrit Cole was named in an MLB foreign substance case in California involving a former Angels clubhouse attendant.
Pinstripe Alley Jan 8, 2021
Yankees Potential Free Agent Target: Justin Wilson
Photo by Rich Schultz/ The lefty reliever would be a welcome addition for a Bombers bullpen that needs reliable arms. While the cross-town rival Mets are busy signing free agents and making high-profile trade acquisitions, the Yankees are managing themselves in a different way this offseason after spending big bucks on Gerrit Cole last year. That means they seem unlikely to sign a Trevor Bauer, a Liam Hendriks, or even a Brad Hand. They do, however, need to address a bullpen that was middle-of-the-pack and far from the deep and talented units from 2017-19. One could...
Pinstripe Alley Jan 5, 2021
Yankees Potential Free Agent Target: Gio González
Photo by Jonathan Daniel/ Gio González struggled in 2020, but the pitching-starved Yankees should be all-in on a minor league deal. At the moment, the Yankees’ starting rotation consists of Gerrit Cole and a small army of question marks. Just two years ago, with a similar army of question marks fighting for merely the fifth spot in the rotation, Brian Cashman turned to Gio González on a minor league deal for short-term depth. González still isn’t the glitziest name on the market in 2021, but the Yankees’ desperation for starting pitching has only worsened....
Pinstripe Alley Jan 2, 2021
Deivi doesn’t have to be great, even if the Yankees need him to be
Photo by Adam Glanzman/MLB Photos via The young right-hander is coming up on an interesting 2021, one in which the Yankees may need more from him than he can muster. We’ve reached the new year, and the Yankees haven’t made a move to fortify their rotation. The smart money has them adding *someone* to the staff before Opening Day, but for now, the team’s depth chart puts Gerrit Cole at the top, and a whole lot of question marks on the way down. Deivi García slots in at number-three in the Yankees’ rotation for now. Given how little Hal Steinbrenner wants to...
Pinstripe Alley Dec 29, 2020
Gary Sánchez should benefit from stability in 2021
Photo by Mitchell Layton/ A more normal 2021 season should be good for Sánchez. Gary Sánchez is a polarizing player, and entering a make-or-break 2021 season, he has a lot to say. The usually-reserved Sánchez was uncharacteristically candid in an interview with ESPN’s Marly Rivera, in which he commented on his poor season, his relationship with the team’s coaching staff, not catching Gerrit Cole, and fans who unfairly and inaccurately call Sánchez “lazy.” None of it is a bombshell that will damage his relationship with the team, but it’s an uncommon...
Pinstripe Alley Dec 27, 2020
The best Yankees rumors of 2020
Photo by Ron Schwane/ A shortened season didn’t shorten the amount of rumors the Yankees were involved in. The Yankees entered 2020 on the high of making the biggest signing of the offseason, landing Gerrit Cole to a nine-year deal. The team didn’t make any other significant moves before the start of spring, deeming their roster fit to take on the rest of the American League and earn their first trip to the World Series since 2009. Those plans had to shift quickly, as first Luis Severino went down for the season and then the pandemic hit. There was a long stretch...
Pinstripe Alley Dec 23, 2020
Yankees Potential Free Agent Target: José Ureña
Photo by Mark Brown/ If the Yankees become desperate for arms to fill out their rotation, Ureña is one name they could look into. The Yankees’ current projected starting rotation consists of Gerrit Cole, Domingo Germán, Jordan Montgomery, Deivi García, and Clarke Schmidt. I hate to break it to you, but that is not going to last for a full length season. At this point, the Yankees need lukewarm bodies just to soak up some innings. And should they find themselves shopping in the lukewarm body aisle, they may come across José Ureña. If you’ve been following the...
Pinstripe Alley Dec 22, 2020
Blake Snell is an ideal but unrealistic option for the Yankees
Photo by Tom Pennington/ The star lefty is exactly the help Gerrit Cole needs at the top of the rotation, but the cost may be too high. It is not often you see two pitchers of ace pedigree, both the right side of 30 with affordable multi-year contracts shopped on the trade market at the same time. But that is exactly the situation we are seeing develop as the Reds and Rays are listening to offers on Luis Castillo and Blake Snell, respectively. This morning, my colleague Joshua Diemert dissected Castillo as a Yankees target so I thought I’d tackle Snell. Since...
