River Ave. Blues

Although the 2018 season had a (very) disappointing ending, it is exciting to look at the Yankees and know they are loaded with young talent for the future. Aaron Judge is a superstar through and through. He’s a top ten player in baseball. Then there’s Luis Severino, Gary Sanchez, Gleyber Torres, and Miguel Andujar. Most […] The post The Yankees have questions all around their infield heading into the 2018-19 offseason appeared first on River Avenue Blues.

Aaron Judge was nothing short of a revelation in 2017, emerging as arguably – statistically, at least – the best player in baseball. That’s not hyperbole, either. Judge led the majors in FanGraphs’s WAR, finished second in Baseball-Reference’s WAR, and placed fourth in Baseball Prospectus’s WARP. And all of this came as a rookie playing […] The post An Abbreviated Encore [2018 Season Review] appeared first on River Avenue Blues.

By almost any measure, the 2018 season was a spectacular failure for the Diamondbacks. Arizona spent more days in first place (125) than any other National League team this year, but they lost 24 of their final 35 games, and collapsed out of the postseason picture. The D’Backs finished 9.5 games back in the NL […] The post The Diamondbacks are ready to listen to trade offers and they have several players who could help the Yankees appeared first on River Avenue Blues.

Eight games into the 2018 postseason, Orioles turned Dodgers shortstop Manny Machado is hitting .265/.306/.588 (140 wRC+) with three home runs in 36 plate appearances. The AVG and OBP are a little low, but it’s a super small size, so I wouldn’t sweat it at all. Machado’s been quite productive in this year’s postseason thus […] The post Manny Machado is doing all the wrong things this postseason and it probably won’t matter to the Yankees one bit appeared first on River Avenue Blues.

In 2016, Didi Gregorius set career-best marks in runs, home runs, RBI, strikeout rate, and wRC+. In 2017, he once again set new high water marks in those metrics, to go along with a career-high 4.0 fWAR. And this time last year we were all wondering what he was capable of for an encore. As […] The post The Incomparable Didi Gregorius [2018 Season Review] appeared first on River Avenue Blues.

No later than three weeks from yesterday, free agency will open and the 2018-19 offseason will really get underway. Well, at least in theory. MLB free agency tends to be slow-moving — that was especially true last winter — whereas other sports see a big rush of signings on Day One. Much like the MLB […] The post The qualifying offer is reportedly set $17.9M this winter and it will have zero impact on the Yankees appeared first on River Avenue Blues.

Winning the Wild Card Game and getting bounced in four games in the ALDS hardly qualifies as a successful season, but, as far as ownership is concerned, the Yankees accomplished a very important goal this season. The Yankees stayed under the $197M luxury tax threshold and reset their tax rate, and saved tens of millions […] The post The Yankees avoided the luxury tax in 2018, and now we’ll find out exactly how much they’re willing to spend appeared first on River Avenue Blues.

The 2018 season ended far earlier than we all would’ve liked. Now that the season is over, it’s time for our annual season review series, which continues today with Dellin Betances. Aside from post a day Monday through Friday, there is no set schedule for these posts. We’ll write about players when we feel like […] The post The Redemption of Dellin Betances [2018 Season Review] appeared first on River Avenue Blues.

Given the roster situation and contention window, the Yankees figure to be very active this winter. The team is ready to win now but they need help, particularly in the rotation, but also elsewhere on the roster. The injured Didi Gregorius has to be replaced, as do impending free agents David Robertson and Zach Britton, […] The post The Yankees have their priciest arbitration class in years this offseason and some big decisions are required appeared first on River Avenue Blues.

We are still a few weeks away from the hot stove firing up, but already some free agent chatter is starting to trickle in. According to George King, impending free agent David Robertson wants to return to the Yankees next season, but he’s not going to take a discount to make it happen. (Nor should […] The post David Robertson wants to return and the Yankees should find a way to make it happen appeared first on River Avenue Blues.

The 2018 season ended far earlier than we all would’ve liked. Now that the season is over, it’s time to begin our annual season review series, which kicks off today with Greg Bird. Aside from post a day Monday through Friday, there is no set schedule for these posts. We’ll write about players when we […] The post Another Lost Season for Greg Bird [2018 Season Review] appeared first on River Avenue Blues.

The 2018 season just ended and already the 2019 Yankees have suffered a major loss. Didi Gregorius needs Tommy John surgery. He hasn’t had the surgery yet, but he does need it, and he’ll have it soon. The rehab is expected to keep him out until sometime next summer. That is not a great way […] The post Thoughts following Didi Gregorius’ Tommy John surgery appeared first on River Avenue Blues.

2018 Regular Season Record: 100-62 (851 RS, 669 RA, 98-64 expected record), second in ALE 2018 Postseason Record: 2-3 (22 RS, 29 RA), won WC Game, lost ALDS Top stories from last week: The week started with the ALDS tied 1-1. The Yankees got crushed 16-1 in Game Three. It was the most lopsided postseason […] The post Fan Confidence Poll: October 15th, 2018 appeared first on River Avenue Blues.

By the end of today, we’ll have made it five days without Yankee baseball happening or to even look forward to. It’s a long way till February and with the LCS’s going on and the World Series on the horizon, it feels even longer. To keep you warm–or cold, depending on how much you’ve recovered […] The post End of the Year Thoughts appeared first on River Avenue Blues.

This is one of my least favorite times of the year. The Yankees have been eliminated but other teams are still playing baseball. Sucks. Anyway, here are some notes to check out. Yankees believe Severino was tipping pitches According to Jon Heyman, several people with the Yankees believe Luis Severino was tipping his pitches in […] The post Saturday Links: Severino, Corbin, Kikuchi, Stanton appeared first on River Avenue Blues.