Category: Yankees

Yankees

Troy Tulowitzki Signs With New York Yankees

Veteran shortstop Troy Tulowitzki has reached an agreement with the New York Yankees for the league minimum.

Tulowitzki was released by the Blue Jays in December after his worst season since he was a rookie, batting .249 with 7 home runs and 26 runs batted in. The Yankees are in need of a shortstop as Didi Gregorius recovers from Tommy John surgery so they will give the accomplished middle infielder a shot.

Once upon a time, Tulowitzki was the best shortstop in baseball. He is a five-time All-Star, two-time Gold Glove Award winner, and two-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He even has two fifth-place finishes in the MVP race.

His best season came in 2011 with the Colorado Rockies when he hit .302 with 32 homers and 105 RBIs, but since then, he has steadily declined. However, there may be some light at the end of the tunnel. According to Toronto Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins, “He looks like he is healthy. He’s recovering well. He has full range of motion. He has his strength. … Our reports are very positive.”

The Yankees can only hope that a change of scenery will revitalize the once dominant shortstop and truly transform him into a “Bronx Bomber.”

 

Featured Image via Flickr/ Terry Foote

Yankees

CC Sabathia Agrees to 1-year, $8 million deal with Yankees

According to reports, the New York Yankees have re-signed veteran starting pitcher CC Sabathia to a one-year, $8 million contract.

The left-hander did not have much interest in testing the free-agent market, enticing the veteran to take less money to return to New York after making  $25 million in 2017 to $10 million in 2018. Sabathia has been with the Yanks for ten seasons, and would presumably like to retire in the same uniform.

Sabathia was 9-7 with a 3.65 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, and 140 strikeouts in perhaps his best season on the Bronx Bombers in the last five years, showing the MLB community that he still has some gas left in the tank.

In addition to locking up Sabathia, the Yankees also recently re-signed Brett Gardner to a one-year deal.  “These are known commodities,” said Yankees GM Brian Cashman. “We know exactly who they are in that clubhouse, who they are dealing with our press and our fans, and obviously — most importantly — competing on the field of play.”

 

The 38-year-old lefty has built quite the resumé throughout his 18-year career. Since his debut in 2001, Sabathia has been named an All-Star six times, three of which came as a member of the Yankees. Furthermore, he won the AL Cy Young Award in 2007 when he posted a 3.21 ERA with 19 wins and 209 strikeouts. In 2009, he also was named the ALCS MVP for two strong starts against the Angels. In Game 1, he limited his opponent to one run on four hits and a walk in eight innings, striking out seven in a 4–1 Yankees victory. His start in Game 4 was just as impressive, pitching another eight strong innings, allowing only one earned run on five hits and two walks while striking out five. New York would go on to defeat the Phillies in six games to take home the World Series Championship.

Although CC Sabathia isn’t the ace he once was, he is still a valuable asset to have at the back-end of the rotation as the Yankees look to make a postseason run in 2019.

 

Featured Image via Flickr/Keith Allison

Yankees

Yankees Manager Aaron Boone Suspended One Game

New York Yankees Manager Aaron Boone has been suspended one game and fined an undisclosed amount for his conduct during the team’s 7-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Josh Bard is expected to serve as the organization’s manager while Boone serves his time.

He had made contact with home-plate umpire Nic Lentz while arguing balls and strikes, causing him to be promptly ejected from the ball game. Boone put on quite a show for the fans of the Bronx Bombers as he showed the umpire his best catcher impression.

After the game, Boone was asked about the entire encounter, to which he replied, “”I hadn’t stretched yet, so I wanted to make sure I was good and loose. I guess, [it was about] giving my kids something to make fun of me about.”

At only 45-years-old and in the midst of the first managerial campaign of his career in baseball, Boone still has a lot to learn on how to conduct himself both on and off the field. You are expected to set a good example for your team, and this display did not accomplish that.

Because he is a first-year manager, his behavior could be attributed to the fact that he has yet to develop the mindset of a leader and still holds onto the attitude he had as a player.

Aaron Boone was an MLB third basemen for twelve seasons which included 54 games as a member of the Yankees. He was named to the only All-Star game of his career that very season as he put up rather impressive numbers by hitting .267 with 24 home runs and 96 RBIs for the Yankees and the Reds that year.

Nevertheless, Yankees players were glad that he stepped in to defend his club. “He protected all the guys, for sure,” said Gleyber Torres. “He’s the manager. He does a good job, and we’re proud for that. After that, we started [to get] a little more excited, and we tried to win.”

Boone will be able to be back in the dugout by the time the Yanks take on the Oakland Athletics on Monday.

 

Featured Image via Flickr/Ben Mortimer

 

 

Yankees

The Yankees Acquire 5-Time All-Star Andrew McCutchen

The San Francisco Giants have traded Andrew McCutchen to the Yankees in exchange for Abiatal Avelino and Juan De Paula.

This move is likely to offer a temporary replacement in the outfield while All-Star right fielder Aaron Judge recovers from a fractured wrist. The timing of this trade suggests that Judge is not close to a return, which is a cause for concern within the Yankees organization.

McCutchen isn’t the player he once was but is still productive nonetheless. He has maintained a .255 batting average to go along with 15 home runs and 55 RBIs in 130 games with the Giants this season. However, MLB fans are used to seeing much more from the former All-Star center fielder.

“Cutch” experienced his glory days as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates when he started for the club from 2009-2017. He always hit for a good average, but he really came into his own between 2011-2015. In that span, McCutchen was named to five All-Star games, awarded four Silver Slugger Awards, and was even bestowed with the Roberto Clemente Award for his tremendous sportsmanship and community involvement. He was also honored with the most coveted awards on both the offensive and defensive ends of the field, winning the NL MVP Award in 2013 as well as the Gold Glove Award in 2012. His best season from a statistical standpoint came in 2012 when he hit a career-high .327 with 31 homers and 96 RBIs.

The Yankees hope a change of scenery will be able to revitalize his career as he is having a subpar season. He has struggled to get hits like he used to, which could be attributed in part to the fact that AT&T Park is so spacious. However, Yankee Stadium is much smaller so you can expect to see a bit of a spike in his home run totals.

It remains to be seen if McCutchen can get back to where he once was, but its hard to doubt a guy who has been named the Most Valuable Player in years past.

 

Featured Image via Wikimedia Commons

 

Yankees

Didi Gregorius: The Prince of Pull

Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius cracked another dinger in an 11-6 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, bringing his home run total to 22 on the year and 89 in his career.

Now what’s interesting about each of those 89 home runs is where he places them. Out of all those long balls, he pulled every single one. Gregorius has never gone yard by going opposite field or even to center but solely over the right-field wall. Take a look for yourself:

This is a somewhat rare feat. Although most players like to hit the ball over in certain areas, it’s unusual to see this type of exclusivity when it comes to hitting the baseball.

Although Didi has developed his bat over the course of his last few seasons, he is better known for his glove. In 2015, he was a finalist for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award at shortstop but lost out on that honor to Alcides Escobar.

Gregorius has had a nice go about to his 2018 campaign. Along with his 22 homers, he is batting .268 with 73 RBIs and 4 triples. He was even better during April, specifically between April 23rd-29th. He hit .357 to go along with seven runs scored, four home runs; ten RBIs, and a 1.241 OPS, earning AL Player of the Week in the process. His exceptional play also led to him being awarded AL Player of the Month for April.

 

Featured Image via Flickr/Arturo Pardavila III