Why kid ourselves? Everything about the 2025 Yankees revolves around Aaron Judge

Yesterday, we pondered the ever-expanding shitpile of narratives surrounding the '25 Yankees: What'll Volpe do? Will Bellinger hit? Who's on first? Who'll stop the rain? Who, who wrote the book of  love?  

Enough hilarity. One player - one human being - occupies Center Square, and it's not Paul Lynde. His name is Aaron Judge, and every conversation about 2025 runs directly through him. 

Last year, he hit 58 HRs, led the AL in RBIs by 26, and batted .322  - three scratch singles from the Triple Crown - and it wasn't his greatest season. Think about that. His MLB-leading OBS landed 100 points ahead of the runner-up, a DH named Ohtani. But it wasn't his greatest season. That came three years ago, when Judge had what is arguably the greatest season ever by a hitter. 

So, naturally, all we'll hear this spring are questions about his postseason slump and The Flub. 

We can prattle until sunrise about the Yankee Vision Quest at 3B, or what happens if/when Giancarlo Stanton limps off into the sunset, but if Judge, at 33, puts together another Ruthian Judgeian season, we have a puncher's chance in every matchup, from April through October. 

And if Judge gets hurt - two years ago, he missed about 60 games after smashing into Dodger Stadium - there is no replacement, nothing, nada. (Some might ponder Vladimir "I'll never play for the Yankees; wait, I've changed my mind" Guerrero. But Toronto won't trade him to us, and if it ever comes to an auction, he'll wind up on the other side of town, anyway.)

Yank fans have been blessed to watch the modern day Bambino - a complete version, not a steroidal Barry Bonds, a showy Reggie Jackson, or a strikeout machine like Mark McGwire. We got to witness - and, hopefully, appreciate - the greatest player in our lifetimes. He's a Gold Glove RF who sacrificed his legs last year to roam CF for 105 regular season games, without making one fucking error. Not one.

So, obviously, we'll obsess over the fly ball that bounced off his glove, and the postseason where he hit .186. We'll keep reliving Game 5 Inning 5 until something comes along to replace it. Because that's what we do. We have been waiting since 2009 for our prince to come. 

But make no mistake: Everything is Judge. If he's healthy, we are Alpha Males in the AL East. If he's healthy, whoever hits in front of him will have a great year. 

What? You say he'll miss Juan Soto? Let's get this straight: Last year, Soto didn't protect Judge. Not once. It was always the other way around. Let's see how Whining Juan does without the game's greatest hitter in the on-deck circle. What? Francisco Lindor, you say? Fine, if you add 20 HRs, 50 RBIs and 50 batting points. What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson? Joltin' Joe has left and gone away? Not at all. He's still a Yankee. 

So... do we have 6'7" of bubble wrap? 

An Above Average Haiku Tuesday ~ Dem' Bows, Dem' Bows, Dem' Elbows, Edition!

The Yankees vow to improve on defense this season. Are they actually better off than a year ago?

Every year, around now, Yankee-driven happy talk roils Tampa like the fresh scent of mahi-mahi decomposing in the red tide. 

Just two days into camp, there's no shortage of Pollyanna narratives circulating throughout the Big Guava. 

Here are the Top 10 Yankee Happy Talk Narratives, ranked by their unhinged positivity.

10. An energetic, in-house competition for the 3B slot.

9. Giancarlo Stanton back by summer.

8. A full season of Austin Wells.

7. Anthony Volpe ready to break out.

6. Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger expecting big years.

5. Jasson Dominguez to come of age.

4. Max Fried.

3. Jazz Chisholm on the brink.

2. Olympian bullpen, unmatched, anywhere.

1. Yankees to emphasize defense, defense, defense! 

As bile-spitting Yank fans, we accept numbers 1-9 without reservation. All shall come to pass, though maybe only for 15 minutes. It's No. 1 that bothers us, because a voice in my head - a cross between Wolfman Jack and Selma Diamond - keeps grumbling that we heard the same crapola last February. 

On that note, let's compare defenses, from last year and now. 

Catcher: Last year, we presented Jose Trevino as one of the game's premier pitch framers and a great defensive backstop. By July, he was being torched for slow throws to 2B. Wells came of age, but if you compare the hopes of Feb 24 to Feb 25... Advantage 24.

First base: Last Feb, we took comfort in the notion that Anthony Rizzo would mount a comeback season and, at the least, give us great defense. He's gone. This year, we're talking about Goldschmidt, a 37-year-old reclamation project, who would probably become the fulltime DH, if Giancarlo is done. Advantage: 24.

Second base: Gleyber Torres v Chisholm. Honestly, I donno what happened to Torres last summer, when he became a sleep-walker. Last Feb, we expected him to have a big contract year. Chisholm should be a solid 2B. Advantage: Toss up.

Shortstop: Volpe vs Volpe. I'll go with Volpe. Advantage: Toss up.

Third base: Last year, this was a festering sore until Chisholm came, though he was still learning the position. This year, it just looks like a festering sore. Advantage: Toss up.

Right field: Aaron Judge beats Mister Met. Advantage: 25.

Center field: Bellinger beats Judge, though Trent Grisham 25 probably loses a step to  Grisham 24. Advantage: 25

Left field: Alex Verdugo beats the Martian, who is learning the position. Advantage: 24.

We can debate these comparisons until the cows come home, and - dammit - that's what spring is for. Still, it's a worthwhile question: Will we really field a stronger defense in 2025? Boonie will say so. Cashman will say so. The Gammonites might join in. But take a deep breath, and that scent of rotted fish is out there, bobbing in the morning tide. 

Shocker: Giancarlo Stanton has two bad elbows

Welp, that sure didn't take long...

That misbegotten sense of hope. Remember it? Those brief moments, last week, when you forgot to stay supremely negative, and you let yourself drool happily into your egg cream? What if Bellinger and Goldschmidt both return to MVP form? We'd have the AL's best lineup!

Yeahp, remember that? We toyed with the order, like a cat with supper. Does Judge bat 2nd or 3rd? Does Wells hit ahead of or behind Goldschmidt?  

And when we imagined Giancarlo Stanton, we saw him in the playoffs last October, hitting moonshots and stealing 2nd.

The baseball world saw a postseason titan, a mighty slugger, capable of carrying a team. And we let down our guard... 

Fools. 

So... by now, you've heard the news: Giancarlo Stanton has two inflamed elbows and will likely miss opening day. Add this to the fact that the man could not run last October - he seems to pull an invisible tractor - and suddenly, that fearsome batting order looks like a taxi squad from Oakland, or Sacramento, or wherever the A's will play this season. (By the way, I've decided they will be "Oakland" this year, and maybe for the rest of my life. No "Gulf of America." No "Sacramento A's." I'm keeping it simple.)

But here's the kicker: After a winter of big moves and fine tuning, the Yankees enter 2025 with a massive hole at DH, in the heart of their lineup, and have nobody to replace the 35-year-old, chronically injured Stanton. 

Wait. I take it back. There's Trent Grishham. (Nine HRs and a .191 BA last year.) Or Dominic Smith, on loan from Scranton. Or another 2023 scrap heap mashup of Jake Bauers, Willie Calhoun and Franchy Cordero. Can Slade Heathcott come out of retirement?

One day into camp, and Stanton is hurt. Can't swing. Can't run. Wow. 

In Tampa, the poet B Cashman stuns with free verse on climbing the Yankee mountain with an unpeeled onion

Friday, on the matter of why the Yankees cannot spend as heavily as the Dodgers, Mets and Phillies, the famed singer-songwriter B Cashman gushed spontaneous poetry. 

The following are his lyrical words, verbatim. 

He said...

To Peel That Onion

By B. Cashman  

Ultimately, there's 

A lot of different ways

to climb the mountain.

A lot of different ways

to peel that onion.

And the only thing,

in the end, that matters

is winning in October.

How utterly true. How deliciously wondrous. How luminously grand. Later, in the  same session, he spake this:

Lying Agents 

By B. Cashman

In some cases,
they tell you they have this.

In other cases,
it’s blind bidding.

In some cases,
they say they’ve got something

   that they don’t

      and you don’t find out

    until later.

You just have to choose to navigate

what you’re comfortable with.

Sometimes

you don’t win 
the day.

And finally, this gem.

Hats Off 

By B. Cashman

Ultimately, the Dodgers

have raised the bar.

They’re the defending

world champions.

They’re doing a lot of things

really good.

Looks like a magical year in store.

Obviously, the Yankees have too many starting pitchers and must trade someone. But don't take this from Brian Cashman. Listen to the oracle of Reverse Starter Trades...

The more I hear about trading Marcus Stroman, the more I like it. No, LOVE it!

In fact, I'm down with the great oracle of our times, Mr. Tom Selleck, on the matter of Reverse Starter Trades. He has assured me, personally, that there is nothing wrong with trading starters - teams do it all the time with fantastic results! More importantly, and I cannot stress this enough, on a Reverse Starter Trade, nobody - NOBODY - is coming to take away your five-man rotation. 

Let me repeat that, again, with a reminder that, I wouldn't be on this blog, saying this, if it wasn't true. That's simply not who I am. You know me. And you certainly know Mr. Tom. 

Now, I know what you're thinking, and - yes - trading a starter is not for everybody. It might not fit every team's situation. But I've done my homework - this isn't my first rodeo, pally-boy - and I can tell you that Reverse Starter Trades happen all the time - with great results!

It wasn't long ago that the Yankees made one. They traded Jordan Montgomery for an outfielder. And last season, Montgomery was a complete bust. Horrible. How lucky were the Yankees to have traded him! If you disregard 2023, when Montgomery was - um - with the Rangers, you know it was a bold and successful Yankee deal. 

A Reverse Starter Trade can be a sound bet, and I wouldn't say otherwise, simply because someone wants to save himself $18 million in a salary thing. 

So, yesterday, Brian Cashman sluffed off talk about whether to trade Stroman, saying there's six weeks before opening day. Let's wait and see. Tra-la-la! 

But clearly, the Yankees have too many pitchers. Their Olympian rotation includes Clarke Schmidt, who started 16 games last year. He strained a lateral muscle on May 30 and didn't pitch again until August.

Then there's Gerrit Cole, who suffered elbow inflammation in spring training, and didn't throw a real pitch until July. He started 17 games last year.

Luis Gil achieved 29 starts. He also missed a month. Stroman made it to 30 starts, though he was drained into nothingness at the end. (He still beat our new No. 2, Max Fried, who started 29 games for Atlanta.) Nestor Cortez (now gone) started 31 games. His fateful pitch to Freddie Freeman in the world series came after missing a month. Carlos Rodon was the staff Iron Man - he started 32 games. Nobody pitched 200 innings. The days of a staff ace who throws 40 starts? They're gone. 

Great time to trade a starter. Take it from Tom.

Third Base Veteran

DJ had started thinking about his post baseball career, and was well into the first phase of retail sales ( see DJ smiling, above). 

But Cashman decided he was still better than Bregman or Wade Boggs. So he left those guys alone.   And sent DJ to the IMG work out camp, for faded stars.  Supposedly , DJ lost 20 pounds, bench pressed 80 more than usual, and ran the forty ( on grass ) in 7.77 seconds, beating his 2024 speed by a full second. 

At his 38th birthday party ( a few weeks away )  Edith Piaf records will be in the value pack each retired Yankee  receives. 

Cash has seen DJ and he is impressed.  

Age is not real to Cash. Nor is the deteriorating reflex used to snare balls hit between the third base line and the third baseman.  " We'll just move him over," says the GM. 

He can still throw to first on three hops. 

So the Yanks are set to defend their AL crown.

The oldest, slowest team in baseball. 

With great pinstripe uniforms. 

Jawing is quickening around Boone's extension . . .

Expect a release shortly!

MLB All-Valentines-Day Team

1B   Pete Roses
2B   Cupid Childs
SS   Jake Flowers
3B   Candy Jim Taylor

LF   Barry Bon-Bonds
CF   Candy Maldonado
RF   Eros "Country" Slaughter

C    Gabby Heartnett

LHP   Slim Love, Vance Lovelace, Richard Lovelady
RHP   Ben Flowers, Bill Monbouquette, Vicente Amor

MGR   Bobby Valentine

Who's missing? Who's dog has ringworm? And other questions from the news hounds in the early throes of Camp Tampa.

The first news tidbits from spring training are always - well - pure crapola. But what can you expect? The Gammonites show up out of shape and overweight. They need to start slowly. You can't just blow into camp, writing 98 mph. You'll tweak a metaphorical hammy. Thus, returning writers start with soft tosses. 

And here are some from yesterday's grist...  

1. Marcus Stroman didn't show up. Crisis on the Gulf of Whatever? Is Stroman sending a message? He's been dangled in so many trade talks that he might end up with a tariff slapped on him. But is this a problem. Technically, no. Players must arrive by Feb. 22. Moreover, Stroman came the other day for his physical. He's somewhere in Tampa, probably gaping at the big Abraham Lincoln painting at the Dali Museum.   

2. Lasagna must wait! They're referring to Jonathan Loaisiga, who yesterday detailed his timetable for returning this season from surgery. And get this: It's the same timetable that he detailed in December, when he re-signed with the Yankees. He'll be back around the All-Star break. So, the official news here is that the old news remains in effect.  

3. Joey Gallo is a White Sock. He signed yesterday. God, it seems like barely 30 years since Coopertown Cashman brought him to Gotham to save the team. God, what a terrible trade. You can study Cashman's impressive career library of horrible deals, and Gallo is always near the top. For the record, last year at Washington, he hit 10 HRs, batted .161 and fanned 102 times. He'll be 31 this year. Good luck to Chicago. 

4. Today, Boston is 10-foot tall. Signing Alex Bregman has given the city a raging stiffy, and Bosock fans are already sashaying around with playoff tickets. Fine. But let's ponder some - ahem - potential issues. This means Rafael Devers is now a fulltime DH, which means Masataka Yoshida is - well - the backup DH? Also, let's remember that Boston's major bullpen overhaul includes - gasp - Aroldis Chapman.

Hope for Beantown? We'll see. 

The Redsocks just signed Bregman, and the Yankees are touting - um - Carlos Carrasco?

Every few years, like a plague of horny locusts, Boston slithers up from the dregs of the AL East and - after a perfectly executed tanking - makes a hard run at the AL East. 

Over the last 20 years, shamefully, it has worked. The Redsocks have more world championships than the Yankees. (As do that bastion of success, the NY Football Giants.) 

It's a slow, grinding sequence - almost an algorithm - how their championship rings appear on a five-to-six year cycle.

In 2007, they won with Manny Ramirez, Big Papi and Josh Becket.

Six years later, they won with Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury and Jon Lester.

Five years after that, they won with Rafael Devers, Mookie Betts and Chris Sale.

It's now seven years since their last run. Like that earthquake in Oregon, they're overdue. And suddenly, their path is clear: They're coming for us. 

Yesterday, Boston signed 3B Alex Bregman, the premier remaining free agent on the open market. He joins a line infused with young talent - the strongest farm system in baseball, say the Gammonites - including baseball's top prospect, CF Roman Anthony. 

If any of their prized youngsters come through, they could bypass the old, creaky Yankees like a magnet train whizzing by a buggy. 

So, yesterday, how did the Death Barge respond? Their masters of p.r. touted the power pitching of recent signee Carlos Carrasco, who claims that four months of hard work allowed him to regain the fastball that has eluded him since 2019. 

Um. Excuse me? 

He's 37. 

He's the fucking oldest guy in the Yankee camp. 

This would be his 16th season.

Listen: This is not the guy who makes a comeback with a 98-mph fastball. This is the guy who unveils a knuckler, or a gyroball, or something exotic, because - well - did I mention that he'll turn 38 in March? He's going to throw that magical fastball until something pops, which it will, because we see this movie every spring.

Boston just signed the best player out there, and the Yankees never even farted in his direction. All winter, the narrative has questioned whether the Yankees - having punted on Juan Soto - will lose NYC to the Mets. A new story line may be forming. Is this another season when Boston will eat our lunches?

What we talk about when we talk about sports.

 

I really like Jon Alba, just as I like everybody on SNY's Sportsnight show.  He seems like a good guy, smart, enthusiastic.

But last night, he was giving in to some of the worst clichés we all indulge in about sports, telling us how Aaron Judge really needs to "strap on his Derek Jeter cap" this season. 

He went on to say how there is "a window closing" for both Judge and Gerrit Cole, and that to establish their "legacies" they both need to win it all. He went on to say that doing this should be "a triple motivator" for the whole Yankees lineup.

Sorry, but this is just a bundle of wishful fan thinking.

The peak age for ballplayers—all ballplayers—is 28.  Aaron Judge is already 32. Gerrit Cole is 35. Their "window" has already closed–although both have defied the passage of time, and achieved extraordinary things when they should be "too old."

Cole, much as I like to mock his flounciness, has actually been a near-great pitcher, including a superb, 11-6, 2.77 record in the postseason.

Aaron Judge has just compiled two of the very best, all-time seasons in baseball history over the last three years. Barring some scandal of unimaginable proportions, he—like Cole—is already a lock for the Hall of Fame.

Yes, it's all too true that Judge's postseason record is not good—among other things, a .205 BA compared to Jeter's sterling, .308 (although their OPS stats, .838 to .768, are surprisingly close). And yes, he will no doubt be haunted by that dropped flyball forever.

But.

As we all know, neither baseball nor any other professional sport is just about "strapping on" that clutch helmet and sallying forth.  

I love me some Derek Jeter, and he was clutch as hell. But he didn't win anything by himself. Neither has any other athlete in any other professional team sport. Ever. Not even the biggest GOATs whatever was. Not Babe Ruth. Not Shohei Ohtani. Not Michael Jordan or Tom Brady or Wayne Gretzky or Mia Hamm, or whoever.

If anything, pressing to be "more" clutch will only hurt Judge's game.

Nor are any of your New York Yankees likely to be especially motivated to win one for the Judgie. Or the Colie. 

That's not how it works. Great pro teams are built by great general managers who know the game, backed by knowing owners willing to give them their heads. They're guided by smart managers who know how to run the clubhouse and the game on the field. 

And they're won, in the end, by athletes who know how to play and win as a team—with plenty of good back-ups for when they inevitably get injured.

They used to understand that up in the Bronx. Been a long time since they have.

 

The Yankees have a DJ LeMahieu problem, and it's the first of several to come

Yesterday, as he opened 2025 on the Gulf of America - the new Freedom Fries - Aaron Boone bestowed his best carnival barker bit upon DJ LeMahieu.

“Looks good! He feels good! He’s ready to go!” Boone gushed.

So be it. Step right up. Let the record show that - on Feb. 12, six weeks from liftoff - the most respected Yankee, who is not the Captain, looked "ready to go!" according to the franchise's version of Baghdad Bob. The question, though, is where?

On paper, LeMahieu sits atop an uninspiring pile of Yankee disappointments, who will battle for 3B, the lineup's worst eyesore. At 36, entering his 16th year in the majors, DJ will get first dibs on the position. All he needs to do is hit.

That's the key. Defensively, he's probably capable, though Oswaldo Cabrera might be the better glove, and both Oswald Peraza and Jorbit Vivas have more speed. In the meantime, three questions loom over LeMahieu.  

1. Can he hit? Last year, he couldn't. He batted .204, no power, and - frankly - it seemed less a short term anomaly than a long term destiny. Since the Covid season, an outlier when he hit .364, he's regressed each year. He's at the bottom of the gorge. Scranton is not an option. There's nowhere else to go.

2. Can the Yankees justify his salary? The answer, of course, is no. The Yankees will pay him $15 million this year and next. After his big season, they gave him a stupid deal. Yank fans will forgive players, especially those like LeMahieu, who earn their respect. The question is whether the Yankee franchise will do it. 

On that front, it's worth noting how the Yankees have openly dissed Marcus Stroman this winter, shopping him everywhere, because they overpaid him. Is that Stroman's fault? Should he give a discount, refuse to cash his paycheck? Wherever he goes, Stroman will want to stick it to the Yankees. If LeMahieu has a bad spring, will the Yankees seek to move him like a bad plate of clams?

3. Is there an exit ramp? Whenever a former great star heads to the bench, things can get dicey. Few will accept that their skills have eroded. They want one last chance. We went through it with Bernie. We went through it with Brett Gardner. It's hard to remember that Josh Donaldson had actually been a great player in Toronto and Oakland; all we recall is his hideous final season. Once the music stops, it's no fun watching old guys scramble for the last folding chair. 

When a great player reaches his end - and they all do - there's that awkward point where he goes to the bench, never to return. It's like your mom going into a nursing home. The player demands an opportunity, or a trade, and everything devolves from there. The Yankees must tread carefully with LeMahieu, but Boone's delirious happy talk will not make the problem go away.

This year, the Yankees could face career twilights with several stars. If Giancarlo Stanton cannot run, as he couldn't last October, it remains to be seen if he should be out there. At 1B, Paul Goldschmidt must rebound from the worst season of his life. And LeMahieu, frankly, is a mystery. Boone says he is ready to go! Jeez, I sure hope so.