There's a new Judge in town, and he's about to capture the passion of NYC sports fans

This week, the Winter Meetings happen. Question for the Peanut Gallery: 

Like, um, does anybody care? 

Traditionally, the second week in December gives the Yankees six free days of advertising, a burst of attention on Gotham's manic, tabloid back pages, because...

1. By now, the Giants are out of it.

2. By now, the Jets are out of it.

3. The Knicks haven't begun yet, but they're already out of it.

4. The broadsheets love rumors.

Say what you will about Yankee pitching, the Death Barge runs the best rumor mill in sports. They're after Kyle Schwarber! They're trading Red Thunder! They're signing D.J.! They're bringing back  Colter Bean! Yeesh. Rumors are like genital crabs: Tweezer one off, and you find eight more. Whatever you want, there's a rumor for it. And that's how the Yankees rule December.

I direct your attention to the Tabloid Back Page Charts on the left. They show the Yankees projected to win 2020, as they have every year since we launched the count. But their margin is shrinking. 

Three years ago, the Yanks scored 280 Post and Daily News cover pages - nearly equaling the Mets, Knicks and Giants combined.  

In 2018, their total dropped to 242, almost 90 ahead of the Mets.

Last year, they fell to 212, about 20 above the Mets. 

This year - wrecked by Covid - the Yankees will win with a relatively meager 155 covers, about 20 ahead of the Mets. This happened due to the short season and the Mets' utter collapse, conceding the month of October. 

Well, we can see what's coming.

Unless the Yankees win the 2021 World Series, they will lose NYC. 

Which brings me back to December, which the Yankees are also about to lose. For months now, we've dismissed the Giants as a toxic cohort to the worst franchises in professional sports: the Jets and the Knicks. Suddenly, under Coach Joe Judge, they are poised for a run at the playoffs. Suddenly, our screams about GM Dave Gettleman and DT Leonard Williams sound rather defeatist. 

In this dark month - the darkest in our lifetimes? - the Giants are about to become New York City's most hopeful beam of light.

So, this week, enjoy the rumors for what they are: Gammonite bullshit. Only one question sums up these meetings: How much will Hal Steinbrenner and Steve Cohen spend? (Long ago, Warren Zevon figured it out: Send lawyers, guns and money. )But no matter what happens, the Yankees won't win NYC. There's a new Judge in town. There's also a new Joe.