THIS YANKEES STARTING ROTATION IS HARDLY CHAMPIONSHIP CALIBER

Here’s the thing—and it’s not exactly a hot take—it’s getting harder and harder to read about the Yankees’ rotation without grinding your teeth a little.

The deeper you go, the more it feels like this staff is being held together with duct tape, crossed fingers, and whatever’s left in the trainer’s room. Opening Day isn’t creeping up anymore—it’s basically here—and the rotation still feels like a group project where nobody did their part until the night before.

The latest comes via Bryan Hoch, who laid out a few end-of-spring storylines. One of the more telling ones: Cam Schlittler had a minor setback that slowed his buildup. Translation? He might be sitting around 70 pitches when the season starts. The workaround is a piggyback situation—which is a polite baseball way of saying, “we’ll figure it out as we go.” The Yankees can get away with it early since they don’t need a fifth starter immediately, but that’s more scheduling luck than actual planning.

And sure, you might also see names like Carlos Lagrange and Kervin Castro floating into the picture. Which is fine… if you’re talking about mid-July depth. Not ideal when it’s March and you’re already flipping through the emergency contacts list.

But the bigger issue is what’s happening—or not happening—with Carlos Rodón.

According to Chris Kirschner, manager Aaron Boone isn’t even sure Rodón will pitch in a spring training game before the regular season. Let that sink in. We’re talking about a frontline starter.

Rodón will throw another live BP, and Boone says he expects him back “at some point in April.” At some point? We knew he was coming back from injury, but give me some specifics please!

And that’s really the tone here. There’s a noticeable lack of urgency. Boone doesn’t come across like a manager trying to piece together a contender—he looks like someone hoping the problem sorts itself out if he just doesn’t poke it too hard.

So, what does this rotation actually look like right now?

Max Fried is the guy. He was brought in to stabilize things, and to his credit, he’s healthy and ready. No complaints there. He’s your Opening Day starter, and frankly, he has to be more than that—he has to be the adult in the room.

Luis Gil was supposed to be a key piece, but his spring has been rough. The velocity is there, but the results aren’t. Giving up seven runs in three innings isn’t a “shake the rust off” outing—it’s a red flag. At this point, you’re hearing whispers about the minors or the bullpen, which is not what you want for someone penciled into your top three.

Will Warren is stepping in and now he’s expected to carry meaningful innings right away. That’s a lot to ask from a young arm, especially when “depth piece” suddenly becomes “please save us.”

Schlittler, as mentioned, is on a pitch count. Ryan Weathers is slotted into the back end to provide “stability,” which is usually code for “just give us four innings and don’t set anything on fire.”

And then there’s the injured list, which reads like a who’s-who of who you actually wanted to rely on.

Gerrit Cole is working back from Tommy John and might return in May or June. Rodón is aiming for late April, maybe. Clarke Schmidt is even further out and might not even come back as a starter.

So yes—needless to say—this is not a championship rotation. Not at all.

Could it become one? Maybe, if everything breaks perfectly. But “everything going right” is not a strategy—it’s a wish.

And right now, this whole situation feels less like a plan and more like a hope that April doesn’t ask too many tough questions.

THREE STARTERS ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH

All offseason I kept saying the same thing. Actually, scratch that—I said it last season too. The Yankees needed one more legit starting pitcher to sit next to Max Fried. Just one. Then when Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole come back, suddenly the rotation looks nasty. Add Cam Schlittler into the mix and you’ve got the makings of something serious.

But nobody wanted to hear it.

Instead, the Yankees went out and traded for Ryan Weathers, wrapped the move in a nice little bow, and Yankee social media tried to sell it like they’d just discovered the next ace hiding in a clearance bin. On top of that, everyone just assumed Luis Gil would magically snap back into Rookie of the Year form, like there’s some kind of “reset to dominance” button you press every March.

Fast forward to now—just weeks from Opening Day—and the Yankees rotation looks… shaky. And honestly, that’s not fair to Max Fried. The guy can only carry so much of the load.

Sure, Will Warren is opening some eyes this spring, and Cam Schlittler looks promising. But let’s be real for a second: promising isn’t the same thing as ready. And right now, ready is exactly what the Yankees need.

Fans love to point to the eventual returns of Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole, and yes, that will help. But the team actually has to stay afloat until they get there. If two of your five starters are consistently struggling before those guys return, things can spiral quickly.

Even Sports Illustrated writer Jordon Lawrenz is sounding the alarm with a wrote that “Three Quality Starters Isn’t Good Enough.” Funny… that sounds awfully familiar. Oh right—I’ve been saying that exact thing right here at Bleeding Yankee Blue.

Lawrenz points out that the Yankees know they have prospects like Carlos Lagrange waiting in the wings, but it’s way too early to start calling those names over Gil and Weathers. Early spring struggles happen, sure—but when it’s multiple starters, that’s when the concern meter starts flashing.

But this is the Yankees’ pattern. They don’t act before problems happen. They wait until the problem is staring them in the face… and then they react.

Let’s call it what it is: Ryan Weathers was never the answer. It was a questionable move from the start. And simply waiting around for Cole and Rodón to return is basically handing wins to your opponents and hoping you can play catch-up later.

If the Yankees want to be contenders—hell, if they want to talk about being 2026 World Series champions—the front office needs to get its act together.

But will they? Probably not.

And hey, why would they listen to me over here at Bleeding Yankee Blue?

I only called it months ago. Losers.

PAUL DEJONG COULD PROVE TO BE A SOLID SIGNING

I’ve always had a soft spot for Paul DeJong, and even though I wasn’t expecting fireworks from him this spring, having a guy like that waiting on the bench is exactly the kind of quiet insurance a team loves. He’s been around the block, understands the flow of the game, and feels like the type of veteran who could slide into the New York Yankees clubhouse without missing a beat.

Despite signing DeJong to a minor-league deal, Pete Caldera of NorthJersey.com has floated the idea that the former All-Star could sneak onto the Opening Day roster. That possibility becomes even more realistic if Oswaldo Cabrera isn’t fully ready after losing most of last season to an ankle fracture.

If that happens, DeJong suddenly becomes a very useful piece. With starting shortstop Anthony Volpe expected to miss time while recovering from shoulder surgery, the Yankees could use someone who brings both experience and flexibility to the infield. DeJong’s deal reportedly comes with a $1 million payday if he makes the big-league roster, and what he offers is pretty straightforward: steady defense across all four infield spots and a bat that still has some pop in it.

With Volpe likely out until at least May following labrum surgery, DeJong is basically competing to help hold the line early in the season. Jose Caballero is expected to handle most of the fill-in duties, but DeJong gives the Yankees a veteran option who’s been in big moments before.

And honestly, let’s be real for a second—if Volpe weren’t in the picture at all, the Yankees probably wouldn’t skip much of a beat running with Caballero and DeJong. Between the two of them, there’s enough defense, experience, and occasional power to keep things steady.

That’s why bringing DeJong in this offseason might end up looking like a sneaky smart move. It’s not flashy, but sometimes the best roster decisions are the ones you only notice when you suddenly need them. 

A TERRIFIC TRADE IDEA THE YANKEES HAVEN'T THOUGHT OF

Credit where it’s due: Zach Pressnell of Sports Illustrated may have just sketched out the kind of practical, win-now move the New York Yankees should be sprinting to the phone about. His idea—sending pitching prospects Kyle Carr and Brock Selvidge to the St. Louis Cardinals for left-handed reliever JoJo Romero—is one of those trades that makes so much sense you almost wonder why it hasn’t already happened.

Romero is exactly the kind of arm the Yankees’ bullpen currently lacks: a proven, high-leverage lefty who can handle the eighth inning and keep dangerous left-handed hitters quiet when the game tightens up. The Yankees do have left-handed options, but they’re more matchup specialists than late-inning stoppers. Romero would immediately slide into a setup role and give the bullpen the kind of October-ready depth contenders need.

Pressnell’s logic is refreshingly straightforward. The Yankees would be turning two intriguing but unproven prospects into a reliever who’s already shown he can thrive under major-league pressure. Prospects are baseball’s favorite lottery tickets—fun to dream about, occasionally life-changing, but far from guaranteed. Romero, on the other hand, is the reliable appliance that works every day.

For the Cardinals, moving Romero wouldn’t derail their long-term plans, and adding arms like Carr and Selvidge gives them developmental upside. For the Yankees, it’s an immediate upgrade for a bullpen that has lost key pieces like Devin Williams and Luke Weaver and still needs a stabilizing presence late in games.

In other words, it's clean. Fair for both sides and perfectly aligned with the Yankees’ win-now mentality. The only real mystery is why the Yankees’ front office hasn’t already picked up the phone. Sometimes the best ideas in baseball are the obvious ones—and this feels like one of them.

THE GREAT BOONE PUPPET DEBATE REALLY ISN'T A DEBATE

Brian Cashman doesn’t get to tell fans how they’re supposed to feel about Aaron Boone. That’s just not how fandom works.

Since Boone took over for Joe Girardi, Yankees fans have heard the same message over and over from the top. Every year, Hal Steinbrenner reminds everyone that it’s “championship or bust.” Every year, the season ends without a championship, and every winter Brian Cashman assures fans that meaningful upgrades are coming.

And yet… here we are again.

So, when people look at the Yankees and say Boone feels more like a pawn than a power figure, it’s not coming out of thin air. Fans have watched this same movie for years now. Boone sits in the dugout, smiling, chewing gum, managing the lineup card while the front office supposedly calls the big shots, in my opinion of course.

Cashman, however, insists that narrative is completely wrong. Speaking to Fox Sports reporter Deesha Thosar, he made it clear the criticism bothers him.

“Like, at the end of the day, I know all that's going to matter is if we're winning games. And even when we are winning games, it still won't matter... Because there's a lot of narratives out there that just aren't the case. Like, to this day, I'm definitely frustrated with the one narrative that the manager is the puppet, and we're dictating his moves. None of it's true.”

The problem is, that explanation lands with a thud among fans who have watched this team spin its wheels for years.

Yes, the Yankees have talent. Nobody denies that. Aaron Judge is one of the best players in baseball. Giancarlo Stanton can still crush a baseball into orbit. Cody Bellinger brings legitimate skill to the lineup.

But building a championship team takes more than a few stars surrounded by ongoing development projects. Too often the Yankees feel like a lab experiment — mixing veteran power hitters with prospects who are learning on the fly at the major league level.

And when the team falls short, Boone is the one sitting in the manager’s chair.

Cashman, though, says the public perception simply won’t change no matter what he says.

“I can't change people's minds. They want to believe what they want to believe, no matter what... It's like politics and conspiracy theories. You can try to prove it scientifically, prove it with people testifying under oath, or, like, I can roll out former managers, you can ask those guys. It doesn't matter. It doesn't mean anything. People still say it. So it's like, well, then what am I going to do?”

Well, here’s an idea: give fans a roster that actually looks upgraded.

Because from the outside looking in, it often feels like the Yankees make one splashy move and call it a winter. The bullpen still needs depth. The roster still leans heavily on development experiments. And somehow Boone is expected to steer that mix to a championship.

Not exactly a fair assignment.

Sports Illustrated writer Joseph Randazzo summed up the situation perfectly:

“It's hard to say what they think will be accomplished by repeating year in and year out that Boone isn't a puppet, but, in a lot of ways, it comes off the way Mark DeRosa has come off for Team USA. He put his foot in his mouth by doubling down, telling the public that he, in fact, knew the United States didn't ‘punch their ticket’ to the knockout round, and all that has gotten him is more criticism. Shooing away criticism comes off as a lack of understanding of the crux of everybody's frustration in the first place. That makes everything worse.”

And that’s exactly the point.

Every year the Yankees insist the criticism is misguided. Every year they promise improvement. And every year the same frustrations resurface.

The Yankees are a good team. But they’re not a great one. And good teams don’t hang championship banners in the Bronx.

Spring training doesn’t change that. Adding one player in the offseason doesn’t change that. Rolling into the season with roster holes and hoping internal development solves everything doesn’t change that.

You know what also doesn’t help? A manager who feels more like the players’ buddy than their boss.

If you want to see what strong dugout leadership looks like, watch managers like Bruce Bochy or the legendary Jim Leyland. Their teams play with discipline, urgency, and accountability.

That’s leadership.

So when Cashman says fans are going to believe what they want to believe, he’s right about one thing: fans will decide for themselves.

And until the Yankees prove otherwise on the field, plenty of people will keep believing the same thing.

Aaron Boone isn’t running the show.

He’s holding the strings someone else is pulling.

ANOTHER REASON WHY BASEBALL IS NO LONGER ABOUT THE FANS

If you ever needed another reminder that the modern baseball business isn’t really about the fans anymore, congratulations — the 2026 season just handed you a perfect example wrapped in a streaming subscription. They will mask it like they are, but when your own local network, who is owned by the team doesn't get the rights to their own opening night game, you have to question it.

The New York Yankees will open their season on March 25 against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park… and you won’t find it on YES Network. Nope. The first Yankees game of the season — Opening Night, no less — will be exclusively streamed by Netflix.

Yes. The Yankees’ own network doesn’t even get the Yankees’ first game of the year. That promo? It's cool right? The concept... horrible for us die-hard fans.

Think about that for a second.

The reason? Major League Baseball signed a three-year streaming deal with Netflix reportedly worth about $50 million. The agreement gives the platform exclusive rights to certain marquee events from 2026 through 2028, and the Yankees–Giants matchup was chosen as a standalone national showcase. It’ll be the only MLB game played that day — a primetime event designed to bring eyeballs to Netflix’s first live baseball broadcast.

Great for Netflix. Not exactly great for the fans who actually follow the Yankees every night.

And it’s not like the Yankees didn’t see this coming. This isn’t a sudden thunderbolt from the sky. The team with one of the richest brands in sports somehow allowed its own Opening Night to get scooped away from its own network. The YES Network, the channel literally built around Yankees baseball, is now flying across the country just to broadcast… one game of the series.

Even Michael Kay didn’t try to sugarcoat it. He summed up the situation pretty bluntly, saying losing the pomp and circumstance of Opening Day “sucks.” He’s right. It does. But the issue goes deeper than that. Kay pointed out the awkward reality of the schedule: the opener is on Netflix, the finale is on Fox Sports, and the YES crew gets stuck with the middle game. So, the network voice of the Yankees is essentially boarding a plane to San Francisco to call exactly one game. That’s not just inconvenient. It’s ridiculous.

And for fans, the bigger problem is what we’re losing. When you turn on a Yankees broadcast, you expect the familiar voices — Kay, the analysts, the booth that lives and breathes the team every day. That connection matters. It’s part of what makes baseball feel local, personal, and rooted.

Netflix’s broadcast will instead feature a national crew including Matt Vasgersian, CC Sabathia, and Hunter Pence. Look, Sabathia is beloved in the Bronx and nobody’s complaining about hearing from him. But let’s be honest: a national broadcast crew is not the same as the people who call your team every single night. It turns the whole thing into something sterile. Less hometown baseball, more corporate presentation.

And that’s really the point here.

This deal isn’t just about one game. It’s about where the sport is headed under commissioner Rob Manfred. MLB has made it clear it wants to shift toward a nationalized media model — potentially bundling local digital rights by 2029 and selling them collectively.

Translation: fewer regional broadcasts, more big national streaming deals. In other words, the exact opposite of what built baseball’s connection with its fan bases in the first place.  Yes, baseball has always been a business. Nobody is naive about that. But once upon a time the business side stayed mostly behind the curtain while fans got to enjoy the game.

Now the curtain is gone. The business is the show.  Streaming deals. Exclusive rights. Platforms fighting over games like they’re tech assets instead of part of a community’s culture.

And Opening Day — the one moment that’s supposed to feel special for every team’s fans — is now being used as a tech launch event.

So call me crazy if you want. But when that first Yankees pitch of the year is thrown and the voices you’ve listened to for years aren’t there… you’ll feel it. That’s the moment you realize something about the sport has changed.

Shame on MLB for selling it that way. And honestly, shame on YES for not fighting harder to keep the Yankees’ own Opening Night where it belongs.

I'M NOT BUYING RYAN WEATHERS

Remember what I said about Ryan Weathers? Yeah… I meant it. Spring Training or not, I never bought the hype around this kid and I’m still not buying it now. At some point the New York Yankees have to stop running these little “development experiments” like they’re a science fair project gone wrong. We already sat through the Anthony Volpe Experience and the Austin Wells Adventure. Both of those have been… let’s call it “educational.” We really don’t need another lesson.

Today didn’t exactly inspire confidence either. Weathers got tagged early in a 7–6 loss to the Atlanta Braves, and that first inning was basically a disaster movie. Four runs crossed the plate before anyone could finish their coffee. When it was over, the left-hander had allowed four earned runs on seven hits across 3.2 innings.

Not exactly the kind of outing that makes fans jump up and scream, “Yes! This is the guy!”

But if you listen closely to the spin machine coming out of the New York Yankees front office, they’ll tell you the real story is that Weathers hit 100 mph on the radar gun. And sure, that’s nice. Radar guns are fun. Fireworks are also fun. Neither of those things necessarily mean the pitcher actually got anyone out.

Velocity is great, but you know what’s even better? Not giving up four runs before the stadium hot dogs are warm.

The reality is that Weathers already had an uphill climb with the fan base. The Yankees paid a steep prospect price to bring him in, he’s had a laundry list of injury concerns over the years, and now his spring performances have been… let’s politely call them “uneven.” That’s not exactly the recipe for instant Bronx love.

Right now, he’s penciled into the rotation mostly because the Yankees are waiting for the cavalry to return. Until Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón get healthy and back from the injured list, Weathers is basically serving as a placeholder. A bridge. A temporary patch on the tire while the real engine is in the shop.

And honestly? That’s exactly what he looks like.

Maybe he figures it out. Maybe the velocity turns into results. Baseball has surprised us before.

But if we’re still hearing in June about how “encouraging” it is that Ryan Weathers can touch 100 while the scoreboard lights up like Times Square, I’m done. At that point I might just start rooting for the Pittsburgh Pirates out of sheer emotional self-defense.

Because even the most loyal Yankees fan has a breaking point. And the Bronx “pitching lab” might be getting dangerously close to mine.

I know, ya'll hate my negativity. I get it, but I'm not wrong.  

WILL WARREN IS PROVING ME WRONG & I LOVE IT!

The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, and the big headline for me was Will Warren — who, to my surprise and mild delight, actually looked terrific. Yes, that Will Warren. And yes, I’m fully prepared to admit it when a guy makes me look a little silly.

Warren pulled off something no other Yankees pitcher has managed this spring: he made it through the sixth inning. In March baseball, where starters are usually yanked faster than a bad Wi-Fi connection, that’s a pretty big deal.

As Empire Sports Media noted:

“Throwing 64 pitches effectively is fantastic for his tune-up process, proving he is nearly ready for a full starter’s workload. If his progression stays on this trajectory, he should be knocking on the door of 80 pitches by the time he takes the mound for his next Grapefruit League appearance.”

And honestly? I’m here for it.

Now, let’s be clear about something: I haven’t exactly been president of the Will Warren fan club. Not even close. But I am a fan of players who shove doubt back down the throats of people like me. So go ahead, Will — prove me wrong. I’ll happily eat that serving of crow if it means the Yankees get a legitimate arm.

The next hurdle is consistency. Last year Warren had an unfortunate habit of mixing a great outing with one that looked like it was sponsored by gasoline and matches. Those occasional meltdowns have to disappear. That's where he lost me.

There are encouraging signs, though. His four-seam fastball has ticked up about one mile per hour this spring and is showing roughly two extra inches of induced vertical break. In other words, it’s got a little more life — the kind that can make hitters swing under it instead of sending it to the parking lot.

The real trouble spot in 2025 was his sweeper. Opponents hit a very unfriendly .336 against it. That’s less “wipeout pitch” and more “please hit this somewhere hard.” If Warren can turn that offering into something merely average, scouts believe he has the tools to evolve into more than just rotation filler.

Right now, the projection is that Warren could settle in as a reliable back-end starter for the Yankees in 2026. But if the pitch mix sharpens and the bad outings disappear, that ceiling might creep closer to the middle of the rotation.

For a guy I wasn’t exactly sold on? That’s a development worth watching.

Stay tuned.

 

JUDGE IS A BASEBALL ICON. HERE'S WHY

For the baseball card crowd—the folks who lovingly slide cardboard into plastic sleeves like they’re preserving the Dead Sea Scrolls—this one might sound completely bonkers.

The folks at Fanatics Collect just announced they brokered a $5.2 million private sale for a single baseball card: Aaron Judge 2013 Bowman Chrome Draft Superfractor Autograph 1/1. Yes, one card. Not a set. Not a binder full of childhood nostalgia. One shiny, golden, one-of-a-kind rectangle with Aaron Judge’s autograph on it.

That price tag now stands as the highest sale ever for a modern-era baseball card. According to CardLadder, the deal also lands in a tie for the 10th-highest trading card sale in history. In other words, someone just paid the price of a very nice mansion… for cardboard.

And it wasn’t even close to the previous modern baseball record. That belonged to Mike Trout’s 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Superfractor Autograph 1/1 Mike Trout card, which sold for $3.936 million. Judge’s card didn’t just top it—it blew past it by more than a million bucks.

Now, to be fair, Judge has built the kind of résumé that turns collectors into auction warriors. Three American League MVP awards in a four-year span. Multiple 50-plus home run seasons. And he became the fastest player in MLB history to reach 300 career home runs. The man hits baseballs so hard they should come with warning labels.

But here’s the funny part of the story.

For all the jaw-dropping numbers, the towering homers, and now a $5.2 million trading card… Judge still doesn’t have a World Series ring.

You can file that under: Things the Yankees front office might want to look into while they’re busy calculating launch angles on a spreadsheet.

Still, stepping back from the front-office headaches for a moment, this sale is remarkable. A modern baseball card crossing the $5 million mark shows just how wild the hobby has become. What used to be something kids traded on school buses is now apparently a luxury investment class.

And somewhere out there, a collector is staring at a single Aaron Judge card in a glass case thinking, “Totally worth it.”

Honestly? It’s incredible. And also just a little bit insane.

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DEROSA HAS A BOONE MOMENT?

Every once in a while baseball reminds us that the sport isn’t just unpredictable on the field—it can also get a little… foggy in the dugout.

Enter Mark DeRosa, manager of United States national baseball team, who admitted after Tuesday’s stunning loss that he wasn’t exactly sure how the tournament standings worked. Which is a little like an airline pilot admitting mid-flight that he thought the runway was optional.

Team USA entered the game against Italy national baseball team sitting pretty at 3–0 in Pool B during the World Baseball Classic. Italy was right behind at 2–0, but the U.S. was widely expected to roll. Instead, Italy came out swinging like they were fueled by espresso and family pride, storming to an 8–0 lead that left Team USA looking like they had accidentally wandered into the wrong stadium.

The Americans tried to claw back, scoring six runs late, but the comeback stalled and Italy held on for an 8–6 win—one of the bigger shocks the tournament has seen.

That loss suddenly turned the math of Pool B into a complicated spreadsheet of tiebreakers, run differentials, and scenarios involving Mexico national baseball team. Depending on how Mexico performed against Italy in the final pool game, the United States could advance… or get sent home early.

Small detail.

Unfortunately, DeRosa apparently didn’t realize that.

Speaking afterward, he admitted he had “misread the calculations” earlier in the day while talking about the standings.

“Yeah, I misspoke,” DeRosa said. “I was on Hot Stove with a couple of buddies today and completely misread the calculations… running all the numbers with runs allowed and runs scored and outs. I just misspoke.”

Now, let’s pause here for a moment.

DeRosa is not a dumb guy. In fact, he’s famously a smart baseball lifer. He even attended the prestigious Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, which is generally where people go when they want to become investment bankers, CEOs, or the kind of person who casually explains compound interest at dinner parties.

Which raises a completely fair question.

If you went to Wharton… how do you misread a baseball tiebreaker chart?

This isn’t quantum physics. It’s runs scored and runs allowed. Little League parents figure this stuff out while holding a coffee and arguing with an umpire. Critics have called the mistake “mind-boggling” and “unforgivable ignorance.” That might be a little dramatic, but let’s be honest—if you’re managing the national team in an international tournament, knowing whether your team has actually clinched a spot feels like a useful piece of information.

Still, baseball being baseball, the situation worked out. Italy’s result against Mexico ultimately bailed out Team USA and kept them alive in the tournament.

So yes—Team USA survives. But let’s take a second to appreciate Italy, because that team was fantastic. Scrappy, aggressive, fearless. They played like a club that didn’t read the odds and didn’t care about the math. They just showed up, punched the heavyweight in the mouth, and nearly rewrote the whole bracket.

Honestly, you’ve got to love that.

As for DeRosa? Well, maybe the lesson here is simple: next time the manager of Team USA goes on TV to explain tournament scenarios, someone should probably hand him a calculator first.

Just in case.

BEN RICE IS THE BEST CATCHER THE YANKEES HAVE

The New York Yankees have a pretty simple problem at catcher this season, and somehow they’re trying to make it complicated. The obvious answer is staring them in the face: Ben Rice should be catching games.

Without him back there, the Yankees are basically running a two-option menu that nobody ordered.

First there’s Austin Wells, who last season hit .219. That’s not exactly the kind of offensive thunder you dream about from a position that already struggles to produce runs. Then there’s J. C. Escarra, who is what he is: a backup catcher. Every team needs one. But the key word there is backup. Not “plan A.”

So naturally the logical move would be to give Rice some time behind the plate and see what happens.

Enter manager Aaron Boone — baseball’s most enthusiastic shrug.

When asked if Rice would catch at all this spring, Boone delivered the kind of decisive leadership Yankees fans have come to expect.

“I don’t know.”

That quote, reported by Brendan Kuty of The Athletic, pretty much sums up the current Yankees decision-making process. The team is apparently planning to use Rice as their everyday first baseman — which would be the first time in his life that he’s primarily focused on the position.

Which raises a tiny, inconvenient question.

Didn’t the Yankees just sign Paul Goldschmidt… a first baseman?

Seriously. Why bring in Goldschmidt if the plan is to convert Rice into a full-time first baseman on the fly? That’s like buying a new car and then deciding to drive the lawn mower to work instead.

Meanwhile, as Conor Liguori of Sports Illustrated pointed out, there’s a perfectly reasonable baseball reason to let Rice catch some games. Injuries happen. Catchers get banged up. If Wells or Escarra ends up missing time, Rice would suddenly be thrown behind the plate cold without recent reps.

Liguori also noted another practical benefit: getting Rice more at-bats against left-handed pitching. With Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger able to handle first base, the Yankees would gain lineup flexibility if Rice occasionally caught.

You know… basic roster management.

But that would require Boone to make an actual baseball decision. And unfortunately, Boone operates in a system where every thought has to be cleared by the spreadsheet department upstairs.

That’s the real problem.

The Yankees don’t run on instincts anymore. They run on charts, algorithms, and whatever glowing spreadsheet the front office prints out that morning. Boone isn’t managing a baseball team so much as he’s reading instructions off a corporate PowerPoint.

And the result is a manager who often looks completely lost — because he is.

The solution here isn’t complicated. Rice should catch sometimes. It protects the roster, gives the team flexibility, and prepares for the inevitable bumps that come during a 162-game season.

Liguori gets it.

Most fans get it.

But until someone in the organization remembers that baseball involves human judgment and not just Excel formulas, the Yankees will keep doing what they’ve been doing for years now: overthinking the obvious while their manager stands there saying, “I don’t know.”

And that, unfortunately, is the Aaron Boone era in a nutshell. An idiot with a lineup card waiting for the spreadsheet to tell him what to do next.

CARLOS LAGRANGE IS A STARTER. STOP TINKERING!

Every spring there’s at least one pitcher who shows up, throws absolute thunderbolts, and makes everyone watching wonder why he isn’t already penciled into the starting rotation. This year, that guy is Carlos Lagrange.

The kid is lighting up radar guns at 102 mph and mowing down hitters like he’s late for dinner. Spring Training lineups, minor leaguers, veterans—it hasn’t mattered. Lagrange has handled all of them without blinking. When someone throws that hard and actually knows where the ball is going, the baseball conclusion is pretty simple: that’s a starting pitcher.

Which means the obvious move for the New York Yankees should be… let him start.

But then there’s the complication known as Aaron Boone.

Because whenever a young pitcher looks promising, Boone seems to develop a sudden urge to get creative. Not “smart baseball creative,” mind you. More like the kind of creative that makes fans stare at their TVs wondering if the manager accidentally flipped to the wrong page in the playbook.

And right on cue, Boone has already started floating the idea of using Lagrange out of the bullpen.

His explanation?

“There’s no denying he could be good out of the pen, but we’re certainly not gonna rush him to fill a need… as he logs some innings and it becomes a real need… anything is possible.”

Translation: the bullpen is thin, so we might shove the kid there if things get uncomfortable.

This is classic Yankees prospect management. A young pitcher proves he can start. He shows starter stuff. He develops like a starter. And then—because the big league roster has a temporary hole—the organization starts thinking about turning him into something else entirely.

It’s baseball’s version of buying a Ferrari and using it to deliver pizza.

Lagrange isn’t some soft-tossing middle reliever in waiting. He’s a legitimate starting pitcher. The eye test alone tells you that. The fastball is explosive, the presence is there, and the ability to handle hitters multiple times through a lineup is exactly what he should be developing.

So the solution is painfully obvious. Send him to Triple-A and let him start.

Not warm up in the fifth inning. Not appear in random bullpen experiments. Start. Every fifth day. Build innings. Refine the secondary pitches. Let him develop like an actual starter instead of some emergency bullpen patch. And here’s the other part of the equation nobody in the Yankees’ decision-making circle ever seems to acknowledge: a Yankees starter getting hurt this season is practically a calendar event. It happens every year.

When that inevitable injury pops up—and history says it will—then you call up Lagrange. Let him make his debut the right way, sliding into the rotation where he belongs instead of trying to reinvent him on the fly.

But that would require common sense.

Instead, fans are probably about to witness the usual Yankees routine: a talented young pitcher earns a role, the organization gets nervous about roster needs, and suddenly the kid is bouncing between assignments that have nothing to do with his long-term future.

Lagrange is a starter. The arm says starter. The results say starter. The development path says starter.

So naturally, there’s a real chance the Yankees will try to make him something else.

Because when it comes to young pitchers, the Yankees’ favorite hobby seems to be overthinking things until something breaks.