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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GEARING UP FOR NATIONAL BASEBALL CARD DAY

BECAUSE OF SY BERGER & TOPPS, I'LL ALWAYS BE A KID

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE "CHASING DONNIE BASEBALL" GUY

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. 

THE YANKEES WILL RUSH VOLPE BACK & BREAK THEIR "TROPHY" SHORTSTOP

The minute Anthony Volpe finishes his rehab assignment, you can practically hear the gears turning in the New York Yankees front office. The plan is obvious: activate him, plug him right back in at shortstop, and pretend everything is perfectly fine. Business as usual in the Bronx.

But here’s the problem—why rush it?

Volpe is coming off shoulder surgery. Surgery. That’s not exactly the kind of thing where you dust yourself off after a couple of rehab games and suddenly operate at 100 percent. Even if he says he feels great—and players always say they feel great—it’s unrealistic to think he’ll be at full strength the moment he steps back onto a big-league field. Plus, let's not sugarcoat it, he's not a great player.

And the Yankees actually have a perfectly capable solution already standing there: José Caballero.

Caballero has proven he can handle shortstop defensively, he’s reliable, and—most importantly—he’s healthy. That alone makes the situation pretty simple. Let Caballero hold down the position while Volpe finishes shaking off the rust somewhere less chaotic than Yankee Stadium. In other words, the place designed for that exact purpose: Triple-A.

Volpe still has minor league options. There is absolutely nothing wrong with letting him spend time in the minors after rehab to find a rhythm. In fact, it’s the logical move. But logic and the Yankees’ handling of Volpe haven’t exactly been close friends since the day he arrived.

Because let’s be honest—this whole situation has felt like a long-running attempt by the Yankees to prove they were right about Volpe. Draft him, rocket him through the system, hand him the starting shortstop job, and then spend the next few seasons convincing everyone that the plan was flawless.

Except the results haven’t exactly cooperated. Look, Volpe is not the answer. Hurt or not hurt. You looks like a dude that didn't earn the spot and the dad's hanging in the suite with Cashman cause they once ran into each other at the car dealership and became fast friends. That is not true by the way... It's a made up story because for the life of me, I don't know who the hell in that Yankee scouting system actually looked at Volpe and thought he was EVER Major league ready.  It makes zero sense and now we are in year 4.

Across the 2023 and 2024 seasons, Volpe’s offensive production ranked among the worst start-to-finish performances by a full-time player anywhere in the league. That’s not nitpicking—that’s reality. When your everyday shortstop is scraping the bottom of offensive leaderboards, the “future star” narrative starts to feel more like a marketing campaign.

Which brings us back to the present moment. If the Yankees truly want to discover what the “real Volpe” looks like—whatever that phrase even means—they should slow down. Let him stay in Triple-A after rehab. Let him actually refine things without the daily microscope of the Bronx. Maybe even let him sit and learn from someone who has been doing the job well, like Caballero.

But that would require patience. And patience doesn’t sell jerseys.

More likely, the Yankees will activate Volpe, drop him right back into the lineup, and cross their fingers that the production magically appears. It’s the same pattern we’ve seen for years: force the narrative, defend the decision, hope reality eventually cooperates.

Meanwhile, one of the best players on the planet—Aaron Judge—is in his prime, doing everything possible to carry the franchise on his back.

That’s the part that should frustrate fans the most. The Yankees have a generational superstar leading the team, and instead of building a ruthlessly efficient roster around him, they keep running experiments and protecting organizational pride.

If the goal is to win another World Series, the decisions should be simple: play the best, healthiest players available and stop forcing narratives.

But if the goal is proving the front office was right about Anthony Volpe… well, then expect to see him back at shortstop the moment he’s medically cleared. Rust, recovery, and common sense be damned.

Look, I know none of you want to hear this. You think I'm a true hater. Nope. I am a true hater of a dysfunctional front office that believe numbers are the future. By the way, Numbers? They are your Catcher and Shortstop starting for the New York Yankees. How's that working out?

This is no longer a serious franchise. They have lost their way.  Having one of the best records in Spring training means absolutely nothing folks.  A World Championship? That's all that matters in this game. 

Open. Your. Eyes.

AUSTIN WELLS: OUR OVERHYPED CATCHER

Let’s be honest for a minute. I’ve been saying it for a year now, and apparently, I’m not the only one seeing it: Austin Wells is not exactly the gold standard behind the plate. And before anyone says this is just another cranky Yankees rant, there’s now a little something called evidence.

Recently, Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report ranked Wells as the No. 19 starting catcher in Major League Baseball. Nineteenth. Not elite. Not top-tier. Not “future cornerstone of the franchise.” Nineteenth. Which is a polite analytical way of saying: middle of the pack, with homework still due.

Reuter acknowledged that Wells played a role in baseball’s highest-scoring offense last year, noting that he built on the counting numbers from his rookie season — 13 homers and 55 RBIs in 2024. The problem is that the deeper numbers went in the wrong direction. His strikeout rate jumped from 21.0% to 26.3%.

In other words, the résumé still has a few blank spaces.

And here’s where things get uncomfortable.

For all the talk about Wells being a “two-way contributor,” the reality is that the offensive production has been… let’s say uninspiring. A .219 batting average is not exactly the stuff of Yankee folklore. This is a franchise built on the ghosts of hitters who used to treat .219 like a bad week in May, not a season-long résumé.

Most of the criticism aimed at Wells has centered on what scouts politely call a sophomore slump — though calling it a slump almost implies he tripped over something. In 2025, the numbers weren’t just down, they cratered. His chase rate ballooned, the contact disappeared, and by August of 2025 he was statistically one of the worst hitters in baseball over a month-long stretch. That led to reduced playing time and louder whispers that someone else — like Ben Rice — might deserve more innings behind the plate.

Ironically, the one area Wells has received praise is defense. His pitch framing improved. His game-calling drew positive reviews from pitchers. But that’s where the irony comes in: defense was the exact thing scouts worried about when he was drafted.  Look, when the New York Yankees selected Wells out of the University of Arizona, many evaluators projected him as a bat-first catcher with questionable defensive tools. Some didn’t think he would remain a catcher at all, predicting a future move to first base or designated hitter.  If you watch closely, you can understand why that projection existed.

The arm isn’t overwhelming. The athleticism behind the plate is adequate but hardly elite. And when the bat is producing a .219 average, the entire “offense-first catcher” label starts to wobble like a folding chair at a tailgate.

Which brings us to the real question — and it has less to do with Wells himself. Prospects struggle. Young players develop unevenly. That’s normal.

But what continues to puzzle many fans is how the Yankees’ front office keeps selling these players like they’re guaranteed stars before they’ve proven much of anything. Every prospect is introduced like the next cornerstone. Every young player is described as “elite.” Every flaw is explained away as part of a master plan. And then reality shows up with a stat sheet.

The issue isn’t that Wells is developing slowly. Plenty of catchers take time to figure things out. The issue is the sales pitch. The Yankees have mastered the art of marketing potential as certainty — and the fan base is expected to applaud the reveal every time.

At some point, though, the numbers start talking louder than the press releases.

If the Yankees want to push past the ALDS and actually make a serious run at the World Series, the production behind the plate has to improve. A catcher hitting .219 simply isn’t enough for a lineup with championship ambitions.

And that leaves the organization with two choices: Either Austin Wells becomes the player they’ve been advertising, or fans will eventually start asking why the label on the box never seems to match what’s inside. Put it this way, when a former catcher in Ben Rice is actually replacing the actual cather in the lineup, you need to worry as a fan. It means someone's not paying attention in those scouting meetings, or they just don't get it entirely.

I FEEL LIKE THE YANKEES WILL TRADE JASSON DOMINGUEZ THIS SEASON

It's a gut feeling, nothing more.

What I have noticed is that the New York Yankees have become incredibly good at one thing over the past decade: marketing prospects like they’re blockbuster movie premieres. Development? Well… that part sometimes feels like it happens after the merchandise orders are placed.

Enter Jasson Domínguez, better known as “The Martian,” a nickname that the Yankees’ marketing department embraced with the enthusiasm of a kid discovering a new toy. Martian jerseys, viral highlights, breathless hype—Domínguez wasn’t just a prospect, he was practically a brand.

And yet, barely a few seasons later, I feel like there’s a very real chance the Yankees could trade him.

Start with the roster mess they created. Aaron Judge obviously isn’t moving from the outfield. The Yankees then handed a massive contract to Cody Bellinger, effectively locking up another spot. Defensive specialist Trent Grisham is around, and the designated hitter role still belongs to Giancarlo Stanton whenever he’s upright and swinging.

So, the once-untouchable Domínguez suddenly looks like the odd man out. I would rather him in the outfield and Grisham off the bench, but Boone uses him as a lead off, so no chance of that.

It doesn’t help that Jasson's defense in left field has been shaky, posting ugly metrics that make a supposedly defense-conscious organization nervous. Meanwhile, his bat still has questions—especially after struggling against right-handed pitching last season. That being said, Dominguez is making a huge argument to keep him around this spring. The dude's raking and impressing, but so is Spencer Jones and as you can see from Jones being sent down the minors this week, you can be a Babe Ruth hitting prospect and it doesn't matter. 

But my point is, the marketing if too much, overhyped.  All of this creates the perfect storm: a team desperate to win during Judge’s prime, a crowded outfield, and a still-valuable prospect whose reputation might be worth more on the trade market than on the roster.

If the Yankees do move Domínguez, it’ll be another classic Bronx storyline—build the hype, sell the jerseys, then trade the player before the development is finished. And if the Martian eventually becomes a star somewhere else, Yankees fans will probably watch those highlights and wonder why the organization that hyped him the loudest didn’t have the patience to actually let him become great.

See that word? Patience.  They do it with dud Volpe. Why not do it for a guy like Dominguez?

DEVELOPING OR WASTING? SPENCER JONES TO THE MINORS AGAIN

The New York Yankees made their first meaningful spring training cuts, and one of the names heading back down the highway to the minors was outfielder Spencer Jones. Along with him went right-hander Elmer Rodríguez.

The official explanation? A crowded roster, some plate discipline that still needs polishing, and the ever-popular phrase used by front offices everywhere: long-term development strategy. Ah yes… that phrase. The baseball equivalent of telling someone “we’ll circle back.”

Let’s start with the obvious. Jones didn’t exactly embarrass himself this spring. The 24-year-old went 6-for-18 in Grapefruit League play with three home runs, a double, and three stolen bases. He walked four times and struck out six. In other words, he looked exactly like what he’s been advertised as for years now: a massive power threat with some swing-and-miss baked into the recipe. Sound familiar? It should. The Yankees employ a rather large gentleman named Aaron Judge who built an MVP career doing something pretty similar.

Yet despite the loud spring showing, Jones was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he’ll begin the season once again waiting for the call that never seems to come. And that’s where things start to get… weird. Because here’s the thing: Jones has been in the Yankees’ system for four years now.

Four.

At some point, you stop developing a player and start aging him like a fine bottle of cabernet that nobody ever opens. If you listen to the Yankees’ front office, the reasoning makes perfect sense. The big league roster is crowded. The outfield already features Judge, former MVP Cody Bellinger, and defensive specialist Trent Grisham. Meanwhile, Giancarlo Stanton has the designated hitter spot locked down like a parking ticket on a New York windshield.

So where exactly would Jones play? That’s the practical argument, and on paper it’s fair. Jones was never realistically making the Opening Day roster unless somebody showed up to camp with a pulled hamstring and a doctor’s note. But here’s the bigger question: if there’s never room for him, what exactly is the plan? Because prospects don’t exist in a vacuum. Development is great, but eventually development has to lead somewhere other than Scranton.

Jones isn’t some fringe organizational player quietly putting up decent numbers in the shadows. The guy has legitimate thunder in his bat. We’re talking about the kind of power that makes scouts start using words like “towering” and “prodigious,” which are baseball code for “that ball may still be traveling.”

At Triple-A last season, Jones flashed that power repeatedly. But he also showed the same issue that followed him throughout the minors: strikeouts. And yes, the Yankees want him to improve his plate discipline. That’s fair. But again… let’s not pretend the Yankees are allergic to strikeouts. They all strike out... a lot!

Judge strikes out. Bellinger has had swing-and-miss periods. Stanton practically has a reserved seat in the strikeout column. Modern baseball accepts strikeouts as the cost of doing business when the power is real.

And Jones’ power is very real. So when the Yankees say this is about “refining his approach,” some fans understandably hear something else:

“Let’s keep him parked in Scranton until we absolutely have no other choice.”

The organization insists patience is part of the process. Maybe they’re right. Maybe Jones truly needs another stretch of Triple-A reps to tighten up the swing decisions and lower the strikeout rate. But here’s the problem with patience in baseball.  Sometimes patience turns into paralysis. And let's talk about contradiction when it comes to the Yankees. Anthony Volpe was NOT ready for the major leagues, but he zipped through the minor leagues.  So, give me a break Cashman.

We’ve seen it before with the Yankees — prospects hovering just below the majors for years while the big club patches holes with veterans and statistical experiments. Meanwhile the clock keeps ticking.

Jones is already 24. That’s not old, but it’s not the age of a raw teenage prospect either. Plenty of star players are already establishing themselves in the majors by that point.

Which brings us to the real, unspoken truth. Jones will probably get his shot. Just not because the Yankees planned it. It’ll happen the way these things usually happen in the Bronx: someone gets hurt. A hamstring pops. An oblique complains. Suddenly the phone rings in Scranton.

“Pack your bags, kid.”

And then we’ll finally see what Spencer Jones actually is. A future star? A flawed slugger? A guy who needed just a little more seasoning? Right now, nobody really knows. Because after four years in the system, the Yankees are still treating one of their most exciting prospects like a concept rather than a baseball player. And if you’re a Yankees fan watching this slow-motion waiting game unfold, you can’t help but wonder:

Are they developing Spencer Jones…

or are they quietly wasting him?

THE VOLPE "INJURY" NEVER MADE SENSE TO ME

It's been bothering me, and so when I read Volpe's quote today about his shoulder and "treatment" I at least believe now more than ever that the Yankee cover stuff up. My opinion of course. Like let me see if I’ve got this straight.

We’re supposed to believe the saga of Anthony Volpe’s shoulder unfolded like this: he supposedly felt a “pop” on May 3, 2025… kept playing… nobody heard a peep about pain, discomfort, limitations, or anything resembling an injury… and then—poof—on September 2025 the New York Yankees casually announce Volpe has been dealing with a partially torn labrum in his left shoulder the whole time.

 But that was not an injury update in my opinion. That was a plot twist.

All we heard from Boone and Cashman was “his shoulder’s a little cranky.” Cranky? My shoulder gets cranky when I sleep on it wrong. A torn labrum is not cranky. That’s the kind of thing that usually involves words like shutdown, imaging, and IL stint.

Instead, Volpe kept running out there every day while Boone loudly insisted he was, and I quote, “F-in elite.” Boone used him constantly, almost like the Yankees were trying to prove a point to the baseball universe. Then the season ends and suddenly—surprise!—he’s been playing through a significant shoulder injury all along.

Sure. Now fast-forward to Volpe’s recent quote to the New York Post:

“I feel like I’ve been able to handle everything thrown at me so far. Every day is better, even if it’s a very small amount. Whereas last year, you do a bunch of treatment and you just don’t respond or you feel worse.”

Hold on.

A bunch of treatment?

That’s interesting phrasing for someone whose shoulder was supposedly just “cranky.” Treatment usually means injections, therapy, strengthening programs, maybe even imaging sessions every other week. In other words, treatment is what you do when something is actually wrong, not when your shoulder is mildly annoyed. Which raises a pretty obvious question: if Volpe was getting “a bunch of treatment,” why did nobody mention it until September?

Not Boone.
Not Cashman.
Not the Yankees.

Nothing. So yeah, forgive the skepticism. When an organization suddenly reveals a partially torn labrum five months after the fact, it’s fair to wonder whether the story we’re getting now is the same one that existed in May.

And honestly, I’m a little exhausted with the whole routine. The Yankees have spent years shoving Volpe down everyone’s throat as the next franchise cornerstone when, in reality, he hasn’t earned that pedestal yet. Meanwhile there are other options.

If the Yankees just need someone to hold the fort, give the job to José Caballero full time. Let him grind through the season. Play competent defense. Do the little things. And while that’s happening, let George Lombard Jr. keep developing—because the reports coming out of the minors are hard to ignore.

Scouts rave about Lombard’s physical tools. His arm is stronger than Volpe’s, which means he can make those deep-in-the-hole throws that separate good shortstops from great ones. Defensively, he’s already being described as a wizard with impressive range and instincts.

Then there’s the bat.

Lombard’s swing is faster and more explosive, producing better exit velocities and more raw power potential. In other words, the ceiling is simply higher. That doesn’t mean Lombard is a finished product—but the upside is obvious.

So, here’s a simple plan; Let Caballero handle shortstop for now. Let Volpe sit, heal, and maybe watch how major leaguers go about their business for a while. Then when September rolls around, call Lombard up and see what the kid can do. Have Volpe slide to the end of the bench, you know, by the bathroom.

Because if Lombard's development continues the way it’s trending, the future might look something like this:

• Lombard at shortstop in 2027

• Caballero back in a utility role

• And Volpe… maybe getting a back-up job somewhere like San Francisco or Miami. At this point, that outcome wouldn’t be shocking.

What would be shocking is if the Yankees were actually transparent about injuries for once. But this team? Because of their front office? They've turned into a joke, and if you don't see this and are fooled by them trying to choke you with excitement with social media posts about Ryan Weathers and Anthony Volpe's return, you're being duped.  Wake up. This is not a serious franchise.