BOONE, DON'T BE A BONEHEAD! GIVE NESTOR THE BALL!

What else can we possibly say about Nestor Cortes that we haven't already? We love him, he's the true ace of this pitching staff but the Yankees will never admit that. It's time for the Yankees to give Nestor what he has earned. It's time to give him the ball for the ALDS....but for Game 1.

Saturday's game against the Orioles was nice to see, and we are used to it by now. Another thing we are used to is hearing Gerrit Cole wear the "ace" title but give up too many home runs. He's the Yankees white whale that we waited to get.... but he hasn't panned out to what we wanted exactly. He's been consistent at giving up big hits and that's just not gonna work in a tough postseason.

I give credit where credit is due and I acknowledge tying Ron Guidry's Yankees single-season strikeout record is a huge accomplishment is a big deal. Kudos to Cole, but he's also given up 32 home runs this season which can't be ignored. And what about the bad memories I can't shake with Cole tanking in playoff performances? I can't forgive and forget that easily. Thank goodness we won't be losing to the Red Sox in the postseason this year because I wouldn't be able to handle that.

So is there a chance that Aaron Boone could pull a Joe Torre from 1999? It happened once it could happen again.....maybe. Torre made the right call by starting El Duque in Game 1 instead of Roger Clemens because it worked out. Too bad Boone doesn't think like Torre did because Boone has already committed to starting Cole, read more HERE. 

So it sounds like Boone is gonna go with the pitcher that costs the most money instead of the pitcher that has had the better season. I don't like it....but the Yankees are blinded by the big dollar signs attached to Cole. They are too blinded to think that maybe giving Nestor the ball for game one would like a fire under Cole and motivate him a little more.

Maybe Boone will change his mind, but I am not gonna hold my breath. Hopefully, Cole proves me wrong and pitches like the ace he is supposed to be. I just want to win!

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj