MICHAEL KAY TRIES TO BE BLUNT ABOUT AARON BOONE - SORT OF

I don't get to listen to Michael Kay's show - or maybe I just don't make an effort these days. Either way, it's not high on my "to do" list. For some reason, I listened yesterday. After what I heard, I think I have fulfilled any desires to do so again for a very long time.

Look, I have nothing against Michael Kay. I don't always agree with what he says but that's a normal part of life. His latest episode though, I disagree with more than I agree with and it really left me feeling like Kay might be crazier than I already thought he was. Give it a listen if you missed it.

The non newsworthy story here is Aaron Boone is coming back next season. Is that really surprising news? It shouldn't be. He's still under contract and.....the Yankees have shown us for some insane reason they are sticking by him. They like him. He's the puppet they want. Why would we expect him to not come back for 2027? The Yankees just aren't that cutthroat.

But for Kay to say if Baboonie doesn't win the World Series next season he's done? I just don't see that at all. It's no secret that Baboonie has the support of Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole but also Cam Schlittler. The Yankees are going to listen to anything Judge has to say because.....they have. Yankee brass have also proven that poor results in the postseason don't matter. We've had nothing but humiliating defeats. It's okay to fail miserably in the postseason because Baboonie has a winning record in the regular season and Hal still makes his money with Wild Card merchandise sold. Mediocrity at its finest.

So for anyone to think this is Baboonie's "last chance saloon" as Kay called it....that's crazy talk. After the Yankees had an epic collapse in the World Series against the Dodgers they could've moved on. They should've moved on! But nope, the Yankees gave him a two-year extension. They rewarded him with an extension just because they made it to the World Series. Final results be damned. All of the poor fundamental errors against the Dodgers be damned. He's liked by the players and he's a good manager (insert sarcasm here).....let's bring him back!

Get real! If Hal Steinbrenner didn't think a change was needed after that humiliation it's not going to happen after 2027 unless suddenly Yankee fans stop spending their money. We SHOULD do that, but there won't be enough of us that will do that. 

Not for nothing, we do have a lockout coming in just over a month. Kay thinks baseball will be back in May, I am not sold on that prediction. If it is true though, Hal will just give kudos to Brian Cashman and Baboonie and say they had to work through trying times with a challenging season and just make excuses for them. Then it will be his argument that the Yankees need him back in 2028 for full seasons to get back to business.

Baboonie has survived nine seasons worth of chances. Hal is a man of no action. There's no logical reason to think 2027 is his last chance. I think Kay has hit a new level of KRAZY.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

MICHAEL KAY FINALLY SAID "STUMP MERRILL". WE DID THAT ALREADY

Michael Kay finally did it.

He looked at this Yankees mess and uttered two words that should send chills down the spine of anyone who's lived through the late '80s and early '90s:

Stump Merrill.

Welcome to the conversation. But if you're going to go after this team quoting the "Stump Merrill era" you have to blame Boone for being just as bad as Merrill was, but you won't because you get paid by the Yankees. We here at Bleeding Yankee Blue? We'll say it.

But seriously, the funny part isn't that Kay finally made the comparison. The funny part is that Bleeding Yankee Blue has been connecting those dots for years, long before it became acceptable on the airwaves.

Back in 2021 THE YANKEES ARE DEAD BECAUSE OF POOR LEADERSHIP, we wrote exactly where this train was heading:

"Aaron Boone is the reason this Yankee team is terrible. Leadership is vital in this game and Boone doesn't have it. You know who else didn't have it? Stump Merrill. Dallas Green. Those were dark times as a Yankee fan. We're back to those times."

That wasn't written after one bad week. That wasn't written to grab headlines. That was written because the same problems kept showing up over and over again and it's still happening.

Now here's where Michael Kay—and much of the mainstream Yankees media—stops because he has to. We don't.

Because if you're going to compare this era to the Stump Merrill years, then you have to be honest enough to explain why.

The Stump Merrill Yankees weren't remembered simply because the roster wasn't good. They were remembered because there wasn't leadership. There wasn't accountability. The clubhouse wasn't being driven by a manager capable of getting more from his players. That's why those teams drifted.

That's why those years became synonymous with mediocrity.

And here's the uncomfortable question...

What's different today? Sure, blame the players. Absolutely. They're the ones swinging the bats. They're the ones making the errors. They're the ones failing to deliver in October—or, lately, just failing to deliver. But baseball has always been bigger than the box score.

Leadership matters. Culture matters. Direction matters. A manager isn't there just to hand the baseball to the starting pitcher and fill out a lineup card. He's supposed to set the standard.

When the same mistakes happen every game and every season... When fundamentals disappear every season... When urgency vanishes every season...eventually the conversation has to move beyond the players.

It has to move to the men in charge. Aaron Boone.

Brian Cashman has wrapped Boone in enough bubble wrap to survive a five-story fall.

Every collapse comes with another excuse. Every poor decision is explained away. Every postseason disappointment is followed by another vote of confidence.

The result? No championships. No meaningful progress. The same movie playing on repeat. We've said it before because it's true now as it was then:

Leadership isn't optional. It's everything. That's why Buck Showalter changed the Yankees. That's why Joe Torre changed the Yankees. That's why Joe Girardi squeezed everything he could out of his clubs.

Managers matter. The Yankees themselves proved that for decades. So why are we suddenly pretending they don't? And here's where things get really interesting.

Michael Kay made the comparison. But he stopped short of saying what naturally comes next.

Why? You can decide for yourself, but hey, I'll tell you my thoughts...

Kay works inside the Yankees' orbit. Whether consciously or unconsciously, there are realities that come with that position. He can push the envelope, but only so far. We're not in that position at BYB. We don't answer to Yankee executives. We don't answer to YES Network producers. We answer to our readers.

That freedom matters. It allows us to say the quiet part out loud. If this really is the Stump Merrill era all over again—and we believe it is—then the comparison isn't primarily about the players.

It's about the leadership. It's about the manager. It's about a culture that has grown comfortable with excuses instead of accountability.

Michael Kay deserves credit for finally saying "Stump Merrill." But finishing the thought?

That's a different story. We've been finishing that thought for years. And until someone is willing to admit that leadership is just as broken as the roster, don't expect anything to change. Because championship teams don't just have talent.

They have leaders and right now? They don't have one.  Just ask me... I'll be truthful with you.

WANT MORE ABOUT STUMP MERRILL? READ THIS:

DOMINGUEZ JUST PROVED TO EVERYONE THAT BOONE'S NOT QUALIFIED

MICHAEL KAY'S STILL FIGHTING TO STAY RELEVANT

Michael Kay used to be the comforting metronome of a Yankees broadcast: steady, familiar, the kind of voice that made a long inning feel like theater. Lately, though, he’s been doing something else with that microphone—lecturing us fans. That shift from play‑by‑play to public scold is jarring, and not just because it’s tone‑deaf; it’s because the man doing the scolding is paid by the very franchise whose customers he’s chastising.

Take this recent display everyone’s still talking about: a section of the Stadium broke into a profane chant aimed at Juan Soto, and Kay didn’t treat it as a moment to explain the emotion behind it—he called it “an awful look,” said it made Yankees fans look “small” and “jealous,” and warned that it handed rival fans ammunition. That wasn’t a throwaway line on a hot mic; it was a full‑throated rebuke on his show. But who actually looks small? Kay, stop holding the Yankees water. Do a different act... we all know you get paid by the Yankees. Knock it off.

Look, there’s nothing wrong with asking fans to be better. But context matters. The Yankees are a franchise built on entitlement and expectation; being loud, unreasonable, and occasionally irrational is part of the product. Fans boo, chant, and rage because they care and because they spend THOUSANDS of dollars in that building in the Bronx, but also because accountability is baked into fandom here. When the person with the megaphone is also on the payroll, those admonitions stop sounding like civic-minded commentary and start sounding like corporate damage control.

What makes Kay’s posture especially grating is the tone: moralizing rather than explaining. A broadcaster can add value by translating front‑office logic—why a contract was structured a certain way, why a manager made a lineup choice—without telling ticket‑holders how to feel. Kay’s “shame on you” routine flattens nuance into sermonizing, and in a town that prizes bluntness, that’s a fast way to lose credibility. That's how I feel at least.

There’s also an optics problem that isn’t theoretical. When a paid voice repeatedly defends the franchise and publicly scolds the paying public, listeners are entitled to ask whether they’re hearing independent analysis or a PR echo. I feel like it's PR quite frankly. Fans don’t need a babysitter, Michael, they need someone who will call out the good, the bad, and the ugly—regardless of who signs the checks.

If Kay wants to keep the goodwill he earned as a broadcaster, the fix is simple: call the game, explain the decisions, and stop policing the crowd on your ESPN radio show. It doesn't mask the fact that you are still getting paid by the Yankees. New Yorkers will forgive blunt criticism of the team; they won’t forgive being told how to be fans by someone who’s effectively on the franchise payroll.

Kay can still be the voice we tune in for, but he's losing his footing, no doubt about it.

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.

SURVEY: PLAYERS WILL GO AWAY, NOT GM & MANAGER IF YANKS FAIL

I’ve been trying—really trying—to keep my distance from Bleeding Yankee Blue for a bit. Call it self-care. Call it survival. Because the truth is, I’m flat-out miserable with the Yankees front office right now.

This front office? The GM? The manager? They’re spreadsheet people. Decimal-point romantics. They worship at the altar of projections and probabilities, while the human element of baseball—the grit, the urgency, the give-a-damn—gets shoved into a footnote. They guess. A lot. They stare at their charts, shrug, and convince themselves that second place or an early playoff exit is perfectly acceptable as long as the revenue graph keeps pointing north. Then comes the annual press conference lullaby: “Well, we tried.”

No, you didn’t. And this sure as hell isn’t the Yankees I grew up with.

Now comes the latest report: if the Yankees don’t succeed in 2026—and let’s be honest, they won’t, you heard it here first—the organization is supposedly ready to “blow it up.” Big changes. New players. Fresh upgrades. Bold moves... this according to an Athletic survey. Except… funny thing. The same executives who built this mess apparently get a pass. Never mind that the Yankees haven’t won a World Series since 2009. Never mind that this roster is their creation. Nope. When it fails, it’s always the players’ fault.

The standards are supposedly “high” in the Bronx as we head into spring, especially with this franchise trudging through a 16-year championship drought. That’s why we’ve heard endless chatter since the loss to the Blue Jays in the 2025 Division Series about Aaron Boone’s future. Yes, he’s only missed the playoffs once in eight seasons. And no—that doesn’t impress anyone anymore.

Because the point isn’t making the playoffs. The point is making the playoffs and winning the whole damn thing.

But brace yourself, because Michael Kay will be right there to soothe everyone: “Hey, they made it to the World Series. That’s good.” No. It’s not. You don’t hang banners for “Almost.” And last year? They didn’t even get there.

So where does the pressure land in 2026? On Boone? On the roster? According to this Athletic survey of 36 MLB executives, former executives, managers, coaches, and scouts, the answer is clear: not the people in charge. The survey suggests the players—the core guys fans actually love—are the ones under the gun. Meanwhile, the front office and manager skate by, insulated by contracts, relationships, and the comfort of profitability.

Cashman’s deal runs through 2026. Boone’s through 2027. And if things go sideways, the expectation is roster surgery—not leadership change. Translation: the players you root for get shipped out, while the same decision-makers keep their seats because they’re familiar, friendly, and financially reliable.

Baseball is a business, folks. And this survey screams it. But where’s the survey of the fans? The people dropping thousands of dollars to watch their team come up short? That’s the data I’d like to see. Because if you ask executives, executives will protect executives. Fans don’t cheer for balance sheets—we cheer for players.

And yet, here we are. The money matters more. The fun is gone. Baseball doesn’t feel joyful anymore, and the Yankees feel like a corporation wearing pinstripes.

So yeah, that’s why I’ve been stepping away from BYB more lately. This version of the Yankees? Not fun. This leadership? Brutal. And until the organization remembers who actually fuels this whole machine—the fans—it’s hard to get excited.

We need to do better.
Not for the spreadsheets.
Not for the execs.

For the fan.

KAY HOLDS THE YANKEES WATER WHEN IT COMES TO THEIR MISERABLE OFF-SEASON

Michael Kay has officially volunteered for the offseason hydration station. While Yankee fans are pacing the room, Kay is out here holding the team’s water bottle, explaining why actually this winter has been totally fine, thank you very much.

His defense of the Yankees’ inactivity is… something. According to Kay, the Yankees didn’t miss out on anyone this offseason because they simply didn’t want any of the players who signed elsewhere. Which is a fascinating argument if your goal is to lower expectations into the Earth’s mantle. The logic goes like this: if you pretend you never wanted to improve, then you technically didn’t fail to improve. Galaxy brain stuff.

But here’s the giant hole in Kay’s reasoning, and it’s the size of the 2026 roster: the Yankees have done absolutely nothing meaningful to make the team better. That’s the frustration. Not “oh no, we didn’t get that guy,” but rather, why does this organization seemingly not want to upgrade at all? Why did half the league improve while the Yankees stockpiled minor leaguers like canned goods for a long winter? Those are the questions we want answered.

And that leads to the bigger, far more uncomfortable question Kay conveniently sidesteps: why didn’t the Yankees want any of these players? Are we supposed to believe that every impact free agent was suddenly beneath the Yankees’ interest? That the front office collectively decided, “No thanks, we’re good with vibes and non-roster invites”?

What makes it worse is the complete lack of transparency. Where are the press conferences? Where is the vision? All we ever get is an October soundbite from Brian Cashman promising an “aggressive” offseason, followed by January rolling around with… a flurry of minor league signings and some hopeful shrugging. And of course, the most recent Boone sound bite where he says he wants to win a championship. Well, no shit.  Go do it, we've been waiting.  

And let’s not dance around the obvious: Michael Kay is employed by YES. Of course he’s not going to torch the organization. He can’t. That check comes with invisible handcuffs. It’s a shame, too, because everyone knows Kay is smart enough—and passionate enough—to tell the truth if he were free to do so. I actually love the guy, but I don't love that he's defending a terrible off season. 

The bottom line? The Yankees haven’t won a damn thing under Aaron Boone. They haven’t won anything at all since 2009. Yes, they got to the World Series in 2024. Great. Hang the banner that says “Almost.” This is the New York Yankees, not a participation trophy factory.

And that’s exactly why Bleeding Yankee Blue exists. We’re not here to sugarcoat, spin, or hydrate the front office. When we’re mad, we say it. We’re not shackled. We’re not on the payroll. And we’re not pretending that a quiet offseason full of minor league deals is some master plan.

If that makes us loud, so be it. Someone has to say what everyone else is thinking.

NO "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" THAT I CAN SEE

Mission Accomplished? How about "Mission, who's starting Game 3?"

So, let’s just say it out loud: The Yankees don’t have a new starting pitcher. You can dress it up in Pinstripes and slap a hype video on it, but facts are facts. They’ve got closers. Lots of closers. Enough closers to start a whole separate bullpen league. But a starter? The thing they actually needed? Nope. Not one. Not a single real-deal, innings-eating, rotation-stabilizing starting pitcher.

And yet, somehow, Brian Cashman stood in front of cameras with a straight face and dropped the words:

“Mission accomplished.”

What is this, a bad sequel to Moneyball? Except this time, it’s Funnyball — and the punchline is us. Sure, Cashman also said,

“I know we’re better today than we were yesterday.”

Cool. But saying we’re better is like putting whipped cream on a trash can. Still garbage underneath.

Let’s review the receipts, shall we?
Gerrit Cole: still out post-Tommy John.
Clarke Schmidt: same surgery, same fate — toast.
Luis Gil: M.I.A. since February with a lat issue.

Marcus Stroman: Um
And that’s your top-end depth, folks. Behind them? A collection of “openers,” “bullpen games,” and desperate finger-crossing.

We have Max Fried and Carlos Rodon and I'm thrilled with that. But that's not gonna help anyone in a short series and the Yankees are not thinking ahead. And what’s worse — nobody in the front office seems remotely panicked about it. The Boone-Cashman tag team continues to operate like a malfunctioning GPS: absolutely convinced they know the way, ignoring every single “WRONG TURN” alert.

Enter David Samson. Now, listen — I don’t like the guy. He’s a smug little troll who used to run the Marlins and was bad at it. But unfortunately… he's right.

“They act like everything’s fine,” Samson said. “But it’s not.”
On Volpe’s defense? “No, he’s not [good out there]. You know that.”

This from a guy I’d normally dismiss as a human mosquito, but at this point, I’d rather hear him than another Boone soliloquy about grit and “playing the game the right way.” Enough already.

Volpe’s defense has been brutal. We’re past the point of “rough patch.” It’s a liability. But Boone just smirks and spins it like he’s selling timeshares. And the fanbase? We’re not stupid. We know what we’re seeing. And what we’re seeing is a front office that’s perfectly fine settling for kinda okay.

We’re 3.5 games back. Could we make a run? Absolutely. But this isn’t about just sneaking into October — it’s about winning a championship. And right now, this roster isn't built for that. 

Meanwhile, the Seattle Mariners — a team with actual vision — loaded up with Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez to thicken their lineup, and Caleb Ferguson to reinforce the ‘pen. All without coughing up elite prospects. That’s how you win a deadline. That’s how you push chips in without flipping the table. The Yankees? They scrambled like it was a fantasy league draft and Cashman got auto-picked eight middle relievers.

And don’t even get me started on Michael Kay. This man — sitting high on his YES throne — tried to sell us the idea that Boone “got to the World Series” and you have to give Boone credit for that? Um, no we don't. This tool actually suggested that Boone got there with two guys who don't even have jobs this season: Anthony Rizzo and Alex Verdugo.

Excuse me? Let’s talk numbers:

 
Verdugo had 8 RBIs, and 6 runs scored in the postseason.  Rizzo? .267 average in 10 playoff games. That’s production, not irrelevance. So why is Kay acting like they were lucky fans who won a raffle to be in the lineup? They did their job last year's post season.

Kay is defending the indefensible. He’s gaslighting Yankee fans into believing that this mess is part of a master plan. He also gets paid by the Yankees, so see how that works? He's actually suggesting that Boone is a misunderstood genius and Cashman is some modern-day baseball Mozart. But it’s garbage. All of it. The Yankees front office picks wrong, sticks with wrong, and then tries to convince you that wrong is the new right. Just look at Volpe.

Let’s make this simple: You don’t win rings with vibes. You win with starters.  You don’t build a championship roster around hope and “he’s trending up.” analytics. You build it by addressing obvious, gaping holes with urgency — something the Yankees have lacked for years. But remember fans, the money’s still pouring in, so why change?

Well, here's why: fans aren’t stupid. We’re fed up. This deadline wasn’t bold — it was bizarre. It was Cashman filling a wine cellar when the roof is caving in.  So yeah, we might still make the playoffs. But what then? Another flameout while Boone shrugs and says he “liked our compete”? No thanks. I’ve seen that movie — and spoiler alert — it doesn’t end well.

This team, as constructed, isn’t winning the World Series. They aren’t built for a parade — they’re built for a press conference. And once again, us fans are left with the bill and the empty trophy case in Loserville.

SOUNDS LIKE BOONE IS BRAINWASHED WHEN IT COMES TO VOLPE

Anthony Volpe is not an elite shortstop.  We were lied to and fooled. There are people that can pull out analytics projections all they want. There are scouts out there that claim that he is, and to be honest, he might have been at some point in high school. But the kid never played college ball and was rushed to the major leagues and while the adrenaline was still high, Volpe made a nice run for himself in a major league uniform in his first year.  But now, it's becoming clear, he's a kid in a big uniform... and no, he is not elite.

And with his continuing slump both at the plate and in the field, the walls are closing in on the Yankees, Volpe and Aaron Boone, Volpe's biggest brainwashed cheerleader. 

Michael Kay went off about the Boone love fest with Volpe. He pointed out the facts and still managed to expose Boone for being obsessed. I've said it once, I'll say it again; I think Boone's relationship with Volpe is downright weird. And finally people are seeing it too.

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Kay tells a story about how Meredith Marakovits asked Boone a question about if Volpe could have made the play when the ball was hit to him on his backhand side by Pete Alonso.  Boone said it was 50/50 and then Kay very alertly noticed that Boone was getting mad and Jason Zillo, the Yankees media relations guy decided to move things along and get Boone out of there. 

Well, this is where it gets truly bizarre. Boone got up to leave and he turned to Meredith Marakovits and mouthed the words, "He's Fucking Elite."  When Michael Kay revealed this, I fell off my chair. Boone actually thinks that this kid is good.  I mean, he's not, but for some odd, and strange reason, Boone defends this kid like he's the next Derek Jeter. It's not only misguided, it's crazy and delusional.

Then Kay says what needs to be said. For Boone to be continually angry about answering questions about how bad Anthony Volpe is is no good for anyone. And I'll add to that... how about own the fact that this kid doesn't have it and maybe, just maybe the Yankees and Aaron Boone are wrong about this kid!

As Kay says "Stop telling me he's playing great!"

Volpe is what Volpe is, a kid of privilege that is in over his head and needs to be removed from the shortstop position for the New York Yankees... and while we don't have a top shortstop to replace him, think about a way to get rid of this guy.  The trading deadline's coming up, we have new shortstops waiting in the minor leagues... there are options.  But one thing Aaron Boone needs to stop doing is drooling over this kid that may have been a good shortstop 3 years ago but is now a .214 error maker.  

Trust me when I tell you, no team needs that, not even the Mets.

Aaron Boone is obsessed and brainwashed, and I have to tell you... that's the other part about what's wrong with this team.  A manager that is freaking clueless.  

Jeez.

MICHAEL KAY CRUSHES JUAN SOTO FOR BEING A GREEDY PIG

 Oink, oink... I'm thrilled you didn't make the All-Star game, Juan Soto.

You’d think signing a 15-year, $765 million mega-deal—with potential to balloon over $800 million—would be enough to make a guy happy. But apparently, for Juan Soto, it's still not quite satisfying. Because now, he’s whining about missing out on the All-Star Game… not for the honor, not for the fans, but for the bonus check he didn’t get to cash.

Juan Soto was asked if he would have liked to have made the All-Star team:

"What do you think? I think it's a lot of money on the table if I make it" pic.twitter.com/OTkqmR6zVx

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 9, 2025

Yep, $100,000 was “left on the table,” as Soto put it when asked about not making the All-Star team. That’s what had him bent out of shape. Not pride. Not legacy. Cold, hard cash. As if the $47 million he’s making this season alone wasn't enough to soften the blow of an off year.

Talk about tone-deaf.

Michael Kay—God bless him—went in on Soto, and rightfully so:

“The last I looked, you are making a smidge under $47M this season. And you are upset that you aren’t making the All-Star Game because of an All-Star bonus you have in your contract? Do you know how bad that looks that you said that?”

Bad? It's brutal. It reeks of greed and delusion. Soto is having a meh season, by his own standards—and yet, instead of humility, he delivers a cash register sound effect.

Let’s be real. The contract was already outrageous. Steve Cohen and the Mets basically handed Soto the GDP of a small country, and in return, they got a guy who’s more worried about his All-Star stipend than actually playing like an All-Star.

And when Kay heard Soto’s response?

“I thought it was some [artificial intelligence] nonsense. I said, ‘There is no way that he said that. There is no way that someone I know, that is a smart dude and is represented by one of the smartest people I have ever met in the business, Scott Boras, would ever say something like that.’”

But he did say it. Because this is who Soto has become: a guy lost in the zeros, blinded by the bank account, completely detached from reality. The All-Star snub didn’t sting because of pride—it stung because of a missed payment.

And honestly, that’s not a player you build a championship team around. That’s a walking direct deposit. Enjoy him, Mets fans. We’re good over here.

Go off, Michael. You’re speaking for all of us.

NO TRUE YANKEE FAN WANTS A REBUILD. WE JUST WANT BOONE GONE.

Let’s set the record straight: no true Yankee fan is calling for a rebuild. That’s not in our DNA. Rebuilding is for franchises like the Royals or the A’s — teams that hold bake sales to afford a closer. The Yankees? We’re supposed to be above that. And yet, here comes this bizarre narrative that fans are banging the table for a fire sale at the trade deadline. Where did that come from?

Cue Michael Kay, respected voice of the Yankees, long-time broadcaster, and apparently, part-time misreader of the fan base.

On his ESPN radio show, Kay fired off about how Yankee fans are being unreasonable for wanting change. He pushed back hard against the idea of a rebuild, quoting, “What are you trading? What are you rebuilding for? You’re three games out of first place!” And listen, Michael — we get it. You’re defending the castle. But no one’s asking to burn the whole kingdom down. We just want to stop handing the throne over to the village idiot in the manager’s chair.

Yankee fans aren’t irrational — we’re impatient. There’s a difference.

This team made the World Series last year, yes. And while that’s nice, it doesn’t erase the consistent mediocrity and missed opportunities that preceded it. The real issue, the one that fans keep screaming about into the void, is the guy wearing the manager’s jersey who has never — not once — delivered the goods when it counts. Aaron Boone has had more chances than a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. And what does he have to show for it? A blank resume when it comes to winning anything.

You don’t even need to open Baseball Reference to know Boone isn’t it. Just watch him. The energy. The decisions. The same postgame babble about “grinding it out.” He’s not managing the Yankees. He’s babysitting them. "It's right in front of them", right Michael?

So no, Michael Kay, we're not asking to rebuild. We're asking to reboot. Specifically, to unplug Boone and plug in someone who knows how to manage under pressure, adjust mid-game, and maybe — just maybe — stop bunting with two outs. That's sarcasm... the Yankees don't play small ball... another problem.

Now, let’s talk moves. The team needs help, sure. The front office has done some things right — Max Fried is dealing, and yes, Goldschmidt can still get hot. But how in the world did we fumble the infield situation this badly? Letting Gleyber Torres walk without a real backup plan has aged worse than the Volpe hype train. If Gleyber was still manning second — or even willing to shift around — we wouldn’t be duct-taping this infield together with prospects and prayers.

Yankee fans don’t want to see this team torn down. We want to see it tightened up. We want to see the holes fixed — the ones that should’ve been addressed last offseason. And we want the leadership to reflect the standard of excellence this franchise is known for.

So yeah, trade for some help. Make smart moves. Get this team locked in for another October run.

But for the love of Mo, fire Aaron Boone already. That’s not a rebuild — that’s just common sense.

MICHAEL KAY DOESN'T GET TO TELL US HOW TO FEEL AS YANKEE FANS

I don't need to be reprimanded by Michael Kay about how us fans should feel about how good Anthony Volpe should be.  He is so short sided in this clip and he clearly misremembers the hype surrounding Volpe. And for him to sit there and suggest that the shortstop doesn't have to be the best player and compare Anthony Volpe to Bucky Dent "doesn't mean anything to me.  For one, it starts with the manager and at the time it was Billy Martin.  You can't try to even compare Boone to Martin because you'd be wrong. Two... Volpe isn't a good player. Simply use the eye test... he isn't a great player under pressure and he sure as hell won't be a franchise favorite for the New York Yankees as we move forward in our fandom.

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The best part? We're fans. We can feel however the hell we want.  Michael Kay doesn't get to tell us we're wrong, in fact his grandfather motivation mentality might be the most tired exercise on the internet right now.  

Kay says "You're saying he should be Derek Jeter."  No, we didn't say that... the media planted it, and don't get me wrong, the Yankees loved it... especially when things are going good.  Here are some of the headlines and the quotes:

NJ.com (Feb. 08, 2022) 

Is Anthony Volpe the next Derek Jeter? Fellow Yankees prospect says hype is legit

“Yeah, I can definitely see he’s being compared to Jeter now", said Yankees pitching prospect Ken Waldichuk told NJ Advance Media in a recent interview.

NJ.com (January 26. 2024) 

Yankees greats make bold Anthony Volpe prediction

"As a matter of fact, I think Anthony is more polished than Jeter was at the same time." -- Willie Randolph

Essentially Sports (May 26, 2024)

The Next Derek Jeter? Anthony Volpe Nears Legendary New York Yankees Captain’s Hitting Record

"... there have been comparisons with Derek Jeter." --Sanskar Dubey, writer

And what I don't get about Michael Kay is the fact that his own peers started this comparison and yet Michael Kay has the balls to come after the casual or diehard fan and try and blame us? 

Here's my thoughts on this dude, plain and simple; Kay works for YES, which means he doesn’t just cover the Yankees — he works for them. So naturally, he can’t go scorched earth on Anthony Volpe, no matter how lackluster the kid’s been. He’s paid to keep the Yankee narrative clean, shiny, and uncontroversial. And this latest outburst? Peak corporate shill.

Kay went off on Instagram, throwing a tantrum defending Volpe like he’s Derek Jeter reincarnated, telling fans to “get ahold of yourselves” and practically calling Volpe a lock for 20 homers and 90 RBIs. First of all, those projections feel more like fan fiction than forecasting. But even if they were real — nobody's screaming about personal stats, Michael. We’re screaming because Volpe vanishes in key moments and plays like a ghost when games actually matter.

Kay’s next pearl of wisdom? “Do you not remember that he was the shortstop on the Yankees team that went to the World Series last year?” Yes, we remember — because we LOST. Since when is showing up and failing now a badge of honor? Did we lower the bar that much?

And don’t even get us started on the "hitting .250 is good enough" nonsense. First off, he's not batting .250. What crack is that take laced with? .250 used to get you benched in the Bronx. Now, thanks to Kay’s new analytics-lite, it gets you a gold star and a bouquet of excuses.

Then Kay — self-appointed moral authority of Yankees fandom — tells us to stop screaming that Volpe has to go. Um, excuse us? We pay to watch this team. We pay for seats, parking, hot dogs, overpriced beer — and the right to be frustrated when the shortstop of the future looks more like the shortstop of Trenton.

The truth is, Volpe's not it. Maybe he will be one day. But right now? There are better athletes sitting on the bench while we get nightly "just good enough" mediocrity. And Kay’s desperate spin-doctoring isn’t helping — it’s insulting.

Let’s call this what it is: Kay, doing his duty as the Yankees’ corporate hype man. His job isn’t to tell the truth. It’s to manage the fan temperature and protect the brand.  That ESPN New York post is masked as commentary, but it's really there to attempt to calm the waters and who better than Kay, the guy with a direct deposit from Steinbrenner HQ?

But here’s the rub, Michael: you don’t get to lecture fans. You don’t buy tickets. You don’t ride the 4 train or drive an hour and a half home in traffic after another lifeless Volpe night. We do. So don’t tell us how to feel. Don’t scold us for not falling in line with the company narrative. Fans have every right to want more. We’re not unreasonable — we’re just tired of being gaslit by people who get paid to smile and say, “It’s fine.” What happened to you, dude.

Kay, stop telling us how to think. We don’t like Volpe right now. And that’s okay. You can keep doing PR. We’ll keep telling the truth.

And for the record? Comparing Volpe to Bucky Dent? Please. Bucky won at least one World Series. Boone couldn’t manage a Little League team into a playoff. The only similarity is that both wear pinstripes — and lately, that's starting to mean less and less.

Do better, Michael. Or at least, stop pretending you're not reading from the Yankees’ script. Bad look, dude.

JUAN SOTO: ALL MONEY, NO SWAG!

I'm sure I am not alone but, I have some Mets friends and there tune sure has changed a lot since December. So, after taking it gracefully for months, I decided to have a little fun this week. I found the Juan Soto milk carton several times in my feed on X and I had to have some fun with it. Soto is missing....and Mets fans are hating it.

Meanwhile, yes I am loving it. I will admit that I loved watching Soto look so lost in the Subway Series. I know realistically he won't stay in this slump all season but seriously....what a change from Soto in pinstripes to Soto in that other ugly New York uniform. What's missing?

I think David Cone said it best HERE. I've always been a big Coney fan, so when he talks, I listen. I think he hit the nail on the head here. Not for nothing, he knows what it is like to play for both teams so I really don't think anyone can relate to Soto the way he can.

"It just reminds me of what my ex-manager Joe Torre used to talk about a lot. And he was around it sort of at the end of his career, when analytics started to come into the game and make a big play and all the information in the big data era. He still wanted to talk about the heartbeat," Cone said. "He still managed the heartbeat of the player. And that’s what’s going on with Juan Soto. It’s the heartbeat. It's emotional. There’s no question about it. That's what leads to the confidence in the batter's box. That leads to the lack of the Soto shuffle. That's just feeling it, and that's clearly emotional. That's the human element that's going on with him. And I don't know how you work through that. That's something he's going to have to figure out himself. He's got a good support group around him that is going to give him everything he needs. But bottom line is, Juan Soto's got to feel it emotionally. And until he does, we're not going to see the same old swagger that we're used to seeing from him."

I think he's on to something there and I say that because when I was watching the series, I disagreed with some of what Michael Kay said. When Soto was at the plate being booed, he was smirking. Kay said he wasn't fazed by it, or letting it get to him....and I disagree. Plenty of players have been booed in Yankee stadium, but I feel like many of them did a much better job at just tuning it out as best as they could and just focusing on the at bat. His body language said the opposite and honestly it fueled my reaction to him watching at home. I became MORE vocal with every smirk he gave. He was letting all of the noise around him consume him....so I don't agree with Michael Kay at all. It's like we were watching a completely different series.

I think Soto is dealing with some feelings. I think he didn't want to be in the shadow of Aaron Judge. I think he thrived with Judge's support and protection and now he doesn't have that in Queens and he isn't dealing with it. Now he is the guy that needs to live up to his ridiculous salary and he hasn't figured out how to do it. He's choking, and he's lost the spark that he once had. He's a shadow of himself and until he deals with that his swag is all but gone. He's all money, no results.

So yeah, Soto belongs on the milk carton. He chose to leave the Bronx for the money so now he needs to MAN UP and deal with it. Or don't and let the rest of the baseball world watch him spiral out of control and flush Steve Cohen's money down the drain.

#SORRYNOTSORRY

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj