REPORT: THE YANKEES SIGNED A 13-YEAR-OLD

Who the hell is in charge of this ridiculous team?

If this story is actually true, then congratulations to the New York Yankees front office: you’ve officially chased me off the bandwagon. I’m done pretending this is a serious organization run by serious adults.

We just sat through an entire offseason where the Yankees refused to sign a proven Major League player — you know, someone with an actual résumé — because they were allegedly being “smart” and “responsible” with their money. No reckless deals. No foolish spending. Very noble. Very forward-thinking. Very “trust us.”

And then — when fans finally snapped because this team made zero meaningful moves to win in 2026 — the Yankees responded by signing a 13-year-old.

Yes. Thirteen.

Middle school. Book reports. Growth spurts. Algebra homework.

That’s the plan.

This franchise, worth billions, with championship expectations, has decided the solution is to gamble seven million dollars on a kid who won’t be legally old enough to rent a car until roughly the time they hope he might help them win. They’re not trying to win now. They’re not even pretending to. The Yankees are aiming for relevance eight to ten years from now based on a guess. A guess about a teenager.

For the love of God, you can’t even project how a 13-year-old will play next year, let alone in eight.

According to Wilbur Sanchez, an MLB analyst who covers international prospects, the Yankees have reached a pre-agreement with Albert Mejías, a Venezuelan prospect from the 2030 class, for a record-setting $7 million bonus. Sanchez calls him “the best player in the history of the international market” and claims he could play professional baseball right now.

Right. Sure. And Anthony Volpe is “elite,” according to Aaron Boone — despite never playing college ball, being rushed through the minors, and routinely sucking the oxygen out of the lineup. Forgive me if I no longer treat Yankee scouting hype like gospel.

This isn’t confidence. It’s delusion.

History screams at us that this stuff goes wrong all the time. The Giants once gave Lucius Fox $6 million as a teenage shortstop. He played ten Major League games. Ten. Injuries wrecked him, and he became a career minor leaguer.

And Yankees fans should know this better than anyone. Remember Brien Taylor? Number one overall pick. Record bonus. High school phenom. Untouchable. Until one fight ruined his shoulder and his career evaporated. Gone. Just like that.

That’s the point: money doesn’t just “not matter.” It complicates everything. Injuries happen. Bodies change. Life happens. Kids grow up. Seven million dollars doesn’t come with a crystal ball.

I’m not saying this kid won’t work out. I’m saying anything can happen between 13 years old and the Major Leagues — and betting the franchise’s direction on that timeline while ignoring the present is organizational malpractice.

The deal is stupid. The logic is broken. The priorities are upside down.

The Yankees didn’t fail to improve because they couldn’t. They failed because they chose not to — and then had the audacity to sell this as some master plan. This team is making the wrong moves, over and over, with no urgency, no accountability, and apparently no one watching.

That’s what bothers me most.

Not the kid.
Not the money.
But the unmistakable feeling that the people running this franchise have completely lost the plot — and no one is being fired for it.

I'm over the Yankees front office. They are morons and not even Michael Kay, the Yankees apologist, can defend this.

RAPID REACTION TO ME 'NOT' WANTING MILLER TRADED

We received a ton of comments and email telling me your thoughts on why I'm wrong about wanting to hold onto Andrew Miller. If you aren't familiar with that piece, be sure to read I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE MILLER RUMORS... so you can get up to speed with my position on Miller.

Anyway, because we're cool here at BYB and believe that all voices should be heard, we wanted to share some of the pretty great opinions on all the Miller rumors.  Enjoy this, and to all of you that wrote us, thank you! We appreciate the dialog very much.  Now go Buy a BYB shirt.

Check this out folks.

Mister D wrote:

"Miller's value is insanely high right now. He's relatively cheap. Controllable for 2 more seasons, and very, very good. The Yankees also don't need to trade him, which gives them great leverage in negotiations. Many teams in the hunt right now are ones that have not won a World Series in several generations (if ever). I don't think you can let the current streak delude you into a false sense of hope.

This is still a team with, at best, a 5% chance to make it to the ALDS. It is not a particularly good team, and next year is likely to be worse. We could trade Miller next year, but he'd be another year older, with one year less control, and who knows if he stays as good or healthy. The soonest this team could be a solid contender - not just a fingers-crossed Wild Card hopeful- is 2018 or 2019. 

I would rather get young players with an eye towards that target than keep the older vets, no matter how much I may like them (I've advocated trading Gardner for the past 3 years, and he's been my favorite Yankee since Bernie retired). At this point I would be trying to move everyone who is unlikely to help beyond 2018 - including McCann and Tanaka.  Heck, I'd even be open to selling Betances if the offer was right. A good bullpen is important but takes a back seat to a good lineup and rotation."

Tony wrote:

@BleednYankeeBlu yes the Yankees are winning, but really they're a mediocre team at best. If you can trade 1 player and gain pieces for...

— Tony Zeppieri (@ZeppieriTony) July 29, 2016

@BleednYankeeBlu the future, while getting MLB pieces for him. You make that move. I'd never trade miller for anything more than ++prospects

— Tony Zeppieri (@ZeppieriTony) July 29, 2016

@BleednYankeeBlu and starting MLB talent. If I was offered that kind of package I would make that move and then trade a piece or 2 for DRob

— Tony Zeppieri (@ZeppieriTony) July 29, 2016

Mike wrote:

"I agree 100%. I don't trade anyone else unless it's minor leaguers for Chris Sale...Too many fans equate prospects with dynasty,which is delusional. Jesus Montero was supposed to be a sure thing and look where he is now. All the prospects could turn out to be Monteros,or Brien Taylor even."

(In Photo: Brien Taylor)
lionheart2211 wrote:

"I think that it is the common belief, that Miller is not going anywhere. If you trade him, likely with one or no years left on the contract so you've gotten some use out of him and still get some value back as he's diminishing and could possibly leave via FA. 

Unfortunately, I think Beltran is staying too, we could lose him at years, end for nothing. I hear there is not much demand for Beltran, Cashman will need a good haul, both present MLB players and prospects to give up one of his two quality hitters and pass Hank."

Travis wrote:

"A hot streak is no reason to ignore the fact that this isn't a Championship caliber team. If we can get 2-3 upper tier prospects, or even a major league ready piece it would be the smart thing to do in order to load up for 2017. We could always re-sign Chapman in the off season to join Betances in the bullpen."

Terrific comments. Smart, thorough, and great and I appreciate it very much here at BYB.  Now who knows what will happen with Miller.  I honestly don't want to see him go, but maybe some of these comments changed my mind. I need a day or 2 to think about it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this.

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY OF THE YANKEES

I'm a traditionalist and a guy who always remembers the Yankees long forgotten. I've written about guys like Danny Pasqua (read WHY I ROOT FOR THE ITALIANS ) and Wayne Tolleson (Read BRETT GARNDER: BIG DOESN'T MEAN BETTER ), even Bobby Meacham (Read "WHO ARE YOU... BOBBY MEACHAM?" ) There are so many Yankees that have come and gone. For me though, other than the late 70's and the Mattingly era, I remember the lonely late 80's and early 90's as a strange time, yet comforting. I fondly remember guys like Don Slaught, Eric Plunk and guys like Pascual Perez and young pitching phenom Brien Taylor. Many people wouldn't even think twice about these guys, I do.

Being a Yankee is a good thing, It's an honor and you are held at a higher standard.  After all guys like the great Lou Gehrig, and Phil Rizzuto, Don Mattingly and Ron Guidry all wore the pinstripes...and of course there are plenty others...there's a long history of great players and great traditions.

But where is the good in being a New York Yankee, there also can come the bad and the ugly of it as well, the unfortunate and the disappointing that sometimes happens when your name is connected to a major sports team like the Yanks.  Now, let me be clear, I am in no way blaming the Yankees for anything I'm about to write about, but I can say that when you are with the big dogs, you become a target, or in the case of Brien Taylor, you ride the wave alittle too soon, not because you need to, but because you think you've made it, even before you have.

When news broke about the apparent murder of Pascual Perez yesterday, read HERE, it saddened me. Couple that with news of Brien Taylor facing up to 40 years in prison for drugs and drug trafficking and it was clear, that sometimes terrible things happen in life that are beyond our control, Hurricane Sandy is a great example. And sometimes, you CAN control your own destiny, but don't. Again, the bad and the ugly.

Pascual Perez was killed by a group of thugs that apparently broke into his home, whacked him in the head and then stabbed him, according to reports.  The New York Times writes: "...Perez, who last played in the majors for the Yankees in 1991, was found with a severe head wound in a town west of Santo Domingo, and there was evidence at the scene to suggest that whoever killed him had been searching for money..." It's just terrible.

Brien Taylor, who had struggled since he hurt his arm in a fight kept falling down the dark path of self-destruction. Read HERE.  As CBS reports: "In March 2012, a 40-year-old Taylor was charged with cocaine trafficking after undercover narcotics agents said they purchased a large quantity of cocaine and crack cocaine from him over a span of several months.

Taylor was federally indicted on trafficking charges in June and faces 5-to-40 years in prison after pleading guilty to cocaine distribution..."  A sad, sad story.

But, I'm not going to sit here and judge these two individuals. Sure Perez had drug problems and was never a superstar, but he did play major league ball for 11 years racking up a 3.44 ERA, a 67-68  record and 822 strikeouts in his career.  Taylor on the other hand, never played a major league game and got wrapped up in the glory before it even began. We've seen it time and time again, but for all of us who knew the story of Brien Taylor, it was very surprising. After all, we were anticipating a true superstar when he finally went pro. That never happened.

I just wanted to say I'm very sorry to hear about these 2 and their unfortunate ends. No one needs to go through this.  Not them and not their families. All I'm saying is, know what you have in life and run with it. Be cautious, but courageous and do your best as a person. That's really all I wanted to say. It's a sad post, but there's a lesson here.

Good Luck Brien Taylor... Rest in Peace Pascual Perez.

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AROUND YANKEELAND, AROUND MLB AND KATE UPTON

There is plenty of news going on around the Yankees and Major league baseball that I had to fill you in on. Plus, you need to realize that alot of these stories don't deserve their own post. Naturally, I didn't want to cheat you. This is perfect "waking up and having coffee" reading. Enjoy this and Good Morning on a hot Yankee off day.

Omar Luis Rodriguez: Never heard of that name before? Me neither. The Yankees signed this Cuban 18 year old left handed pitcher to a minor league contract with a $4 million bonus. Back in 2010 he was a bright spot during the World Junior Championship when he beat Team USA. All this comes from Ben Balder of Baseball America and you can read the full report HERE. According to Ben, "Given his age and experience level, Luis would likely report as high as low Class A Charleston, though he still must be able to acquire a visa, so it's not certain when Luis will be able to begin his career." So, are the Yankees gearing up for their future? I'd say so.

Sadder and Sadder for Brien Taylor: Just when you thought being Brien Taylor couldn't suck enough...it can. It's being reported HERE, that he was indicted on 3 counts of distributing crack had appeared in front of a judge and was ordered to stay behind bars. According to reports: "The former No. 1 selection in the Major League Baseball draft now faces a slew of charges involving the possession of and the intent to sell and distribute cocaine." This is a tragedy. Sure, he never made it to superstar status, but this is a perfect case of a kid with hopes and dreams and no direction. I feel for this guy and his family.

ARod's climbing the charts: Alex Rodriguez is now 6th on the all-time list for RBIs. That's fantastic. Right now Alex has 1925 RBIs and he just passed Jimmie Foxx who had 1924. Rodriguez trails Ty Cobb, Stan Musial, Lou Gehrig, Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth and all-time leader Hank Aaron in that category. Way to go kid!

Gibberish: Not sure how many people saw or heard this incident surrounding the Rangers play by play announcer Dave Barnett. I know I'm late to the party with this but you really need to feel for Barnett right now. This seems quite scary. They say a migraine was responsible for the incident but can you imagine your brain just shorting out like this? On Monday during the Rangers, Padres game, Barnett said this in the 8th inning: "the go-ahead run is at fifth on what (Mike) Adams is insisting on calling it a botched robbery. What actually happened was his henchman took piece literally all of." Whoa.  

Look, I'm 40. I feel my body breaking down sometimes, the last thing I want is my mind to short circuit like this. Remember a few years ago when that news reporter spoke gibberish during her news report? Look it's below:

  

All I can say is good luck to Dave and I hope they are able to figure out what happened.

Pine tar re-visited: The other night, Davey Johnson, the Nationals manager asked the umpire to go out to the mound and inspect Tampa Bay Rays set up man Joel Peralta's glove. He was suspicious. It turns out Peralta's glove had a crap load of pine tar on it. My guess is Peralta will be fined. Joe Maddon was pissed at Davey Johnson. Read HERE. Well, you may not believe this, but I have an interesting take that you may not expect.

I don't believe in cheating and I've stated that here a ton of times. I don't believe in PEDs and I don't believe in performance enhancing drugs. But I also don't believe that spit balls and pine tar and alittle scuff of a baseball is cheating either. Now look, clearly spit balls are not allowed in baseball, but I am from the school of old time baseball and what I mean by that is this; if alittle pine tar happens to get on the ball, hey, that's baseball.

Like Gaylord Perry, if some sweat or spit or something else helps the ball move a bit while you're pitching, go for it. If you want to use the old baseball and not ask for a new one, that's cool, go for it, that's baseball. Guys have been doing it for years. I am a believer that it's part of the game. Now, I will also tell you that if your blatantly obvious about it and coat your mitt with pine tar, you're deserve to get caught. Sure, it's a fine line but this is my scenario, my opinion on it, and it's just how I feel. In fact, I have a piece that we'll release this weekend on the recent ordeal surrounding Jose Valverde and his recent spitball accusation, read HERE and watch below:

 

Look for BYB's piece on all of this this weekend.

Kate Upton does it again: What do you want me to say. Kate Upton is everywhere and after the huge success of our last piece titled YANKEES NEW, YANKEES OLD AND KATE UPTON, Why not try it again... it's a Yankees off day after all.

It turns out Kate Upton is on the new cover of GQ and of course they got her to pose provocatively. That's what she does... right? Hey, it's working. 

AND FOR JETER, THE REST IS HISTORY...

2O years ago today, the New York Yankees drafted Derek Jeter.  I remember for me and Mikey Blue, the hype for us was enormous.  We went to every card shop and card show for weekends after that trying to snatch up Jeter cards.  I mean, if you think about it, the Internet was fairly new and the hype just came from the newspaper and word of mouth.  It was wild though because today, he and I have tons of Jeter cards and now I can pass history down to my kids and so on.  So many times you hear about a phenom and you go out and collect cards, like Brien Taylor for instance and it doesn't pan out. Let's just say I have a ton of Brien Taylor cards that are worthless.

(In photo: Derek Jeter, Jim Leyritz and Mike Gallego)
So yeah, it was 20 years ago that the Yanks used the 6th pick in the draft to draft a high school shortstop named Derek Sanderson Jeter.  He was from Kalamazoo Michigan and who the hell knew he'd become what he has. It's amazing and I'm thrilled for him and for the Yankees.

It's funny, I recently asked Marty Appel, the former PR Director for the Yankees (Read YANKEE STORIES REVEALED BY PR GIANT MARTY APPEL) who he thought would go to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot of all the player right now.  Marty said: 

" I don't think too many of your readers would disagree with this answer; Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.  No explanation necessary.  But I would add, that in '96, some felt Jeter wasn't ready, and a veteran shortstop was needed at least for one year.  So they discussed trading Mariano Rivera for Felix Fermin.  Imagine if they'd lost Mo in that deal, and if Fermin had a career year, they felt it was Okay to trade Jeter too.  If the best deals are the ones you don't make, how about that one."

Can you imagine Felix Fermin as the Yankees shortstop? And who knows what could have happened to Jeter...probably amazing on some other team. Plus, who knows if we'd win those 5 championships without him and Mo.  It's just interesting that's all.

Look, I've written a million stories about Jeter, the role model, the player, the person. He impresses me and continues to do so.  My oldest son worships him and I'm glad about that, because there are a ton of guys that I just don't see as "good enough" for my kid to want to be like.  Jeet, yeah... I can get on board with that. 

Jeter has great focus, a great drive and it all stems from his parents.  I've written that in WHY JETER IS EPIC FOR 1 GOOD REASON.  He knows his role because he was taught correctly about life and how to play this game without arrogance, without selfishness, just old fashion respect and heart.  There's nothing better and as far as I can see, the guy's never moved away from those values.

So, here's my salute, I tip my hat to the Yankees for being smart about their choice 20 years ago, and I tip my hat to Derek Jeter, one of the classiest players that I have ever witnessed play this great game.  Keep doing what your doing, because you do it better than all of them.

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WHY THE FALL OF BRIEN TAYLOR IS A DAMN SHAME

I remember when the Yankees signed Brien Taylor years ago and at the time he was supposed to be the real thing and for a while in the minor leagues he was. Much like when I snatched up as many Derek Jeter cards as I could when Jeter was signed, I did the same with Brien Taylor before him and I have dozens of Taylor's rookie cards still today. But after Taylor got hurt in a fist fight (Read HERE) and never could pitch the same, that signing bonus worth $1.55 Million just didn’t pan out. It turned out to be a waste and in turn, so did Brien Taylor and those rookie cards are not worth pennies. And once it was over, it was over…sadly.

At that point, there are 2 things you do in life, you try and get back on track or you fall off. Taylor fell off and yesterday it was reported HERE that he was arrested on a whole slew of drug charges, cocaine trafficking, drug possession, trafficking in cocaine for manufacture, the list goes on, I’m not going to pile on, you get the idea.

It’s sad. I could sit here and tell you that drugs is wrong and not to do them, because it’s obvious, but I’m not. All you need to do is look at Brien Taylor’s mug shot. It’s a damn mess and money too young I feel like crept in and destroyed this kid...now man. I wonder what would have happened if that fight never took place, but what would that do, what’s done is done.

Currently Taylor was placed in the Carteret County Jail under a $275,000 bond. The whole thing's a mess and I really don’t have much to say about this but I feel for his family right now. I just wanted to bring this to your attention, it’s out there, you can read about it, but some of you are my age and you too remember the buzz… it was huge and just as fast as you snap your fingers.. it was gone.

Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and look for the hashtag #BYB. Also, join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.

WHY I'M OVER MARTE

(photo: Tim Farrell/The Star-Ledger)
The only time I remember actually seeing Damaso Marte, was when he pitched awesome in the 2009 playoffs. That's it.

Now, I know he's pitched here and there but he is the relievers version of Carl Pavano to me, and to be honest, players with injury like Marte have made me very skeptical. No doubt, he can pitch, but only when he's healthy and that's rare. I feel like he's pulling the wool over the Yankees eyes, and I don't like my team looking stupid.

Damaso Marte has told ESPN that doctors cleared him for playing catch after the All-Star break. Guys, that's July. Are you serious? I took crazy pills right? Why does anyone care? Why is ESPN looking to report that story? Many Yankee fans didn't even know Marte was still around.

Hell, why am I writing about it? I'm a fool, that's why. Actually, I wrote about it because I'm ranting about players that are a waste of money and are unreliable I guess, and Damasco Marte is at the front of that line. And, while we're at it, why don't we see if Brien Taylor and Britt Burns are available. For you youngsters who don't know who I'm talking about, sorry. Those guys were injury plaqued or got hurt through a fight in the 80's-90's and never panned out to squat.(In photo: Brien Taylor)
Anyway, Marte said this about him being cleared: “I have been working hard to come back. It’s too early to do anything right now since it’s only been five months.”

Here's something you can do sir, give the money back. You're milking this contract for every penny you're owed. This aggravates me. Look, I get it, players gets hurt, players have surgery. But for some reason, Marte gives me the same gut feeling as Pavano and I don't like it.

As far as I'm concerned, Marte is over. And he should be. That's it.

Please comment and let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.