CLEAN HOUSE. LOSER CASHMAN’S YANKEES ARE A FAILURE.

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Brian Cashman built this mess. Aaron Boone keeps explaining it. And Yankees fans keep getting charged championship prices to watch an organization congratulate itself for coming up short.

Enough.

The 2027 Yankees need a demolition crew. Start with the front office’s arrogance, work through the manager’s office, and stop treating disappointing players like priceless family heirlooms.

Austin Wells needs to be a backup catcher. Period.

A .186 batting average. A .624 OPS. Fourteen home runs and 32 RBIs. Those were his 2026 numbers. Somewhere along the way, the Yankees apparently decided an everyday catcher’s bat was an optional accessory.

Nobody is watching those at-bats and seeing Thurman Munson. They’re watching another Yankees development project whose reputation keeps arriving at the ballpark before his production does.

His defense has value. Fine. Make him the backup. A good glove should earn consideration; it shouldn’t grant lifetime immunity from hitting .186.

Cashman needs to find a starting catcher who can contribute offensively without requiring a presentation explaining why the contribution is secretly happening.

Anthony Volpe? Trade him. Immediately.

The Yankees sold fans a cornerstone. Four seasons into his major league career, the offensive foundation still looks like wet cardboard.

A career 83 OPS+ through 542 regular-season games is a substantial body of evidence. League average is 100. How much longer are we supposed to applaud the possibility that he eventually gets there?

The hometown story was lovely. The marketing department must have loved it. Unfortunately, the opposing pitcher doesn’t care where you went to high school.

My assessment of Volpe now? A reserve infielder. A guy backing up second base in Cincinnati. That’s an opinion about his role, not a report about a Reds trade.

The Yankees presented him like a destination when he was still a question. Then they made questioning him feel like a violation of team policy.

Fans deserved an honest evaluation. Instead, they got a sales pitch with pinstripes.

Trade him while another organization still believes it can unlock what the Yankees keep insisting is in there.

Then fire Aaron Boone.

No farewell tour. No discussion about how much the players love him. No more treating clubhouse approval like the final score.

A manager can have good relationships with his players and still demand excellence. With Boone, the reassurance is easy to find. The consequences are considerably harder.

From the outside, he looks like Cashman’s preferred spokesman wearing a uniform. The puppet criticism survives because the arrangement keeps producing the same spectacle: the roster fails, Boone explains, Cashman remains above the wreckage.

What, exactly, would constitute failure serious enough to change this?

The Yankees dismissed Joe Girardi on October 26, 2017, after an ALCS Game 7 loss. Cashman cited problems connecting and communicating with players.

Apparently, the organization solved the communication problem by hiring someone who can explain disappointment indefinitely.

Chicago moved on from Joe Maddon in September 2019 after a collapse cost the Cubs a playoff berth.

Accomplished managers lose jobs. Boone keeps getting another opportunity to tell us how close this group is.

Fire him. The Yankees need leadership with enough authority to make standards matter.

Jazz? Gone. We're done with the antics. We're done with the BS.

Trent Grisham? Pack up.

His 2026 salary was $22.025 million. His production: .211, 18 homers and a .703 OPS.

Twenty-two million dollars bought the Yankees another hitter fans needed to be talked into appreciating.

Cashman’s ability to spend enormous money and still leave obvious holes should be studied. Every winter brings another complicated explanation for why something underwhelming was actually clever.

Let Grisham walk. Stop paying for the memory of a better season.

David Bednar? I’d move on—but the numbers deserve an honest hearing.

He recorded 35 saves in 39 chances with a 2.47 ERA. That’s good pitching.

It also doesn’t obligate the Yankees to make him another expensive attachment while the lineup needs repairs.

My preference is to spend elsewhere and build a replacement plan. A good closer can protect a lead. He cannot manufacture a functional offense or repair Cashman’s judgment.

The closer’s entrance music should not be the most dependable part of the organizational plan.

Giancarlo Stanton? Confront reality already.

The healthy version of Stanton has been tremendous entertainment. The problem is that the healthy version has become somebody the Yankees keep expecting to visit.

Three calf strains cost him more than five months in 2026.

You cannot keep reserving a central place in the offense for a player whose availability requires crossed fingers and a medical briefing.

His contract makes an exit difficult. Releasing him would still leave money owed. Cashman has to deal with that reality instead of using it as permission to repeat the same gamble.

Stanton’s body has repeatedly failed him. The front office fails the roster when it keeps budgeting for a version of him it cannot reliably put on the field.

And that brings us to the man who should be answering for every inch of this:

Brian Cashman.

He evaluates the talent. He constructs the roster. He chooses the manager. He oversees the system that is supposed to develop the players.

Yet somehow, whenever the finished product disappoints, responsibility gets scattered until nobody can find it.

A player didn’t develop. Somebody got hurt. October is unpredictable. The roster looked good on paper.

Who keeps buying the paper?

Cashman cannot claim credit for the organization’s sophistication and then act like its recurring flaws are unfortunate weather.

If the same weaknesses keep surviving different rosters, examine the person assembling them. If the same excuses keep surviving different seasons, examine the people accepting them.

That includes Hal Steinbrenner. Ownership enables this comfort. Cashman has room to keep defending the process because the man above him keeps accepting the explanation.

Meanwhile, Aaron Judge keeps getting older.

That is the unforgivable part.

The Yankees have a player whose greatness should define an era. They are burning through his championship opportunities while debating whether another disappointing season really warrants an uncomfortable decision.

Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez have publicly questioned the organization’s approach. CC Sabathia has joined the criticism of its leadership and direction.

These are men who understand what winning here requires. The Yankees would be wise to spend less time defending themselves and more time considering why those voices are dissatisfied.

This franchise should be embarrassed.

Embarrassed by the excuses. Embarrassed by the complacency. Embarrassed that fans can identify the problems and still expect the offseason press conference to explain why most of them are coming back.

Change Wells’ role. Trade Volpe. Let Grisham leave. Make hard decisions about Bednar and Stanton.

Fire Boone.

And stop pretending Cashman deserves permanent protection from the results of his own work.

Because if Judge finishes his Yankees career without a championship, the organization will have plenty of time to celebrate his individual achievements.

It will also have to live with the fact that he gave them greatness—and they kept handing him this.

RODÓN STOPPED THE RAYS. BOONE COULDN’T STOP THE CELEBRATION

For one game today the Yankees looked ready to make Tampa Bay wait.

Carlos Rodón was terrific in the doubleheader opener. He gave the Yankees eight scoreless innings, allowed just three hits and didn’t walk a batter. Cody Bellinger hit a two-run homer, David Bednar finished the shutout, and the Yankees won 2-0. It was crisp, decisive baseball. It also required Rodón to be nearly perfect because the lineup managed only five hits.

And Anthony Volpe? 0-for-3. Another empty line on a day when every run mattered. I’m tired of being told to see the player the Yankees hope he’ll become while watching the player standing in the batter’s box. Dude’s not good period. If Boone is making October decisions based on faith in Volpe instead of what he’s producing, fans have every reason to worry.

The nightcap gave those fans plenty more to worry about. Drew Rasmussen carried a no-hitter into the seventh and struck out 11. Heliot Ramos finally broke it up with a double, and George Lombard Jr. drove in the Yankees’ lone run. Meanwhile, Taylor Walls helped Tampa Bay build its lead, and Yandy Díaz drove in four. The Rays won 6-1, clinched the AL East, and celebrated at Yankee Stadium. That’s the image fans are left with after a split that briefly felt promising.

Now comes the familiar request to stay calm because the Yankees made the playoffs. Fine. They made it. But October doesn’t hand out runs for regular-season wins, and it doesn’t give a manager extra time to figure things out. Aaron Judge is expected to miss the Wild Card series. The lineup just produced one run and three hits in the game that decided the division. A fan looking at that and feeling uneasy is paying attention.

And that brings me to Aaron Boone. His teams win plenty of games over a long season. I know the number. What I want to know is why, when the pressure rises, I’m supposed to trust him to get the crucial decisions right. A manager is judged by what happens when there’s no comfortable margin left, and Boone has done little to earn that trust from me. Why does Hal Steinbrenner continue to allow Boone to manage this team? How many anxious Octobers does he need to see before he asks whether regular-season success is enough?

Rodón showed what the Yankees can look like at their best. A few hours later, the Rays showed them what it looks like to finish the job. The Yankees still have a postseason ahead of them, but this is a rocky road to get there. Right now, being a Yankees fan feels less like anticipation and more like bracing for the next bump.

RODÓN SETS THE TONE IN SUBWAY SERIES OPENER

The Yankees took care of business Friday night, beating the Mets 6-4 in the Subway Series opener at Yankee Stadium and extending their winning streak to four.

Cody Bellinger delivered the big blow, crushing a three-run homer in the second inning to give the Yankees a lead they never surrendered. Ben Rice added a solo shot and finished with three hits, while Spencer Jones got the scoring started with an RBI single.

Carlos Rodón gave the Yankees exactly what they needed, going 6⅓ innings with eight strikeouts in his longest outing of the season. The bullpen made things a little too interesting late, but David Bednar came in with the bases loaded in the eighth and finished off a five-out save.

The Yankees are now 85-62, winners of four straight and still three games behind Tampa Bay for first place in the AL East.

Bottom line: Bellinger brought the thunder, Rodón brought the pitching, and the Yankees kept moving forward. With 15 games left, winning the division is still the mission.

JUDGE RETURNS & THE YANKEES KEEP ROLLING

Aaron Judge is back. Finally.

The Yankee captain returned Tuesday night after missing 100 days, and while he went 0-for-3, nobody cares about the box score right now. Judge is healthy, he’s in right field, and the Yankees beat Colorado 5-3.

QUICK HITS: Judge is back. That’s the headline. Now stay healthy.

Cam Schlittler shoved: 7 innings, 1 earned run, 10 strikeouts. The kid continues to be the real deal.
Ryan McMahon ripped an RBI double to put the Yankees ahead.
Heliot Ramos delivered the dagger — a three-run bomb in the eighth.
David Bednar closed it out for save No. 32.

The Yankees are 82-62. September is here. Judge is back.

Enough excuses. Go win the damn thing.

YANKEES CLAIM JOHN SCHREIBER — AND THIS ONE MIGHT ACTUALLY HELP

The Yankees are digging through the waiver wire again, but this time I’m not rolling my eyes.

New York claimed veteran right-hander John Schreiber off waivers from the Kansas City Royals Monday, adding another arm to a bullpen that needs all the help it can get heading into September.

Schreiber, 32, leaves Kansas City with a 1-3 record, 3.65 ERA and one save in 55 appearances this season. Over 49.1 innings, he's allowed 41 hits, walked 22 and struck out 36, posting a 1.28 WHIP.

Those strikeout and walk numbers don't exactly scream Mariano Rivera. But dig a little deeper and there's something here.

Since April 19, Schreiber owns a 3.14 ERA over 43 innings, and he's been absolutely nasty against right-handed hitters, holding them to a ridiculous .143/.184/.231 slash line this season.

That's where I see the value.

This isn't your eighth-inning savior. This isn't David Bednar insurance. And nobody should be fitting Schreiber for a Monument Park plaque.

But he's a veteran reliever who can get right-handed hitters out, absorb innings and give Aaron Boone another legitimate matchup option instead of simply throwing somebody out there and hoping for the best.

And unlike some of Brian Cashman's famous dumpster-diving experiments, Schreiber actually has a track record. He's pitched in 327 major-league games with Detroit, Boston and Kansas City and owns a career 3.65 ERA.

Here's the concern: the strikeouts are down. Schreiber has only 36 K's in 49.1 innings, while walking 22. That's not exactly overpowering stuff, and in Yankee Stadium, putting runners on base and hoping for soft contact can turn ugly pretty quickly.

But as a September bullpen piece?

I'll take it.

The Yankees didn't acquire a star Monday. They acquired a useful veteran with one particularly valuable weapon: he gets righties out. Sometimes that's enough. And considering some of the bullpen roulette we've watched this season, I'll happily take "useful."

Welcome to the Bronx, John. Just throw strikes. We'll take it from there.

ARM-AGEDDON?

And the hits just keep on coming, huh? We can't catch a break. Just when we think it's getting better the other shoe drops. The rug is ripped out from under us. Pick a cliche, any cliche you like because ladies and gentlemen that is exactly where we are as we inch closer and closer to September.

I guess we could go with "There's always next year" or "We can chase number 28 in 2027" for right now. The state of the Yankees pitching staff is arm-ageddon right now. My heart sank when Max Fried hit the injured list, and as much as we don't need to see another arm like Fernando Cruz suffer the same fate I'm not surprised. I am tired of it though.

This team just doesn't demonstrate fundamentals or execute like other top teams in the league. We can't stay healthy. When our starting pitchers get past the fourth inning it feels like a miracle. Our starters can't get deep into games and then our relievers are coming into games too often and expected to clean up the mess that was left for them and eventually it catches up to guys. That could be what happened to Cruz.

Back in April, May and June, Aaron Boone was running him out on the mound constantly. His early success earned him a setup role to David Bednar and lately, he's looked like a shell of himself. The splitter doesn't split like it did, the fastball isn't as fast and the slider doesn't move the same. He's already pitched 54.2 innings this season, and his career high was 66.2 innings. He's 36 and not a young spring chicken anymore. We've seen it with the home runs he's given up and blown leads recently.

And this is why Brian Cashman needed to add stability at the trade deadline and find us some fresh arms. He failed. The Yankees are failing, because they aren't meeting expectations. They are in danger of falling further in the standings because the Yankees have four critical games this weekend against the Red Sox, who have magically come back to life and chasing down the Yankees in the Wild Card race. 

If the Red Sox pass the Yankees in the Wild Card race, I won't be able to accept that. NONE of us should. This team isn't what it should be. Everything needs to be torn down to the studs and built back up otherwise it is the same old dance.

Will arm-ageddon be the Yankees final nail in their coffin? I hope not....but this season has been exhausting.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

LOOK WHO'S CREEPING UP THE AL EAST!

This is getting interesting.

The Yankees beat Toronto 3-1, have now won nine of their last 13, and suddenly they're just three games out of first place in the AL East. Yes, these Yankees. Go figure.

Spencer Jones stayed hot, launching his seventh homer and going deep for the second straight game. Toronto even challenged it after Jones admired his work for a moment. Nice try. Still gone.

Cam Schlittler wasn't exactly cruising, but he battled through traffic and made pitches when he needed them. José Caballero added a sacrifice fly, Brent Headrick escaped a late jam and David Bednar finished it off for save No. 30.

But forget the individual numbers for a second. The Yankees are simply playing good baseball right now — and they're gaining ground.

That's what makes this 10-game homestand so important. They're home, they're hot and first place is suddenly sitting right there within reach. This is the major opportunity. Let's hope Boone doesn't mess this up.

Don't just make the AL East race interesting. Go take the damn thing.

GRISHAM, RODÓN & LOMBARD GIVE ME SOMETHING TO SMILE ABOUT

Well, look at that.

The Yankees won a baseball game Tuesday night, 3–1 over the Orioles, and for once I don't feel the need to immediately locate the nearest wall and bang my head against it.

I'm calling that progress.

And while this wasn't exactly Murderers' Row reincarnated—the Yankees managed only five hits—there were actually several things to like about this one. So yes, I'm going to enjoy it. I don't get to do this nearly enough.

Let's start with Trent Grisham, because apparently he decided the rest of the offense could take the night off. Grisham drove in all three Yankee runs, blasting his 17th homer in the third inning and then delivering the biggest hit of the night, a two-run single in the seventh that broke a 1–1 tie. Even better, that single came after Grisham fell behind 0–2 against left-hander Josh Walker.

That's called a professional at-bat. Remember those?

Then there was Carlos Rodón, back from the injured list and looking pretty damn good considering he hadn't pitched in the majors since June 28. Rodón went four innings, allowed one run on 2 hits and gave the Yankees exactly what they needed in his first game back. The lone damage was a Coby Mayo solo homer.

Was it vintage Cy Young stuff? No. Did I need it to be? Absolutely not. Get Rodón healthy. Get him comfortable. Get him stretched out. If the Yankees are going anywhere meaningful over the next two months, they're going to need this guy.

And then there's George Lombard Jr.

I don't want to get carried away with a young player after a couple of weeks, because we've seen how dangerous that can be around this organization. But the kid keeps giving us reasons to watch.

Lombard went 2-for-4 with a run scored, but the play everyone will remember came with the glove. He ranged deep to his right, planted himself however the hell he could and fired across the diamond to rob Christian Encarnacion-Strand.

Rodón's reaction on the YES broadcast pretty much said it all.

Grunt Baseball here. These Yankee pitchers are WOW'd with what it's like to have an ACTUAL shortstop behind them.  That should tell the Yankees front office everything they need to know.

The interesting part is that Lombard isn't just surviving at shortstop. He's looking comfortable there. Since his August 4 call-up, he's provided athleticism, defense and some life to a lineup desperately needing it.

That's refreshing.

And finally, give the bullpen some credit.

After Rodón departed, Yankee relievers covered five scoreless innings. Yerry De Los Santos earned the win, Fernando Cruz helped escape trouble in the seventh, and David Bednar closed it out for save No. 28. Baltimore finished 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight runners.

That's how you win when the offense isn't exactly setting off fireworks.

Pitch. Play defense. Get the big hit. Go home. It doesn't have to be complicated.

The Yankees are now 70–55, they've won two straight, and Tampa Bay lost Tuesday, pulling New York to five games back in the AL East.

Am I planning the parade? Relax. This team still has problems. Five hits isn't exactly something you frame and hang over the fireplace. Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton are still out, and there are plenty of questions surrounding this roster.

But Tuesday night wasn't about complaining. It was about Grisham coming through when they needed him. Rodón returning and looking healthy. Lombard continuing to show us something. And a bullpen protecting a lead instead of lighting it on fire.

That's a good Yankee win. I'll take it. Hell, I'll even smile about it. Just don't make me regret saying that Wednesday night.

CASHMAN PROTECTED LOMBARD. WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU DONE FOR THIS TEAM?

I keep seeing these ridiculous takes about the Yankees’ trade deadline:

“One of Brian Cashman’s best moves was not trading George Lombard Jr.”

Seriously?

Protecting your best young player isn't some brilliant front-office achievement. That’s Cashman’s job. You know what else is his job? Finding another way to make the Yankees better.

If a team demands Lombard, say no. Then call somebody else. Offer different prospects. Take on money. Get creative. 

Cashman has an entire organization at his disposal. The choices aren't trade Lombard or go home.

This Yankees’ deadline leaves us in a familiar place: Cashman made moves, including Heliot Ramos and Luis Garcia Jr., but did he actually do enough to turn this team into a championship favorite?

That’s the problem. He did not. Cashman always seems to go through the motions. Make the calls, make better calls. Ask about the big names. Tell everyone the prices were too high. Protect a prospect. Make a few secondary moves. Do something meaningful.

Deadline over. And we did this last year too.

In 2025, Cashman brought in Ryan McMahon, David Bednar, Camilo Doval, Jake Bird, José Caballero, Amed Rosario and Austin Slater. There was plenty of deadline excitement then, too.

And where did it get us? Doval, Bird and Slater are already off the team. We didn't move the needle. That’s why I don't want to hear about Cashman “winning” another deadline because he didn't make a stupid trade.

Not making a bad trade isn't the same thing as making a great one. Keep Lombard. Absolutely. But then GO GET SOMEBODY ELSE. Someone meaningful.

We are the New York Yankees. Cashman has prospects, major-league players and enormous financial resources to work with. Eventually the standard has to become championships again—not congratulating Brian Cashman because he managed to protect one of his own best prospects.

But that’s not genius. That's just part of the job.

THIS FEELS LIKE YANKEE BASEBALL AGAIN!

Something strange happened while I watched the Yankees beat the Braves 5-4 today. I wasn't stressed out. I wasn't waiting for the stupid mistake, the lifeless at-bat or the inevitable Yankee self-destruction. I was actually sitting there enjoying baseball.

Imagine that.

The energy around this team has changed, and for me, George Lombard Jr. is right in the middle of it. The kid has been in the majors for less than a week, yet he already carries himself like he belongs here. It's not just the talent. It's the athleticism, professionalism and class. There is a confidence about Lombard that doesn't feel forced. He plays hard, handles himself the right way and brings an energy this team desperately needed.

Then he goes out Saturday and launches his second major-league home run. This kid is 21 years old. I'm not crowning him Derek Jeter. I'm not doing that nonsense. But there is something about the way Lombard carries himself in pinstripes that gets your attention. He looks comfortable. He looks prepared. Most importantly, he looks like he's having fun.

And that feeling is spreading. Spencer Jones was another huge part of it today.

Jones drove in two runs today, including a go-ahead triple against Chris Sale. That's what I've been waiting to see from these young players. Not hype. Not prospect rankings, not stuff that the Yankees are telling me these players are supposed to be. Just them being them. No Drama. Production in important moments against great players.

Jones and Lombard have injected athleticism and unpredictability into a Yankee lineup that too often felt slow and stale. Suddenly, I want to see what happens next.

And none of this works without pitching.

Gerrit Cole looked like Gerrit Cole.  Seven innings. Two runs. Nine strikeouts. He also became the fastest pitcher in Yankee history to reach 1,000 strikeouts with the club. But forget the milestone for a second. Cole pitched like an ace. That's what matters.

He went toe-to-toe with Sale and gave his team seven strong innings. If the Yankees are going anywhere meaningful, that's the Gerrit Cole they need. Yes, the bullpen made the ninth inning more interesting than necessary. Bednar eventually shut the door and the Yankees walked away with another win.

But I'm looking beyond one Saturday afternoon. This team feels different. For too long, watching the Yankees felt like work. Every game came with aggravation. Bad fundamentals. Bad decisions. Bad energy. Even wins sometimes felt exhausting. I was literally pissed off every day.

Right now I'm watching George Lombard Jr. and Spencer Jones and feeling something I haven't felt enough watching this team.

It's Fun.

Lombard especially has changed the temperature for me. There is a professionalism and maturity to this kid that jumps off the screen. He doesn't need theatrics. He just plays baseball, and he plays it beautifully. That's what Yankee baseball should look like.

Good young players. Athleticism. Great pitching. Energy. And fans actually enjoying themselves again. Maybe it's only the beginning. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. Who knows.

For the first time in a while, I'm not watching the Yankees wondering how they're going to screw it up. I'm watching to see what George Lombard Jr. is going to do next. And somehow, this 21-year-old kid has made me believe again.

Wow, I miss that feeling. 

Meanwhile... Austin Wells is batting .170.  Next on the chopping block? Man I hope so.  We need a clean team... no more dead weight!

THE MCMAHON EXPERIMENT NEEDS TO END

What a hot start the Yankees had. Keyword is had. It's easy to overlook flaws and holes in your team when you are doing well. Then, when you aren't it is easy to pick everything apart. We've got some guys that are ice cold and that are liabilities to the team so naturally, they are in the hot seat.

I was never a big fan of the Ryan McMahon move. He was force fed to us by a bizarre move from our out of touch General Manager Brian Cashman. His .250 BA glory days in Colorado were his best and that's exactly what Cashman chases. Now he comes here and he's got a nice glove but he's basically an automatic out with his .190 BA. He's a nice defensive flash of the glove and nothing more. The name of the game is to hit and score runs also because you know....the team with the most runs wins. That's the part that just doesn't exist and it's not getting better.

So now here we are talking once again about how to upgrade this roster by the trade deadline. There are so many needs beyond the obvious bullpen, David Bednar and Austin Wells disaster that we can't forget McMahon. All of these guys need to go, but the last two days have had increasing chatter about trading McMahon.

At this point, there are more people on the roster I'd want to trade than keep and McMahon is no exception. I just think the Yankees may be stuck with him. We owe him $16 million dollars this season and next. Given how lackluster his stats are, I don't see the Yankees moving as much of that salary as they would like so finding a trade partner may not be as easy as we would like.

Then there's the other question of, who should the Yankees move him for? There are guys out there that could be a nice upgrade, but that doesn't mean they will get what they want. One wild idea that I found HERE talked about trading with the Arizona Diamondbacks for Ketel Marte. What's that? Oh, sorry that's me laughing in the background.

I'd love to actually UPGRADE from McMahon, yes and actual upgrade not a useless Cashman lightening in a bottle acquisition but Marte is not happening. First, Marte signed a team-friendly contract for 6-years and $116.5 million through 2030 with a player option for 2031. The Diamondbacks structured his deal with $46 million in deferred money just so they can maintain some payroll flexibility as they try to compete in the NL West. Marte himself also stated he wanted to stay in AZ "forever" meaning he has no intention of waiving his full no-trade clause that just so happens to list the Yankees as one of the teams he wouldn't consent to move to. He has full 10-and-5 trade veto power and he's not interested in the Bronx. He's a fan favorite in Arizona and he loves Arizona just as much....oddly.

So as much as I would like the Yankees to get ditch McMahon for some real offensive power it isn't going to be for Marte. That's a pipedream that just isn't going to happen. Even if his full no-trade clause wasn't a thing, there is no way Cashman could even pull that off. He only knows how to dumpster dive....

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

FALLING BACK DOWN TO EARTH

The Yankees have a pattern. They start the season off strong, and then when the dog days of summer arrive they hit a wall and take a nose dive. We've seen that in July and as frustrated as I get when I see it, I still know it's likely. But....it's middle of may. We are ahead of schedule. The Yankees just dropped three series in a row we should've beaten. Are we already free falling?

We knew the bullpen needed an overhaul. Cashman made some interesting moves and back in March they were rolling and we asked DID CASHMAN FINALLY GET SOMETHING RIGHT? I said I wanted to see Camilo Doval, Jake Bird and David Bednar adapted and performed over the next six months before celebrating a good start of the season. I think we can officially say we don't need six months. We can't afford six more weeks with what is going on....

These guys are complete busts! Our "needs" list is growing longer and longer by the minute. Once again, this is not a team built to win a championship. It's a team that is going to hit a wall and come up short while the National League contenders plow through them. The Yankees need to make some moves, take on some payroll and right some wrongs here.

The bullpen trio has to go. Right now, I only trust Tim Hill. That's it! Bednar is not a real closer, and Doval and Bird are gambles that are almost a guaranteed failure. Unless our starters can go eight innings, we are setting ourselves up for a blown game like we saw last night against the Mets. These games just can't happen, especially now that our starting rotation took a hit losing Max Fried. There's just no confidence.

The Yankees also need a catcher because Austin Wells isn't it! The Yankees don't want to use Ben Rice behind the plate and honestly, I am not feeling good with Paul Goldschmidt the rest of the season getting more reps at first base. The Yankees need more stability. It's a patch job.

It's no secret Anthony Volpe is a disaster and he's back up again because Jose Caballero is injured. When Caballero is healthy again, he needs to come back to shortstop, and the Yankees just need to cut their losses with Volpe. He's not going to be our answer, maybe some other team can use him.

Honestly, the infield and the bullpen really concern me right now. These are big pieces that just have to function. The pitching and offense (when it shows up) can't make up for those voids. Championship caliber teams don't gamble like this. 

Cashman needs to fix this - because if he can't and he can't put together that winning team he doesn't belong here and the Yankees need to pull their heads out of their butts. Just like in any job, if you can't perform....it's time to move on.

This is a mess and we're all tired of it. Bandaged, flawed teams are not what we expect in the Bronx. No more mediocrity - stop the freefall! Fix it, already!

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

WEAVER REMINDS THE YANKEES OF WHAT THEY COULD HAVE HAD

“I’m not the biggest guy in the room, but I ain’t scared of nobody.”

--Luke Weaver

Luke Weaver didn’t just expose the Yankees bullpen problem Saturday night — he was the answer they let walk out the door.

This wasn’t some overpriced superstar the Yankees couldn’t afford to keep. This was a guy they helped rebuild. A scrap-heap arm who turned himself into a bulldog in the Bronx. A “point and go” pitcher who took every role imaginable and somehow became one of the most reliable weapons Aaron Boone had when the season was hanging by a thread. Their closer.

And what did the Yankees do?

They handed out money elsewhere, watched Trent Grisham accept a one-year, $22 million qualifying offer, shrugged, and basically told Luke Weaver, “Thanks for the memories.”

Bad move, because Weaver clearly remembered.

The second he signed with the New York Mets, you just knew this matchup was circled on his calendar in permanent marker. Revenge games are real, and Weaver looked like a man who had spent months imagining this exact moment. Bases loaded. No outs. Two-run lead against his former team.

That’s either a nightmare or a movie script. Weaver made it cinema.

He punched out Amed Rosario. Then Grisham. Then he got the always-harmless Anthony Volpe to end the inning, because of course Volpe found a way to make the biggest moment disappear into a routine out. At this point, expecting a clutch hit from Volpe is like expecting New Jersey traffic to magically vanish at rush hour.

Weaver was breathing fire, too. The radar gun touched 97.6 mph — his highest velocity of the season. After one strikeout, he barked for the ball back immediately like a guy operating on pure adrenaline and spite. You could practically see the emotion pouring out of him.

And honestly? Good for him.

I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it: Luke Weaver has a legitimate case for being more valuable than David Bednar. Bednar is your classic ninth-inning closer. Fine. But Weaver gives you versatility, swing-and-miss stuff, multiple innings, and better adaptability for today’s game. Managers dream about arms like that in October. The Yankees can't win in October.

Most importantly, Weaver was a teammate. A gamer. The kind of guy Yankee fans naturally gravitate toward because he looked like he genuinely loved wearing the pinstripes.

So no, don’t get it twisted — I’m still a Yankee fan through and through. But if you watched that moment Saturday night and didn’t feel even a little happy for Luke Weaver, you’re lying to yourself.

He wanted revenge, and he absolutely got it. That's what great baseball is.

THE SECOND PLACE YANKEES

Ya'll are gonna say it, "Robert Casey is a Yankee hater." Nah bitches, I'm just a realist. You could see it in Boone's eyes before the Brewers series, and then I knew it when they lost game 1 to the Brewers and I wrote LET'S HOPE BOONE'S INCOMPETENCE DOESN'T REAR IT'S UGLY HEAD the next day. By the way, the most popular post of the weekend. Why? Cause I know what I'm talking about. I'm a Yankee fans through and through... but I also know good leadership when I see it.  And Boone? He's a pawn. Clueless in everything he does and this is the start of it. I mean sure, we'll have some nice runs this season, but even if we make the playoffs, this idiot will find a way to ruin the party... because the man is not competent. 

The Yankees look unbeatable when life is easy. When the weather is warm, the home runs are flying, and the entire operation looks smooth and polished. The lineup card writes itself. The starters cruise through six innings. The bullpen slams the door. Cameras catch Aaron Boone leaning against the dugout rail with that familiar relaxed grin and goes into the gap while postgame interviews are filled with phrases like "things are clicking." Anybody can manage that version of the Yankees.

That’s the dirty little secret nobody in the organization wants to admit. Boone is perfectly functional when everything is humming. But baseball seasons are not measured by how a manager handles smooth sailing in May against mediocre teams. Seasons are defined by tension, adversity, injuries, slumps, ugly losses, and moments where a clubhouse starts feeling pressure crawl up its spine.

That’s where real managers separate themselves. And that’s where Boone repeatedly falls apart.

This is something Yankee fans should keep watching closely because it has become one of the defining patterns of the Boone era. Ever since he became manager, the Yankees have shown the same personality flaw over and over again: when things get hard, the team gets worse mentally. Boone cannot manage adversity because he doesn’t know how to confront it. Write that down. Remember it. Because every season eventually circles back to the same ugly truth.

The sweep against the Milwaukee Brewers wasn’t just a rough series. It was a full psychological autopsy of a Boone-managed baseball team. The scores tell part of the story: 6-0, 4-3 in ten innings, and another 4-3 walk-off collapse. But honestly, the scores undersell how bad this looked. The Yankees didn’t resemble a championship-caliber team getting edged out by another contender. They looked fragile. Tight. Undisciplined. Mentally exhausted the moment the games became uncomfortable.

Game one was humiliating. Three hits. Three. Against a Milwaukee pitching staff led by Jacob Misiorowski, who carved through the Yankees lineup with the confidence. The Yankees went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, which under Boone has become less of a temporary slump and more of an organizational philosophy. And Boone’s response? Predictably passive.

 If you read social media, the papers, many questioned the lineup construction and Boone’s refusal to make aggressive bench moves earlier in the game. Struggling hitters stayed in while scoring opportunities evaporated inning after inning. Boone managed the shutout the same way he manages almost every offensive collapse: by staring into the distance and hoping the problem fixes itself organically.  The YES Network crew kept repeating that the Yankees were “just missing” pitches, but eventually “just missing” becomes your identity.

And that reflects leadership.

Because when a team constantly looks tense, emotionally fried, and fundamentally sloppy during difficult stretches, that is not random baseball luck. That is culture. That comes from the dugout. Boone has spent years trying to manage the Yankees like a motivational speaker trapped inside an analytics department. Smile a little. Clap a little. Tell the media the process is good. Defend obvious mistakes. Pretend every loss is just part of the marathon. But there’s a massive difference between staying calm and refusing to confront problems.

The Yankees under Boone still make the same mental mistakes they made years ago. They run the bases poorly. They lose situational awareness defensively. Hitters press the second momentum swings against them. The bullpen starts pitching scared. And Boone keeps standing there with the same expression of detached optimism while the game slips away in real time.

Game two was peak Boone baseball compressed into ten innings of frustration.

The Yankees had opportunities to steal the game, but every key moment became another example of poor execution mixed with questionable management. Boone’s handling of the bullpen immediately drew criticism. Fans and analysts questioned why Tim Hill was handling such a critical extra-inning situation instead of a higher-leverage arm.

Then came the play that perfectly summarized the entire Boone era. Hill fielded a comebacker in the tenth inning and attempted to force the lead runner at third instead of simply taking the guaranteed out at first. The throw struck the runner, everybody was safe, and the inning exploded into chaos. It was the kind of little-league sequence that leaves fans screaming at televisions because the fundamentals were so painfully obvious.

And here’s the important part: fans blamed Boone immediately because they no longer trust the Yankees to execute basic situational baseball under pressure. That matters. When a team repeatedly looks unprepared in key moments, people stop viewing mistakes as isolated incidents. They become symptoms.

The failed play also destroyed Boone’s defensive flexibility. Because no out was recorded, he lost the ability to intentionally walk William Contreras for a preferred matchup against Jake Bauers. Contreras then delivered the walk-off sacrifice fly while the Yankees slowly walked off the field looking emotionally shell-shocked yet again.

Afterward Boone did what Boone always does after these losses: calmly explained the process, praised the effort, and acted as if fans should ignore the obvious emotional collapse unfolding on the field. But vibes are not leadership.

Strong managers stabilize teams during adversity. Boone’s Yankees unravel during adversity. That is the defining characteristic of his tenure. When pressure increases, the Yankees get sloppier. Hitters chase more. Fielders rush plays. Pitchers nibble instead of attacking. The dugout energy becomes strangely passive, like everyone is waiting for Judge to rescue them with a three-run homer.

Then game three happened, and honestly, by that point the collapse felt inevitable.

Another 4-3 loss. Another late-game disaster. Another walk-off. David Bednar gave up the ninth-inning homer to Brice Turang, but even before the pitch left his hand, the entire game carried the emotional tension of a car with failing brakes rolling downhill.

Boone was criticized again for sticking with Bednar despite previous warning signs. He should have been. Fans questioned why the struggling reliever continued handling the ninth inning while better options existed. 

This has become another Boone trademark: managing spreadsheets instead of managing the actual human beings playing baseball games.

Even Carlos Rodón’s outing reflected the larger issue. Rodón walked five hitters and hit another in only 4.1 innings, yet Boone seemed slow to react, further draining a bullpen that was already wobbling by the end of the series. Everything felt reactive instead of proactive. The Yankees constantly looked one step behind the game.

And by the end of the sweep, the numbers became impossible to ignore. The Yankees had fallen to 1-8 against teams with winning records during that stretch. That is not meaningless noise. Contenders beat other contenders sometimes. Boone’s Yankees looked incapable of handling competitive baseball once the games became tense and uncomfortable. That’s the most damning part of all this: none of it felt new.

This is the same movie Yankee fans have watched for years. The Yankees beat weaker teams, pile up regular-season wins, and everybody starts talking about chemistry and vibes. Then they face real resistance and suddenly the flaws burst through the walls. The offense tightens up. The fundamentals disappear. The bullpen management becomes chaotic. Boone sounds less like a manager and more like a corporate spokesperson delivering damage control.

The Milwaukee sweep didn’t expose a temporary slump. It exposed a personality problem that has followed the Yankees throughout Boone’s tenure. The team looked mentally soft. Over-reliant on stars. Poorly disciplined. Unable to adjust once adversity arrived.

And after all these years, the same question keeps returning: If the Yankees always look this rattled when things get hard, what exactly is Boone bringing to the table besides calm postgame interviews and optimistic clichés?

Because championship managers are not judged by how they handle easy nights in May when everything clicks. They are judged by whether their teams can survive chaos without mentally collapsing.

And right now, Boone’s Yankees still collapse the second baseball starts getting hard.

RODON RETURNS & HELPS THE YANKEES GET SWEPT!

Well, that stings......a lot. The Yankees were just swept in Milwaukee, and to make matters worse they are no longer in first place in the AL East. The Yankees were on an easy stretch, and now that has come to a screeching halt. Now we wait and see how they react.

The Yankees shouldn't have been swept by the Brewers. They had momentum on their side with strong start to the season and they had the long awaited return on Carlos Rodon AND a debut for young "phenom" Spencer Jones in their back pockets. A good run was supposed to get better, but we fell off the rails.

Game one was pathetic, the offense disappeared and I am tired of pointing that out year after year. It's even worse to lose the next two games by walk off home runs. I can't say I was surprised by the result Sunday. Disappointed, but not surprised. After Rodon had to be yanked after four and 1/3 innings, and we had to go to the bullpen so quickly, I knew it was a bad sign. Rodon's command wasn't there and eventually David Bednar gave up the walk off last night. It's what the Yankees do historically.

I've had so many people try to give me a silver lining psychological spin because Jones got his first hit and RBI as a big leaguer. Good for him. I'm not his biggest fan but I can give credit where credit is due. It's a start, but he will need to do more to force the Yankees hand to stay once our other ailing outfielders recover from their injuries.

And all of the keys to the Yankees winning success are going to come from Aaron Boone. It was obvious that Rodon had unraveled in the fourth inning. He had eight straight balls, a strike, then hit a batter on the second pitch and a wild pitch. Common sense says Rodon doesn't have it and he should've already made a move, but he didn't. It's a classic Baboonie screw up that we are forced to re-live season after season. It's maddening.

The American League has been massively underperforming so far this season. The Yankees and the Rays are the best teams in the AL. The Yankees need to find a way to play better against these competitive teams because this doesn't cut it. It's the same theme song all over again. You have to play at your best amongst the best.....this isn't it!

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj