IN THE MIDST OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, WE REACHED 7 MILLION STRONG

These days, every single day is like a blur to me. I mean sure, we do our 'work from home' routine, exercise and in some cases help our kids with their school work, but this "Stay at Home" stuff is for the birds.  Does it save lives? It does. Is it working? It is, but it's amazing. Never if my life have I ever seen such an incredible thing in my world. Never, ever.

But in the midst of this tragedy, a glow of light.  Bleeding Yankee Blue has done it again. We have reached a new milestone, something to be proud of. We have reached 7 million views on our pages, and that is all because of people like you!

Over 7 million views is not only historic, it makes me all fuzzy inside. That means that since September of 2010, we have built an audience and found a way to deliver news and information to our audience in a unique way. And I say unique, because there were already so many Yankee blogs out there. But we do it differently. We are honest.

We don't kiss the ass of the New York Yankees. I mean yes, we are fans first, but if someone in the Yankee clubhouse is blowing it or saying the wrong thing, we're gonna tell it to you straight.  We've done it over the years and continue too... even when it comes to guys like Sonny Gray or Giancarlo Stanton or even Joe Girardi. Whomever. That's one. 2... our writers don't need to agree with each other to make a solid product. Look at the spats between Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa and Mike O'Hara when it comes to a player like Mark Teixeira for example. One loves him... the other... not so much.

We started after a bad game back in 2010. BYB built from there.  Our first interview was with Steve Karsay. That was in 2011. It was awesome and helped put us on the map. (Read EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: STEVE KARSAY).

Years later, our first podcast interview was with Ty Hensley. He gave us stability and there will be more podcast interviews as we move forward. (Check out A BYB PODCAST INTERVIEW EXCLUSIVE WITH TY HENSLEY ). We love this dude and let me be honest... we were the ONLY blog that was consistently following him throughout everything he's been through. And now he's back on top on the verge of signing with a Major League club again.

My point is, Bleeding Yankee Blue has evolved for our audience, because our audience is the foundation to this entire process.

💚 GREEN I 💚 It’s my favorite color and the color of revitalization and rebirth. Hopefully, after this passes we will be better as a partner, mom, sister, friend, human being and we appreciate even more how important it is to be healthy. 💚 pic.twitter.com/QlMdSjbgVE

— Laura Posada (@PosadaLifeCoach) April 10, 2020

We've met and got the know many people over the years.  Laura and Jorge Posada. Clay Rapada. Marci Hensley, Joba Chamberlain, Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record and others.  They are loyal to us... we are loyal to them.

My writers don't stop. I mean some do, but my staple Managing Editors do not. Suzie and Jeana are unstoppable and unique and important to our brand.  We need them on the pages of Bleeding Yankee Blue, and love them very much here.

And finally to our readers, our freaks, our friends, our loves and our loyal crew.

We do this every day for you because you come to us for information, smiles and news when it comes to the New York Yankees and of course the despicable Houston Astros, which, if you know us, has been incorporated into our daily routine.  We fight for justice, and the Astros need to be buried for what they did to this great game.

But you, our readers are our base and our rock and our voice of reason if you agree or disagree with what we put out.  You are the reason we exist.

Thank you. Thank all of you for being there and for supporting Bleeding Yankee Blue.

Wow... 7 million views of our pages.  More than 10,000 stories on our website since it all began in 2010.  That means something. That means we are relevant.

We appreciate you being with us on our journey. Let's continue to blossom.... together.

--Robert Casey
BYB Chief & Head Writer
Twitter: @BleednYankeeBlu

NO ONE BETTER THAN O'HARA WHEN IT COMES TO YANKEE BASEBALL

I can talk to Mike O'Hara about baseball for hours.  He's just that knowledgeable and fun.  He and I are the same age, and so we can talk about 70's and 80's baseball like it was going out of style. We like similar players, we followed them growing up in our living rooms where ever we were at that time.  And when we chat, it just brings us back to a much simpler time, where there was no responsibly.

Only Yankee baseball on WPIX, and baseball cards and fun.

These days Mike and I are grown men, with families and plenty of responsibilities. We're in charge of making things run correctly in our respective households, or at least that's what our wives tell us.  But when it comes to the Yankees.... we'll always be kids and we'll always be in our happy place... and I think that's why O'Hara and I are so tight. We get each other... we have for a long time.

Mike reached out to me around 2011 when BYB was relatively new. He was working and hosting at the MLB Fan "CAGE" as he calls it and I was a fan of his before I even knew he was a fan of Bleeding Yankee Blue.  We started chatting it up and before I knew it, Mike was a staple in the BYB Family, writing unique stuff for our pages.  While Mike doesn't write as much anymore, he still does when he can. And let's not get it twisted... with the Coronavirus lingering, I think it's safe to say that he, and many have a lot more free time on their hands. And so, Mike wrote for us the other day to rekindle his connection with the BYB audience, and I decided that I needed to interview him for the BYB Media Podcast like I did with Suzie Pinstripe (HERE) and Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa (HERE). 


Loyalty runs deep with me... you know this by now.  And Mike? Mike's loyal and like a brother to me.

So give this interview a listen. We talked about everything, from COVID19, actor Bill Hader... to Goose Gossage to Reggie Jackson to the stupid Astros.

We talked Joba Chamberlain, David Ortiz and even Rob Manfred and George Springer.  This guy's real and honest and one of the best when it comes to talking baseball.

Let me know what you think.

And Mike? I love ya buddy. Thanks for taking the time.

JEANA BELLEZZA-OCHOA: ONE OF THE GOOD ONES

You know a good person when you meet them. That's how I feel about Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa. I like her drive, I appreciate her passion and I love that she wanted to do more on Bleeding Yankee Blue back in 2011, and when she asked if she could start writing for BYB full time, and stop being a copy editor, I knew one thing; she wanted to improve in not only the difficult task of writing... but improve as a person.

I am a sucker for anyone that believes in themselves and their will and desire to accomplish something great in their lives. It's attractive to me. I think that's why I am surrounded by those types of people here at Bleeding Yankee Blue. The people that write for us are very special to me. They are my family.

We have had plenty of writers here at BYB over the years. But many times things change and writers can't stick around. I do not fault any of them. Be it a personal issue, or they just get bored or tired of writing, whatever it is, I never judge. But what I do believe in is loyalty and at the end of the day, there will only be a few that will stand by my side in this project.  That's Suzie, that's Mike O'Hara and yes, that's Jeana-Bellezza-Ochoa. These folks have helped me build this little thing called Bleeding Yankee Blue, and so, any opportunity I can, I will help them back with whatever they need.  It's a special give and take and loyalty with me runs deep.

And that brings me to my latest BYB Media Podcast... this one is Episode 6... with my other BYB Managing Editor, Jeana.


I hope you take the time to listen to this one today. Jeana was with me here at BYB since 2011.  She didn't start out as a writer, but over the years she's become one and it's terrific. Take a listen today, and smile. If you are a reader of BYB, no doubt you read hundreds of Jeana and Suzie's posts... and no question you can relate with them in some capacity.  It's a very special interview.

We talk about everything, from the Yankees rotation, to injury to the Astros to chubby Gary Sanchez.

A very special thank you to Jeana and Suzie... and an extra one to our BYB audience. We love you, we appreciate you and we hope to keep going. This is the year of our 10th anniversary...  wow... time flies.

SUZIE PINSTRIPE: A SOLID BYB WRITER, AN EVEN BETTER PERSON

I've known Suzie Pinstripe since about 2012. Her passion for baseball and the New York Yankees is like no other.  And I just didn't hire her for her sports knowledge. I hired her for her discipline. How did I know she was disciplined you ask? I mean, I barely knew the woman at the time. I know... I know.  Well... the reason is simple. I knew she would keep to a schedule... and I knew her passion in the baseball realm was great... but the reason why I knew she'd kick ass for because she was a runner.

Runners... Swimmers... these types of athletes stick to a schedule. They get up earlier than the rest of us. Not just one day, but every day.  They know when they need to run, they pay attention to their bodies, they eat at the same time every day, and eat right, and they follow their schedule to a T, every single day of their lives.  And I knew, that if I was able to bring her into the BYB family, sharing her daily knowledge on baseball and the New York Yankees... she would also bring that discipline with her, and in turn, that would feed our audience with some of the best stuff you will see on the web when it comes to Yankee writing.

And so here we are.  Years later, Suzie Pinstripe is one of my BYB Managing Editors. Spunky, passionate and just a great freaking person.  She's not only a family member to BYB... she and Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa are like my family.

Today I wanted to share with you something that BYB has been developing slowly... and it's the BYB Media podcast.  We've already interviewed Ty Hensley and my buddy, Al Malafronte of the Break-a-Bat Podcast, but how can I do this if I don't interview the heart and soul of Bleeding Yankee Blue? That's why you are about to hear from Suzie Pinstripe and next week Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa.  2 important people in my life, and 2 important voices when it comes to baseball and the New York Yankees.


I hope you enjoy this interview with one of my favs! Thank you Suzie. Thanks for all you do and thanks for never disappointing me.

You're the best.

THE FRIENDSHIPS ARE WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT

Merry Christmas everyone. Happy Holidays as well.

As the creator and head writer of Bleeding Yankee Blue, I would just like to say how special this moment is for me. We are in our 8th year here and while writers have come and gone, our core is strong and continue to put out valuable and entertaining content to a group of fun loving, happy and wonderful individuals.

Many of you have been with us since the beginning.  Some are new to the product. No matter... it's good to see you, to have a dialog with many of you and to chat through social media after you read some of our posts.

You are our loyal fans and readers. Not only that, you are the reason why Bleeding Yankee Blue is in existence. You make this fun. We love to write for you. We love to share our views. In short... we love you.

Now, I've softened over the years.  In the beginning of BYB I was very much about making noise, getting into arguments and stirring stuff up. I liked causing trouble and none of it had to do with clicks. All of it had to do with my passion for the game, the Yankees and writing.  But after a while, seeing the way social media has gotten a little nutty and scary, I stopped all that garbage. Why? Because life's too short. My family is growing up. I'm getting older... I know what's truly important in my life and what's not.

I don't care about debating people on politics for I will never change their mind. I don't debate people about Yankee trades and who's a better player.  Fans are fans because of all types of reasons and sometimes you just can't change a point of view. And you know what? That's what makes being a fan so great. And that's where discussion... not hate, comes into view.

We love our audience here at BYB because we have respectful banter, see each other's points and are never nasty and hateful. It makes me feel good about what we have here.

Look, even when it comes to this Bill Ballou character and his article about how he's not putting Mariano Rivera on his ballot because he doesn't think 'Saves' are a big achievement based on stats and innings pitched per game. Yankeeland has gone crazy on this guy the past week.

Here's the thing... Mariano Rivera is one of the greatest closers ever.  We as Yankee fans see it more than anyone and so, when a guy like that writes opinion like that, a Boston writer and Boston fan by the way, we grow angry. But why? Why are you guys so pissed? Who cares about Bill Ballou?

The bottom line is Mariano WILL get into the Hall of Fame. He's a lock actually. Who the hell cares is it's unanimous or not? Not I.  I took my reasonable view to Twitter and made my points to Mr. Ballou directly. And it was respectful...

@BillBallouTG There’s some sense to your saves point. Problem is baseball invented the counting of “saves” making it another record to attack fans. Your argument against Mo falls empty however because he had a job and did it... better than his peers.

— Robert Casey (@BleednYankeeBlu) December 23, 2018

@BillBallouTG you not voting for him is your perogrative. I wouldn’t care if you ever vote for him. But in this era of baseball, Matheny, Francona, or you aside...Movdid something for the good of baseball whether you like it or not.

— Robert Casey (@BleednYankeeBlu) December 23, 2018

@BillBallouTG P.S. you don’t sound much like a sports writer as much as you do a whiny Boston fan. Which is fine by the way, but be more forthcoming with that information. That’s why you’re getting crucified. Merry Christmas.

— Robert Casey (@BleednYankeeBlu) December 23, 2018

In the end though, while this Bill Ballou tries to stir crap up... he doesn't have the decency to respond. My question to that is why? Why have an article in which you know is going to cause a stir and then go radio silent with no dialog between the readers and the writer?  Makes no sense.  It's bad journalism in this day and age of social media. And that's why BYB was created. Banter is important.

We love the dialog between readers and us writers. We know you aren't going to always agree, but we also aren't hiding under our desks trying to avoid you.  Again... we appreciate you.

BYB is not only a Yankee fan site, it's a family.

Over the years we have made amazing friends. We don't just talk about the Yankees... we also talk about our families and jobs and what we did last summer.

We have bonded, making life long friendships that will never end.

Our words about the Yankees and about baseball, while unique and sometimes obvious, is because we have a passion for this team. Without writers and BYB Managing Editors Suzie Pinstripe and Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa, BYB would have a tricky time surviving. That's because they truly offer a glimpse into a baseball world uniquely crafted from the female fan perspective. A view that wasn't always prominent in the sports blog world when we showed up in 2010. But I feel like since our existence, we've brought that perspective to the forefront.

BYB also tapped into a female audience... an audience not fed in the Baseball blog world.  The reason is simple... for years when you thought about baseball blogs, you thought about nerdy men with statistics and WAR chatter about who is better through the numbers only.  I hate that... it's a small way of looking at things.  Offering a common sense approach and offering hard opinion as well was my vision, and add in that missing female component, both author and audience … and now a new world of bloggers and blog readers were born.  We've succeeded in that vision. Bleeding Yankee Blue has become appointment web surfing and we are happy to serve you.

BYB is a mainstream Yankee blog. We thank you for such an amazing audience. We are now read all over the world and have nearly 6 million 42 hundred thousand visits since our infancy. That's not by accident, folks. People like us.

It's the perfect formula of our writers, our passion and you, the audience who come to us every day to not only check out Yankee news, but to check out baseball news and sometimes even a vent session about life and respect in general.

Thank you.

Thank you for always being there for us. You are truly the most dedicated and amazing audience ever. I know that many blogs out there have a following, and that's great, but there is something special about this one.

Your engagement with us is fascinating. You make writing fun. You make social media, a nasty, horrible place fun as well.

I personally appreciate you all. I know that Jeana and Suzie do too.  And it's funny... we all write stuff here, and we all have a certain group of readers that follow us individually. But when we put it all together, it's strength in numbers, a truly unique and special audience.

It's the BYB audience and you're amazing! I cannot say it enough.

Thank you to my writers. Suzie and Jeana, you ARE special.  No one better and no one that I'd rather have in my life.  You are wonderful. I love your family milestones... I like checking in with your families and seeing everyone grow up.  It's special.

I leave you with this. A clip that was created for me on Facebook to kind of encapsulate the year and years past. Truth be told... I wish I could encapsulate the entire 8 years in one shot. It's been a trip and we wouldn't be here without you.




Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2019, full of brand new BYB gear and hopefully we get that BYB podcast off the ground. This I will promise!

Thank you for everything.

--Robert Casey
BYB Chief, Managing Editor & Head Writer
Twitter: @BleednYankeeBlu

SANCHEZ TO THE SHELF & THAT'S NOT THE WORST PART!

Photo: Getty Images

Bad News Sunday....that's what I call it. Seriously, it sucks getting swept by the Rays, watching Domingo German tank in his start and then to make matters worse Gary Sanchez is down and out. This isn't the way I wanted to end my weekend but that really may not be the worst part of it.

If you missed it, Sanchez pulled his groin running to first yesterday. An MRI is scheduled for today sometime and we are all crossing our fingers hoping for the best but preparing for the worst (just in case). I'm sure Brian Cashman has a game plan in the works but either way this is pretty bad.

Photo: Getty Images

Hopefully some of the swelling goes down over night and tomorrow when they do the MRI it's not a bad as it looked. Groin strains are no joke, and the last thing the Yankees need is a bad Grade 2 strain which could mean he's out for more than eight weeks. I don't want to even imagine that right now.

Sanchez may be having a rough season so far, but he is still leading all catchers with 14 home runs and slump or not he has the ability to change a game with one swing. Too bad that didn't happen yesterday, but he's still a powerful bat that can do damage in the lineup, slump or not.

Photo: Getty Images

So now what do the Yankees do? Now that we will have Austin Romine as an every day catcher the Yankees need a backup. Kyle Higashioka is the third catcher on the Yankees 40-man roster so he is the obvious choice for a call-up. Higashioka knows the pitching staff well and he's been with the Yankees since 2008 but he's never been able to land a long term job in the Bronx. He made his major league debut as a defensive replacement in 2017 after Sanchez suffered an injury. He didn't stay up long after he batted 0-for-18 in nine games for the Yankees and was optioned back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in May when Sanchez returned. Nothing against Higashioka but even a slumping, healthy Sanchez is a stronger option for the Yankees.

Photo: Getty Images

Could the Yankees go out and get another catcher if Sanchez has a worst case scenario injury? Maybe. I've seen a couple names floating around on Twitter including J.T. Realmuto again. I mean, Derek Jeter is still holding onto him even after selling off everyone else. We've been waiting for him to get traded for a long time now. Or maybe, the Yankees go for a reunion with John Ryan Murphy? He's been nothing short of a revelation this season for the Diamondbacks.  They do have a ton of catching depth with Jeff Mathis and Alex Avila all sharing time so they have the ability to move him but considering how good he has been for them it would take some serious magic for Cashman to steal him from the Diamondbacks.

I don't want to think about other replacements right now. I'm hoping for the best case scenario here and instead of chasing after a catcher we continue to look for that starter we need and we see Sanchez sooner rather than later.

We need some good news here.....please. Stay tuned.

-- Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj

THAT ANDUJAR FOR JACOB DEGROM TRADE IDEA IS BACK AGAIN

Photo: New York Post

This Jacob DeGrom to the Yankees talk just won't go away. The Yankees definitely need some pitching and baseball fans want to see the trades happen. Baseball writers everywhere also seem to want to see the Mets and Yankees finally make a trade. I don't care for the crosstown trade hype, if it works fine.....but it has to make sense.

Photo: North Jersey

Right now some of the reasons to trade Miguel Andujar do not make sense to me but NJ.com had a piece HERE giving a bunch of reasons why they should. I get that the Mets are not a contending team and are likely to listen to offers but should the Yankees really be as interested in getting rid of Andujar?

Just being realistic here, if the Yankees and Mets even started talking about this trade DeGrom is worth a lot more than just Andujar and if I am the Mets right now considering giving him up, it better be for one hell of a haul back. The Yankees better be prepared to start including other names like Justus Sheffield since Gleyber Torres is definitely untouchable according to Brian Cashman. DeGrom is one of the best starting pitchers in the game right now and the Mets should be interested in rebuilding around him, especially since he is under team control until 2021.

Photo: New York Post

One thing I definitely disagree about is the idea that Andujar lacks plate discipline. How can a guy with an 18% strikeout rate have a plate discipline problem? The Yankees already have plenty of guys on the team who swing and miss (Giancarlo Stanton, anyone?) so it's nice to have a guy in the lineup that will wait for his pitch and be hard to strike out.

And what about Andujar's track record? There's nothing to dislike about his performance. Andujar has earned his spot on this team. He's hitting .290, has had some big hits an stepped up for the Yankees when they got in a pinch and Brandon Drury needed time on the disabled list. The "never being ranked in the top 50 prospects" doesn't bother me either. That stat is meaningless once you reach 120 major league at bats and he's an everyday player so obviously the Yankees aren't worried about that either.

Photo: Sporting News

We all know not all top prospects live up to the hype. Remember Yoan Moncada? He was 2016-2017 top prospect and was signed by the Red Sox. He finished his 2016 season with a .211 average and was then traded to the Chicago White Sox where he currently has a .230 BA, 100 strikeouts, five fewer RBI's and only one more home run. The "top prospect" argument by NJ.com proves to be irrelevant here.

And what about Brandon Drury? Sure, Drury is a luxury like the article says. He's versatile and looking at Greg Bird's injury history he may be an even nicer luxury for us to have. He's also been unlucky because he has been blocked by another player in Arizona and now he is blocked again as a Yankee. Even when he recovered from his injuries the Yankees chose not to call him back up. Drury also doesn't have all of the extra base hits Andujar has and since "track record" was a concern with Andujar.....why isn't it with Drury?

It doesn't sound like Brian Cashman considers Andujar to be "untouchable" but I think just like the Mets would need to be impressed to move DeGrom, it would be the same case for Andujar. It never hurts to listen to the offers, but the Mets and the Yankees matching up for this trade? Not likely, and I don't think we should be so concerned on Andujar, he's doing just fine.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj