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 HAVE THEIR EYE ON JAPAN'S BIG BAT

Jon Heyman dropped an interesting nugget earlier this month. I didn't want to forget to tell you. Allegedly the Yankees are among the teams linked to Japanese slugger Teruaki Sato, the 27-year-old Hanshin Tigers third baseman expected to pursue MLB after the 2026 season.

Heyman's report appeared in the New York Post on August 13, with the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers and Phillies among the clubs connected to Sato.

Now, "linked" is doing a lot of work here. This isn't a signing. It isn't even necessarily serious negotiations. It's a loose rumor. But it's an interesting one.

Sato is one of Japan's premier power hitters, and here's where this gets even more intriguing.

Meanwhile Ryan McMahon landed on the 10-day IL August 21, retroactive to August 20, with a Grade 2 sprain of his left thumb after jamming it sliding into second base against Baltimore.

And remember: Heyman's Sato report came eight days earlier.

So no, the Yankees weren't suddenly linked to Sato because McMahon got hurt. They were apparently interested before the injury. Coincidence? Probably.  But now that McMahon is hurt, that little August 13 rumor suddenly feels a bit more relevant.

Maybe Sato becomes another name swallowed up by the endless Yankee rumor machine. Or maybe this is one worth remembering. For now, it's just a link.

But it's a pretty damn interesting one.

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.

ANOTHER YANKEE RALLY & MORE LOMBARD MAGIC!

The Yankees won again Tuesday night, beating the Mariners 4-1 for their third straight comeback victory.

That's the good news.

The other news? Can we please stop making “comeback” part of the nightly game plan?

Ryan Weathers deserved better than another night of waiting around for the offense to show up. He carried a one-hit shutout into the sixth and stretched his scoreless streak to 23 innings before Randy Arozarena finally got him with a solo homer. Weathers went 5.2 terrific innings, and the Yankee bullpen was spotless again.

And yet, there were the Yankees, trailing 1-0. Again. Thankfully, the bats eventually received the memo. In the seventh, Ryan McMahon delivered a two-run single and Trent Grisham followed with another two-run knock. Just like that, 1-0 became 4-1, and the Yankees had another win.

I love the fight. I love three straight comeback victories. But eventually, how about throwing the first punch? You can't keep spending six innings wandering around offensively and expect to flip a switch every night. Score early. Give your pitchers a lead. Maybe even make a game comfortable once in a while.

Crazy concept, I know.

But the moment I can't stop thinking about wasn't a hit.

It was George Lombard Jr.

In the first inning, a ground ball up the middle ricocheted off the second-base bag and changed direction. Lombard adjusted instantly, grabbed it with his bare hand and fired to first for the out.

Beautiful.

And here's what made it so impressive: it wasn't showboating. It was instinct. Lombard didn't barehand the ball because he wanted a highlight. He did it because his baseball brain immediately told him that's how the play had to be made.

You can't teach that. You can practice footwork, throwing mechanics and positioning. You can take 10,000 ground balls. But that internal clock — seeing something unexpected happen and reacting correctly without hesitation — is something special.

Lombard has it.

And I'm going to ask the question because every Yankee fan watching that play had to think about it:

After all the errors, misplays and routine grounders that somehow turned into adventures, do you think in a million years Anthony Volpe makes that play?

Come on. We've spent years being told how “elite” Volpe is defensively. Now we're watching Lombard play shortstop, and seemingly every game there's another defensive highlight. Great range. Smooth hands. Difficult throws made naturally. And now he's barehanding a ball that ricocheted off second base like somebody forgot to tell him the play was supposed to be difficult.

We're getting spoiled. Actually, maybe we're not. Maybe this is simply how a Yankee shortstop is supposed to operate. What was Yankee management doing force feeding Volpe on us? What a waste of time!

There's a difference between being told someone is an elite defender and watching someone whose instincts practically jump through the television. Lombard doesn't look frantic. He doesn't fight the position. He just plays it.

That's what makes this kid so impressive. The Yankees won 4-1. Weathers was terrific. McMahon and Grisham delivered. The bullpen did its job.

Three straight comeback wins. I'll happily take them. But tonight, maybe score before the seventh inning. And please, keep hitting the ball toward George Lombard Jr.

I want to see what the kid does next.

IT JUST FEELS DIFFERENT WITH LOMBARD OUT THERE

I don’t know how else to explain it. The Yankees are suddenly more enjoyable to watch.

That doesn’t mean they’re fixed. It doesn’t mean Brian Cashman suddenly became a genius. And it certainly doesn’t mean Aaron Boone figured out how to manage overnight.

It just feels different.

The Yankees beat the Braves 3-2 in 10 innings Friday night, snapping Atlanta’s eight-game winning streak. Ryan McMahon brought home Luis Garcia Jr. with the walk-off sacrifice fly, and somehow the Yankees escaped with a win after spending most of the night doing absolutely nothing offensively.

And yet, I enjoyed watching it. I think a lot of that has to do with George Lombard Jr.

There is a completely different energy around this team with Lombard playing shortstop. Maybe part of it is simply seeing something new. Maybe it’s watching a young player who brings some excitement and athleticism instead of feeling like we’re watching the same failed experiment over and over again.

Whatever it is, I feel less stressed watching Yankee baseball right now. And Lombard was right in the middle of the ninth-inning comeback. He reached base, moved up on an error, and eventually scored as the Yankees finally woke up. Even lightweight Austin Wells drove in the first run, and Ben Rice ripped the game-tying single off the right-field wall with two outs.

That’s the kind of inning we haven’t seen enough of. But—and this is a BIG but—we cannot ignore what happened during the first eight innings.

The Yankees still can’t score.

That worries me.

Max Fried pitched a terrific game against his former team, allowing just three hits over 6⅓ innings. And for most of the night, the Yankees were preparing to waste another excellent pitching performance because the offense couldn’t do anything against Tyler Mahle, who threw six scoreless innings with nine strikeouts.

Sound familiar? That has been one of the most frustrating parts of this team. The pitching gives them an opportunity to win and the offense disappears. You cannot expect to consistently win games 2-0, 3-2 and 2-1. Eventually you need to HIT. Eventually somebody needs to put a crooked number on the scoreboard.

And if this team actually believes it can make noise in October, that has to change. You cannot spend eight innings asleep and expect a ninth-inning miracle every night.

But here’s the weird part. I’m enjoying watching them again. That matters to me.

There was something exhausting about watching this team before. Every ground ball to shortstop felt like an adventure. Every game felt like we were waiting for the next mistake, the next excuse and the next Aaron Boone press conference explaining why something that obviously wasn’t good was actually pretty good.

Now Lombard is out there and there’s freshness. Youth. Energy. Possibility.

He’s going to make mistakes. He’s going to strike out. He’s going to have bad games. That’s baseball, especially for a 21-year-old kid getting his first taste of the majors.

But I’d much rather watch a talented young player develop than watch the Yankees stubbornly force something that clearly wasn’t working simply because admitting it would mean admitting they were wrong.

And Friday night had something else we haven’t seen enough from this club:

A True Team Fight.

They were down to their final out. They could have folded. Instead, they scratched together two runs in the ninth and finished the job in the 10th.

But again, it doesn’t erase the offensive problems. It doesn’t suddenly make this lineup dangerous. But it made Yankee baseball fun. And after everything we’ve watched this season, I’ll take that.

George Lombard Jr. hasn’t magically fixed the New York Yankees. But somehow, with him standing at shortstop, the whole damn thing feels a little lighter.

Less stressful. More energetic. More interesting. Maybe even a little hopeful.

Now somebody please start scoring some freaking runs.

DON'T LAUGH. MICKEY MONIAK ACTUALLY MAKES SENSE

Brian Cashman has developed an odd little hobby over the past few years: collecting former Colorado Rockies. DJ LeMahieu worked... until he didn't. Adam Ottavino had his moments. Ryan McMahon and Jake Bird are already in the fold, and Angel Chivilli joined the pipeline. So if Mickey Moniak is next, don't act surprised.

Actually, it might be one of the smarter under-the-radar moves the Yankees could make.

No, Moniak isn't Juan Soto. He's not the blockbuster name that'll dominate SportsCenter for a week. What he is, though, is a 28-year-old left-handed hitter who's finally looking like a legitimate major leaguer. Through 71 games, he's slashing .279/.322/.561 with 17 home runs and an OPS north of .880. That's not Coors Field smoke and mirrors either. The bat speed is real, the power is legitimate, and he's showing the kind of athleticism the Yankees' lineup has desperately lacked.

Here's the best part: he won't cost a king's ransom.

The Yankees don't need another headline. They need players who can actually help them win baseball games. Moniak can play all three outfield spots, runs well enough, hits from the left side, and remains under team control through next season. Those are exactly the types of players smart organizations target instead of chasing the biggest name available.

Of course, there's risk. Moniak spent years looking like another No. 1 overall pick who simply wasn't good enough. But baseball careers aren't always linear, and sometimes players figure it out later than expected.

If Colorado is willing to move him, Cashman should absolutely make the call.

Not every trade has to be flashy. Sometimes the best deadline addition is the one nobody sees coming. And if the Yankees are serious about adding athleticism and left-handed pop without emptying the farm system, Mickey Moniak checks more boxes than most fans probably realize.

DOOFUS IN CHARGE

 At what point do the Yankees stop making excuses for Aaron Boone?

Tonight's 6-4 loss to the Rays wasn't just another frustrating defeat. It was another masterclass in questionable managerial decisions that continue to cost this team games. The Yankees struck out 17 times putting in wrong players, Will Warren imploded in the fourth inning, and Boone somehow found another way to make fans shake their heads. He just didn't pull him fast enough. The story of this guy's life.

Let's start with the move that made absolutely no sense.

Ryan McMahon was 1-for-1 at the plate. He had already produced in the game and looked comfortable. So, what does Boone do? He pinch-hits Anthony Volpe.

Why? Well, don't forget, I told you it was going to happen this morning when I wrote CABALLERO WINS BIG & BOONE WILL PUT VOLPE BACK IN THE LINEUP TODAY. The freaking dunce couldn't help himself and I knew it would happen.

The explanation is that Boone wanted the "better matchup" against the current pitcher and wanted Volpe batting as the tying run. That's baseball logic on paper. But baseball isn't played on paper.  It's played with gut. I guess Boone has stomach cancer cause he never uses his gut... OR his head for that matter.

Volpe has struggled for much of the season. McMahon had already delivered a hit. In a game where every baserunner mattered, Boone willingly removed the player who had actually produced in favor of one who has consistently struggled to come through offensively.

Sometimes managers outsmart themselves. Many times Boone doesn't think. This felt like one of those moments.

If you're constantly looking for the perfect matchup while ignoring who's actually producing that night, you're managing the spreadsheet instead of the baseball game. Fans aren't asking for complicated analytics. They're asking for common sense.

Then there was Boone's lineup construction.

Paul Goldschmidt entered the game in an ugly 0-for-30 slump, yet Boone continued to bat him in the order. The result? An 0-for-4 night with four strikeouts and multiple missed opportunities with runners on base. At some point, loyalty has to give way to accountability.

The fourth inning was another example of Boone reacting far too late.

Will Warren surrendered a game-tying double before allowing back-to-back home runs to Hunter Feduccia and Yandy Díaz. The game flipped in a matter of minutes, and once again Boone seemed content to watch the damage pile up before making a move. Don't worry though, he was blowing really good bubbles.

This isn't an isolated incident by the way. It's become a pattern.

Poor bullpen timing. Questionable lineup decisions. An obsession with favorable matchups that often ignores who's actually playing well in the moment. The Yankees had another opportunity to win a game they were capable of winning. Instead, they struck out 17 times, watched their starter unravel, and made another late-game substitution that left fans wondering what the manager was thinking.

If the Yankees are serious about competing for a championship, they have to stop pretending these decisions don't matter. Enough with the excuses. Enough with defending every questionable move as "playing the percentages."

Results matter. Winning matters. Accountability absolutely matters.

Right now, the Yankees aren't just being outplayed by their opponents—they're being outmanaged. If this team continues down this path, the front office has to ask the difficult question: Is Aaron Boone still the right manager for this team? I know the answer. He is not.

Because from where many frustrated fans are sitting, the answer is becoming more obvious with every loss. We are sick of this.

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

THE WELLS EXPERIMENT NEEDS TO END

There is a particular kind of agony unique to New York Yankees fandom: watching a player the organization anointed as a cornerstone quietly dismantle your faith in them, at-bat by excruciating at-bat, while the rest of the league politely pretends not to notice. Austin Wells is providing that agony in 2026, and he's doing it with uncommon efficiency.

It started ugly. Through his first eight games of the season, Wells was 4-for-24 — a .167 AVG with zero extra-base hits and zero RBIs. Not a single double. Not a single home run. Just four lonely singles rattling around in a stat line that looked like something an intern invented as a placeholder. For a catcher who slugged 21 home runs and drove in 71 runs just last season, this was not a slow start. This was a full organizational crisis dressed up in pinstripes. All the fans saw it. The front office pretends it's not happening.

Things have not improved. By the time Wells had logged 21 games, he was sitting at a .164 batting average and a .536 OPS — numbers that, to be clear, are not acceptable from your starting shortstop in Triple-A, let alone your everyday catcher in the Bronx. Among Yankees hitters with at least 40 at-bats, only the equally beleaguered Ryan McMahon posted a worse line. That's the company Wells was keeping: the guy who looks like he's never seen a major-league slider before.

As of this writing, he's "rallied" to a season batting average of .183. Wow. Remember when batting .240 was lousy?   Opposing hurlers have discovered that breaking balls are essentially kryptonite — Wells is hitting .125 against them this season, a dramatic drop from his .221 mark in 2025. Left-handed pitchers have been particularly ruthless: he's batting .125 against their four-seamers and whiffing at a 40% clip against their sliders. Last year he hit .310 against left-handed four-seamers. This year, .125. You could watch that number drop-in real time and still not fully believe it. You know I hate nerdy stats, but this is horrendous, folks.

The logic is simple, if brutal: if you know a hitter can destroy a fastball, you don't throw him fastballs. You throw him junk. And in 2026, "junk" has been doing to Wells what the 1927 Yankees did to opposing rotations.

MLB insider Joel Sherman, a man not given to fits of panic, admitted he is "losing faith" in Wells at the plate. He recalled the promise of Wells' early career — crisp swing decisions, hard contact — and noted that those qualities feel like they've "backed up a little bit." Sherman said what many are now thinking out loud: does Wells become a player you pinch hit for in the late innings? Do we trade this loser? That's not a question anyone in the organization wanted to be asking about their starting catcher in mid-May, but yet here we are. 

What makes all of this sting is the context surrounding it. Aaron Judge is slashing .268 with 16 home runs and a 1.057 OPS. Ben Rice — the backup turned fan favorite — is somehow batting .303 with 13 homers and a jaw-dropping 1.214 OPS. The Yankees, in spite of Wells, have been a dangerous offensive club when the big bats get going. But the catcher spot has been a sinkhole, and anyone who watches this team knows it.

The calls for a catcher shake-up are growing louder. Backup J.C. Escarra has been floated as a viable alternative — and perhaps most damning, it's becoming increasingly difficult to argue against giving him the job. Minnesota's Ryan Jeffers, batting .299 with a .899 OPS, has been mentioned as a potential trade target. Wells has three more years of team control on his contract, which means the Yankees own this problem for the foreseeable future unless they do something about it.

And try to make an argument that he's a good defensive catcher, and I don't really know how you can. Once known as a great defensive framer, does that really matter anymore now that the MLB uses ABS. It's kind of like AI taking over the graphics department at your company... you're no longer relevant. Being a catcher for the Dominican Republic and hitting a homer for them in the World Baseball Classic just a few months ago does not make you a complete player. Your time has passed Austin.

For us Yankees fans watching the standings and the calendar simultaneously, patience is a luxury that looks more expensive by the day. Austin Wells was supposed to be an answer. Right now, he's a question nobody in the Bronx knows how to solve.

Time to cut this bum loose.

WHY WERE YANKEE SCOUTS COZYING UP TO VOLPE TO CLOSELY?

Something feels a miss to me. 

Look, Anthony Volpe’s shoulder has officially become the Yankees’ favorite bedtime story. Every time he looks lost at the plate or boots another routine play, somebody inside the organization whispers “well, maybe the shoulder…” like fans haven’t been watching this disaster unfold for years.

But Aaron Boone accidentally destroyed that excuse himself. Boone admitted today Volpe had “zero issues” with the shoulder during the final stretch of rehab. Zero. None. So enough already. The shoulder didn’t make Anthony Volpe a bad hitter. The shoulder didn’t make him overrated defensively. And the shoulder certainly didn’t force the Yankees to keep pretending he’s a cornerstone player when he keeps performing like a replacement-level stopgap.

The real issue feels much uglier. Anthony Volpe just is not a good baseball player.

And the people responsible for pushing this kid into untouchable status deserve to be called out directly. it is my opinion that Matt Hyde should be under serious scrutiny for this scouting miss. Yes, Hyde gets praise for finding later-round gems like Ben Rice and Cam Schlittler. Great. Nobody’s denying that. But when it comes to Volpe, Hyde sold the Yankees a fantasy.

Matt Hyde

And honestly, the details surrounding this whole thing are bizarre.  We did alittle digging. Volpe himself talked openly about the “bond” Hyde and the late Kelly Rodman formed with the Volpe parents. Not professional respect. Not admiration for the player. A “bond.” Damon Oppenheimer reportedly spent significant time around Volpe’s parents at tournaments and showcases too.

Why? Seriously, why? This is Major League Baseball scouting, not family counseling.

Scouts are supposed to evaluate talent objectively. Front office executives are supposed to make cold baseball decisions. Instead, this whole thing sounds like Yankees officials emotionally attached themselves to a local kid and completely lost perspective. Somewhere along the way, they stopped acting like evaluators and started acting like proud family friends rooting for the kid to succeed no matter what the evidence showed.

That’s dangerous. Because once emotion enters the equation, honesty leaves the room. And that’s exactly what happened here with Anthony Volpe.

The Yankees became so invested in the “New Jersey kid living the dream” narrative that they ignored the glaring flaws right in front of them. The weak contact. The inconsistent glove. The inability to adjust. The complete lack of impact for long stretches. They fell in love with the story instead of the player.

Now the organization is trapped protecting its own ego.  Volpe returned against Baltimore today and immediately went 0-for-3 with an error. That wasn’t some shocking off day. That was the same Anthony Volpe Yankees fans have watched for years now — overmatched at the plate and unreliable in the field despite endless hype telling everyone otherwise.

Yet the Yankees still hand him the shortstop job automatically, even with better options available. Why is Ryan McMahon not out there even though he is stronger defensively? Why is Max Schuemann, who is actually hitting .273, treated like an afterthought while Volpe gets endless chances to fail upward? Boone pushes this kid out there constantly. Why?

Because admitting Volpe is a bust means admitting Hyde and Oppenheimer badly misjudged him, and the Yankees organization hates admitting failure more than it hates losing games.

So look, the shoulder excuse? That's dead now. Boone killed it himself. So, what’s left? Just the uncomfortable truth nobody inside Yankee Stadium wants to say publicly:

Anthony Volpe isn’t struggling because he was hurt. He’s struggling because the Yankees overrated him from the very beginning, and the scouts who got emotionally invested in him helped create one of the most overprotected disappointments this franchise has seen in years.

BOONE'S VOLPE OBSESSION IS SHOWING & IT'S GETTING OLD

Anthony Volpe's minor league exile lasted all of seven days. With Jose Caballero diagnosed with a broken right middle finger, the Yankees recalled their struggling shortstop from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre ahead of Tuesday's game in Baltimore — right in the middle of a four-game skid, because apparently that's the perfect moment to bring back a guy who was rehabbing and sucking at it. 

Aaron Boone's justification? A masterclass in saying nothing with a lot of words: Volpe got "a number of at-bats," "a lot of reps," "a lot of playing time" — basically a "more than a full spring training." Cool. So, Volpe took some grounders and saw some pitching in Triple-A for a week. That's the bar now.

Here's what Boone conveniently glossed over: the error at shortstop. Getting picked off first base. Jogging around second while watching a Spencer Jones fly ball like a tourist while not running hard to get to home plate. These aren't mechanical slumps you fix with a week of reps — they're baseball IQ problems, and those don't get ironed out between bus rides in the minors.

And here's the thing — the Yankees don't even need Volpe to replace Caballero. Ryan McMahon or Max Schuemann is the better defensive option and can slide into short. Amed Rosario can cover third while McMahon shifts to short. The pieces are already there. But Boone didn't go that route, because this was never really about filling a roster hole.

This is about Aaron Boone's bizarre, inarticulate commitment to Anthony Volpe — a crusade to convince a skeptical fanbase that this kid belongs, even as Boone himself can't explain why with any coherence beyond word salad about "reps" and "playing time."

"I would expect Anthony to play a lot," Boone declared. Why? Why, Aaron? That question will remain unanswered, because a real answer doesn't exist.

Caballero reportedly tried to push through it and play. He wanted to be out there for the Yankees, after all, he earned his spot.  But Boone shut that down — "We just didn't want to risk him doing something more to it where it becomes something he had to deal with all summer." Fine, protecting a player is reasonable. But if you're going to be that cautious and deliberate about one roster decision, maybe apply that same energy to figuring out why you're so hellbent on running Volpe out there every day when better options are sitting right in your own dugout.

I am so over this manager and Volpe is a waste.  Filling this hole at short and Volpe going 0-4 day in and day out is just as bad as Caballero playing hurt. The difference? Jose could probably still produce hurt. Volpe? He's just past his time.

THE ONLY DECISION SHOULD BE TO KEEP CABALLERO AT SHORTSTOP

Everyone keeps parroting that the New York Yankees have this “very hard decision” to make on Anthony Volpe. Let’s stop pretending. The decision isn’t hard—it’s just awkward to admit out loud for the Yankees front offce.

Because the truth? The Yankees already know what they’re going to do. They’re bringing Volpe back, plugging him in as the starting shortstop, and hoping—really hoping—that this time the bat shows up, the glove behaves, and the growing pains finally come with a payoff. It’s less a plan and more a wish written on a folded lottery ticket.

And that’s exactly the problem.

This isn’t about disliking Volpe. He was drafted by the Yankees, he wears the uniform, and if you’re a fan, you want him to succeed. That part is easy. But liking the story and believing the production are two different things. The Yankees—and their fans—keep getting sold on effort. You’ve heard it a million times: “He works so hard.” Great. So does everyone. The real follow-up question never gets asked though: what are the results?

Because working hard while spinning your wheels isn’t progress—it’s cardio.

Volpe hasn’t shown enough results. Not in the majors, and not convincingly on this rehab assignment either. Yes, there’s a .280 average floating around, but it’s built on roughly 40 at-bats—barely a sample, more like a suggestion. Zoom in a little closer and it’s not exactly dominant: hitless in a 13–3 win for Somerset the other night, a hit with another strikeout in an 11–0 game for Somerset last night. This is Double-A. He’s supposed to look like a finished product visiting a lower level, not a guy still searching for the instruction manual.

Meanwhile, the major league roster didn’t exactly fall apart without him. In fact, it found a spark. José Caballero has been one of the hottest players on the team since mid-April—hitting, running, creating energy, actually impacting games. That matters. Baseball has always been brutally simple: play the guy who’s producing. Ride the hot hand until it cools, not until a pre-written script says otherwise.

And yet, here we are, bracing for the Yankees to force the narrative again. Because that’s what this feels like: an organization trying to prove it was right about Volpe instead of honestly evaluating what’s in front of them. Fans see it. You can’t sell potential forever without delivering reality.

Here’s the part people don’t want to say out loud: maybe he just hasn’t earned it. And that’s okay. Not every prospect becomes the guy. It doesn’t make him a villain—it just makes him… not the answer.

So why rush him back? He wasn’t fully developed the first time. Keeping him in the minors isn’t punishment—it’s common sense. Let him actually build something resembling consistency. And if an opportunity comes along? Explore it. Trade him for a utility piece, bullpen depth, whatever improves the roster. Holding on just because of draft status is how you stay stuck.

Also, timing matters. His rehab assignment is ending, which forces a decision: bring him up or keep him down. For me, it’s simple—keep him down. Especially when there are already alternatives on the roster, even beyond Caballero, like Ryan McMahon. Why bend over backwards to reinsert someone who hasn’t proven it?

Baseball history is full of reminders that jobs aren’t guaranteed. Wally Pipp sat out with a headache and Lou Gehrig took over for good. Opportunity doesn’t care about prospect rankings or front office narratives.

And here’s one more uncomfortable thought: what if Caballero is just… better? That’s a perfectly reasonable conclusion based on what’s happening on the field.

If Volpe eventually proves he can handle New York—great, try him again. If he can’t, that’s information too. Maybe he fits somewhere else, in a lower-pressure environment, even as a depth piece behind someone like Matt McLain, the second baseman on the Reds.

But forcing him back into the lineup now? That’s not development. That’s denial.

And the worst part? It risks stalling the progress the team is actually making. When something’s working, you don’t “fix” it—you let it run.

And for the record... Wally Pipp? He ended up in Cincinnati after Gehrig took his job. 1926. Baseball's funny sometimes. 

'HERO' MCMAHON WITH A 2 HANDED SWING & GROUNDED!

It's a great thing when you fix your hitting mechanics, isn't it? Ryan McMahon was grounded, in his legs, his bottom half & top half worked together... and he swung with both hands.   Say Halleluiah, Say Amen.

And what does Aaron Boone have to say about all this? Strap in for another masterpiece of empty-calorie philosophy—something along the lines of: baseball is hard, adversity builds character, good players are good. "Put a good swing on it on a crazy night." Simpleton. Riveting stuff. Truly groundbreaking analysis. You’d get more insight from a fortune cookie.

That’s the issue. Boone talks like a motivational poster when the moment actually calls for awareness. This wasn’t some vague “trust the process” situation—this was real, tangible adjustment happening in real time, and he sounds like he’s narrating a rain delay.

Because the moment for Ryan McMahon? That was massive. Not symbolic—mechanical. The kind of thing that actually changes outcomes. His swing had been out of sync for weeks—top half flying open, lower half lagging behind, everything disconnected. And then last night? Something clicked. He worked to fix it.

This didn’t come out of nowhere either. McMahon was grinding in the cage for half the game before he even saw the field, then steps in after replacing Amed Rosario in the eighth with the New York Yankees barely holding a lead. That’s not a casual at-bat.

Meanwhile, Cam Schlittler was dealing—six-plus innings, one unearned run, carving through the first 11 hitters like it was a spring training scrimmage. The game had that flat, lifeless feel offensively after Ben Rice went deep earlier. By the eighth, it looked like another quiet, quick inning was coming.

Then Rice keeps it alive with a single—again—and suddenly the whole inning pivots. McMahon steps in, and instead of that disjointed mess we’ve been watching, the swing is finally synced. Lower half fires, hands stay back, barrel stays through the zone, 2 hands on the bat—and boom. That’s not luck. That’s correction.

And somehow, the broader conversation from Boone completely misses it.

This wasn’t “he battled” or “he stayed with it.” This was a hitter actively fixing a broken sequence and getting immediate payoff in a huge spot. That’s the story. Not Boone’s recycled sermon.

If McMahon sticks with that connection and doesn’t drift back into bad habits, this could be a turning point—not just a nice moment.

Big swing. Big adjustment.  Everything Boone somehow managed not to say properly.

Nice win!

NEW TRADE TARGET FOR THE YANKEES?

The Yankees keep talking like they’re one “savvy move” away, but at this point the only thing they’re close to is another awkward press conference explaining why everything went sideways again. This isn’t a good team—it’s a collection of patches held together by hope, excuses, and whatever Brian Cashman scribbled on a napkin last winter.

And speaking of Cashman—his recent moves have all the precision of a blindfolded dart thrower. The Ryan McMahon experiment? That’s not a roster upgrade, that’s performance art. Watching McMahon hit right now feels like watching someone try to swat a mosquito with a pool noodle—lots of effort, zero results. The guy fell off a cliff, and honestly, so did his confidence.

Which brings us to a rare concept in the Bronx these days: a move that actually makes some sense.

Enter Willi Castro.

Now, no—this isn’t a blockbuster. He’s not walking through that door to save the season. But unlike some of Cashman’s recent “masterpieces,” Castro has a pulse and a purpose. The Colorado Rockies will likely be out of contention by the time the weather gets interesting, which makes Castro the exact kind of low-cost, high-utility piece they’ll flip for a lottery ticket prospect.

And here’s the key difference: Castro actually does things. He plays everywhere—second, short, third, first, all three outfield spots—basically wherever the Yankees have a problem (again… everywhere). He’s hitting .214, which isn’t exactly headline material, but compared to McMahon’s current “abstract art” approach at the plate, it’s practically Tony Gwynn.

Dig a little deeper and Castro’s numbers suggest he’s at least been functional, even a bit lucky, while McMahon’s stat line reads like a cry for help. Castro also holds his own against lefties, which for a bench piece is more than acceptable—it’s useful, which is a foreign concept for parts of this roster.

Let’s be clear: trading for Castro doesn’t fix the Yankees. It doesn’t turn them into contenders. It doesn’t even guarantee competence. But it does accomplish something revolutionary for this front office—it makes sense.

And right now, that alone would be a massive upgrade over whatever Brian Cashman has been cooking up lately.

YANKEES SWEPT BY THE RAYS & IT'S BOONE'S FAULT AGAIN

Anyone with an actual brain—and more importantly, anyone who understands the feel of a baseball game—could see this coming from a mile away. This Yankees start? Not surprising. Not shocking. Not even mildly confusing. It’s the same movie we watched in 2025, just with a slightly less shiny bullpen and a bench.

Sure, the Yanks came out hot. Great. Hang the banner. But some of us live in reality, not in whatever motivational poster clubhouse speeches are printed on. Because here’s the truth nobody wanted to say out loud except us here at Bleeding Yankee Blue: the moment Aaron Boone has to actually manage—not just smile and nod while things are going well—the whole thing starts to wobble. Are you reading this Jon Vankin from Newsweek? I would love for you to pick-up my story this week... because I've been preaching pure gospel about how bad Boone is and how it was going to go exactly how it has for the Yankees and this horrific manager. 

By the way, this is not a hot take. That’s a pattern when it comes to Boone sucking.

Any manager can look competent when the lineup is raking and the pitching is cruising. That’s not managing—that’s coasting. The real job starts when things go sideways. That’s when you need instinct, guts, and the ability to read the moment. And that’s exactly where Boone falls apart. Every. Single. Time.

Today was the latest masterclass in what not to do.

Down 5–4. Game on the line. Avoid the sweep against the Rays. Season momentum hanging by a thread. And who does Boone roll with? Ryan McMahon—while Paul Goldschmidt, a legitimate bat, sits there as the last option on the bench. First pitch to McMahon? Groundout. Game over. Rays crowd laughs. Boone's decision indefensible.

And no, this isn’t a one-off. This is Boone’s greatest hits album at this point.

April 5: high-leverage moment, Boone hands the keys to JC Escarra. Three pitches later—strikeout. Rally DOA.

April 8: Ryan McMahon, hitting a cool .077, keeps getting run like he’s being honored for lifetime service. Boone’s explanation? McMahon “had been on base four times in the previous three games.” That’s not analysis—that’s a cry for help.

April 10: Randal Grichuk gets the nod against a righty while Trent Grisham, a lefty, collects dust on the bench. Four pitches later—strikeout. Predictable doesn’t even begin to cover it.

And then today—back to McMahon again. Against a pitcher who eats hitters like him alive. Meanwhile, Goldschmidt watches. Again.

These aren’t tough managerial calls. That’s the scary part. These are the easy ones. The obvious ones. And Boone still manages to get them wrong. Because Boone doesn’t manage to win—he manages to avoid hurting feelings. He doesn’t feel the game, he tiptoes around it. And baseball punishes that kind of hesitation every time.

At some point, you have to stop calling it a slump or bad luck. This is who he is. A manager who cannot make the hard decisions, and honestly, sometimes can’t even make the easy ones. And this is exactly why this team isn’t going anywhere meaningful.

You think this holds up in October? In a short series where every move is magnified? We’ve already seen that movie too. 2 horrible moments come to mind.

2024 World Series Game 1—Boone trots out Nestor Cortes, fresh off an injury and over a month without pitching, to face the top of the Dodgers lineup. Predictably, it blows up immediately.

2025 Wild Card Game—he pulls Max Fried after 6.1 shutout innings on just 102 pitches. The bullpen comes in, gives up a backbreaking homer, and the game flips. Season altered because of one unnecessary decision.

And yet, here we are. Same mistakes. Same patterns. Same excuses. Same stupid manager.  Fans chanting “Fire Boone” aren’t overreacting—we’re exhausted. This isn’t impatience. It’s recognition.

Brian Cashman keeps building flawed rosters, Aaron Boone keeps mismanaging the pieces he does have, and Hal Steinbrenner keeps watching it all unfold like it’s acceptable.

It’s not.

This franchise used to demand excellence. Now it tolerates mediocrity dressed up as “process.”

And that’s the most disappointing part of all—because the problem isn’t just Boone anymore. It’s the fact that the people above him keep letting this happen.

Horrible sweep. Embarrassing.

AT LEAST JOSE CABALLERO IS TRYING TO WIN!

The Yankees are basically leaving José Caballero out there to fend for himself because they can't wait for Volpe to fix everything—but to Jose's credit, he and Max Fried showed up ready to scrap like it actually mattered yesterday. They were fighting for a win! Fried gave them eight strong innings, three runs, six punchouts—an outing you’d gladly take against a legit Rays squad. Problem is, he was pitching with minimal backup.

Yeah, Austin Wells went yard, but let’s not throw a parade for a solo shot that barely moved the needle. The real backbone of this game was Caballero, who decided to ignore his .116 average like it was a bad Yelp review. Down late, he came through with three RBIs, including that clutch double down the left field line after a circus sequence that started with a high chopper turning into chaos. That’s situational hitting—remember that?

And just for good measure, Caballero doubled down (literally) in the 10th with another two-out RBI. That’s not luck—that’s timing finally syncing up. It’s April. Weird things happen. Cold bats wake up, hot takes cool down. A week ago, this team was 7-1 and fans were getting fitted for October suits. Now at 8-6, suddenly it’s existential dread. Baseball, man.

But let’s talk about the real headache: the bullpen folding late and, of course, Aaron Boone doing his usual lineup loyalty act. Running Ryan McMahon out there again like he’s due by divine intervention. Boone’s defense? It’s early, McMahon is “getting on base,” having “quality at-bats.” Translation: we’re grading on a curve and hoping no one notices the zeroes stacking up.

Let’s call it what it is—Boone manages like he’s afraid of hurting feelings instead of losing games. He’s rooting for a redemption arc instead of managing a roster. This isn’t a support group, it’s a baseball team. “Working through it” doesn’t mean much when you’re penciling in automatic outs. Those add up. Scoreboard proves it.

And here’s the bigger issue: this isn’t just a Boone problem—it’s a roster problem. They ran it back from 2025 like that team accomplished something. Spoiler: it didn’t. Same flaws, same blind spots, same results looming.

This isn’t a contender—it’s a rerun whether you want to believe it or not. And not even a good one. Yankee fans deserve better than paying premium prices to watch déjà vu in pinstripes. Save your money when they get back home.

#FireCashman #FireBoone

BAD BOONE DECISIONS CONTINUE TO LOSE GAMES FOR THE YANKEES

Friday night’s 5–3 loss to the Rays wasn’t just another notch in a three-game skid—it was another reminder that the biggest problem in the Bronx isn’t always on the field.

Yes, Luis Gil had a rocky debut. Fine. That happens. But the defining moments of this game didn’t come from the mound—they came from the dugout, where Aaron Boone continues to manage like he’s guessing on a multiple-choice test and proudly circling “C” every time.

This is becoming a pattern, not a fluke.

April 5: high-leverage situation, Boone rolls with JC Escarra—three pitches later, strikeout, rally dead on arrival.

April 8: a .077-hitting Ryan McMahon keeps getting chances like he’s on a lifetime achievement tour. Boone’s justification was dumb. He actually said McMahon “had been on base four times in the previous three games.” That’s the bar now? Four times in three games? For a hitter batting .077?

And then Friday—somehow worse.

Down 5–3 in the ninth, the Yankees finally wake up. Giancarlo Stanton and Amed Rosario lead off with singles. Jazz Chisholm Jr. does his job, chaos ensues, runners move—suddenly, one swing ties the game.

This is where a real manager plays chess. But we don't have a real manager. We have Boone who plays rock-paper-scissors… blindfolded.

With a righty reliever on the mound, Boone sticks with Randal Grichuk while Trent Grisham—a lefty—sits on the bench watching the season pass him by. Predictably, Grichuk strikes out on four pitches.

And Boone’s explanation? Brace yourself:
“I like the righties against Baker. Had it been two outs, I might have gone Grisham.”

That’s not just a bad answer—it’s barely an answer. It’s the kind of logic that makes you wonder if lineup decisions are being made with a dartboard.

Then came the postgame philosophy lecture, where Boone said:

“Up until the last game of the homestand, we’ve been walking a ton, giving ourselves an opportunity, just got to get some guys clicking and obviously get that big hit... We’re not hitting a ton of longballs right now, but for the most part, approach-wise, I’ve been good…it’s going to happen sometimes from the offense. They’ll get it rolling and some people will pay the price.”

That all sounds nice—if you ignore reality.

Because here’s what Boone refuses to acknowledge: when you do get those opportunities, you can’t hand them to the worst possible matchup and hope for a miracle. Walks don’t win games by themselves. “Approach” doesn’t drive in runs. The right hitter in the right moment does.

Instead, Boone keeps rolling out scenarios where JC Escarra, Ryan McMahon, or a cold righty in a righty-righty matchup becomes the guy. Not because it’s smart—but because, apparently, it “feels” right.

That’s not strategy. That’s gambling. It's a guess. You need to give your team an opportunity. He's not.

Managing this team right now is like handing someone the keys to a Porsche and watching them say, “I like my chances,” right before driving it straight into a wall. And then afterward, they explain the crash by talking about how smoothly the steering wheel felt.

At some point, you stop calling it bad luck. You call it what it is: bad leadership.

The New York Yankees aren’t losing because they lack talent. They’re losing because, in the biggest moments, the decision-making collapses because of Aaron Boone. And until that changes, October isn’t the goal—it’s a fantasy. Mark my words, even if we make it to the playoffs, Boone doesn't have the brain capacity to guide us in a short series.  Trust me.

You cannot win a championship when your manager keeps explaining losses instead of preventing them. That's the bottom line.