A GIL-VANIZED BULLPEN: YANKEES RECALL LUIS GIL TO SAVE THE DAY

The Yankees need backup in a big way as they continue to work through their injury plague. So the next man up is Luis Gil. Now it is time to ask yourself if that makes you feel safer or uneasy.

Either answer would be valid because you wouldn't be wrong. Let's just hope it pays off. Gil is back. He completed a rehab assignment with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in a relief role. His recovery journey started in the bullpen where he allows two hits, recorded two strikeouts over three innings pitched. He did enough to give the Yankees confidence to call him back up to the majors and now we hope that trend continues back in the majors.

If there was ever a time to get back into the Yankees circle of trust, it is now. Gil started the season as a starter but was plagued with injuries and consistency. Now the Yankees have a short amount of time left int he regular season and need reinforcements now that Fernando Cruz and Ryan Weathers have hit the Injured List. The Yankees need all the help they can get to make a final postseason push as they try to keep their distance from the Red Sox in the Wild Card and hopefully take the division back from the Rays.

Now the Yankees make a west coast swing with the Angels waiting starting today. After that, the Yankees will travel to take on the San Diego Padres. Now if Gil can give the Yankees some length without giving up runs the Yankees will be in a much better spot and can walk away feeling better about their continued injury woes. But that could be a big IF. I really want to see Gil come out of this with some renewed confidence and consistency to help us get over the hump. As the regular season winds down, the Yankees still have time to climb the standings but every game matters. Every appearance from Gil (and everyone else) matters.

So it's reunion time. Now we get to see what Gil can do when the pressure is on. It's time to contribute and save the bullpen as we all hold our breath and watch. Welcome back Gil, let's finish the regular season off strong.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

YANKS LOSE & WEATHERS OUT!

The Yankees are banking on pitching to carry them deep into October. Well, today gave us another reason to start sweating.

Ryan Weathers left the Yankees’ 4-3 loss to Toronto with left forearm discomfort and is headed for imaging. Those are three words nobody wants to hear about a pitcher in late August.

Weathers wasn't particularly sharp before leaving—72 pitches for just 10 outs—but that's almost irrelevant now. The bigger issue is whether the Yankees just lost an important piece of their rotation at the absolute worst possible time.

And there’s reason for concern. Weathers has dealt with forearm and lat problems before, making only eight starts last season, and he also missed significant time with a finger injury in 2024. Now, after pushing past his previous career high in innings, the forearm starts barking.

Wonderful.

The Yankees need healthy arms for September and October, not another mystery injury followed by an MRI and crossed fingers.

Hopefully this is nothing.

Because if it isn't, the Yankees' postseason pitching plan just got a whole lot thinner.

CASHMAN’S CASINO: WEATHERS IS THE LATEST 'HOPE' DICE ROLL

Call me a hater. I’ll survive.

Ryan Weathers is pitching out of his shoes right now. Good for him. He changed his pitch mix, dramatically cut back on the four-seamer that got hammered in the past, leaned more on his sinker and secondary stuff, and suddenly looks like a different pitcher.

Fantastic.

But Ryan Weathers is also the perfect poster child for how Brian Cashman builds the Yankees these days. Roll the dice and hope. That's it. That's the strategy.

Instead of aggressively building a roster designed to overpower the competition, Cashman seems obsessed with finding the next reclamation project, the next injured player, the next underachiever with "upside" who the Yankees believe they can fix.

And when one of those lottery tickets hits? Suddenly we're supposed to applaud the genius. Weathers came to the Yankees with a career ERA around 5.00, a losing record and an injury history that included finger, flexor and lat problems. That's not me being a hater. That's the résumé.

Now he's pitching great. His 7 1/3 innings of one-run baseball against Toronto were outstanding. He's changed his approach and deserves credit for it.

But let's not rewrite history because the roulette ball landed on black a few times. Cashman rolled the dice. Weathers is currently paying off.

There's a difference. And that's what bothers me about these Yankees. Too often it feels like Cashman would rather prove he can outsmart baseball than simply go get the best players available and build the strongest roster possible.

Maybe Weathers becomes something. Maybe the injured guy stays healthy. Maybe the struggling veteran rebounds. Maybe Matt Blake fixes another pitcher. Maybe the bargain-bin acquisition turns into a postseason hero.

Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.

At some point, "hope" stopped being the backup plan and became the Yankees' actual business model. That's not how the New York Yankees should operate. This is supposed to be an organization with enormous resources trying to win championships, not Brian Cashman standing at a craps table shaking the dice yelling, Come on, baby, daddy needs a No. 3 starter!

And yes, sometimes it works. Right now, Ryan Weathers is working.

Am I happy for the kid? Sure. Am I a fan? Nope. Would I buy a ticket specifically because Ryan Weathers is pitching? Absolutely not. Not that exciting.

Because I've seen hot stretches before, and Weathers' career tells us this level of dominance is anything but normal. Maybe the pitch-mix adjustment changed everything. Maybe he really has figured it out.

Or maybe we're watching a guy on one hell of a heater. Keep dealing, Ryan. Prove me wrong. But don't use Ryan Weathers' sudden success as proof that Cashman had some brilliant master plan. He rolled the dice.

This time, maybe he hit his number. The problem is the New York Yankees shouldn't have to keep visiting the casino to build a championship team.

RODÓN'S BACK, BUT WHY ARE THE YANKS MESSING WITH WARREN?

Carlos Rodón is back, and that should be great news. Instead, because these are the Yankees, his return immediately turns into another episode of Who Are We Screwing With This Week?

Rodón will return Tuesday against Baltimore, and the immediate rotation squeeze appears to involve Will Warren and Ryan Weathers.

If Warren is ultimately the guy pushed aside, I don't like it.

And yes, I understand Weathers has been terrific lately. In fact, he's been downright dominant — a 0.85 ERA over his last five starts. But if I'm making the decision, I'm keeping Warren in the rotation and finding another role for Weathers.

Why?

Because at some point the Yankees need to stop jerking Will Warren around. Remember the trade deadline. Warren's name was floating around in discussions involving the Padres. Reports at the time identified him as one of the pitchers who could potentially be included in a significant package. Now Rodón returns and suddenly Warren's rotation spot is the one we're talking about again?

Maybe that's coincidence.

I don't think it is.

To me, it looks like the Yankees have soured on Warren to some degree. Why else are you willing to discuss trading the guy, then potentially make him the odd man out when the rotation gets crowded? If Warren is supposedly an important piece of your future, start treating him like one.

This is what drives me crazy about the Yankees. They develop players, hype players, defend players and then seemingly change their opinion overnight. There's no consistency. There's always some roster shuffle, some mysterious organizational preference or some Aaron Boone explanation that somehow leaves you knowing less than you did before he opened his mouth.

But here's the other side of this.

Rodón coming back could be HUGE.

Imagine walking into a postseason series and seeing Max Fried, Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón lined up.

Now THAT gets my attention. Cole is back pitching well after Tommy John surgery, Fried is Fried, and a healthy Rodón gives the Yankees three legitimate weapons at the top of that rotation. That trio could be absolute gold in October.

There is just one tiny problem. THE YANKEES STILL HAVE TO SCORE FREAKING RUNS.

That's the insanity of this team. We spend all this time debating Warren versus Weathers, celebrating Rodón's return and dreaming about Cole-Fried-Rodón in October while watching an offense that too often makes two runs feel like an offensive explosion.

You can have Koufax, Gibson and Seaver out there and it doesn't matter if your lineup can't push anybody across home plate.

So welcome back, Carlos. I'm thrilled you're here. Now somebody please tell the Yankees hitters.

Because a rotation of Fried, Cole and Rodón could win a championship.

They just can't win every game 1-0.

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.

AARON BOONE IS CRACKING... AND IT SHOWS

Sure, the Yankees have a hitting problem, but they have a hitting problem because they have a horrendous leadership problem. IS ANYONE LISTENING TO ME? The manager has to go. it starts at the top.

The New York Yankees just lost another extra-inning game to the Chicago White Sox. Read that sentence again. The White Sox. Again.

This isn't about one bad afternoon. This isn't about one pitcher missing the strike zone. This isn't about one hitter failing to deliver with runners in scoring position. This is what organizational failure looks like. And it starts at the very top.

Brian Cashman built this roster. Hal Steinbrenner continues to endorse the direction and be MIA. Aaron Boone continues to manage as if the Yankees are one inspirational speech away from turning into the 1998 Yankees. Enough already.

Boone's postgame press visit tonight was the latest reminder that this franchise has completely lost its identity. When Fernando Cruz walked in the winning run on four pitches in the 11th inning, Boone wasn't interested in discussing what happened. He wasn't interested in accountability.

Instead, he barked at reporters.

"We've got to score a freaking point."

Really? This isn't football. It's called a run.

But seriously, that's your message? Of course, the Yankees have to score. Anyone with a television figured that out by the third inning. But here's the part Boone either refuses to acknowledge or simply doesn't understand.

Leadership isn't about stating the obvious. Leadership is about accountability.

Yes, players swing the bats. Nobody is disputing that. The Yankees were a pathetic 4-for-31 with runners in scoring position over the last two games against Chicago and stranded 21 runners. That's embarrassing.

But when the same failures happen over and over and over again, the manager doesn't get to shrug his shoulders and blame execution. At some point, the manager owns the product. That's what being the manager of the New York Yankees is supposed to mean. Instead, Boone has become the master of excuse-making.

Someone's hurt. Somebody almost came through. The at-bats were competitive, but we gotta do better. The guys battled but we came up short.

How many years have Yankees fans heard the same script? The names change. The excuses don't, and Boone is still there... are you getting it yet? Maybe it's not the personnel, it's the dude riding the bus.

Meanwhile, Brian Cashman watches this slow-motion disaster unfold and somehow keeps convincing ownership that this is all just bad luck. Bad luck? The Yankees have spent years constructing a roster that is too one-dimensional, too injury-prone, too dependent on home runs, and too incapable of producing a simple base hit when it matters most.

That's not bad luck. That's bad construction.

The injuries to Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Giancarlo Stanton are real. Nobody denies that. But championship organizations don't completely collapse because three players go down.

They adapt. They develop. They respond. And the manager helps to navigate that.

The Yankees do none of those things. Instead, they roll out the same lineup, expect different results, and then act shocked when another game slips away.

Ryan Weathers did his job. The bullpen did its job for nearly the entire afternoon. Even Fernando Cruz had done quality work before running out of gas in the 11th.

The offense? Missing. Again. And Boone's answer is to yell at reporters? That tells you everything.

Managers who are confident don't explode over legitimate questions. Managers who know they have answers don't become defensive every time someone mentions the trade deadline.

When Boone was asked whether the Yankees needed reinforcements, he snapped.

"It doesn't matter."

Actually, Aaron, it matters a lot. Because if this roster is good enough—as you continue insisting—then you're admitting something else. You're admitting the manager isn't getting enough out of it.

Which is it? Is the roster flawed? Or is the leadership failing? You can't have it both ways.

The most frustrating part is that the Yankees continue operating as though mediocrity is acceptable as long as someone can explain it away during a postgame press meeting.

That's not the standard this franchise was built on. George Steinbrenner would have demanded answers. Today's Yankees demand patience. That's the real problem. The front office has become comfortable with failure. Aaron Boone is great at failing. And Yankees fans have become far too familiar with watching both happen in real time.

The bats absolutely deserve criticism. But without accountability from the dugout and competence from the front office, this cycle never ends. Boone cracked tonight... and that tells you all you need to know. Bottom line?

They need new leadership. Because if this week proved anything, it's that the biggest thing missing from the Yankees isn't offense.

It's urgency. Just watch that press meeting tonight with Boone... he was lost. Why? Well... when you can't handle a job... you freak.

Boone is freaking out. 

THE YANKEES HAVE A MAJOR LEADERSHIP PROBLEM

At some point, Yankees fans have to stop blaming bad luck.

This isn't a slump anymore. This isn't "baseball being baseball." This is the product of years of questionable decisions made by the same three people: the Yankees front office, Brian Cashman, and Aaron Boone.

They built this roster. They continue to defend it. They keep sending the same struggling players onto the field and expecting different results. That's not patience—it's organizational stubbornness bordering on malpractice.

The definition of insanity? Watching the Yankees do the same thing every night and expecting October to magically look different. 

Anthony Volpe: Four years in and still "developing".  Volpe has become the perfect symbol of everything wrong with the Yankees. The organization keeps telling everyone he's learning. Learning what?  This is no longer a rookie making understandable mistakes. Volpe is in his fourth season, and fans are still hearing about his "development." At some point, development either turns into production—or it becomes a red flag.

Right now, the warning lights are flashing. His physical tools have regressed. His sprint speed isn't what it once was, his arm strength has looked inconsistent, and it often shows on routine plays. Too many throws come with a double-clutch or rushed release because he doesn't appear to trust his arm. Those split-second hesitations turn outs into errors. Then there's the bat.

June was painful. A .239 average. A .310 slugging percentage. A .635 OPS. Zero home runs. Five RBIs. Seventeen strikeouts. He finished the month looking completely lost, collecting just one hit in his final 17 at-bats.

Pitchers know exactly how to attack him. Breaking balls off the plate continue to fool him, and he still hasn't established an offensive identity. One week he's trying to hit everything 420 feet. The next he's trying to slap singles the other way. The result? Neither approach works consistently.

Yet every night Boone writes Volpe's name into the lineup as if accountability is optional.

At what point does "he'll figure it out" become "he hasn't"?

Apparently, not in the Bronx.

Then there's Ryan Weathers. Another case of Yankees hype getting ahead of reality. The Yankees acted like they landed a difference-maker.

Social media celebrated. Fans were told to get excited. Then... reality showed up.

Ryan Weathers has struggled with consistency throughout the season, carrying an ERA north of four while surrendering far too many home runs. His biggest issue is straightforward: his four-seam fastball too often lives in the wrong part of the strike zone.

High-spin fastballs are supposed to play at the top of the zone. Weathers leaves them down. Major league hitters say thank you.

When those pitches leak inside to right-handed hitters, they don't miss. They elevate them into the seats. As games pile up, fatigue has only magnified the problem. His command fades, mistakes increase, and innings unravel in a hurry.

The Yankees sold optimism. Fans got inconsistency. Another questionable evaluation by a front office that seems far more interested in winning press conferences than winning baseball games. Yesterday's game was atrocious. 

Oh, and Austin Wells? This guy is a disaster.  Remember when the Yankees convinced everyone Austin Wells was the answer behind the plate? How's that working out?

Offensively, Wells has spent much of the season buried near the bottom among qualified catchers. Hard contact has disappeared. Extended slumps have become the norm instead of the exception. Meanwhile, J.C. Escarra and Ali Sánchez haven't exactly forced anyone to forget the position's problems. The catching position is all the fault of the Yankees front office.

This was supposed to be a strength. That's what they told us. Instead, it's become another glaring weakness.

Coming through the minor leagues, scouts believed Wells' bat would carry him while his defense might eventually force him away from catcher. Instead, the defense has become more acceptable than the offense. Which raises a larger question:

Who exactly is evaluating talent inside this organization? Because this isn't an isolated mistake anymore.

It's a pattern and it starts at the top. That's the part many people don't want to hear. I am happy to say it. Anthony Volpe didn't decide to keep batting himself in the lineup. Ryan Weathers didn't create the expectations around his arrival. Austin Wells didn't crown himself the long-term solution.

The Yankees did. Cashman assembled this roster. The front office sold these players as answers. Boone keeps running them out there every single night regardless of performance.

When players consistently struggle without consequences, that's not just on the players. That's a culture problem. The Yankees keep rewarding potential while ignoring production. They preach competition, yet there rarely seems to be any. Good organizations make difficult decisions. The Yankees make excuses.

And so, if the Yankees are serious about winning, difficult conversations have to happen immediately. Bench struggling players. Upgrade positions that clearly aren't working. Stop pretending every prospect is untouchable. Stop hoping tomorrow magically fixes today's problems. Most importantly, stop accepting mediocrity because someone was once considered a top prospect.

The Yankees entered this season believing they had a championship-caliber roster. Instead, they've exposed the same flaws that have haunted this organization for years: questionable talent evaluation, stubborn roster management, and an unwillingness to admit when they've gotten it wrong.

Until the front office, Brian Cashman, and Aaron Boone are held accountable for those failures, don't expect the results to change. The names may eventually change. The disappointment will not.

BOONE'S OVERTINKERING COSTS YANKEES YET AGAIN

Aaron Boone was bound to show up eventually. Not literally, of course — the Yankees manager is always lurking in the dugout chewing gum like a man trying to solve a crossword puzzle written in ancient Greece. But the real Boone? The panic-button Boone. The over-managing Boone. The “I just outsmarted myself again” Boone. Yeah, that guy finally returned just as predicted.

After Friday’s loss to the Brewers, the bad vibes were already floating around Yankee Universe like a haunted fog machine. We at Bleeding Yankee Blue were ahead of it. You could feel it coming. I even asked the Bleeding Yankee Blue crowd if Boone was about to pull one of his classic managerial faceplants. Turns out the answer was a screaming, flaming YES. Read LET'S HOPE BOONE'S INCOMPETENCE DOESN'T REAR IT'S UGLY HEAD and then let me know I'm a genius. I'll clear my phone line.

Seriously though, the Yankees followed Friday’s disaster with two more losses over the weekend, got broomed by Milwaukee, and then stumbled into Monday night against the Orioles looking like a team trapped in a recurring nightmare. And before anyone tries to pin this latest collapse on Ryan Weathers tonight, stop right there.

Tonights loss belongs to Aaron Boone.

Ryan Weathers — yes, that Ryan Weathers, the pitcher plenty of fans weren’t exactly throwing parades for when he arrived — was dealing tonight. Absolutely great. The guy carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and had Baltimore hitters looking like they were swinging pool noodles underwater. Through 6.1 innings, he’d given up one hit and had thrown 101 pitches. One hit. That’s it.

So naturally, Boone decided it was the perfect time to yank him. Because of course he did.

The moment Baltimore got a leadoff single and a walk, Boone sprinted to the bullpen phone like he’d just remembered the oven was on. Out came Weathers. In came Brent Headrick. And approximately eight seconds later, Coby Mayo launched a three-run homer that flipped the game upside down.

Masterclass.

This is the problem with Boone every single year: he manages baseball games like he’s trying to beat a spreadsheet instead of the team in front of him. The man cannot resist tinkering. If something is working beautifully, Boone treats it like a suspicious noise in the basement — he has to go mess with it until everything falls apart.

And let’s be clear here: I’m not some card-carrying member of the Ryan Weathers fan club. I didn’t even want the guy wearing pinstripes. But baseball is about rhythm and feel sometimes, and Weathers had both. He earned the right to keep pitching.

You know what else letting him stay in does? It gives the kid confidence. It lets him battle through adversity. It shows the team you trust the guy who’s dominating instead of immediately handing the game over to a shaky bullpen that has inspired all the confidence of a shopping cart with one bad wheel.

But Boone never learns.

Every season it’s the same recycled script. Starter cruising? Pull him. Reliever melting down? Leave him in too long. Offense cold? Rest half the lineup. Big moment? Boone suddenly turns into a laboratory scientist experimenting with combinations nobody asked for.

At some point, the Yankees have to stop pretending this is working with Boone in the manager's seat. The talent changes. The payroll changes. The excuses change. But the outcome always feels the same because the man steering the ship keeps driving directly into the iceberg while insisting the analytics said it was fine.

Monday night wasn’t Ryan Weathers’ failure. He did his job.

Aaron Boone once again couldn't get out of his own way.  My god.

RODON TO COME BACK WITH THE ROAR!

Carlos Rodón is in the home stretch of his rehab assignment following his October 2025 elbow procedure, where surgeons cleared out loose bodies and shaved down a bone spur. In baseball terms, the maintenance work is done, and now it’s about proving the arm is ready for prime time again.

If today’s Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre outing goes according to plan, the next stop isn’t another rehab start—it’s the Bronx. No layover, no delay—just straight back into the Yankees rotation.

“It felt good—just dialing in the fastball, mixing in some sliders and changeups, getting my work in,” Rodón said. Translation: the checklist is complete, and the engine’s humming.

And this hasn’t exactly been a casual tune-up. In his April 30 start with Double-A Somerset, Rodón struck out eight over 5.1 innings, looking far more like a frontline starter than a guy knocking off rust. Rehab? Sure. Dominant? Also yes.

Before the elbow detour, Rodón was quietly putting together a monster year:

• 18–9 record (tied for second in MLB)
• 3.09 ERA (firmly among the AL’s best)
• 203 strikeouts 
• 195.1 innings  

So, what happens when you drop that version of Rodón back into an already strong Yankees rotation? Good question—one with the kind of answer contenders love: too many good options.

And let’s be honest, if Rodón comes back throwing like this, somebody’s seat might get a little less comfortable. A bullpen shift for Weathers? Not exactly a wild idea—and honestly, it might make the whole staff even nastier. 

I BELIEVE IN WARREN, BUT I'M NOT THERE YET WITH WEATHERS

Will Warren is starting to make me rethink things—and I don’t say that lightly.

I’ve watched enough of him now to admit it: the kid is growing up in front of us. Not in a flashy, highlight-reel way every night, but in that quieter, more annoying-to-opposing-teams way where suddenly the box score looks clean and you’re not entirely sure when it stopped being a “question mark” start and turned into “oh, he’s actually getting us through this.” I’m not all-in on the hype train, but I’ll give credit where it’s due—he’s finding real footing.

After a 2025 rookie season where he basically became a baseball workhorse—33 starts, steady production, and the kind of availability managers dream about—he’s carried that into 2026 and turned the dial up. Through his first five starts, the results have taken a noticeable step forward, with a 2.49 ERA that doesn’t feel like a small sample fluke so much as a continuation of real development.

What’s changed isn’t just luck or vibes either. There’s been actual refinement here. A slight tweak in his positioning on the rubber, some mechanical cleanup, and suddenly his stuff is playing up. The metrics back it too—better command, more strikes in the zone, and most importantly for a Yankees fan’s blood pressure, fewer free passes. He’s attacking hitters instead of auditioning for a full-count drama series every inning.

And durability? That part matters more than people admit. Thirty-three starts last year wasn’t just a stat—it was survival. Now he’s carrying that same “give me the ball every fifth day” energy into this season and actually pitching deep enough into games to let the bullpen breathe. That alone earns you a few extra innings of goodwill in New York.

So yeah… prove me wrong, Will. I kind of like where this is going.

Now, Ryan Weathers is a different conversation entirely—and I’m not ready to be sold just because the box score smiled at him once.

I’m calling the last good outing what it felt like: a break in the weather, not a forecast change. There’s history here that makes Yankees fans side-eye these things anyway—his name alone carries a faint echo from a different era, and no, that doesn’t automatically translate into present-day trust.

And look, I get it, he’s had moments this season. But there’s still a lot of “hold on a second” baked into his profile. He’s had starts where things get loud in a hurry—like the April 14 outing where the Angels turned the baseball into souvenir material. It was one of those weird stat lines where you almost have to double-check the franchise record book just to confirm it actually happened: double-digit strikeouts mixed with multiple home runs allowed in the same game. That’s not balance—that’s chaos with a uniform on.

The underlying concerns are still there too. Too much hard contact. A barrel rate that makes you wince a little. A ground-ball profile that doesn’t quite rescue him when the ball is lifted in a park like Yankee Stadium. And when hitters aren’t missing, the pitch count climbs fast enough that you can practically see the bullpen phone ringing before the fifth inning ends.

Even some of the deeper evaluations have pointed out the same thing: the secondary pitches flash potential but don’t always behave, and when the curve or changeup isn’t landing, things tend to unravel quickly. The result is usually the same storyline—five-ish innings, a few too many stressful frames, and a manager quietly hoping the bullpen remembered to stretch.

So where does that leave it? Honestly, somewhere in the middle of “interesting addition” and “let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

The Yankees, as a whole, are rolling right now. The rotation has held together better than expected, and there’s real reason for optimism. But not every piece is equally convincing just yet. Warren feels like he’s trending upward and earning trust start by start. Weathers still feels like a guy you keep watching with your arms crossed, waiting for the sample size to stop arguing with itself.

For now, it’s working. The results are there as a team. But some stories are still being written in pencil—and Weathers is very much one of them. Sorry, it wouldn't be Bleeding Yankee Blue without a harsh, real opinion. Deal with it.

SEND RYAN WEATHERS BACK TO WHEREVER THE HELL YOU GOT HIM!

Let’s stop pretending the Brian Cashman master plan is anything more than a recycling bin of bad ideas dressed up as “strategy.”

First, it was the victory lap—mission accomplished!—after bringing in David Bednar, Jake Bird, and Camilo Doval… a trio that has turned late innings into a nightly horror show. And we were knocked out of the playoffs. Season over. Now we’re supposed to believe in the latest science experiment: Ryan Weathers, a guy who throws hard but hands out runs like it’s Halloween candy.

And somehow, the Yankees’ marketing machine keeps rolling these guys out like they’re headline acts instead of cautionary tales. It’s not roster building—it’s gaslighting with graphics.

Let’s call it what it is: this team hasn’t spent like the Yankees in years. They’re patching together a supposed contender with duct tape, crossed fingers, and whatever spare parts Cashman finds in the bargain bin. This isn’t the Bronx Bombers—it’s a clearance rack.

Remember 2009? That wasn’t luck. That was a front office actually acting like the New York Yankees. CC Sabathia, A. J. Burnett, Mark Teixeira, Nick Swisher—they went big, and guess what? It worked. Shocking concept.

Now? It’s a patchwork roster orbiting Max Fried, Aaron Judge, and Cody Bellinger, hoping gravity alone keeps the whole thing from drifting into irrelevance.

This team isn’t good—it’s marketed to look good.

Ryan Weathers in pinstripes is the perfect example. The game starts, and even a kid can see it coming: “Weathers is pitching? That’s a loss.” Imagine being a Yankee fan and saying that? What the hell. When the fans can predict the outcome before the first pitch, what exactly is the front office doing—other than pretending everything is fine?

Five innings. Five runs. Four home runs. But sure, let’s celebrate the strikeouts. Because nothing says “ace” like getting shelled while occasionally missing a bat.

And here’s the bigger issue: you cannot expect a lineup to claw back every single night because your pitcher decided to implode in the first inning. That’s not resilience—that’s exhaustion. It’s bad baseball.

Six losses in the last seven games after a hot start tells you everything. This isn’t a slump. It’s regression to the mean of a mediocre roster.

Meanwhile, Oswald Peraza was out there last night for the Angels actually competing, creating pressure, forcing mistakes—doing everything his team should be doing. But by the time he makes an impact, the damage is already done. Good for him. Sticking a finger in Cashman's eye.

And in the dugout? Aaron Boone looks like a guy trying to solve a puzzle with half the pieces missing. No urgency, no adjustments, and a bullpen strategy that feels like it’s being picked out of a hat.

You cannot expect Aaron Judge to carry this entire operation on his back every night. That’s not a plan—that’s a wish.

But don’t worry—the hype train is already moving. Anthony Volpe is being packaged like a savior, a franchise messiah ready to rescue the Bronx. What they’re not highlighting? A rough Double-A showing with 2 strikeouts that don’t exactly scream “immediate solution.” And for context, he batted against Zach Wheeler, an established major league pitcher.  So that just proves to me, he's not qualified to be on a major league field.  Pathetic.  

This is what the Yankees have become: a brand selling nostalgia while delivering mediocrity.

At some point, fans have to stop buying it—literally and figuratively. Because right now, the loudest thing in Yankee Stadium isn’t the bats.

It’s the disconnect.

AMED ROSARIO IS A GAME HERO & RYAN MCMAHON IS A ZERO!

It's early, so I'm not going to jump to conclusions yet but, THE CASE OF MCMAHON'S MISSING LOWER HALF is really concerning. It's enough that even clown Aaron Boone knew he had to make a change. Let's hope he continues to think smart and use a baseball brain.

Everything is off with Ryan McMahon right now so I am glad Baboonie used his brain for once and used Amed Rosario Tuesday against the A's. Rosario's role was planned as the bench infielder that would play more against left-handed pitching but when you aren't getting the job done like McMahon right now who is in a 2-for-23 slump, sometimes you gotta take a leap of faith.

And it paid off. It's hard for me to watch the Yankees struggle against teams like the A's but it happens. Sometimes your regulars just don't get the job done but one person can be the sparkplug that changes everything. That's exactly what Rosario was with his two homeruns. He could make it very easy for Baboonie to give Rosario more playing time against right handed pitchers if McMahon can't remember how to hit a ball again.

If McMahon was in the lineup Tuesday, we wouldn't have been able to watch that beautiful home run against Mark Leiter Jr. and bring that energy to the rest of his teammates. I can appreciate McMahon's glove, on paper it is "better" than Rosario's but it's not a detriment to this team to play Rosario instead. This isn't a Anthony Volpe concern who can't hit worth a lick and is a defensive liability.

I think Baboonie needs to look a little harder for more opportunities to play Rosario. It's obvious McMahon needs a cleansing of sorts to get his mojo back offensively. I don't care about righty-lefty scenarios right now. McMahon would struggle to hit an oversized beach ball at the plate and until he gets his shit together Baboonie needs to be willing to play Rosario against righties and look at matchups that may be good to get his bat into. All guys have those pitchers that they just see well. 

Right now it's not good to be a Ryan on this team. McMahon isn't getting the job done and let's face it Ryan Weathers also stinks to high heaven. Someone call Baboonie and tell him the Ryan's aren't getting the job done and to continue to make adjustments.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

YANKS GET CREATIVE WITH LUIS GIL

I feel like this shouldn't be shocking news....but apparently it is for some. The Yankees are moving Luis Gil to Triple-A to start the season. Some fans on social media are shocked. Or maybe that isn't the correct word to use here. Either way, the Yankees are getting crafty.

The Yankees are in Phoenix today preparing for an exhibition against the Cubs tomorrow. When the Yankees left Tampa yesterday, Ryan Weathers was on the plane for Phoenix and Gil was left behind, read more HERE. There is an interesting strategy to this.

In the first two weeks of the season, the Yankees will have FOUR days off. Yup, you read that correctly. The Yankees do not need a fifth starter until the second week in April. In theory, this could very easily be the Yankees starting rotation during this timeframe:

3/25: Max Fried
3/26: OFF DAY
3/27: Cam Schlittler
3/28: Will Warren
3/29: OFF DAY
3/30: Ryan Weathers
3/31: Fried
4/1: Schlittler
4/2: OFF DAY
4/3: Warren
4/4: Weathers
4/5: Fried
4/6: OFF DAY
4/7: Schlittler
4/8: Warren
4/9: Weathers
4/10: Fried
4/11: Luis Gil?

So the Yankees do not need to carry a fifth starter until the 11th. No one will need to pitch on short rest, this gives Gil the ability to go down and pitch regularly and continue to work on his mechanics. He's made some recent adjustments that look like they are starting to pay off but, that has been his weakness all spring and the Yankees want to see more improvement so they feel comfortable his 6.28 ERA in four spring starts will not follow into the regular season. He has minor league options - the Yankees are simply giving him more time to get consistent before pitching in meaningful games.

I don't hate it. I guess you could make the same case that Ryan Weathers would also benefit from the same option. So why not send Weathers down? He has an 11.68 ERA, so almost twice as bad as Gil. He hasn't exactly earned a starting spot but the Yankees feel like Weathers has just had some "bad luck" in his starts whereas Gil's ill fortune was due to poor mechanics. It's an interesting argument, no matter how you look at it.

So even though Weathers has had some ugly results, the Yankees are going to stick with their gut and their "bad luck" excuses we have heard in the past. This is all just a strategy. Now we just have to wait and see if it works out. 

Gil will be back, the Yankees have enough arms and days off to get them through the first two weeks easily and it is going to work because Weathers and his bad luck won't appear when the season starts. That's what I am going with. I'm putting that into the universe to come true.

Get to work, Gil and work out the kinks!

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

 

STUBBORN YANKEE FRONT OFFICE REFUSING TO BE COMPETITIVE

The Yankees front office isn’t just misfiring—they’ve turned dysfunction into a long-term investment strategy. And if you’re a fan, you’ve seen this exact production on repeat for over a decade. Same rigid thinking, same recycled excuses, same hollow October ambitions. Since 2009, the only thing that’s evolved is the price of the tickets and time wasted.

Let’s start at the top, because that’s where the rot lives.

Brian Cashman has somehow mastered the art of doing nothing while calling it stability. In most industries, 15+ years of the same underwhelming results would get you a polite escort to the exit. Here? It gets you a lifetime appointment. Cashman operates like a man who solved baseball in 2009 and has refused to update the software since. Every bad contract, every blocked prospect, every “trust the process” and "mission accomplished" press conference—it all traces back to a front office that confuses stubbornness with intelligence.

And then there’s Aaron Boone—a manager in the same way a GPS is helpful when it refuses to reroute. Boone doesn’t manage games; he narrates them after they happen. Lineups feel like they’re printed in permanent marker, bullpen decisions come straight out of a hat, and accountability is treated like an optional feature. Watching him manage is like watching someone try to microwave a steak—technically it’s being done, but nobody feels good about it.

And the front office as a whole? They don’t understand how to run a baseball team in 2026. They run it like a spreadsheet with emotional attachment issues. Performance is secondary. Contracts are sacred. Prospects are decorations until they become inconvenient.

This Spring training is the perfect example of their backwards logic. You can dominate—hit .500, crush 10 home runs, outplay everyone on the field—and it means absolutely nothing if you’re not already part of their pre-approved script. It’s not a competition; it’s a formality. The roster isn’t earned—it’s pre-written.

So, when a talent like Jasson Domínguez gets sent down, it’s not shocking—it’s predictable. Because this organization doesn’t reward production, it rewards payroll. A guy like Trent Grisham gets priority not because he’s better, but because he’s expensive. That’s not roster construction—that’s financial obligation disguised as strategy.

And don’t even get started on the pitching decisions. Watching Carlos Lagrange outperform guys like Ryan Weathers and still get buried is the kind of logic that would get you laughed out of a fantasy league. Fewer hits, fewer runs, better overall performance—but hey, Weathers cost prospects in that trade, remember? So now we’re emotionally invested. The Yankees don’t cut losses; they double down on them.

That’s the philosophy: once they make a mistake, they commit to it harder.

This isn’t a championship-caliber operation—it’s a bureaucratic maze. Decisions aren’t made based on winning; they’re made based on protecting previous decisions. It’s baseball run by ego, not evidence.

And the biggest casualty of all this? Aaron Judge.

Judge should be the face of a dynasty. Instead, he’s the centerpiece of a cautionary tale. When he spoke out about his frustrations in which the Yankees didn't upgrade on top free agents this off season, it wasn't a misspeak, it was a cry for help.  We’re watching a generational talent get boxed into a system that refuses to maximize him. He’ll hit historic numbers, collect personal awards, and carry the team on his back—only to fall short because the people building around him are stuck ten years in the past.

He deserves rings. Instead, he’s getting press conferences about “staying the course.”

At some point, fans have to stop pretending this is acceptable. This isn’t bad luck—it’s bad leadership. It’s complacency at the highest level. It’s an organization more concerned with being right than being successful. Boycott, boycott, boycott.

If this were any other franchise, changes would’ve been made years ago. But this is the Yankees—where tradition apparently includes refusing to admit you’re wrong.

Until Brian Cashman is gone, until Aaron Boone is replaced by someone who actually manages, and until the front office learns that winning matters more than saving face, nothing changes.

And that’s the real tragedy—not that the Yankees aren’t winning, but that they don’t even seem to understand why they aren’t.

LIKE THIS? READ THESE:

ENOUGH! LET'S BOYCOTT THE YANKEES TO CHANGE THIS TEAM'S FUTURE

YANKS NEED TO MAKE A BIG SPLASH, BUT WE'RE NOT AS PRESTIGIOUS AS WE USED TO BE

"EARNING A SPOT" DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING WHEN YOU'RE PLAYING FAVORITES

What message are the Yankees sending to their kids grinding through spring training, chasing that call-up dream?

“Be electric… and we’ll book you a one-way trip to Triple-A.”

To be fair, that’s not always the rule. It just feels like the rule—until it isn’t. Consistency? Optional. Meritocracy? Situational. Favorites? Oh, they travel first class.

Just ask Jasson Domínguez.

Domínguez lit up Spring Training 2026—hitting over .325, rocking a .978 OPS, popping three homers, swiping three bags in just 13 games. In other words: he did exactly what you’re supposed to do when you’re knocking on the big-league door.

The Yankees’ response? “Great work, kid. Scranton’s lovely this time of year.”

Sure, the roster’s crowded. Fine. But you’re telling me there’s no room to rotate him in? No DH platoon, no left field reps, no real-time learning at the highest level like they do for the Volpes and the Wells of the world? Apparently not. Apparently he “needs more time.”

Meanwhile, Ryan Weathers strolls into a rotation spot with an 11.68 ERA, a 2.11 WHIP, and a souvenir shop’s worth of home runs allowed. But hey—welcome aboard, Ryan! Nice to meet you. Loved your dad, David Weathers.

And then there’s Anthony Volpe—the gold standard of “earning it.” Back in 2023, he tore up spring, hit over .300, flashed power, speed, swagger—the whole package. The word was earned. MLB.com wrote:

"Anthony Volpe earned his spot as the Yankees' Opening Day shortstop in 2023 with an elite spring training, batting over .300 with immense power and speed. He hit 3 home runs, stole 5 bases, and posted a 1.064 OPS in 19 games." He got the job.

And then… his actual career happened. At some point, “earned” stopped meaning “sustained,” and development took a backseat to stubbornness.

So yeah—in my book, Domínguez earned it. Twice over. The numbers say it. The effort screams it. The moment begged for it.

Instead, he did everything right and still got shown the door. But don’t worry—apparently, the bar isn’t performance. It’s… vibes? Timing? Lineage? Marketing? Spin the wheel.

Because if Spring Training is supposed to mean something, the Yankees forgot to tell their own players what that something is.

And that’s the real problem.

Not just the decisions—the double standards.

Not just the roster—the message.

Because right now, it sounds a lot like: “Earn it… unless we’ve already decided you didn’t.”

I hate the way this team is run.