About the Day Off: Something Funny Happened on the Way to the Playoffs

About the Day Off: Something Funny Happened on the Way to the Playoffs

By Tim Kabel

July 25, 2025

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The Yankees were off yesterday after losing two of three games in Toronto and opening the nominal second half of the season by splitting their first six games. I have several thoughts regarding the current state of affairs with the Yankees. So, let's get right to it:

·       A week ago, I was all set to write the first recap from the second half of the season. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I was swept off my feet by a strange virus, just like the Yankees. I had no idea what it was that was affecting me, just like the Yankees. I had no idea where it came from or why it started, just like the Yankees. It affected every aspect of my life, just like the Yankees. However, a week later, I am progressing and have almost recovered, unlike the Yankees. What's the difference? Aaron Boone is not in charge of my health.

·       The Yankees are now firmly entrenched in second place. They are four games behind the Blue Jays. They are closer to the fourth-place Rays than they are to the first-place Blue Jays. The Boone-Swoon marches on. 

·       Anthony Volpe is tied for the most errors by any player at any position in the Major Leagues with 13. When you are batting .214, which is tied for the lowest batting average in MLB with a minimum of 350 plate appearances, your fielding needs to be excellent. Volpe’s isn't. There have been suggestions that he should be benched, which is unrealistic since the Yankees don't currently have anyone to take his spot, traded, or sent to the minors when someone else is acquired. Something needs to happen.

·       Before the Yankees go crazy and trade away a bunch of prospects for rental players, they need to be realistic. Why mortgage the future for a very uncertain present. I stand by my repeated statements that the Yankees will never win the World Series with Aaron Boone as the manager. Honestly it doesn't matter what ingredients you have in the kitchen, if the chef isn't very good, the meal will not be good either. On the contrary, a good chef can often make a delicious meal out of rather ordinary ingredients. The Yankees happen to have several good ingredients. Maybe it's time to replace the chef. Actually, it has been time to do so for quite a while, but I think we've finally reached the tipping point.

·       Spencer Jones hit three home runs yesterday for Scranton in their game against Rochester. He now has the minor league lead in home runs with 29 but has only played 67 total games this season. He's also batting 308. He has played nineteen of those games in AAA, where he has thirteen home runs, a .405 batting average, and a 1.424 OPS. Before we all start painting For Sale signs and try to package Jones for a rental player, we should relax a bit. Maybe the Yankees shouldn't trade him at all. He is 24 years old. Aaron Judge, to whom Jones is frequently compared, due to their sizes and body types, made his Major League debut at the age of 24. Here's a thought: maybe the Yankees could trade one of their own soon to be free agents, Trent Grisham for something they need, such as a third baseman, a shortstop, a relief pitcher, or a starter. They might have to include someone else too. They could also trade Paul Goldschmidt to a contending team and move Cody Bellinger to first base. That would free up centerfield for Jones. There is only one major problem with that idea. Aaron Boone would most likely do to Jones what he has done to almost every other young player. He would pull him in and out of the lineup willy-nilly, stunting his growth and denying him the opportunity to gain confidence and consistency. Again, it boils down to the ingredients and the chef. Jones would be an excellent addition for this team but not with Boone as the manager. Regardless, it would be foolish to trade Jones for almost anyone at this point, especially a rental player. I have read articles suggesting that the Yankee should trade him for Eugenio Suarez That would not make very much sense.

·       I am not saying that acquiring Eugenio Suarez would be a bad move. It would not. The only issue would be the cost in prospects.  I have read a few proposals for trades for Suarez that include good prospects but not at the level of Jones, Cam Schlittler, or George Lombard, Jr., If the Yankees can do that, they should. The addition of Suarez would negate the loss of Goldschmidt’s right-handed bat if he were to be traded.

·       Getting back to the idea of trading Grisham. I have read a few proposals that would send him out for either a starting pitcher or relief pitcher. That is something the Yankee should definitely explore.

·       Another of the four million players being matched to the Yankees is Dylan Cease. Because he is a rental, the Yankees would probably now have to give up a lot of prospects for him either. I read that the Yankees could conceivably trade JC Escarra for Cease. That's not my suggestion, it's what I read.

·       Let's look at this a bit more closely. If the Yankees could make the moves I have described above, this is what they would have:

Austin Wells- C

Cody Bellinger- 1B

Jazz Chisholm, Jr.- 2B

Eugenio Suarez- 3B

Jasson Dominguez- LF

Spencer Jones- CF

Aaron Judge- RF

Giancarlo Stanton- DH

Ben Rice- DH/C/1B

Starting Rotation: Max Fried, Dylan Cease, Carlos Rodon, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, Luis Gil, and Marcus Stroman. I listed seven pitchers because with injuries, you never know.

·       I purposefully left shortstop blank because I think the Yankees need someone else down the stretch to play shortstop instead of Anthony Volpe. A star would be nice but if one is not available, they could bring in a good fielder. Heck, if they had to, they could go with Oswald Peraza. He can't hit either but he's a better fielder than Volpe. However, I think they could find someone on the market and use Peraza as a backup. If they don't trade Volpe, they could send him down to the minors and let him retool. I read an article yesterday in which Joe Madden suggested that the Yankees do that very thing. He cited the example of Francisco Alvarez, the catcher for the Mets who was sent down to the minors to refresh himself. It has happened before. Regardless of whatever is going on with Volpe, it cannot continue. Not if the Yankees want to make it back to the World Series.

·       Today, the Yankees are 56-46. They have 60 games left. They can still turn things around and win the division, or at least be first wild card. It's going to take a lot of work for them to do that. How will they play over those last 60 games? Will they be the team they were at the beginning of the season up until May 28th? There were 35-20 then. They are 21-26 since that date. Let's be realistic and say that they will play as they have since the All-Star break, .500. That means they will win 30 more games. That will give them a total of 86 wins for the year. Does that win the division? Most likely not. Will it make the playoffs? Possibly. So, other than any potential on field upgrades, what can they do? I don't think it's an issue of replacing the pitching coach or the hitting coach. I think it's clear that if the Yankees want a chance to get back to the World Series, they need to shake things up and replace Aaron Boone. I doubt they will do it, which means they will be replacing Aaron Boone in the fall. It also means that it'll be one more season that Aaron Judge won't win a World Series. He's not going to last forever, and neither are these other players. There are some moves the Yankees can make but again, if you hand the basket of ingredients to Julia Child, you're going to wind up with something delicious. If you give those same ingredients to Evelyn Harper from Two and a Half Men, you will wind up with food poisoning. In this example, Aaron Boone is Evelyn Harper.