About The Off-Day: Meanderings of My Mind

About The Off-Day: Meanderings of My Mind

By Tim Kabel

August 7, 2026

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The Yankees are deeply entrenched in a Boone-Swoon. I know many people think that the Boone-Swoon is over, and some deny its existence altogether, but it did occur and it’s not over.

The Yankees have been a .500 team since June 1st. Their record is 28-28. Their overall record at this point is 64-51.  The Yankees have 47 games left in the regular season. It is true that the Yankees have suffered significant injuries, particularly and most importantly they have been without Aaron Judge since June 1^st.  However, they still need to play the hand that has been dealt to them.

The Yankees need to accumulate as many wins as possible during the remaining six weeks of the season. First, they need to ensure that they actually make the playoffs and second, that they have the best possible position in the playoffs for success. We shall see what happens.

Since I don't have a game to recap, I will now move from topic to topic as if I was Brian Cashman attempting to find a catcher or a relief pitcher at the trade deadline.

·      The Yankees are currently in second place in the American League East. They trail the Tampa Bay Rays by 4 1/2 games. It is 5 games in the loss column. The Yankees would need to sweep the Rays in their remaining games in order to win the season series against them, which is unlikely at best. In other words, considering that the Yankees have played .500 ball since June 1st, the likelihood of them making up six games in the loss column against the Rays, which is what they would have to do to win the division, is slim.

However, there is something else that is quite likely. The Red Sox, a team that was considered to be having a dreadful year that would most likely find them in last place in the division and selling a lot of their players at the deadline has been the hottest team in Baseball. They have been winning at a historic pace. The Red Sox have now tied the Yankees in the loss column with 51 losses each. The Yankees have a one-game lead as a result of having played more games. That will even out. It is quite possible that the Yankees will be passed in the standings by the Red Sox.

The Red Sox went 21-4 in July. That is an .840 winning percentage. That is the highest monthly winning percentage in team history. The Red Sox are 4-0 in August. That includes two games against the Dodgers. Yes, those Dodgers. The Red Sox actually swept the series against the Dodgers, but the first game was on July 31st. The Yankees are trailing in the season series against the Red Sox, five games to four. They have four games remaining this season, which will be played at the end of this month. While anything can happen, the prospects don't look very good for the Yankees, considering how hot the Red Sox have been against every team, including the Dodgers.

The Yankees may very well finish in third place in the American League East this year. I think it is more likely that the Red Sox will catch the Rays than that the Yankees will do so. The Red Sox and Rays have split the first ten games between them this year. They have three remaining games in the middle of September. The Yankees are going to have to get hot and hope that other teams such as the Rangers, Guardians, and Mariners don't pass them in the Wild Card race. I suspect that the Yankees will not win the division and in fact will finish in third place in the American League East. I also believe that they will probably hang on to a Wild Card spot.  I believe the final results for this Yankees this season will be the same as the results of Brian Cashman’s efforts at the trade deadline. In other words, slightly interesting but overall, unsuccessful.

·      This past weekend saw the opening of the inaugural season for the Women's Professional Baseball League. I didn't know that there was such a thing, but I think it's great. I would even watch some games. However, something occurred at one of the first games that probably did not go as well as expected. For some reason, someone thought it would be a good idea to have Martha Reeves sing the national anthem before the game between the Los Angeles Queens and the New York Heights. For those of you who don't know, let me give you a little background. I am retired. Today marks three years since I have been retired. In other words, I am not a spring rooster. Well, Martha Reeves used to be the lead singer of Martha and the Vandellas. They had hit songs before I was born. I was born in 1964. Poor Martha is 85 years old. Her rendition of the national anthem has brought more attention to the Women's Professional Baseball League then any player on the field did. Words cannot describe how awful this was. Martha Vandella-ized the anthem. Let's just say that when Martha finished, there was no dancing in the streets. The people who were in the stands had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. In a move that would have made Aaron Boone proud, Martha blamed her backup singers. Perhaps Brian Cashman can have Martha sing the anthem at a Yankees game to distract people from the fact that he did not acquire a catcher at the trade deadline.

·      The Yankees did not do much at the trade deadline. This has been discussed in great detail. On the positive side, they did get rid of Camilo Doval and Jake Bird. Luis Garcia seems as if he will be a very solid hitter for the Yankees. However, the Yankees did not need another first baseman. While it is true that he can also be the DH, the Yankees are crowded there as well. Essentially, they have three players, Garcia, Ben Rice, and Paul Goldschmidt for two spots in the lineup.

I listened to the game on the radio the other day. Suzyn Waldman and Dave Sims were saying that Giancarlo Stanton would probably be back very soon. Where on earth would he play? Who would be benched so that he could play? I honestly don't think that Stanton will be back anytime soon because all he did was take batting practice and it is unclear how much swinging he actually did.

Anyway, the Yankees did not do enough before the deadline There were more things that needed to be done but were not done than things that were actually done.

There has been a lot written about the fact that Austin Wells has gotten hot recently. I suppose that's true but when you were colder than liquid nitrogen in the first place, it really doesn't matter how hot you get. Wells is batting.169 for the season. He has 38 hits all year. Of those 38 hits, 8 have been home runs. He has sixteen RBI. It is quite likely that he finishes the year with 10 or fewer home runs and 25 or fewer RBI. That is embarrassing.

The Yankees did not acquire any relief pitchers. They did not make an upgrade at third base. Ryan McMahon is batting .212 with 10 home runs and 27 RBI. That's for the whole season.

The Yankees also kept Jazz Chisholm, Jr., who is batting.217 with 17 home runs and 47 RBI. However, he does have 30 stolen bases. He originally predicted that he would have 50 stolen bases and 50 home runs this season. At this point, he doesn't even have 50 if you combine the totals of his home runs and stolen bases. I don't think there's any chance that he will be Yankee next year. Therefore, it would have made sense to trade him at the deadline.

Trent Grisham remains on the team as well. He's batting .211 for the season with 12 home runs and 43 RBI. He has 8 hits since the All-Star break. Yet, he continues to be trotted out onto the field almost every day.  Is it going to be hard for the Yankees to win many games with this type of offensive production from four starters. You cannot blame this on the absence of Aaron Judge because all four of these players would be in the lineup whether or not Judge was there.

·      Although the Yankees did not make a lot of trades before August 3rd, they did make some significant moves on August 3rd. Angel Chivilli turned back into a pumpkin, allowing the Cardinals to hit three home runs and score six runs in one inning on Monday night. It could be argued that Aaron Boone should not have left Chivilli out there to absorb that level of abuse on a night when he clearly didn't have it especially since he brought Fernando Cruz out to pitch the 9th inning anyway.  However, that was not surprising considering that's what Aaron Boone does. Chivilli was immediately banished to Scranton. Joining him were Jasson Dominguez and Anthony Volpe.

The demotion of Volpe was the most surprising because I'm sure it was very difficult for Aaron Boone to see Volpe leave. Remember, he described Volpe as “___ing elite” not long ago. Players who have that description don't often get sent to the minors. The reason that Volpe was sent down was so that George Lombard, Jr. could come up. I know he's only played two games. I'm sure that at some point probably soon, he will struggle somewhat. That is normal. He did not play very much at AAA, and he tends to struggle as he adjusts after every promotion in the system. However, the key is that he does adjust. The fact that he hit a home run in his first game and a hard single in his second game is nice. It is not a guarantee of anything. It demonstrated that the young man does not seem to be overwhelmed and that he could well be here for a while. He should be here for a while, to give him the chance to develop. He should be given the same opportunity that Volpe received. In other words, Wile E. Coyote could not have removed Volpe from the lineup with all the merchandise he purchased from Acme. The same should be true for Lombard.

One thing is obvious; Lombard is an exceptional defender. He made some plays in his first two games that were quite remarkable. After he turned a double play on Tuesday night, Paul O'Neill commented during the broadcast that the Yankees hadn't seen anything like that all season. While that may have been a veiled slap at Volpe, it was not inaccurate. If Lombard can provide that level of defense as a shortstop while he has any potential growing pains as a hitter, that would be more than sufficient and would certainly put him in a good spot going into next year.

The question remains, what to do with Volpe? I thought it was very good when Brian Cashman said Volpe will be playing some games at second base in Scranton. I think he should play every game at second base in Scranton. If Volpe needs a couple of days to practice it before playing second base in an actual game, that's fine but after that, he should play second base all the time. That will be his only avenue back to the Major Leagues.

Let's face facts, Jose Caballero had already supplanted Volpe as the regular shortstop and Lombard has far greater potential than Caballero. It is quite likely that Jazz Chisolm will not be back with the Yankees next year. If Volpe can adjust to playing second base and work on his hitting to the point where he becomes a more consistent contact hitter, he would be a more than adequate second baseman for the Yankees and would probably be a solid double play partner for Lombard.

While Volpe is in Scranton, Shelley Duncan should have his staff work with him on ironing out the kinks in his base running game as well. Lord knows that wasn't done on the Major League level and Volpe regressed in an area in which he was supposed to be well, elite. I do not believe that Volpe is a lost cause, but I don't think he will play shortstop for the Yankees again. Still, he could certainly become a valuable asset as a second baseman. After all, Volpe is only 25 years old.

How successful he becomes and whether he can return to the Yankees as a starter is entirely up to him and how much he wants to do so. If he pouts and feels sorry for himself, he will probably wind up on another team. If he digs in, works hard, and tries to improve his overall game, he could very well be the starting second baseman next season. I hope that is the case.