About The Off-Day: Meanderings of My Mind

About The Off-Day: Meanderings of My Mind

By Tim Kabel

September 22, 2026

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The Yankees were off yesterday, which was the last off-day of the regular season. Today, they will begin a four-game series against the first-place Tampa Bay Rays that will most likely determine the playoff picture for the New York Yankees. Unless they sweep the series, the Yankees will not win the division and will play the Red Sox in the Wild Card round beginning a week from today. Once that issue is resolved which could happen today, the Yankees will need to turn their focus to preparing for the Wild Card round. They need to figure out who will be on the roster, who will be unable to contribute, and who the starters should be. Since I don't have a game to recap today, I will now wander from topic to topic like an Alaskan brown bear during fat bear week, trying to cram as many salmon down my gullet as possible before hibernating.

·       Yesterday, I wrote that the Yankees can't expect anything from Aaron Judge for the rest of 2026.I don't mean that they definitely will not get anything out of him. I'm just saying they can't expect to. In addition, the Yankees should not expect any major contributions from either Jazz Chisholm or Trent Grisham for the rest of this regular season or into the playoffs. Chisholm may be activated on Tuesday or perhaps Wednesday against the Rays. However, he was not having a good year at all and is very streaky. He has now missed about two weeks and will be rusty. He wasn't providing much before he went on the IL. To expect him to become Rod Carew is unrealistic. It is unknown if Trent Grisham will be able to play at all during the rest of the regular season. It is also unclear if he would be ready to play in the playoffs against the Red Sox. I can see a scenario in which Grisham is forced back onto the roster and into the lineup against the Red Sox because Aaron Boone believes he is the best option. Grisham is not the best option. Grisham would not be the best option even if he had not been on the IL for the last couple of weeks. Spencer Jones needs to be the starting centerfielder for every game the Yankees play in the postseason unless he is hurt. I was going to write that he should be the starting centerfielder for the rest of the regular season too but once the issue of winning the division is no longer in play, Jones could have a day off in the last week if he needs it. Similarly, Anthony Volpe should remain the starting second baseman in the playoffs, particularly against left-handed pitching. If the Yankees want to play Chisholm, he can do what he did when he first came to the Yankees. He can play third base. Either Jose Caballero or Jazz Chisholm should be playing third base in the playoffs. Ryan McMahon should be on the bench or off the roster.

·       I recently stumbled across a rather eccentric home cook on the Internet. He produces very entertaining videos that feature mostly comfort food that is very quick and easy to make. It is also generally fairly inexpensive. As I am writing this, I'm trying my first recipe from his videos. It is called chicken pot pie pasta. It involves taking diced onions, frozen mixed vegetables, cream of chicken soup, and chicken breast strips and putting it all in a slow cooker with some spices for several hours. Once the chicken is falling apart, you shred it and mix in cooked pasta. That's it. I'm sure it will taste very good and these days, I prefer simple meals that are easy to make. I can still pull out my Julia Child cookbook when I need to but for everyday fare, this seems the best way to go.

·       The fact that the Yankees recalled Max Schuemann from Scranton to take Aaron Judge's spot on the roster instead of Jasson Dominguez tells you all you need to know about Dominguez’s future with the Yankees. He doesn't have one. I have been a big supporter of Dominguez since he first came up. For a variety of reasons, things just haven't clicked for him. I don't think at age 23, it would be fair to say he's washed up. I do think it's fair to say that he will not be part of the Yankees’ future. Spencer Jones has moved ahead of him and will most likely be the Yankees starting center fielder next year. I suspect that Dominguez will be traded during the off-season and honestly, I think that will probably be the best thing for him. I can see a scenario in which he goes to another team and flourishes. I certainly hope that happens.

·       Regardless of how far the Yankees advance in the playoffs this season, I think there will be some big changes coming in 2027. I believe Giancarlo Stanton has played his last game for the Yankees. I realize that Aaron Boone was still holding out hope that Stanton might be able to contribute in the postseason, but he has not played since April and the last time he was on the base paths, he fell down and reinjured himself. There is no point to repeating this exercise in 2027. The Yankees should just release Stanton and thank him for his time with the team. I do not believe that the Yankees will bring either Trent Grisham or Jazz Chisholm back next year. The replacements for both of them are already on the roster and lately have been in the lineup. Anthony Volpe will most likely be the Yankees starting second baseman next year and Spencer Jones will be the starting centerfielder. In the long run, they will be better and less expensive alternatives to Grisham and Chisholm. I think the Yankees need to find another third baseman because Ryan McMahon is not the answer. Perhaps the Yankees will actually be players for Japanese third baseman Teruaki Sato, who is a left-handed hitter with a lot of power.

·        As I have noted, I listen to a lot of the games on the radio. During Sunday's game against Arizona, Suzyn Waldman and Dave Sims were addressing Anthony Volpe’s improvement as a hitter and his play at second base. Suzyn made a point of heaping praise on Shelley Duncan, the Scranton Wilkes Barre manager, stating that he was “the most positive person on the planet.” She and Sims went on to state that Duncan and his staff should be credited for helping Volpe to improve and to embrace the positional switch. I found that to be very interesting. I didn't find it to be surprising because Duncan has a very solid reputation, but the fact that he was being talked up on the radio broadcast might be significant if the Yankees were to part ways with Aaron Boone. I know some people are choking on their coffee and crullers when they read this because they believe that Boone should be with the Yankees for life. At some point, the Boone era has to come to an end. I realize that the Yankees were without Aaron Judge for a significant portion of this season, but it's always something. Aaron Boone is sort of like Hallmark Cards. He has an excuse for every occasion. If the Yankees don't win the World Series or perish the thought, they are eliminated by the Red Sox in the Wild Card round, it might be time to try someone else as the manager. I guarantee you that there are a lot of people who could manage the Yankees for nine years without winning the World Series. It would be nice to find somebody who could actually win a World Series before Aaron Judge retires.

·      Speaking of Suzyn Waldman, I'm not trying to be critical because I like Suzyn very much. However, she has developed a habit of mumbling during the broadcast. I don't mean when she's describing something that's happening. She does that as well as she always did, but when she talks about other things such as a player's development or somebody coming back from an injury or any side topic, she mumbles in a softer voice. She sounds like someone's grandmother or great aunt at the family picnic complaining that the meatloaf was dry, or the potato salad had too much mayonnaise. I'm not suggesting that she be removed as a broadcaster. I wouldn't want that to happen. I'm not even suggesting that things need to change. It's just how she is these days. I'm not a big fan of Dave Sims and would like to see him replaced with Ricky Ricardo, who has a lot of energy and makes the broadcasts fun. He would combine very well with Suzyn, which he has done whenever Sims has a day off.

·      I wrote about changes that I believe the Yankees should and will make for next season. You will notice that I didn't mention the catcher position. I have gone on record saying that the Yankees needed to acquire another catcher because of Austin Wells’ inadequate offensive performance. I am changing my stance on that somewhat. I don't know that there are any viable upgrades at catcher for the Yankees to make in 2027. Hunter Goodman would be a tremendous acquisition, but to acquire him would cost a ton of prospects. There are other issues to consider as well. First, Wells has improved his offensive production down the stretch. Is it enough so that he won't be a concern going into 2027? No, not really. However, it is an improvement. The other issue is that the poor production from Wells was a concern because the Yankees were also not getting much out of Jazz Chisholm, Trent Grisham, and Ryan McMahon. If the Yankees have better players in those positions next year, then Wells becomes much more tolerable. If he improves somewhat from what he did this year, having him in the lineup won't be a major issue because there will be enough production from other positions. The Yankees could carry Wells due to his excellent catching abilities.  The issue was that Wells was one of a few weak offensive players. If he becomes the only one, it is not as much of an issue.