Coach Steve's Corner

When Brian Cashman said that the Yankees would be “cautious buyers” leading up to this year’s trade deadline I didn’t expect the team to be part of any major deals. However, Cashman pulled off a major coup this week when he was able to land 3B Todd Frazier and relief pitchers David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle from the White Sox. When rumors started flying around on Tuesday night that a deal was in the works with Chicago, I started to get a bit worried. I was afraid that the Yankees would deal away some near major league ready prospects, especially considering Boston was also in on Frazier. My mind instantly went to the likes of Clint Frazier, Chance Adams, Jorge Mateo, and Miguel Andujar. What would it take to land three quality players from Chicago ahead of the Red Sox? In the end the Yankees didn’t give away a haul nearly as large as I had feared it may have been. They gave up former first round picks OF Blake Rutherford and LHP Ian Clarkin, minor league outfielder Tito Polo, and...

The Yankees received a boost to their line-up this weekend in Boston with the returns of DH Matt Holliday and All-Star 2B Starlin Castro from injury. However, the rotation was dealt a major blow when it was announced that RHP Michael Pineda would be out for the remainder of the season with a partially torn UCL in his elbow. All signs point to Tommy John Surgery even though Pineda will seek a second opinion. Pineda had a solid first half of the season posting an 8-4 record with a 4.39 ERA in 17 starts. Now the team must find a way to fill the hole that he leaves. Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman has said that the Yankees will be "cautious buyers" in the time leading up to the July 31 trade deadline so I don't expect the team to replace Pineda with anyone of significant value via trade. The Yankees have spent the last couple of seasons building one of the top farm systems in baseball and I don't expect them to deal any top prospects to replace Pineda during a sea...

Not many things are bigger than you when you’re six foot seven but one thing has surpassed Aaron Judge’s Goliath stature. What I speak of is his prestige after last night’s home run derby. (I’ll refrain from calling it his legend this early in his career) It’s no surprise to anyone that Judge won the 2017 Home Run Derby last night in Miami but the manner in which he did so made his feat all the more impressive. Judge came into the competition as one of the favorites along with defending champion and hometown hero Giancarlo Stanton. Many expected him to face Stanton in a mouth watering final. However, unfortunate as it may be, it was a final that never ended up materializing. Judge’s teammate, Gary Sanchez, saw to that with an impressive first round performance of his own which saw Stanton vanquished 17-16. (I wonder if Logan Morrison still thinks Sanchez didn’t belong in the Derby? But I digress.) As impressive of a head-to-head match up as the Stanton-Sanchez showdown turned ou...

Not much has gone right for the Yankees in the last month as they have both literally and figuratively limped into the All-Star break. Injuries have piled up and with those injuries so have the losses. In spite of not winning a series since early June against Baltimore, going 0-8-1 in their last nine, they are still well within striking distance of Boston in the AL East. However, they will have a lot of questions to address if they are to compete down the stretch for either a division title or wild card berth. Can Tanaka pitch consistently like the ace that he is expected to be? Will they get any sort of significant production at first base? Will their young starters, Severino and Montgomery, continue to pitch well? Can CC regain his early season form after his injury? Will the line-up to start to click again when Castro and Holliday return? Is the middle relief good enough to hold leads? So many questions. However, the Yankees may soon have to ponder another question in a couple o...