Hey Fans!

LF: Tauchman/Dominguez

RF: Santander

CF: Judge

DH: Stanton

3B: Jazz

1B: Walker

C: Wells

SS: Volpe

Pitching

Cole

Burnes or Fried

Rodon

Schmidt

Gil

Bullpen

CL: Ryan Helsley

RP: Luke

RP: Jo Jo Romero

RP: Tim Hill

RP: Jake Cousins

RP: Mark Leiter

Longman: Nestor

Thoughts?

I think if they can't net Soto then this team can improve, but you're adding more potential dead weight contracts and Judge and Cole's peaks are coming up to a decline within the next 3 years imo. If left with the option of pivoting like we did when we signed McCann, Ells and Beltran or simply rebuilding and figuring it out I would rather rebuild 110 percent. Soto and another signing extends the window No Soto and signing a bunch of 30+ year olds to gigantic contracts is not appealing to me when I know it's not going to make us locks.

What are inside jokes or catchphrases that only true Yankees fans would know? Is it possible to do in 6 words or less? The best ChatGPT could come up with is: “we don’t rebuild, we reload.” Can we do better?

During 2020 there was a New York Post with a cover image that had the Yankee logo with the coronavirus spikes in it.

Does anyone have an image of that they could send me? Need it for a project I'm working on. Would really appreciate.

Looks like it could be a race to the finish next season.

https://www.mlb.com/yankees/schedule/2025/fullseason

“Wearing his Yankee pullover sweatshirt and with the omnipresent wad of chaw in his left cheek, Catfish casually turned his head toward me, spit out a thick long stream of tobacco juice, and said: ‘Just throw strikes, kid. Throw strikes.'" -- Bob Tewksbury

Happy birthday to Bob Tewksbury, who followed Catfish Hunter's advice to 13 seasons in the majors and a career 1.4543 walks per nine innings -- better than Cy Young (1.489), Christy Mathewson (1.5938), and Greg Maddux (1.7952).

Alas, Tewksbury's fate epitomized the Boss George approach to team building in the 1980s. A 19th round pick in 1981, Tewksbury's rise through the Yankee minor league system was slowed by injuries but he opened eyes by going 9-5 with a 3.31 ERA as a rookie starter for the Yankees in 1986. After a slow start the following year, he found himself the latest promising young talent to be dealt for a mediocre veteran -- Steve Trout. A few years later, Tewksbury was an All-Star for the Cardinals, and Trout was retired.

And so we can add Tewksbury to the list of Yankee prospects -- with Fred McGriff, Willie McGee, Jose Rijo, Doug Drabek, Al Leiter, and Jay Buhner -- who found success elsewhere.

Robert Alan Tewksbury was born November 30, 1960, in Concord, New Hampshire, and attended Merrimack Valley High School in Penacook. The tiny village -- only about 1,200 people today -- coincidentally also was the hometown of 1930s Yankee third baseman Red Rolfe.

The Yankees were originally looking at drafting Tewksbury out of high school, the right-hander told Murray Chass of The New York Times in a 1986 interview. The Yankees even brought him to the Stadium as they considered taking him in the 1978 draft:

"The Yankees invited me for a tryout at Yankee Stadium, and I was out there shagging flies during batting practice and throwing in the bullpen," he recalled. "I met Bob Lemon and Catfish Hunter and after I worked out, I showered, got something to eat and talked to Mr. Butterfield, the farm director. They wanted me to sign. Then I talked to Mr. Steinbrenner in his office. It was a big thrill, a kid from New Hampshire meeting the owner of the Yankees. They gave me a jacket and a hat and then I went to the airport in Mr. Steinbrenner's limousine."

("Mr. Butterfield" was Jack Butterfield, the Yankees' Director of Player Development and Scouting from 1976 to 1979. Butterfield was killed in a car accident at age 50; his son, Brian, was a Yankees minor leaguer from 1979 to 1983, then the Yankees' first base coach from 1994 to 1995; he also has had several stints as a manager in the Yankees farm system.)

Tewksbury told the Yankees not to waste a draft pick on him -- he was accepting a scholarship to Rutgers University in pursuit of a childhood dream to be the first in his family to go to college. (The Yankees' #1 pick in 1978? Previously forgotten Yankee Rex Hudler!)

But, homesick, Tewksbury dropped out of Rutgers after just two months and returned home, getting a job at a mail-order bird seed factory, according to a January interview with Baseball America's Kyle Bandujo. He ran into his old baseball coach, who wasn't happy to see his former phenom working in a factory instead of on a mound. "He kind of looked at me and said, 'What are you doing here?'," Tewksbury said.

Tewksbury then enrolled at Saint Leo University, a Division II school in Florida. Though his numbers weren't exactly dominating -- in his final season, he went 7-5 with a 3.08 ERA in 12 starts, with 43 walks and 44 strikeouts in 79 innings -- he was a two-time All-Conference selection. Unnoticed by other teams, the Yankees remembered the high school kid they'd had at the Stadium three years earlier and took a flier on him in the second-to-last round of the 1981 draft, taking him 493rd out of 519 players selected.

(1981 was an interesting draft for the Yankees. Our first pick was in the 2nd round, and we took... John Elway out of Stanford University. Yes, that John Elway. We also got future major leaguers Eric Plunk, Mike Pagliarulo, and Fred McGriff. Elway would of course pursue a Hall of Fame NFL career; Plunk would be traded in 1984 to the A's as part of the package for Rickey Henderson, but we'd get him back in 1989 when we traded Henderson back to the A's; Pagliarulo would be a Yankee regular for six years, putting up 5.1 bWAR before being traded to the Padres for yet another veteran pitcher, Walt Terrell; and McGriff would be traded in 1982 for washed-up reliever Dale Murray).

Tewksbury was never the hardest throwing prospect, and injuries -- elbow surgery in 1982, a strained rotator cuff in 1983, and a pulled groin in 1985 -- hampered his development. But between injuries he had some outstanding numbers, like his 15-4, 1.88 ERA season with the A-Ball Fort Lauderdale Yankees in 1982. With Triple-A Columbus in 1985, he went 3-0 with a 1.02 ERA -- five earned runs in 44 innings -- in six starts.

Tewksbury figured to be back in the minors in 1986 as the Yankees had loaded up on veterans for the starting rotation, with six starters in camp: Ron Guidry, Ed Whitson, Joe and Phil Niekro, Britt Burns, and Tommy John. Whichever one didn't make it would be the next man up. But in spring training, Burns and John got hurt, and Phil Niekro struggled mightily. So Burns and John went to the Disabled List, and Niekro to the waiver wire. (Burns, acquired that off-season from the White Sox, had a career-ending hip injury; John was out until May with a bad back.) Tewksbury, on the strength of an outstanding spring training -- a 0.93 ERA in 29 innings -- became the fourth starter, and previously forgotten Yankee Dennis Rasmussen was the fifth.

Tewksbury was so nervous on the night before his major league debut that he couldn't sleep. So he did what he had done since he was a kid -- he chalked out a strike zone on the side of a building and started throwing pitches.

“I'm throwing the ball against this building. A patrol car went by and saw me. He’s like, ‘What the hell are you doing?’ I'm like, ‘Oh, I'm Bob Tewksbury. I'm pitching tomorrow for the Yankees.’”

He took the mound at Yankee Stadium on April 11, 1986 and got the win, allowing two runs in 7 1/3 innings. (Mike Pagliarulo hit a two-run home run for New York.)

When the 25-year-old rookie left the game with one out in the eighth inning for reliever Rod Scurry, the Yankee Stadium crowd gave him a standing ovation. Tewksbury called it "the biggest thrill of my life."

A month earlier, after an impressive start in spring training, Yankee fans in Fort Lauderdale had given Tewksbury a standing ovation. Thinking he'd get razzed by the Yankee veterans for acknowledging an ovation during spring training, Tewksbury kept his head down as he walked to the dugout. The Yankee veterans razzed him anyway, for ignoring his adoring fans. "The guys busted my balls about it," Tewksbury recalled years later. Now, as he walked off the mound to the roar of Yankee Stadium, Tewksbury made sure to tip his cap -- to the left, to the right, and straight ahead. "They fined me in kangaroo court for overzealous hat tipping," Tewksbury said with a laugh.

In the third start of his career, on April 22, 1986, Tewksbury nearly triggered a brawl with the Kansas City Royals. In the top half of the second inning, Royals starter Mark Gubicza had buzzed Willie Randolph inside, and in the bottom half, Tewksbury responded by throwing one high and tight to Hal McRae. Home plate umpire Larry McCoy warned both teams to knock it off.

Then, in the eighth -- with the Yankees up 5-1 with a runner on third and one out -- Tewksbury hit Willie Wilson on the arm on an 0-2 pitch. Given the circumstances, it didn't seem like it was intentional, but Wilson started toward the mound, exchanging words with Tewksbury. The Royals center fielder was then confronted by Yankees catcher Ron Hassey, and the benches emptied. When it was all over, Wilson was ejected, and Tewksbury left the game with an injured finger sustained during all the pushing and shoving.

After the game, Tewksbury was asked what he said to Wilson.

"I asked him what he was coming out for. I certainly didn't want to hit him. That's the last thing I'd do on an 0-2 pitch, with a four-run lead and George Brett coming up next. I was trying to strike him out."

Yankee veteran pitcher Ed Whitson heard it differently, however: "I think the best line was when Tewk told Wilson, 'I didn't want to hit you. You're an instant out.'" (Wilson came into the game hitting .200/.211/.273; he drew a walk off Tewksbury in the first, flew out in the third, and struck out in the sixth before getting plunked in the eighth.)

After the dust settled, Dave Righetti came on and struck out Brett, and the Yankees won it, 5-1.

Tewksbury was 2-1 with a 3.33 ERA at the end of April, but left his start on April 27 after six innings with a sore forearm. In May, he had a 5.30 ERA and 1.714 WHIP in 18 2/3 innings; after lasting just 2 1/3 innings against the Seattle Mariners on May 28, Tewksbury was banished to the bullpen for two weeks. He returned to the rotation on June 13 and held the Orioles to one run on four hits in six innings, and pitched well until a disastrous five hit, four run, three and two-thirds innings performance against the Minnesota Twins. The Yankees sent him back to Columbus for two starts, where he allowed three runs in 10 innings, and called him back up when rosters expanded in September. Over the final month he was 3-1 with a 2.63 ERA in five starts and one relief appearance, and overall, 9-5 with a 3.31 ERA (124 ERA+) and 1.343 WHIP in 130 1/3 innings, good for 2.3 bWAR.

Tewksbury was named the Yankees' third starter for 1987 but in his first three appearances was torched for 11 runs on 19 hits in eight innings, and sent to Columbus. There he went 6-1 with a 2.53 ERA and 1.058 WHIP in 11 starts. Called back up on June 21, Tewksbury was better (4.97 ERA, 1.303 WHIP), but the Yankees were ready to move on. On July 13, the Yankees dealt Tewksbury and minor leaguers Rich Scheid and Dean Wilkins to the Chicago Cubs for veteran Steve Trout.

"The Yankees' acquisition of lefthander Steve Trout from the Chicago Cubs was a shrewd trade that increased their chances to win the pennant. The three pitchers given up by the Yankees, Bob Tewksbury and minor leaguers Rich Scheid and Dean Wilkins, certainly weren't in the team's immediate plans. Tewksbury, who appears to be a marginal major leaguer and is too sensitive for the pressured Yankees environment, had fallen into disfavor." -- Yankees' beat writer Moss Klein

Trout, who was two weeks shy of his 30th birthday when the deal was made, is not related to Mike Trout but he is the son of Dizzy Trout, a two-time All-Star pitcher with the Detroit Tigers in the 1940s. Dizzy's best season was 1944, when he went 27-14 with a 2.12 ERA (167 ERA+) and 1.127 WHIP in 352 1/3 innings pitched, and was runner-up in the MVP balloting (no Cy Young Award in those days) to teammate Hal Newhouser.

Steve's best season came 40 years later and was considerably less impressive: 13-7 with a 3.41 ERA (114 ERA+) and 1.389 WHIP in 190 innings. And overall, he had been exactly league average: 74-75 with a 100 ERA+ in 1,293 2/3 career innings.

But so far in 1987, he was 6-3 with a 3.00 ERA (142 ERA+) and 1.320 WHIP in 75 innings. Steinbrenner was ecstatic to get him. He barged into manager Lou Piniella's office and announced:

"Lou, I just won you the pennant. I got you Steve Trout."

Alas, it didn't work out that way. In his first four starts as a Yankee, Trout went 0-3. The Yankees tried him as a reliever, then back to the rotation, then back to the bullpen again. Overall, he was 0-4 with a 6.60 ERA in 46 1/3 innings as a Yankee, about as good as Tewksbury would pitch for the Cubs (0-4, 6.50 ERA in 18 innings). After the season, the Yankees traded Trout to the Mariners (along with Henry Cotto) for Lee Guetterman, Clay Parker, and Wade Taylor.

The Tewksbury for Trout trade ranks up there with Ted Lilly for Jeff Weaver, Fred McGriff for Dale Murray, and of course Jay Buhner for Ken Phelps as one of the worst in Yankees history. But only retrospectively. At the time, it looked like a loser for both sides as Tewksbury lasted just three starts and four relief appearances with the Cubs in 1987 before going on the disabled list with a sore shoulder; he started the following year in the minors, then was called up in May, made one start, and underwent season-ending shoulder surgery.

The Cardinals signed him as a minor league free agent in 1989. Still recovering from his shoulder surgery, he spent most of that season in the minors, going 13-5 with a 2.43 ERA and 1.079 WHIP in 189 innings. As a September call-up, he had a 3.30 ERA in four starts and three relief appearances.

In 1990, newly hired St. Louis Cardinals manager Joe Torre told Tewksbury he would be in the rotation.

“Tewksie, I believe in you. You can pitch, and win, at this level.” -- Joe Torre

There he finally found success, going 67-46 with a 3.48 ERA (108 ERA+) and 1.210 WHIP in 968 2/3 innings. His best season came in 1992 at age 31, when he went 16-5 with a 2.16 ERA (158 ERA+) and 1.017 WHIP in 233 innings.

In a 1992 interview with the Tampa Bay Times, Tewksbury credited his career turn-around by making some simple changes regarding his mental health:

"Real little things. Like taking the bus to the ballpark instead of coming early and pacing and worrying. I can take a nap now in the afternoon. I just started to be more fresh mentally."

After retiring at age 37 following the 1998 season, Tewksbury earned a master's degree in psychology from Boston University and became a mental skills coach. He also wrote a book, Ninety Percent Mental about mastering the mental side of the game.

"There’s so much down time and this game is so result-based, and the combination of the two causes a lot of anxiety. Just to be able to have someone talk about it with can relieve some of that pressure," Tewksbury told USA Today in 2018. "The demands of the player have become different. They’re at the clubhouse earlier, the games are longer, and when the game is over, they just shut down."

Tewksbury recorded some advice for players used by the Red Sox, Giants, and Cubs. In 2022, a year after being traded from the Cubs to the Yankees, Anthony Rizzo said: “I listen to his stuff even now. When I get into a rut, I’ll throw on tracks 1 through 11, put it on repeat and fall asleep listening to it.”

Tewksbury also advised players not to look at video during games, which most do after every at-bat or inning.

"It just reinforces the negative, and puts more pressure on yourself," Tewksbury said. "The use of video should be used as a tool to review after performance, not during performance. You know what you did wrong. Why do you have to reinforce that?"

Have A Little Tewk

• Tewksbury had to reinvent himself as a pitcher after all his shoulder and elbow injuries, becoming a pitch-to-contact control artist. "I always wanted to make the hitters hit the ball and use my defense. I wasn't afraid of contact," he said. "I knew my mechanics and I had good concentration. Those are combinations any pitcher can use nowadays to have good control."

• According to the Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers, Tewksbury’s fastball (a sinking two-seamer) topped out in the mid-80s, but he set it up with a variety of off speed breaking balls, primarily a biting low-80s slider and a tantalizing mid-70s curveball. He’d get ahead with the breaking stuff, then throw the fastball inside at the batter’s hands.

• Tewks would throw even slower at times — memorably twice getting out Mark McGwire with 40-something mph eephus pitches during his 70 HR season in 1998. Tewksbury’s son teasingly nicknamed the slow-pitch softball offering “The Dominator.” He once threw four of them in a row to Albert Belle, finally getting him to pop out. Belle spent the rest of the game glaring at him from the top of the dugout steps!

• In December 1985 -- when he was still a prospect waiting for his first call-up to the majors -- Tewksbury had a dream where Lou Piniella named him the Opening Day starter. In the dream, Tewksbury said, veterans Ron Guidry and Phil Niekro were staring at him, like, 'why him?', and in response Tewksbury thought, 'Yeah... why me?' Then he woke up.

• At the time, Tewksbury was working three offseason jobs -- a clerk in a sporting goods store, a part-time special education teacher, and a fitness center instructor -- to supplement his $9,900 annual income as a minor league baseball player. Four months later, Tewksbury was starting in Yankee Stadium... but it was the fourth game of the 1986 season, not Opening Day.

• Tewksbury grew up poor in New Hampshire -- as a kid the lived in a trailer, sharing one end of it with his two brothers. "We moved to a double-wide trailer after my youngest brother was born," he said.

• He said the worst thing about pitching for the Yankees was driving in New York City. "I was scared to death driving in New York," he later recalled. "The good news is I had a shitty car. If anyone hit it, it didn't matter." He said it was a two-toned brown 1978 Mercury Zephyr.

• To celebrate getting a win in that first major league start, George Steinbrenner presented Tewksbury with a magnum of champagne. In a 2023 interview, Tewksbury said he hadn't opened it yet -- it's on a table in his home with some memorabilia from his career.

• Tewksbury made the Yankee roster in 1986 in part because of the release of the 46-year-old Phil Niekro. (Niekro then signed with the Indians and pitched two more seasons in the bigs.) "Maybe if I wasn't throwing so well this spring, they'd have a job for him. But that's out of my control. I did the best I could and it just happened I took his spot," Tewksbury said. "I got to share some of his experiences. I got to watch him. Hopefully, it rubs off on you."

• Niekro ended his career in 1987 with the Atlanta Braves; as a rookie with the Milwaukee Braves in 1964, Niekro played with the 43-year-old Warren Spahn; Spahn made his debut in 1942 with the Boston Braves. One of Spahn's teammates in Boston was Paul Waner, who played against Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in the 1927 World Series.

• Trout, the pitcher acquired for Tewksbury, was bombed in his first Yankees' start on July 19, 1987 for five runs on nine hits and a walk in five innings as the Yankees were destroyed by the Rangers, 20-3. Even worse, Don Mattingly's eight-game home run streak came to an end as the captain was held to a single and a double. Donnie Baseball's home runs in eight consecutive games set an American League record and tied the major league record set by Dale Long of the Pirates in 1956; it was subsequently tied by Ken Griffey Jr. of the Mariners in 1993. Over the eight games, Mattingly was 17-for-37 (.460) with 11 runs, two doubles, 10 home runs, and 21 runs batted in!

• In 1992, Tewksbury made the National League All-Star team as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. Asked by a reporter if he ever thought he'd go to the All-Star Game, Tewksbury replied: "Not as a player, anyway."

• The only Bronx Bomber on the 1992 A.L. roster was centerfielder Roberto Kelly, but Tewksbury was one of many former or future Yankees on the two teams: Wade Boggs, Kevin Brown, Ivan Rodriguez, Chuck Knoblauch, Robin Ventura, Jose Canseco, Ruben Sierra, Roger Clemens, Jack McDowell, and Mike Mussina from the A.L. squad, and Gary Sheffield, Tony Fernandez, David Cone, and Lee Smith from the N.L. (Plus manager Bobby Cox was a Yankee infielder in the late 1960s, and first baseman Fred McGriff was a Yankee prospect who never made it to the Show in pinstripes.)

• In addition, Tewksbury was on the MLB All-Star Team that played in Japan following the World Series. Future Yankees on the roster included Cecil Fielder, Ruben Sierra, Wade Boggs, Jack McDowell, and Roger Clemens. The Japanese team included future major leaguers Hideo Nomo and Kazuhiro Sasaki.

• On July 8, 1994, Tewksbury threw a Maddux -- a 90-pitch complete game shutout. He threw it against... Greg Maddux, who gave up two runs on six hits and 118 pitches in nine innings!

• Also in 1994, he played himself in the movie The Scout.

• There was another New Hampshire kid coming up through the Yankee farm system a couple years ahead of Tewksbury: Joe Lefebvre. A third round pick of the Yankees in 1977, Lefebvre had a .292/.389/.520 line with the Double-A West Haven Yankees in 1979, and had 150 at-bats with the Yankees in 1980. A few months before the Yankees took Tewksbury in the 1981 draft, Lefebvre was traded to the Padres as part of a four-player package that brought back Jerry Mumphrey and John Pacella. Lefebvre was later a minor league coach, including for the Yankees in the early 1990s.

• In addition to Tewksbury and Lefebvre, there are two other Concord connections to the Yankees: Matt Blake and Brian Sabean. Both are graduates of Concord High School. Blake was a scout for the Yankees before being named a pitching coordinator in the Cleveland Indians system in 2015; in 2019, he was hired as Yankees pitching coach. Sabean, an executive advisor to GM Brian Cashman, also got his start as a Yankee scout. He was general manager of the San Francisco Giants from 1997 to 2014 before rejoining the Yankees in 2023. Bringing it all together, Lefebvre was a senior adviser to Sabean with the Giants.

• In a 2023 interview with the Concord Monitor, Tewksbury fondly remembered playing for Sabean in American Legion Baseball and then at St. Leo University in Florida. “He wasn’t big-time at all. He was a Concord kid that loved baseball,” Tewksbury said. “He was hard on you. He had high expectations. You didn’t have a lot of wiggle room for mistakes.”

• In 1998, Tewksbury was inducted into the Sunshine State Conference Hall of Fame in recognition of his career at Saint Leo College. Other Yankees in the SSC HoF are Steve Balboni, Tino Martinez, Jim Mecir, and Sam Militello. Former Eckerd College coach Bill Livesey, Director of Scouting for the Yankees from 1991 to 1996 and later a front office executive, was inducted in 2022.

• During his many years in the minors, Tewksbury said the "buzz" in the stadium wasn't always from excited fans. Sometimes the crowds were so sparse that the loudest sound was the hum of the electrical transformers powering the lights. Tewksbury dubbed it the "transformer crowd."

• In 2017, Tewksbury ranked presidential pitches for Sports Illustrated. He ranked George W. Bush's first pitch at Yankee Stadium prior to Game 3 of the World Series -- six weeks after 9/11 -- as the tops of all time, followed by George H.W. Bush's first pitch on Opening Day in 1989, Jimmy Carter's prior to Game 6 of the 1995 World Series, and John F. Kennedy's Opening Day toss from the stands in 1961. He said Barack Obama's ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day 2010 had "no fewer than four or five balks," though he did salute the president for his loyalty to his White Sox by wearing their cap at a Nationals game.

• Tewksbury wore #35 while he was with the Yankees. It has been worn since 2021 by Clay Holmes; other long-time wearers are Michael Pineda (2014-2017), Mike Mussina (2001-2008), Clay Bellinger (1999-2000), John Wetteland (1995-1996), and Lee Guetterman (1988-1992). It also was worn by previously forgotten Yankees Andy Stankiewicz, Don Gullett, and Spud Chandler.

• Remember the 4.8 magnitude earthquake that shook New Jersey on April 5, 2024? Aaron Boone said he and John Flaherty were behind the batting cage and talking about Bob Tewksbury when the earthquake happened... and then he learned the epicenter of the quake was Tewksbury, New Jersey. "You can't make that up," Boone said. "We realized that about five minutes later. I said, 'We were just talking about Bob!'" NJ.com's Randy Miller asked Boone why they were talking about Bob Tewksbury, and Boone cryptically replied: “I don’t want to go too far down that road. It’s not that interesting.” Now I really want to know!

"The first time I got to Yankee Stadium, the first thing I did was I went out on the mound and looked at how high the seating was. Then, I remembered my high school field and just thought, ‘It's the same distance to the plate. It's just the environment that I have to control.’ At that time, I was locked in, and it was pretty easy to do." -- Bob Tewksbury

Tewksbury, after five years in the Yankee farm system, lasted just a season and a half in pinstripes, going 10-9 with a 4.01 ERA (104 ERA+) and 1.399 WHIP in 163 2/3 innings. It took Tewk a few years to get going, but once he did, he was exactly the kind of capable innings eater the Yankees needed in the early 1990s -- 67-46, 3.48 ERA (108 ERA+), 968 2/3 innings in six seasons with the Cardinals.

It's too bad we gave up on him and so many other prospects in the 1980s, but on the other hand, those trades taught Gene Michael a valuable lesson about holding onto young players... and led to the foundation of the 1990s dynasty!

2025 schedule has the Yankees playing the angels and dodgers back to back on the road. Dose anyone have advice on hotel location and cite seeing locations. Not trying to blow the bank but this seams like the best opportunity to see both teams in the same stop. If anybody’s been out there for games and has good recommendations please lmk. Also if your going could use a group to roll with/ fight drunk dodgers fans with lol (jk unless they start lol)

I really don’t. To me he’s going to the highest bidder and that will be the richest team or the richest owner. The Red Sox stuff seems like classic Boras. Still all these Latin reports saying he’s going to Boston are concerning.

Thoughts?

Just curious, is there a number that would make you okay with the Yankees not signing Soto? Like at what point would you say it’s not worth it? 700? 750?

I was wondering in wake of other teams being hesitant to spend money on free agents due to their TV rights being in limbo in recent years, did the Yankees having to buy the YES Network back from Disney during the 2018-19 offseason stop them from pursuing Harper and Machado?

Cause I remember the rumors of Disney buying all the Fox movie properties and the sports RSNs came out around early 2018 and a week after the World Series ended the Martino report about the Yankees not being as interested in Harper and Machado came out. I still find it peculiar that the Yankees gave up on Harper and Machado that early in the offseason. 

It was also reported that the Yankees had to pay either close to a billion or over a billion for their current stake in the network. And that deal didn’t finalized until August 2019. Like I said, is this a coincidence or do you think they were actively saving money to buy back the YES Network that offseason?

The Dodgers are going to probably be way above the Cohen tax. They don't have a Steve Cohen or even the Rodgers family running the team. They're an investor group that's wanting to win as many championships as possible. The Yankees have to have this mindset.

Re-signed Soto, Gleyber, Verdugo, and Holmes, and Kahnle

The starting pitching staff is 6 deep. The bullpen is set with Luke Weaver. Maybe they even bring back Loaisiga off an injury.

Verdugo moves to 4th outfielder and insurance for Dominguez. You also still have Grisham.

Gleyber looked great at leadoff so that continues.

I think the only one you can’t bring back is Rizzo. Maybe they swap him for Goldschmidt on a 1 year deal who actually hit well in the 2nd half and could be a nice platoon with Ben Rice.

That team would still be the overwhelming favorite to win the AL again.

Part 3——

Offseason with and without Soto:

-Including Arbitration estimates-

Start at $231 million (after non tender deadline). Budget of $301 million.

-Trades & Signings & Transactions with and without Soto-do either way-

-Release IF-D. Lemahieu (eat $30 million dollars) ($15 Million AAV) -Already part of $231 million figure

Trade #1-

To ARI-SP-Stroman, OF-F. Villorio

To NYY-SP-J. Montgomery

Deduct-$18.5 Million (Stroman) Add- $22.5 Million (Montgomery) DIFF- $4 Million-Add

Trade #2—

To WAS-SP-C. Schmidt

To NYY- 2B-L. Garcia Jr. , OF-T. White

—Washington signs IF-Adames—

Deduct-$5.5 Million (Schmidt) Add-$ 5.5 Million (Garcia Jr. ) DIFF-$0 Million

Trade #3-

To NYY-SP-G. Crochet

To CWS-OF-S. Jones, SS-R. Arias, SP-C. Hampton, 1B-B. Rice, SP-H. Lalane

Deduct-$0 Million

Add-$3 Million

DIFF-$3 Million-Add

Trade #4

To MIA-SP-N. Cortes, OF-E. Pereira To NYY-RP-A. Nardi Add-$0 Deduct-$8.5 Million DIFF-$8.5 Million-Deduct

Sign 1B-C. Walker 2 yrs $45 million ($22.5 AAV)

I don’t want him on a 3 year deal. Avoid that as best as possible. Again I like him as a player, but I really don’t like 3+ year deals for non-superstars past 32 yrs old.

-Soto- Sign OF Soto 14 yrs/$658 Million ($47 AAV)-opt out after years 4,5, 8, 10

-With Soto only-

Sign RP-T. Hill-1 yr/$2 million

Total Salary amount-$301 million

-Lineup-

SS-R-Volpe RF-L-Soto LF-R-Judge 3B-L-Chisholm 1B-R-Walker C-L-Wells DH-R-Stanton CF-S-Dominguez 2B-L-Garcia

Bench:

C-R-Trevino IF-R-Durbin OF-L-Grisham IF/OF-S-Cabrera

-UTL C. Durbin first man up w/injury

Pitching:

Starters:

SP-R-Cole SP-L-Crochet SP-R-Gil SP-L-Rodon SP-L-Montgomery

-SP-W. Warren first man up w/injury-

-Relief Pitchers-

CL-R-Weaver SU-L-Nardi SU-R-Hamilton RP-R-Effross RP-R. Leiter RP-L-Hill RP-R-Brubaker RP-R-C. Beeter

-R-Cousins first man up w/injury

Without Soto’s $47 million & Hill’s $2 million ($49 million)

-Everything else stays the same except add-

Move J. Chisholm to LF

Sign IF-W. Adames for 3B. Sign to 5 yr/$132.5 Million ($26.5 AAV)

Sign RP-D. Robertson to 1 yr/$9 Million Sign RP-T. Scott to 4 yr/$56 Million ($14 AAV)

Not as good of a team as with Soto (Obviously), but still well rounded & competitive.

-Lineup-

LF-L-Chisholm RF-R-Judge C-L-Wells 1B-R-Walker CF-S-Dominguez 3B-R-Adames DH-R-Stanton 2B-L-Garcia SS-R-Volpe

-Bench-

C-R-Trevino UTL-R-Durbin OF-L-Grisham IF/OF-S-Cabrera

-Pitching-

SP-R-Cole SP-L-Crochet SP-R-Gil SP- L-Rodon SP-L-Montgomery

Bullpen (lock down)

CL-R-Weaver SU-L-Scott SU-R-Robertson SU-L-Nardi RP-R-Hamilton RP-R-Leiter RP-R-Effross RP-R-C. Beeter

Notable minor league call-ups for injuries:

C-R-C.Navarez IF-R-O. Peraza OF-R-D. Ellis SP-R-W. Warren RP-L-B. Shields RP-R-J. Cousins

https://x.com/BRWalkoff/status/1861449336279691376

Would you accept Arenado on the Yankees for the right price to play 1B or 3B?