YANKS NEED TO FIX THE HOT CORNER, BUT ARE THEY LOOKING IN THE RIGHT PLACES?

The Yankees need to upgrade from Ryan McMahon if they are going to improve their infield. McMahon has been a disappointment that the Yankees can no longer afford. The stronger defender he was once thought of is no longer present on the field and his bat is non-existent. So the Yankees are shopping for a new man at the hot corner.

I'm just not sure they are shopping in the right places, but that is also a Yankee tradition. An infectious tradition that never seems to end because Brian Cashman doesn't know how to make meaningful upgrades anymore. The Yankees are tied to two players, Japanese star Teruaki Sato of the Hanshin Tigers and Texas Rangers Josh Jung, read more HERE.

Interesting how Sato is believed to be the answer to the offense the Yankees desperately need, but the Yankees have hesitations about his defensive capabilities. Are the Yankees hypnotized by Sato's Triple Crown award? Maybe. His batting average looks enticing but his high strikeout rate and not a lot of walks to go with them. It just sounds like a higher batting average with uncertain defensive capabilities on the biggest stage of Major League Baseball.

Then there is Jung, who is riding the hype of the best season he's ever had with a .299 BA, 12 home runs, 42 RBIs in 444 plate appearances. Oh how the Yankees would salivate to have a hitter with that kind of batting average that isn't named Aaron Judge. We need guys who can be productive, but we also need guys that can stay healthy and be good defenders and that's where I worry about Jung. 

In his earlier years, he was considered a steady infielder blessed with a strong arm and good instincts, but things have really changed since. Jung's defense was especially bad in 2026. He played 847 innings at the hot corner, and -12 defensive runs saved, which would have been the worst among all big league third basemen if he had logged enough playing time to be eligible for the dishonored title. It's like another version of Anthony Volpe at the end of the infield, and we certainly don't need anymore of those. I predict the Yankees are going to give Volpe another chance at second base, so Jung at third base will be an open invitation for any team to use the left side of the infield like an open highway.

The Yankees NEED a new third baseman. It's been a need for a long time so the Yankees can't afford to ignore again. I just need the Yankees to stop making the same mistakes over and over again and bringing in defective players for band aid fixes that never work. 

WHY is that too much to ask for?

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

THE YANKEES AREN'T GIVING UP ON STANTON YET!

 

Is that a visual of what Giancarlo Stanton has left in his tank? Or is that a running meter for fans patience? Pick one. You can make an argument either way.

Maybe the Yankees are trending closer to that "empty" mark, but I am not gonna hold my breath just yet. They don't exactly have a good track record for doing what is best for the team. If they did, we wouldn't have to deal with Austin Wells as our everyday catcher, Anthony Volpe back in the majors again potentially OR my personal favorite dumbass Jazz Chisholm with a lollipop in his mouth or useless Aaron Boone as manager.

For now, the Yankees are going to gamble and give Stanton a chance in Spring Training.....whenever that is and whatever that looks like once this lockout finally ends, read more HERE. Supposedly, Stanton isn't promised anything so if he shows up and hasn't done enough to keep a spot on this team the Yankees could cut him before the end of Spring Training.

But I'm not gonna hold my breath. It's not like the Yankees haven't cut guys before, we've seen it but this is a very different Yankees. It's run by a very different regime that is soft and incapable of making decisions that are best for the team to help them win. Hal Steinbrenner only thinks about money and precious profitability. If Stanton's still potent bat can drive in more cash by selling tickets he's gonna keep him, period.

I acknowledge that Stanton has a very potent bat. He can still hit, but he can't stay healthy so if he can't stay healthy that bat does us no good on the Injured List. That and it creates such a log jam on the roster because on the rare occasions that he is healthy he is a DH all day. At this point, his legs are not going to handle outfield duties. It just limits the Yankees abilities to run a well balanced and functional team.

His best days are behind him. The Yankees need to blow everything up and just create a new roster. We tried "run it back" and it doesn't work. We don't need to add Stanton back for yet another longshot that is never going to happen. We know how it ends, let's just cut the dead weight and skip the drama.

So based on the current state of the Yankees.....I guess that meter is just my patience level. It's on empty. I'm over it. NEXT!

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

THE YANKEES PUBLIC RELATIONS NIGHTMARE CONTINUES - BUT HAL DOESN'T CARE!

At what point, do the Yankees finally realize there is a serious problem and fix it? A problem that needs action to fix it and not just a bunch of "accountability" babble from Hal Steinbrenner. We've all been waiting for the day when hell freezes over....because that's when things MIGHT change. Maybe? Big fat maybe. Or maybe Hal needs to be blasted some more first.

He's certainly had enough blasting over the years, and especially lately. Here's a very recent breakdown of the Yankees getting criticized:

1. Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez got the recent Yankee ridicule started the night the Rays eliminated the Yankees on the Fox Sports post-game show.

2. Then Paul O'Neill gave some pointed commentary to Bob Klapisch on NJ.com HERE.

3. CC Sabathia and Dellin Betances discuss the Yankees that have no standards or expectations of excellence, HERE. 

4. Joe Girardi calls out the Yankees for having no fundamentals and a culture problem HERE.

5. Jorge Posada feels "unwelcome" around the Yankees so he stays away HERE.

6. Last but not least Brewers Manager Pat Murphy calls the Yankees a "horseshit team" HERE.

Sure, Pat Murphy is backpedaling on the "horseshit" comment but he still thinks it. Next up we have Hall of Famer Goose Gossage sharing his thoughts HERE. It's not the first time he's shared his brutally honest thoughts but it is his latest contribution. Sometimes it sounds like he doesn't even like the Yankees anymore, but "I love the Yankees! Are you kidding me? It's this whole regime that I don't like."

Another thing we can all agree on. This regime sucks. No fundamentals, no coaching, lots of coddling and then failure. He's tired of watching it. "Yankees coaches aren't allowed to coach. You get on a player, you're gone. When I was there, I saw the fundamentals were gone and we all know what was going to happen. Look what happened. Gerrit Cole didn't cover first base in the World Series." He's tired of watching the Yankees not do the small things that need to be done over a long season to win.

The older not modern methods that worked are not allowed. The guys that used the old methods and proved that they worked because they won with them can't bring those back either. When they show up as guest instructors they just stand in the corner to watch the analytical nerd methods that produce the same results over and over again.

More and more backlash coming from Yankees past. It all paints the same bad picture - but Hal continues to stand by and do nothing. Is this what rock bottom looks like? Serious question!

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

UNSENTIMENTAL PINSTRIPES: JORGE POSADA FEELS THE COLD SHOULDER

I'm that Yankee fan that sees any story surrounding the Core Four and I have to read it. It can be complete click bait, and I still have to read it. It brings me back to that time of greatness. That feeling that we truly had something special. I know I have lost that loving feeling, and it appears that one of the greats has lost that loving feeling too.

They don't make'em like Jorge Posada anymore. Nope, most of these guys these days are what I call "soft." They don't have that fire inside their bellies that makes them great. They aren't hungry and driven. Instead you get dopes like Jazz Chisholm that don't understand baseball fundamentals you learn in little league. Or a guy like Anthony Volpe that just makes error after error and sucks so bad but the Yankees refuse to give up on him. Or, you have weak "leaders" like Aaron Boone that have 15 minutes of fame, then call games and eventually become the "manager" of a storied franchise that can't win a championship but players really like him. He's a players manager....and a failed one at that.

That is nothing like the world Posada played in. That was competitive baseball with high expectations and accountability. Today it is coddling, hand holding and infinite chances. He says he doesn't fit in this new baseball world now. In fact, he feels like the Yankees just don't want him around anymore, read more HERE.

And his former teammate Joba Chamberlain of five years seems to share Posada's sentiments too, based on his posts on X anyway.

It is saying a lot coming from him. A statement like "I don't feel welcome when I go there, you know? Even in spring training, I don't feel like — I'm just like, I don't know, like, I don't feel welcome. I don't feel like they want me there, so I don't go" is not eloquent but it reads raw and real, to me. Jorge's last year was not a storybook ending at all, but that's certainly not how I choose to remember him. He was so much more than just one rough season.

So why would he feel this way? Serious question. He is one of the last pieces of a legacy. The Yankees we know now is not even a microscopic fraction of this. The Yankees should be BEGGING for him to share that passion and energy. He was a real player, not like these pansies we see today. He was a winner. He's nothing like this current culture of the game. He doesn't understand or relate to the mediocrity of Hal Steinbrenner's Yankees. Jorge is the guy that can change the culture from a "we won 93 games int he regular season, let's celebrate" to "we are World Series Champions again, let's celebrate!" He is the mindset Hal needs to fix this failing franchise.

Jorge and the Core Four have credentials that no one else on this team has, period. He knows what it takes to win. He has the knowledge, the Yankees should be soaking that up. There's a lot of 2011 wounds that need to heal here. It's sickening.

The Yankees can't afford to alienate such an important part of their history. We need more Posada influence. It worked. Just more proof of a screwed up Yankees franchise and decision makers that can't lead or win. What a disgrace.

This girl still loves Posada....and wants to see him in the Bronx. 

By the way, Casey's gonna go off on this topic over the next few days.  Stay tuned.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

RUMOR: YANKEES HAVE THEIR EYE ON A SECOND BASEMAN

The Yankees have a mess on their hands and it is going to hard for the Yankees to fix. I say it will be hard to fix because the Yankees are better at creating problems than they are at solving them. The Yankees have a big problem in the infield and lots of variables to consider. Good thing this lockout is going to give them lots of time to weigh all of their pros and cons.

Second base is going to be the hot spot for the Yankees. The Jazz Chisholm experiment didn't work. The Anthony Volpe experiment at shortstop failed so it shouldn't be reborn at second base so that leaves the questions of what are the Yankees going to do?

Well, they are kicking the tires on a reunion with Gleyber Torres, read more HERE. The Yankees have no good internal options that are ready for a promotion, so if you are looking for more young blood from the minors, it's not imminent. The Yankees need someone else with experience, who can handle the position and provide some stability. Gleyber at least has the experience part down.

I wouldn't say he has the stability part, either. It is hard to forget about all of the mistakes and booted balls. They are burned in my memory because he in fact, drove me crazy. He'd do something good and then minutes later erase it by doing something stupid. It's who he was....and probably still is. However, he did one thing that most of the roster didn't, he was a consistent hitter. He hit for average, and above his weight unlike Austin Wells.

The consistency piece is what the Yankees are desperate to find. Hal Steinbrenner just ripped the Yankees in his press conference last week. He blamed the offense for failing to hit in the absence of Aaron Judge this season. The Yankees need hitters for sure, but they need more than one and hitters more well rounded than Torres.

Torres has spent the last two seasons in Detroit, and if the Yankees can't land an upgrade by free agency or trade we could see a reunion. We've had our fair share of inconsistencies and bobbles already. If the Yankees want to fix what ails them, they need a new approach. I don't think the Yankees need a reunion with the guy that lacked versatility and refused to move to third base when the Yankees acquired Chisholm.

The Yankees need new and upgraded, not older, worn down and mediocre. Next, please!

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

MICHAEL KAY TRIES TO BE BLUNT ABOUT AARON BOONE - SORT OF

I don't get to listen to Michael Kay's show - or maybe I just don't make an effort these days. Either way, it's not high on my "to do" list. For some reason, I listened yesterday. After what I heard, I think I have fulfilled any desires to do so again for a very long time.

Look, I have nothing against Michael Kay. I don't always agree with what he says but that's a normal part of life. His latest episode though, I disagree with more than I agree with and it really left me feeling like Kay might be crazier than I already thought he was. Give it a listen if you missed it.

The non newsworthy story here is Aaron Boone is coming back next season. Is that really surprising news? It shouldn't be. He's still under contract and.....the Yankees have shown us for some insane reason they are sticking by him. They like him. He's the puppet they want. Why would we expect him to not come back for 2027? The Yankees just aren't that cutthroat.

But for Kay to say if Baboonie doesn't win the World Series next season he's done? I just don't see that at all. It's no secret that Baboonie has the support of Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole but also Cam Schlittler. The Yankees are going to listen to anything Judge has to say because.....they have. Yankee brass have also proven that poor results in the postseason don't matter. We've had nothing but humiliating defeats. It's okay to fail miserably in the postseason because Baboonie has a winning record in the regular season and Hal still makes his money with Wild Card merchandise sold. Mediocrity at its finest.

So for anyone to think this is Baboonie's "last chance saloon" as Kay called it....that's crazy talk. After the Yankees had an epic collapse in the World Series against the Dodgers they could've moved on. They should've moved on! But nope, the Yankees gave him a two-year extension. They rewarded him with an extension just because they made it to the World Series. Final results be damned. All of the poor fundamental errors against the Dodgers be damned. He's liked by the players and he's a good manager (insert sarcasm here).....let's bring him back!

Get real! If Hal Steinbrenner didn't think a change was needed after that humiliation it's not going to happen after 2027 unless suddenly Yankee fans stop spending their money. We SHOULD do that, but there won't be enough of us that will do that. 

Not for nothing, we do have a lockout coming in just over a month. Kay thinks baseball will be back in May, I am not sold on that prediction. If it is true though, Hal will just give kudos to Brian Cashman and Baboonie and say they had to work through trying times with a challenging season and just make excuses for them. Then it will be his argument that the Yankees need him back in 2028 for full seasons to get back to business.

Baboonie has survived nine seasons worth of chances. Hal is a man of no action. There's no logical reason to think 2027 is his last chance. I think Kay has hit a new level of KRAZY.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

JUDGEMENT CALL: JUDGE'S LOYALTY TO VOLPE IS NOT THE ACT OF A TRUE LEADER

 "If we were gonna go win a World Series, we needed Anthony Volpe on the team," Aaron Judge said after the Yankees were eliminated from the playoffs.

That's your captain speaking ladies and gentlemen, read more HERE. I've been sitting on this one for a few days and shaking my head repeatedly. We all know he can't handle shortstop. We watched him struggle for five seasons. Finally this season the Yankees figured out they couldn't ignore it anymore and George Lombard Jr took over but the Yankees gave Volpe a shot at second base also. Things are about to get interesting....

The Yankees are not expected to give Jazz Chisholm a qualifying offer, so he should be playing for another team next season (please!) so that leaves a hole at second base. The Yankees have no one waiting in the wings as a logical person to promote and there are few enticing free agents to target. So here we go again, after Aaron Judge gave his vote of confidence, does that mean the Yankees try a Volpe refresh at second?

It could be. If there is anyone on this team Yankees leadership is going to take feedback from seriously, it Judge. He's pulling for Volpe big time, and while I admire a leader standing up for his guys there's a line. You can still be supportive without putting both feet in, especially if it isn't best for the team. But he's going all in and might not be asking the questions a leader should.

"To handle that type of adversity, not only from the game, not playing your best, and then hearing it from fans, hearing from everybody and then for him to go down to Triple A, work on what he needed to and then come up here with a bang like he did, it just speaks volumes to his character," Judge said.

I can appreciate how Judge stands up for Volpe and speaks to his adversity. New York is not an easy place to play and he's right fans have been brutally honest about Volpe. But it is just that....honest. We've seen four full seasons of mess ups at shortstop. He had a short trip down to Triple-A and you know what, he should've busted his butt to get back to the big leagues. Someone is always waiting to take your place. Just because you want something bad enough doesn't mean it's just handed to you. It should be no different here. Earn the spot you want and continue to perform at a high level to keep it. That is what he has failed to do.

I will say character is important. Clubhouse chemistry is important. Everyone is going to root for the guy that everyone likes and gets along with. People rally around the guy with the good attitude as opposed to the arrogant guy who thinks he is better than everyone else. Character is important, but a spot on a team is not earned with just good character without consistency and productivity. It can't be one or the other. If it was just character everyone reading this blog could be a candidate for the Yankees, but we're not.

So I'm sorry Judge, but a player on this team needs to have a complete package. Character is cute, five years of errors with failures isn't. This is a business with a legacy, not a charity. It's time to move on.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

GIRARDI STEPS INTO THE BATTER'S BOX TO DEFEND BOONE & STRIKES OUT LOOKING!

File this story under "you just can't make this sh*t up!" Seriously. It's bananas. It's hard to find Aaron Boone defenders (especially on this site), but at least one does exist! It's a unicorn ladies and gentlemen!

Yankee fans are sick of Baboonie. He sucks, there is no sugar-coating this one. He's soft, can't manage a team and is the exact opposite of a leader but Joe Girardi defends him. There's no logical explanation to this but, Girardi says this was this was Baboonie's "best year of managing" and he's serious while the rest of us are laughing our asses off, you can read more HERE.

Maybe it was his best year of managing failure and chaos. I'll give him that. He had a lot of adversity to deal with but you know what....so does every manager! He doesn't get a high five for that. Injuries are a part of the game and they've been an obstacle since the beginning of baseball as we know it. Injuries are not the reason for the Yankees failure.

The lack of fundamentals and playing smart baseball is the reason for the Yankees failures. They do the same thing year after year. We've had nine years of this team living and dying by the long ball. They lack fundamentals. They can't play small ball, and they can't play smart baseball. How many stupid Jazz Chisholm quotes did we have to listen to after he botched a play that little leaguers can do? He was a disaster all season. Did Baboonie fix that? NO. He may have talked to Chisholm about it, but it certainly didn't work. It's a lack of accountability no matter how you slice it.

So this is my problem. Look at the pattern with Chisholm this season, how the hell is that his best year of managing? This failure falls on Baboonie. He's not solving the problem, he's trying to cover it up in hopes it won't show up again. Interestingly enough, Girardi does say that the Yankees have a culture problem, read more HERE. So who exactly is the one that cultivates culture? It's not the bat boy, it's the manager! How can you possibly be a good manager when you have a culture that lacks accountability? You can't! A good manager knows how to help their team thrive. That's not what Baboonie is doing. If he is going to argue the Yankees need a culture change, no one is going to disagree with him there. However, arguing for a culture change that includes keeping Baboonie is the dumbest thing he could ever say.

So basically Girardi is talking out of both sides of his mouth. He stepped up to the plate, tried to make a case for Baboonie and boy did he swing and miss. Epic failure.....just like another Yankees season.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

GIAN-GONE-LO! IT'S TIME FOR THE YANKEES TO SAY GOODBYE TO STANTON

It's time to blow everything up and start from scratch....and I mean everything. Say goodbye to dead weight in the front office, players and coaches on the field and that means some big names. I'm talking about Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman, but not just them. It's time to do it and do it right....

Aaron Judge deserves a legit chance at a championship and he isn't getting any younger. The idea of "running it back" with the same team and giving it another shot is just stupid. The insanity must stop. Some tough decisions need to be made, and one of those is his good friend Giancarlo Stanton. It's time.

Cutting someone isn't easy. The Yankees had to do it with DJ LeMahieu and Alex Rodriguez only to name a couple. It happens. They aren't easy decisions to make and they becomes especially difficult when they are still obligated to pay those players but, sometimes it is what is best for the team and that is the case here.

Stanton has been a Yankee for nine seasons now. Out of a possible 1,356 games he's only played in 764 (the 2020 season was shorted to only 60 games due to the Covid pandemic). He's been plagued by injuries over the years and this year was no exception. When Stanton is on, he's on. He's a force to be reckoned with but like Judge, he's not getting any younger and I am tired of tying up a roster spot with a guy that can't stay healthy. It doesn't get easier as anyone ages but Stanton is too focused on his heavy lifting instead of mobility and stretching. It's a problem the Yankees just can't afford anymore.

It's time to cut our losses and release Stanton. A long lockout is coming, and whenever we come out the other side of this and are ready to play Stanton just doesn't have a place on this team. I've had too many people tell me it makes more sense for the Yankees to keep him and I couldn't disagree more. All I keep hearing about is how Stanton's power is still there and with only one more season the Yankees might as well bring him into whatever Spring Training looks like next season post lockout and see if he can contribute anything, even if it is just as a DH.

But why should that be enough? The only way Stanton contributes is by staying healthy because it takes him for freaking ever to get his timing back when he does return from IL stints and he hits .250 because occasionally he runs into one. He tempts you with power occasionally otherwise he just clogs up the bench and the bases with no ability to run the bases. The whole idea of keeping him to see what he has left in the tank is the exact philosophy that got us into this mess. We have the data, it ain't good and it's not going to change.

A roster is valuable and has limited space. If the only thing Stanton can do is DH and go to the IL, that's not worth $15 million. If he had a proven track record of 500-600 productive at bats a season, it might be different. But he hasn't so he is a waste of a spot on the bench. Stanton can’t even run to first without tweaking something. My grandmother runs faster than him.

Not to mention, I am tired of tying up the DH spot with one person. The Yankees would greatly benefit having that spot more available so they can give guys a partial rest. It would help the Yankees avoid the infinitely long IL list. It's called smarter baseball.

So as much as some people may hate it, it's time to dump Stanton's dead weight. Bench space is too valuable to carry a guy who really lives on the IL. There's no convincing me otherwise!

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj