After suffering a four-game sweep at Fenway Park, the Yankees are now 9.5 games behind the Red Sox for first place in the AL East. New York has posted only a 18-20 record over its last 38 games, and this slump has not only seemingly put the division title out of reach, but also raised some concern that a turn-around is needed just to ensure a wild card berth. As the New York Post’s Joel Sherman puts it, “the Red Sox are no longer the Rivals in 2018. The A’s and Mariners are.” The Yankees are just 2.5 games ahead of the red-hot Athletics for home field advantage in the wild card game, while Seattle (who also been struggling lately) is 2.5 games behind Oakland. It’s worth remembering, of course, that the Yankees are still 68-42 on the season and one rough series doesn’t write them off as World Series contenders, particularly since the club will eventually get key players like Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez back from the disabled list.
Some more from around the AL East…
- While Chris Sale won’t be activated from the disabled list as soon as he’s eligible, Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters (including the Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato) that the delay isn’t due to any setback with Sale’s shoulder. The team was simply lining up its rotation so that Sale wouldn’t be starting, and thus batting, during an interleague series in Philadelphia next week. The ace left-hander will likely make his return to start against the Orioles on August 11 or 12, Cora said.
- In other Red Sox health news, Eduardo Rodriguez threw 30 pitches off a mound on Sunday and came away “feeling good,” he told reporters (including Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe). While it isn’t yet certain what the next step in the left-hander’s recovery process will be, or even if Rodriguez will be able to return before August is through, Sunday’s throwing session was a good sign given that Rodriguez looked to have suffered a particularly severe ankle sprain back in mid-July. Rodriguez hopes to come back as a starter but is open to pitching out of the bullpen; Abraham notes that returning as a reliever would likely mean a shorter rehab process. One would think that Rodriguez (3.44 ERA, 9.5 K/9, 3.44 K/BB over 104 2/3 IP) has pitched well enough that the Sox would want him back in the rotation, but with Nathan Eovaldi now in the fold, Rodriguez may have more value in a Boston bullpen that currently lacks any left-handers.
- With the Orioles now in full rebuild mode, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko looks ahead to what the team might have in store for the offseason. The O’s could quite possibly continue to move veterans such as Mark Trumbo or Tim Beckham if any trade partners could be found, or potentially keep a familiar face around to serve as an experienced clubhouse voice on what is shaping up to be a much younger roster in 2019.
- It also remains to be seen if the Rule 5 Draft will continue to be a significant part of the Orioles’ offseason strategy. The O’s have put a notable focus on acquiring young talent via the Rule 5 Draft in recent years, including selecting three players last winter. One player the O’s considered but didn’t select last winter was left-hander Austin Davis, Kubatko reports. Davis has since made his MLB debut and posted some strong results (3.38 ERA, 4.33 K/BB rate, 26 strikeouts in 21 1/3 IP) out of the Phillies’ bullpen this season. Given that the Orioles and Phillies were heavily involved in trade talks for such players as Manny Machado and Adam Jones in the lead-up to the July 31 deadline, it’s fair to wonder if Baltimore again tried to acquire Davis as part of negotiations.
any year the Yankees don’t make the postseason is a fine year!
I love seeing the Yankees struggle
Yanks struggling doesn’t happen often. Even when my Red Sox won the World Series a few times recently they were the wild-card team.
Gary you are misremembering . The Red Sox won the AL east in both 2007 and 2013.
I guess I’m remembering the 90s and 2000’s when the Red Sox seem to be the wild card team quite often. Thanks !!
So is 1,2,3,4 your IQ total….seems to be from your comment!
Just remember who has 27 rings!
yeah and you only have ten fingers so what are you going to do, just keep them in a bag or something
Love that stupid 27 rings argument. Most of us can barely or can’t remember the Mickey Mantle days never mind those teams before. Even 2004 is old news today. Some may argue this weekend is now old news. How soon Yankee fans would like to forget. As Jackie Gleason would say, HOW SWEET IT IS.
At least I have fingers Bub! And the bag is probably going over your head!
That’s likely why you chose to be a fan. I’m guessing they won about 25 of those before you were even born.
Hey Rocky—these six fans are giddy, however they got the best of us when our team wasn’t whole.
Remember the team to beat is the one that is in he best shape going into the post season—not beginning of August.
I’m looking forward to the next time when Sanchez and Judge will be in their groove.
The Sox are far from being whole!
Exactly. Sox have had all star pitchers on the shelf and have had Pedie out as well. Stop whining everyone. Truth be told, revenge is always sweet and this season still has plenty of potential ups and downs. See you in October and let the best team move on.
The Lux Tax era started in Dec 2002. In those 15 years the NYY have paid close to 350 MM in Lux Tax — the Sox 25M. The Yanks, along with HOU,Cubs,White Sox,Phils, KC & MARLINS have won one WS. The other eight were won by SF (3) BOS (3) & Stl (2). “Pow — right in the kisser”
Struggling
Excuses, excuses. Ya got whooped. Take it like a man Mikey. I realize that’s out of character.
Love it. Thanks jmi1950.
I’d like to add that the bosux also lead the ML in coaching staff apple watches!! How does the manager not be aware of this? Yes I know that was speculated last year. But it’s
2018 now!! Once club a cheater,always a cheater!!
Great point dewey…. 20 of the 26 rings happened before 1963 (55 years ago)!! That means the Celtic dynasty is more recent than the Yankee dynasty. To me the Celtic dynasty is ancient history and I’m, a huge celtics fan but you don’t hear me or anyone boasting about how Russell and Hondo kicked the Knicks for over a decade!! Why, because Boston fans live in the now not the past. Their football team is the best, their basketball team is one of the best, their hockey team is one of the best and their baseball team is #1 in 2018. New York is old news when it comes to sports.
Enjoy, yes but let’s defer the celebration. It’s only August 6th. Party at Napoli’s can wait.
Well said as usual Dewey. Oh by the way, there’s a meeting of the puppets at 6 eastern.
It was sweet and it is so hard to not be arrogant.
Napolis party is the best
You’re not a very happy person.
It’s always interesting when a fan hates another team more than they love their favorite team. It’s why I love being a Yankees fan. I enjoy laughing at people who don’t really like their own hometown teams.
That said, stick a fork in the division for the Yankees. I was hoping they could manage a 2-2 split of the series, but their pitching, as expected, is not up to the task.
Anything can still happen, but it’s looking more certain than ever that if they’re going to contend for a title in 2018 it will have to be through the Wild Card, and they’ll have to really get red hot to have success in the postseason should they get that far.
But if 2017 showed anything it’s that a lot of these players (Judge, Gardner, Tanaka, Didi, and that bullpen) have the ability to defy the odds.
As a fan though, all I ask is that the Yankees play meaningful baseball deep into September, and if they miss the Wild Card, it will only be by a game or two, so I have a feeling this will be fun end of the season for me.
I’m sorry pitching wasn’t up to the task is that really what you got out of our bats being quiet for 3 of these games?
Pitching gave up an average of 7 runs a game.
Yes that was the lesson for me. Even in good teams offense will rarely be consistent over a 10 game stretch– you’ll face an ace, you’ll have an off game– it happens.
But pitching needs to be largely consistent to have sustained success, and it needs to be able to up its game against good teams.
Going into the season the Yankees starting rotation was a glaring weakness. My hope was that Tanaka could be more like his 2017 postseason self. That Sonny Gray could improve. That Sabathia could hold the line. That everyone would stay healthy. It wasn’t realistic to EXPECT all of that, but it was my hope.
Instead Gray regressed even further, Tanaka was what he has always been (good but inconsistent), and Montgomery went down for the year.
I think their offense when at full strength (i.e.: when Judge and Sanchez are healthy) is still high caliber enough to win it all, and if Tanaka and CC can pitch in a short series the way they did in 2017, they can do that.
But pitching is clearly, as expected, the glaring issue, and I’m not sure anyone can stop the Red Sox, who look like the 1998 Yankees right now.
A lot of baseball fans from other teams don’t hate the yanks just they hate hearing about the yanks and red sox on every sport page. Any injury to a yank or red sox player makes headlines any other team none. Any player up for trade is automatically going to the yanks or red sox even if they don’t need them. That is the sport media fault acting like only those 2 teams matter. Of course fans of those 2 teams wouldn’t understand what i just said because they think the baseball world rotates around them.
It’s because fans of the Yanks and Red Sox are Die Hard real fans. We’re not going to bail when things get tough and there’s hope every season because the owners spend money. The owner spend money because they get great TV contracts because all the fans are watching and ratings are high.
Many of them are bandwagon fans. If you are a real red sox or yank fan you know that is true. When the yanks were going bad the last few years notcied how many jump ship. Red sox fans know that too. All the sport channels come out of the east coast. So of course they want to show their local teams and talk about them.
Gary…….The implication that other teams do not have “Die Hard real fans” is delusional and somewhat egomaniacal.
You’re delusional if you can’t look at our country and see a difference in the number and intensity of the fanbase of the Yankees and the Red Sox. I would put Raider fans in there too.
No I don’t see it here on the west coast. I see people wearing caps and shirts of the local teams. its rare to see a redsox or yank cap. I do see lots of GSW shirts every where. Even in Hawaii for vacation there was GSW shirts everywhere. Winning create fans bases.
Spoken like a true, blinders on, homer Gary. Do the NYY and BoSox have a huge fan base…yes of course and that have for years, but if you think they have a lock on loyalty and intensity you truly are delusional.
Arrogant.
arc89, they have Red Sox dedicated bars all over the country. In Hermosa Beach fat face fenner’s just closed after how many years and Pacific Beach has a Red Sox bar. They’re all over. Packers bars Cubs bars Raiders bars Steelers bars. Certain fans are die-hard. I don’t see a Cincinnati Reds bar in San Jose or Seattle.
Cat mando I understand and respect your opinion, but if you can’t see what I’m talking about, that’s okay. It’s just my opinion.
Looking at the downvotes on my stuff here today it looks like you’re right. Good stuff.
But I will say this. The folks that take the time to go online and read about baseball trade rumors are the upper echelon of dedicated fans whatever team they root for.
Average fan can’t tell me half the 25-man roster or even name 2 others who’s on the 40. I think there’s more Yankees Red Sox Raiders Packers Steelers fans that can tell me who their top minor league prospects are than Padres Diamondbacks Blue Jays Mariners Etc
I don’t know what you’re really talking about. The Blue Jays twitter account has about 200 thousand more followers than the Red Sox. Does that mean we’re more dedicated?
Add Sonny McClean’s in Santa Monica.
Also, I have been in Anaheim a number of times when the Sox fans made it sound like a home game. Ditto, Balt and Tampa “crowds”. After the Cubs won, the winter of 16-17 I saw many Cubs fans all decked out every time I walked along the Strand in Manhattan Beach. This year nary an Astro fan was seen by me.
You know what JDgoat you’re probably right. I guess I’m suffering from the same thing as when you buy a new Acura. All you see is Acuras from then on. So I’m a Red Sox fan all I see is Red Sox hats and shirts. Probably delusional. I’ve been called worse.
I am a die hard O’s fan (thank you for your condolences) and I can’t name the 25 man roster anymore. If I am lucky I might get half. But I’m 64 so I can remember the 60’s and 70’s O’s teams. (Gosh, I’m starting to sound like a Yankees fan.).
HEADLINES: THE YANKEES OVER THE SOX …
If the Os want a veteran leader to mentor the young guys, it should be Jones. We are likely stuck with Trumbo and Beckham, either way, but I don’t think they bleed black and orange in the same way Jones does.
Love to see jones stay
We don’t need to keep Beckham as a leader but we don’t have any other guy in our system that’s going to come up in the next 2 years and take over SS. If we deal him we still need a body to play SS. I’d rather see Beckham than some useless utility man the slot. At least a chance Beckham hits and boosts his trade value.
Beckham is arbitration eligible. They don’t have to offer him arbitration at the end of the year.
But why wouldn’t you? Are you going to find a SS with as much upside on a 1 year 5MM deal? Probably not. I’d stick with TB. We don’t have a minor league ready option. I’;d rather not see Breyvic Valera or Luis Sardinas be our starting SS. If for nothing else than a sliver of pride.
But….1978……
But…. 2004….
Ha ha, I know. Not a Yankee fan here, just wondering if any would point to that as evidence it wasn’t over yet…..
You’re definitely right. It is not over by a long shot. But a small thing is that it’s better to be nine and a half up than nine and a half down. Doesn’t mean much August 5th.
Can you imagine waking up 11 wins back of the division? Boston Massacre.
Um, it happens a couple times every 10 years.
I’ve lived it.
Standing by for the guy who thinks Cora should be fired and isn’t a good coach…
Cora is a manager
Thanks, Pedantio.
Head coach / manager it’s all semantics, the bottom line is Cora is a good to great coach / manager.
I thought about that person last night when Cora pinch-ran for Leon, which ended up being critical.
Rodriguez should stay in the rotation, he’s steadily becoming more efficient and learning to trust his stuff – ideal progress for a young pitcher. Drew Pomeranz can take his 6.56 ERA to the ‘pen.
I would rather have Eovaldi getting starts right now, as long as he stays hot. Even if he goes back to being a guy that gets you quality starts, his pitch count will keep him in game much longer than Rodriguez or Pomeranz have this season.
Question becomes whether you bring E-Rod back as a starter to get you through September only to put him in the pen in October anyways. May be safer to give him the extra rest and get more reps in the pen.
5th starter doesnt matter in October, but having BJ, E-rod and Velazquez all available as effective long relievers could be vital. Assuming your top 4 starters are healthy and effective.
Ideal playoff rotation for me, assuming performances stay within reasonable regressions, would be:
Sale, Porcello, Eovaldi, Rodriguez
Price in the pen where we was so good last postseason
Pomeranz not on the postseason roster
The smartest off season move the O’s organization could do is sell the team. Get real owners!
the fact that the Orioles have traded for international slot money, has shown that the ownership ideals have at least changed.
Maybe the sons of Pete have started to have more of a say, and if that’s true it might be just as good as if they were to sell the team.
Boston is 2 – 2 vs. Astros. These teams appear to be clearly better than the rest of an uninspiring pack. Hopefully, Houston prevails again.
It’s a shame the Stros picked up Osuna, because now I’m conflicted about hoping they take down the Sox.
Don’t know about the Astros being clearly better than the rest of an uninspiring pack….you think they want to line up against the A’s in a crucial series right now?
The Stros have some injuries and their pen is still suspect.
The A’s are hot, but to say that the Astros are scared of them in a series is ridiculous. I’m a Mariners fan, but I don’t think the Astros are scared of anyone. Their bullpen might be suspect, but they have a rotation with 3 or 4 guys that are all better than the best on Oakland. Do you think Oakland wants to face Verlander or Cole or really anyone in that rotation?
To put it simply, I think the A’s would be far more worried about playing a series against the Astros to decide their fate than the Astros are of playing them. The A’s are hot, but if they’re in a one game playoff for the Wild Card, they would have to face Severino from the Yankees or Paxton from the Mariners.
then again the M’s or Yanks better score early or they will not score after the 6th inning with 3 great bullpen arms.
You didn’t read my comment properly…I didn’t say anything about the Astros being scared or worried or anything like that.
The A’s are simply playing lights out right now finding ways to win and any team playing them knows that.
You don’t have to be the better team to win and dominate when you’re just playing good consistent ball and finding ways to win ballgames.
The Stros pen is suspect and will be until they are put to the test and come up big. Right now, the Stros would talk all day about their starters going deep into games and keeping teams away from their pen.
I think we just view them differently. The teams they are playing matter. Yeah, they’re hot and finding ways to win, but they swept Texas, Toronto, and Detroit… none of which are above .500. When they did play teams that are above .500, they took 2 of 3 from San Fran (but both wins took extra innings), and they got swept by Colorado.
Time will tell. They play the Dodgers, Angels, Mariners, and Houston coming up in the next couple of weeks, so that will give us a good idea. If they find ways to win and keep the streak going against them, I’ll believe it. And yes, I’m aware of the fact that Houston got swept by Texas. But they also just won series’ against the Angels, Mariners, and Dodgers as well as splitting two with Colorado. I think Oakland’s bullpen would falter against those lineups too.
@arc89 Are you saying the Mariners and Yankees better score early against Oakland’s bullpen? Because that’s kind of my point. All 3 have good great bullpens, which is why I’m saying it’s coming down to starters. The Mariners have Paxton and the Yankees have Severino. Oakland is going to have a much harder time scoring early.
I think the one thing that Red Sox and Yankee fans can come together and agree on is that ESPN is the worst. Arod and Mendoza were cringy as always and Matt Vasgersian just seemed confused the whole night.
ESPN likes cheaters.
Might as well put Pete Rose, Sosa & McGwire on there too.
Agreed. The Sunday Night Baseball TV broadcast team is awful. Rodriguez has no business being an ambassador for baseball in any capacity, Mendoza never stops talking, and Vasgersian is forgettable. I may be in the minority, but I miss Miller & Morgan.
I though ARod and Mendoza were really good. And I hated ARod and his frosted tips when he played. But those two made a great color commentary team.
But I do hate ESPN.
Does Shulman not do the games anymore? He was always great.
Dan & Buck are a great pair. Jays need to lose Pat Tabler.
My only problem was that they didn’t mention that Judge and Sanchez weren’t in the line-up enough and that ot was affecting the offence. (sarcasm)
The thing is the Yankees this weekend didn’t play like a team with an over .600 winning percentage. They didn’t have that swagger that I associate with the team. The biggest problem seems to be mental. How they play this week will probably be even more crucial than this weekend was. If they look at this weekend and see they need to snap out of their funk then they’ll still be a tough team in September and October. If they play like they’re demoralized, well they’ll be playing a one-off in Oakland or wondering how Seattle somehow beat them out..
The Sox took that swagger away Thursday evening. Yankees “should” have won the first and last games. How different this forum would be if they did. Moreland at first base picks that one hopper from Devers. Andujar made a bad toss but the ball should have been caught. Forget a split, NY radio would have been so different today if they hung on and won the last game. As a Sox fan living on Long Island, it was hard to work from home listening to all the complainers and whiners.
For shame. From contenders to pretenders. Exposed.
Sad!
Where is Rice Crispies at today?
Right here Vinny, what…
Great series, my man. Great series.
Yes it was!
I thought the games were a tad long. Vinny keep up those payments to your internet provider, cause the site isn’t the same when you’re cutoff.
I’m a baseball fan and I like all teams… except when they’re bought. The Yankees were turning over a new leaf until they acquired Giancarlo Stanton. It takes away some of the competitive balance.
“Except when they’re bought” so how is a trade buying? The answer..it isn’t.
Yankees are going to regret that trade in just a few years. I was initially upset thinking Jeter helped out his buddy Cashman. Not so anymore. That said, I’m still for a hard floor and ceiling. Never happen but I long for the time when teams e
stayed together. Unfortunately, owners greed and cheapness created free agency. Sure Curt Flood might still have challenged the system but Charlie Finley had one of the greatest teams and his cheapness other than paying for moustaches galvanized the team to hate him. They all left or were traded/attempted sales that were voided by Kuhn: Blue to the Yankees for $1.5m, Fingers and Rudi to Boston for $1m each. They left as did Catfish before them and many others after. Reggie was traded for Don Baylor and both then became free agents.
Curt Flood lost his case when the US Sup. Ct UPHELD the reserve clause. Richard Moss then suckered the owners into arbitration to settle a strike. In the Messerschmidt arbitration case the reserve clause was abolished and all the players would have been free agents except those signed to long term contracts. Moss then came up with the current system of team control, arbitration and then free agency. Charlie Finley was the only one saying : “Let them all be free agents” because he knew the players would be scared of not having jobs but the current system makes only a few free agents a year and drives up the prices. Last year you saw what happens when there are too many HR hitters and not enough chairs.
The one thing that’s for sure probably won’t be hearing from emc or Mikeyank for a while. All they could talk about was how the next couple of weeks would sink the Red Sox and all it took was one weekend to the sink the Yankees. I have no problem with X and cereal and I’m sure we will here from them Bald Vinnie but not having to here from the clowns Mikeyank and Emc is great.
The Yankees will still probably make the playoffs and are still a threat but a lot of the bite has been removed. The Red Sox just need to make sure everything goes through Fenway in the playoffs and they should be alright.
MikeYank is more of a Mets/Red Sox hater than they are a Yankee fan. It honestly must be a pathetic life to have to resort to that level of trolling
I’m drawing a blank on who emc is?
I’m sorry it was eMac22 haven’t heard from him either. Probably Mikeyank on one of his other accounts. He was all over the Sale DL post right after the trade deadline.
Yea read those
Ban you, drumpf, and pitchers hitting #makebaseballgreatagain
How soon before conspiracy theorists accuse the Sox of using FitBit or Apple watches to communicate their theft of signs? What else will they say to argue why the Sox ran all over them.
I feel for the Yankees but injuries and trades are part of the game,
We should be discussing why Kenny Lofton isn’t in the Hall of Fame and how we can get him in
Great player Lofton. I have my own list of players who in my view should be in the hall: Evans, Tiant, Munson, Bell, Garvey, Cooper, Buckner, Simmons, Reggie Smith come to mind just off the top. Maybe Keith Hernandez too.
Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Tommy John.
Agree with Murph. Should have been on my list. My ex-boss was like a little kid when we met Mattingly. Really nice person. I just feel injuries cost him his place in Cooperstown. Tommy John was another great choice but there’s just too much competition in my view. How do you separate him from Jim Kaat?
I think Tommy John was a pioneer for what he did, nobody had any idea how he’d perform after that surgery. Remember how everyone thought his career was over, yet he went on to have an even stronger career. To me what separates him from Kaat is the meaningful postseason starts from two organizations, the surgery recovery, and the WAR. Oh by the way I’m somewhat prejudiced for John being an Air Force Veteran myself. Murphy and especially Mattingly were the best players in their leagues for 3-4 seasons, and Mattingly the best in baseball. Like Larry Bird back problems brought down a great career way to early.
I was like a kid when I not only got Mattingly’s autograph, and also Joe Montana’s at the same event.
I also love that ‘dealin Dave Dumbro’. Loves to move high ranking prospects! Red sux are going to have a 200m+ payroll and no legit prospects w/I 2 years!! Idiot of a gm. Did the same thing w/ Detroit
Figured this would be the normal ignorant comment about Dombrowski. If you look at his trade history it is pretty good most big trades he has easily won. You are wrong when you say that DD traded all there good young players in Detroit for Vets. Most of the guys he traded never amounted to much if anything. If you want to argue that under DD the Tigers didn’t develop any quality farm system then you may have an argument but arguing trade history just doesn’t hold water but thanks for playing anyway.
Their. Not “there”. If you are going to use a rebuttal, use proper grammar. Oh btw. Miggy’s contract is an abomination. Nevertheless bosux will be a team trending down.
Thank you grammer police. It really wasn’t a rebuttal because what you said was so erroneous it’s not even funny. Oh by the way you can argue resigning Miggy as a bad decision, like most post 30 or really long term contracts are, but the Miggy trade is not even up for discussion a great trade for DD as are most of his historical trades.
Ignorant. My whole point is that he made these trades depleting farm systems. Not in the fact in what he got back. Dombrowski is a terrible Gm. Should not even be an argument.Any gm can look like a genius if his owner is willing to front the money for player x. How many WS titles did he win w Detroit? Zip!
Terrible just terrible Gm. The tigers canned his ass bc we couldn’t bring them a ring.
Except for the fact that the tigers are on the hook for the bill for the rest of miggys contract. Can’t even trade a future HOF.
Dude seriously he is not a terrible GM just a silly comment but you believe what you want you are wrong but believe what you want. You sound like an upset Tiger fan also do you know how many GM’s don’t have a World Series title cmon man that’s a bad argument. You should know luck goes a long way once you are in the playoffs. You build your team to get to the playoffs and hopefully to do well in the playoffs and that is all a GM can do.
Ny got didi. Tigers got Shawn green? Yeah yeah I know it was a three way trade w az. But what did green give them? A failed AAAA starter turned oki-ish reliever at best.
Every GM that has been around as lon as DD has had bad trades. The fact is most trades that DD did in hindsight he won end of story. Yes just cherry pick the very few he did lose on.
The fact is that DD just did what the owners demanded. In Montreal he built up the team with young players but was not given any $$$$ to sign them long term. In Fla it was the same only the owner made him sell off the team once it was a winner. In DET Mr “I” was an 80+ yr old Billionaire who demanded a win now approach at all costs — $$$ or prospects. Where would the Sox be without Sale, Kimbrel, JDM. Marjot, Kopech and Moncada may turn into great players but that was the cost of winning the AL East in 2016, 2017 and having the best record in 2018.
Heard that Jerry Remy’s cancer has returned. Prayers for RemDog.