Good afternoon everyone, it’s time to dive back into the mailbag and answer some of your questions. Remember to send in your questions for our bi-weekly call by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com. The idiot that said, “Harper is coming” asks: Now that Bellinger is officially back, what’s next? A) Nothing of note. B) […]
about 5 hours ago | 0 reads
The Yankees of the mid-2000s were a team that had grown long in the tooth, particularly in the rotation. A team already leaning heavy on veterans: namely Mike Mussina, well into his thirties, and Randy Johnson, who had already blown out 40 candles. Ahead of the 2007 season, Johnson returned to Arizona, but the Yankees […]
about 9 hours ago | 0 reads
The Yankees of the mid-2000s were a team that had grown long in the tooth, particularly in the rotation. A team already leaning heavy on veterans: namely Mike Mussina, well into his thirties, and Randy Johnson, who had already blown out 40 candles. Ahead of the 2007 season, Johnson returned to Arizona, but the Yankees […]
about 9 hours ago | 0 reads
During my tenure at Pinstripe Alley—hell, during my entire time as a baseball fan—I’ve never been shy about delving into the team’s history and exploring the lives of its long roll call of players, both incredible and regrettable. We provide plenty of other coverage on the current-day activities of the teams, so I like having […]
about 11 hours ago | 2 reads
Baseball, in many cases, can serve as a very effective microcosm for the world and the country it inhabits. From social progression, justice, or the dawn of the information age, baseball has often travelled right along with the world surrounding it. Looking back, that means we can find stories that are nearly impossible to imagine […]
about 12 hours ago | 0 reads
Another day, another pitcher off the market. The Rangers made a move to fortify their rotation by getting MacKenzie Gore from the Nationals for a haul of five prospects, including their 12th overall pick from the most recent draft Gavin Fien. With him and Freddy Peralta both getting moved over the last couple of days, […]
about 14 hours ago | 0 reads
New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: Everybody knew that after signing Cody Bellinger to a five-year, $162.5 million contract this week, the Yankees’ payroll was going to blow past $300 million quite comfortably. The projected CBT payroll is, according to FanGraphs, at $317.8 million. Cot’s Contracts has the number at $320.1 million, third behind […]
about 20 hours ago | 0 reads
On Tuesday night, the BBWAA welcomed two new members to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Each of them—Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones—had stints for the Yankees, but were most well-known for their tenures elsewhere, and both figure to go into Cooperstown repping NL East franchises. Of course, the Yankees have more than enough players […]
1 day ago | 0 reads
In the winter/offseason of 2006-07, the prized pitcher on the market was Daisuke Matsuzaka. The 26-year-old was posted by the NPB’s Seibu Lions after a decorated career with them that included a 2004 Japan Series championship and a star turn in the inaugural 2006 World Baseball Classic, where he was MVP. Many teams were interested […]
1 day ago | 0 reads
The Yankees teams of the 1980s were a relative wasteland in the context of the franchise’s history. They made the playoffs just twice right at the beginning of the decade before falling into an extended stretch of inconsequentiality (though they did have a tough 97-win situation in 1985 that was only good for second). However, […]
1 day ago | 0 reads
Our long national night-meh is over, folks. Cody Bellinger is back in pinstripes, inking a five-year, $162.5 million contract to shore up the lineup behind Aaron Judge, and hedge some of the very real downside risk the club holds while rostering Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, and Jasson Domínguez. It’s the resolution to a very long […]
1 day ago | 0 reads
Welcome to Thursday. Cody Bellinger is Yankee. Freddy Peralta is a Met. Yoán Moncada is an Angel again for some reason. Hurrah. Today on the site, Josh will offer his thoughts on Cody Bellinger’s new contract, Peter will spotlight the late Brian Dayett for our Yankees Birthdays series, and Matt will open an unfortunate page […]
1 day ago | 0 reads
FanGraphs | Ben Clemens: By now I’m sure you know that Cody Bellinger is staying in the Bronx, with a cool five-year, $162.5 million deal. The reunion with the Yankees felt near-inevitable with, with such a glaring hole in the club’s construction and Bellinger unable to get someone to stretch his deal out to six […]
2 days ago | 0 reads
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across Major League Baseball. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Yankees fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys. He was a left-handed hitting outfielder.They were a Bronx-based baseball team.Can I make it any […]
2 days ago | 0 reads
Cody Bellinger might not have the most impressive underlying hitting metrics in baseball. He doesn’t hit the ball particularly hard, with his average exit velocity in the 24th percentile and his 37.9 percent hard-hit rate in 2025 checking in the 26th percentile. His 70.1-mph bat speed is in the 20th percentile. And we can go […]
2 days ago | 0 reads
As soon as outfielder Cody Bellinger decided to exercise his opt-out in early November and hit free agency again this offseason, it seemed like he and the Yankees would find their way back to each other. Both sides were extremely complimentary about each other and New York in particular was active in talking to the […]
2 days ago | 0 reads
With the Toronto Blue Jays reportedly not that interested in pursuing free agent outfielder Cody Bellinger, it’s looking more and more likely that the only true threat to ‘steal’ the player away from the New York Yankees is, well, the Mets. With their trendy contract structure of short deals with a high average annual value, […]
2 days ago | 0 reads
The 2005 season marked the beginning of the end of an era in Yankees history. In his age-36 season, longtime center fielder Bernie Williams put together the worst performance of his career by far, accruing -1.6 rWAR in 141 games thanks to a combination of lackluster defense and a paltry 86 OPS+. To make matters […]
2 days ago | 0 reads
The San Diego Padres have won precisely one World Series game in the history of their franchise. On October 10, 1984, they defeated the Detroit Tigers 5-3 in Game 2 of that season’s Fall Classic. Their starter, Ed Whitson, gave up more runs (three) than he recorded outs (two). So out of the bullpen came […]
2 days ago | 0 reads
The shortstop is sometimes referred to as “captain of the infield,” and filling that role in a starting big-league lineup is a huge responsibility. There’s an added layer of pressure when assuming the role of New York Yankees Shortstop, following the career of our own Captain, the legendary Hall-of-Famer Derek Jeter. For the past few […]
3 days ago | 0 reads
I hope you enjoyed some respite from Cody Bellinger Purgatory yesterday, with the Hall of Fame results released last night. Both Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones, a couple of former Yankees, made it in, and notably, Andy Pettitte made some gains as he nears the end of his tenure on the BBWAA ballot. Congrats to […]
3 days ago | 0 reads
MLB.com | Mike Petriello: The elections of Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones to the National Baseball Hall of Fame has re-stoked recent discussions about the strength of this year’s class, with the perception among some being that this is a comparatively weak group of players to gain entry to Cooperstown. To vet this perception, Petriello […]
3 days ago | 0 reads
There are two new members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and both of them are ex-Yankees. On Tuesday night, the BBWAA released the results of this year’s Hall of Fame ballot: Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones have been elected as part of the class of 2026. The pair will be enshrined in Cooperstown […]
3 days ago | 0 reads
Major League Baseball was forever changed 50 years ago this month. That was when arbitrator Peter Seitz ruled in favor of pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally against the league. The two had played 1975 after refusing to sign contracts for their respective teams and the opportunity had finally arrived in full for the MLB […]
3 days ago | 4 reads
Late in the evening of October 22, 2003, Carl Pavano toed the rubber at Miami’s then-Pro Player Stadium. He faced Derek Jeter, who had been named Yankees captain just months prior. Pavano had already retired Jeter three times that day, including inducing two back-breaking double plays. If he could put him away once more, the […]
3 days ago | 0 reads