Elmer Rodríguez showed why he’s the Yankees’ top pitching prospect in yesterday’s Grapefruit League opener, and today is Carlos Lagrange’s first chance to impress as he also makes a case for some 2026 MLB playing time. Lagrange stands a dominant 6-foot-7 with a 70-grade fastball and above-average slider, and while he finished last year with […]
17 days ago | 2 reads
Over 22,000 players have played Major League Baseball. A small fraction of those players are remembered for their on-field accomplishments. An even smaller subset are remembered for their personalities and the joy they brought to the game. Oscar Azócar was one of those special people. Oscar AzócarBorn: February 21, 1965 (Soro, Venezuela)Died: June 14, 2010 […]
17 days ago | 1 read
The first game of spring means baseball season is officially back, and the Yankees began their 2026 tune-up with an exhibition game in Sarasota against the Baltimore Orioles. They lost 2-0, with the only offense in the game coming from a two-run blast off the bat of Pete Alonso. The Orioles’ new first baseman hit […]
17 days ago | 4 reads
Spring games are underway, and the Yankees will take the field with the majority of their full squad for the first time this year. It won’t be for long, of course, but those first couple of innings broadcasting on YES are bound to bring some serotonin with them. With that comes the caveat that backups […]
17 days ago | 2 reads
MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Yankees ace Gerrit Cole crossed off another milestone in his recovery from Tommy John surgery in the spring of 2025. For the first time since going under the knife, the 35-year-old righty faced hitters, and it went as well as one could have expected. The 2023 AL Cy Young threw an […]
17 days ago | 1 read
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 weekly call by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com. ReadingYankee asks: I am starting to worry about the production of Stanton. He is aging and proved less effective in the […]
18 days ago | 5 reads
The Yankees’ first Grapefruit League game is in the books. For those hoping for some offense, that was always going to be a tough ask for a lineup that had just four major leaguers, especially when they’ve all been subbed out by the middle of the sixth. Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled in the first, but […]
18 days ago | 4 reads
One of the best days of the year is here! Spring training has officially opened, the Yankees kicking off their Grapefruit League exhibition series with a trip to Sarasota to take on the Orioles. The offseason may have been “brutal”’ and “frustrating”’ at times as Aaron Judge put it, but baseball is back and we […]
18 days ago | 2 reads
The Yankees had a big decision to make at the start of the offseason. While retaining Cody Bellinger on a long-term deal was high on the priority list, it was unclear what the team thought of their other starting outfielder, Trent Grisham, hitting the open market after a career year. With a questionable résumé prior […]
18 days ago | 2 reads
The storied history of the Yankees is dominated in the popular perception by the team’s legends, from Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, to Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, to Derek Jeter and Aaron Judge. But baseball is played with nine to a side, and even these superstars couldn’t raise the Yankees to fantastic heights on […]
18 days ago | 2 reads
Dermis García. Wilkerman García. Raimfer Salinas. Antonio Cabello. Alexander Vargas. Oswald Peraza. Hans Montero. Hoy Park. Have you heard of them recently? Do you remember them? A few of of them reached the majors, yes, or had moderate success in the minors in 2025, but in all fairness, their careers haven’t developed the way they […]
18 days ago | 3 reads
Pitchers and catchers reported to Yankees spring training a little over a week ago, and now today, we check off another milestone on the way to Opening Day. It’s the Grapefruit League opener! Yes, it’s that special time of year when MLB players appear in games they don’t particularly care about, all with the explicit […]
18 days ago | 3 reads
NJ Advance Media | Randy Miller: Spring training is officially here! As the Yankees begin their slate of exhibition games in preparation of the season, fans are always left to wonder which big names they can look forward to seeing in the lineup and which players they will miss out on. Aaron Judge is chief […]
18 days ago | 5 reads
There was a time, in the history of baseball and its Hall of Fame, in which certain numbers almost brought automatic inclusion into the game’s most exclusive clubs. Things like 3,000 hits, 300 wins, and of course, 500 home runs provided a clear pathway to Cooperstown. For the 2026 season, the Yankees have a couple […]
19 days ago | 6 reads
Major League Baseball was forever changed 50 years ago this month in December 1975. That was when arbitrator Peter Seitz ruled in favor of pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally against the league. The two had played ’75 season after refusing to sign contracts for their respective teams and the opportunity had finally arrived in […]
19 days ago | 12 reads
We’ve reached the end of our 50 Most Notable Yankees’ Free Agent Signings, and today we’ll wrap up with the most recent within the paramters. Okay, maybe you could argue that the re-signing of Cody Bellinger earlier this winter is technically the most recent biggest one. That one was a touch too recent to show […]
19 days ago | 6 reads
Despite the possibility they could boast the best starting staff in the division by the All-Star break, the Yankees rotation will have a different composition on Opening Day. They will have to lean on their less-heralded arms to weather the early-season absences of Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón as the pair rehab from their respective […]
19 days ago | 6 reads
For a team so accustomed to competing at the very top level, it’s easier for the worst of times to stand out more than the best of times. No offense, but if you ask a Colorado Rockies, it’s probably not hard to bring to mind an example of a player who earned a starting role […]
19 days ago | 7 reads
We need to start this with an acknowledgement that Anthony Volpe will turn 25 on April 28th, the same age Aaron Judge was in his breakout season, so we can’t write the Yankee shortstop off just yet. Ok, age acknowledged. I do still think the Yankees have an Anthony Volpe problem. The club has given […]
19 days ago | 2 reads
The AL East looks like the best division in baseball headed into 2026, and that’s thanks in no small part to the arms race that took place over the winter between the division’s five clubs. The Blue Jays spent big money after winning the AL pennant, the Red Sox made major moves in free agency […]
19 days ago | 3 reads
MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Anthony Volpe will start the season on the IL as he continues to recover from labrum surgery over the offseason. In his first few days in camp though, the Yankee shortstop appears to be in high spirits and has been able to participate in most defensive drills. Volpe started dry swings […]
19 days ago | 7 reads
The MLB Players Association has a new interim executive director in Bruce Meyer. According to a report from ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Meyer was voted in unanimously by the 72 players on the executive board as the replacement for Tony Clark, who had been in charge since 2013 and was the first former player to take […]
20 days ago | 2 reads
As this series grows closer and closer to its end, we come upon contracts that can’t be assessed on the whole, because they are still underway. Over the last handful of offseasons, the Yankees have put a particular emphasis on left-handed starting pitching, as much of their resources of flowed in that direction of late. […]
20 days ago | 6 reads
Back in the winter of 2024, shortly after the Yankees missed out on Juan Soto, they quickly pivoted and signed Max Fried to a mammoth eight-year, $218 million contract. The left-hander, one of the highest-profile pitchers in that 2024-25 offseason, was seen as a luxury for some fans, who deemed his signing unnecessary because their […]
20 days ago | 5 reads
There are so many legends across the history of the New York Yankees that it feels like some members of their teams who were also excellent don’t get the recognition they deserve. Players enshrined in Cooperstown with a certain team’s logo almost always seem to be especially honored by the related club — perhaps a […]
20 days ago | 5 reads