One of the most anticipated events of the offseason has arrived. On Monday afternoon, the National Baseball Hall of Fame released its ballot for potential 2026 inductees now under consideration by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Earlier this year, former Yankees CC Sabathia and Ichiro Suzuki both earned baseball’s highest honor. This year, several […]
25 days ago | 0 reads
Coming off an AL Rookie of the Year-winning campaign in 2024 in which he went 15-7 in 29 starts with a 3.50 ERA and 171 strikeouts across 151.2 innings, the sky appeared to be the limit for Luis Gil. Armed with a fastball that could touch triple digits and the confidence of succeeding for a […]
25 days ago | 0 reads
Kyle Tucker is the undisputed crown jewel on the position player side of this winter’s free agency, expected to command a contract north of $400 million. However, not far away in the tier below lurks a player whose combination of age and a resurgent walk year should have many teams intrigued. He might not reach […]
25 days ago | 0 reads
Last night, the first free agency domino fell, as the Seattle Mariners reportedly came to terms with first baseman Josh Naylor, bringing back one of the key Trade Deadline additions from the team that came closest to reaching a World Series than any other in franchise history. The terms: five years and somewhere between $90-$100M. […]
25 days ago | 0 reads
The Sporting News | Matt Sullivan: Outfielder Kyle Tucker is the cream of the crop of this year’s free agent class and his name has been linked to the Yankees ad nauseam for weeks. But, if Jon Heyman is to be believed, it’s not likely that King Tuck will end up in the Bronx (or […]
26 days ago | 0 reads
It’s Sunday, and you know what that means — it’s time for our weekly social media roundup! If the World Series represents the final chapter of the baseball season, the end-of-season awards represent its epilogue, allowing us to firmly close the book on the year and begin to fully concentrate on the upcoming campaign. You […]
26 days ago | 0 reads
Sixteen months ago, the Yankees got creative with present and future infield needs under consideration. Their second baseman was underperforming and hot corner was a black hole. Gleyber Torres was normally a reliable offensive presence but was slumping in the first half of his walk year while DJ LeMahieu and Oswaldo Cabrera combined did not […]
26 days ago | 1 read
On July 1, 1990, Andy Hawkins was the Yankees’ starting pitcher in a game that led to a dubious bit of history. That day, he allowed no hits in eight innings against the White Sox. However, he didn’t get a chance to go for a full nine-inning no-hitter, as the White Sox didn’t need to […]
26 days ago | 0 reads
We continue to sit in what’s basically the calm before the storm, the GM meetings passing through last week and now leaving us with a pretty dry period before things really pick up in December. Still, though the action will truly come at the Winter Meetings, something could in theory go down at any moment. […]
26 days ago | 0 reads
FanGraphs | Eric Longenhagen: Longenhagen runs down the 40-man roster situation for all the American League teams. This is the time of the year all 30 clubs do a bit of a dance with their 40-man’s, as teams must decide which prospects to add to the 40-man to protect in the Rule 5 Draft, while […]
27 days ago | 1 read
Back in August, I began a series here at Pinstripe Alley, where I was going to put together an All-Star Yankee team of players who were born in a given month. Admittedly, I think that I entirely forgot about it for two months before just remembering the other day, but the offseason is perfect timing […]
27 days ago | 0 reads
My sister and I have had very different lives. She’s a nurse practitioner, with two wonderful children in a very typical heterosexual relationship, living in a detached house in a very calm suburb 20-odd minutes from our childhood home. Annual winter vacations at all-inclusive Caribbean resorts, wine nights with women she went to high school […]
27 days ago | 0 reads
If it feels like we’re in the part of the baseball calendar where the Final Jeopardy music might as well be playing, I sympathize. The offseason has yet to begin in earnest, and some players are still making decisions on qualifying offers, Trent Grisham most notably for the Yankees’ sake. Will they already know they […]
27 days ago | 1 read
The Athletic | Jim Bowden: ($) After this week’s GM meetings in Las Vegas, some of the Yankees’ offseason priorities are coming into focus. Perhaps most notable is that a reunion with free agent starter Michael King, who the team shipped to San Diego as the centerpiece of the Juan Soto deal, is “a real […]
28 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 bi-weekly call by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com. jmack175 asks: Are we really going to roll with McMahon at the hot corner for the next two years with his […]
28 days ago | 1 read
When the Yankees lost Juan Soto to their crosstown rivals last offseason, there was no one-to-one replacement available. Instead, the team’s front office was forced to pivot to a group of veteran additions across the diamond. This consolation package, which included outfielder Cody Bellinger, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, and closer Devin Williams, was headlined by […]
28 days ago | 1 read
The MVP award is the ultimate prize in any sport. It defines the legacies of the greatest in each respective sport. A majority of league MVPs in all sports find their way into the Hall of Fame, but there are always those that are “flukes”. In baseball, we’ve had guys such as Zoilo Versalles (1965), […]
28 days ago | 2 reads
The Yankee rotation, when fully healthy, has the potential to be on the very shortlist for the best in Major League Baseball. Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt, and Cam Schlittler is a very strong top five, not even mentioning that you then have Luis Gil, who was just AL Rookie of the […]
28 days ago | 1 read
There was some uncertainty, but after a year-long battle with Cal Raleigh, Aaron Judge was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player last night. It’s Judge’s third such award in the last four seasons, cementing this stretch among the very finest runs ever authored by a player in MLB history. Over in the NL, Shohei […]
28 days ago | 1 read
ESPN | Jorge Castillo: Yankees superstar right fielder Aaron Judge edged out challenger Cal Raleigh to notch his third career American League MVP, his second straight season winning the award (and third campaign in four years). He joins Yogi Berra, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle as the only Yankees players to win three career MVPs […]
29 days ago | 1 read
Aaron Judge is your 2025 American League MVP. He narrowly beat out the Mariners’ all-world catcher Cal Raleigh to win the award for the third time in his career and the third time in the last four seasons, the others coming in 2022 and 2024. In winning his third MVP, he joined the illustrious group […]
29 days ago | 3 reads
The Yankee rotation faces a little more downside than I think we’d all like. Gerrit Cole is 35 and coming off Tommy John surgery, Carlos Rodón will likely start the season on the IL alongside Cole, Luis Gil never quite looked right coming off his own injury, and Will Warren was fine if unimpressive. That […]
29 days ago | 1 read
One of the better stories coming out of spring, J.C. Escarra was impossible to ignore at camp for the Yankees in 2025. He was a wonderful feel-good story, but the 30-year-old rookie also served as an adequate backup catcher for much of the ‘25 season. Although he occupies a spot that will never garner much […]
29 days ago | 2 reads
Now that the dust has settled, it’s come time to look back at how we did with predicting the 2025 season. We’re still waiting on the results of some seasonal awards, so we’ll have to wait until next to week to review our regular season predictions, but now we can take a look at how […]
29 days ago | 0 reads
Third base has been an uncertainty at best for the Yankees for the better part of this decade. Heading into the 2026 season, that still rings mostly true. Although the Yankees do have a solid third baseman in place, improvements can always be made one way or another. A potential significant one in this department […]
29 days ago | 2 reads