Leading off, in centerfield, number 12, Trent Grisham... Meet the new Yanks. Same as the old Yanks.

Well, so much for that wild and crazy Yankee winter spending spree.  

Remember the days of big money, unlimited hope? Back when the Yankees bought pennants, when they always placed the shiniest star under our Christmas tree, when they always signed the best free agent, when anything shy of a world championship was a piddling failure?

Yep, 15 years ago, give or take. A lost generation, a forgotten legacy.

These days, reaching the ALCS is viewed a buttons-popping success. Apparently, the Yankees don't plan on breaking up that great and glorious 2025 team.

Thus, yesterday, we greeted the first major event of 2026 (the season, not the year.) The Yankees will return Trent Grisham in CF, and though they claim otherwise - (they always claim to be "in the running" for big free agents) - they will now almost surely finish as runners-up in the fishing derbies for Kyle Tucker and/or Cody Bellinger. With Grish returning, the outfield is full, and major decisions must soon be made on Jason Dominguez and Spencer Jones. 

The '26 Yankees could be dead ringers for last year's team. What now?

1. Okay. Let me limb off the ledge. It's not the worst that could happen. Nobody died. The Yankees believe Grisham's 2025 season was not a one-off, but a career breakout, elevating him into the top tier of outfielders. Last season, Grish hit nearly 50 points higher, clubbed twice as many HRs, than ever before. He's pushing 30, not too old. The fear - Aaron Hicks syndrome - is unrealistic. We have him for one year, just one - not eight. But still, the guy has spent most of the last four seasons unable to hit .200. A slow start, a tweaked gonad, a plate of bad clams - that could set him into an off-year regression. You have to worry.

2. With Grisham planted in CF, the Yankees probably must choose between Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones. Keep one, trade the other. They will desperately need pitching. They might chase Michael King, or that new Japanese hurler, but they'll probably try to bundle prospects in a trade - (after squeezing their farm system last August.) Cashman's epic quests to land his great white whale - an ace pitcher - have historically been awful. Also, in this new reality, anybody the Yankees target could simply go elsewhere - across the continent, to the Dodgers, or across the city, to the Mets. Both have more money and are willing to spend it (and that's before Hal just appropriated $22 million to a career .218 hitter.) 

3. To sell tickets, they have to do something. If the Yankees go with the same lineup as last year - (minus Bellinger, a huge loss) - well, that's going to be a tough sell. With every ticket, they should add a subscription to CompuServe. If they rerun the same lineup as last season, I'm already yawning. 

4. But but BUT... the idea of a complete Cashman "Death to Smoochy" teardown should terrify us all. Every now and then, in a particularly cold and barren winter, Cashman turns into Lady MacBeth, with one murderous deal leading to another. I can't help but think that Cashman didn't expect Grisham to accept that one year qualifying offer. He figured Grish would head for the door, and the Yankees would come away with a draft pick and Bellinger in CF. Now, dominoes are about to fall. This should frighten us more than a lunch invitation from Mister Bone Saw. Things happen, they say. I wonder what's next? 

Grish takes the money and stays

Trent Grisham has accepted the Yankees' $22 million qualifying offer.

A miscalculation by the brain trust? 

Off Season Fun With Rebuses

 1)

2)

3)

With signing of Yarbrough, Cashman sends note claiming to still be alive

Breaking News: Yesterday, the Death Barge signed rotational lug nut Ryan Yarbrough - (4.36 ERA over 64 IP) - signaling to Yank fans everywhere that:

1. Cooperstown Cashman is still alive - ALIVE! out there, somewhere - sifting through the scrap yards for spare widgets.

2. Food Stamps Hal Steinbrenner still loves a thrift shop bargain. That underwear looks a bit gnarly but - hey, 99 cents! - who cares? 

3. It's always pitching, pitching, pitching.

4. Maybe - just maybe - those rumored deals for Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal won't happen.

5. When you get the choice to sit it out or dance... I hope you'll dance.

So, Yarbrough? Hard to process. First time I've said the name in three months. Nothing against him. Last year, on June 1, he almost looked like The Answer: Six innings, one run, against the Dodgers. Then something tweaked. Not the same in September. So... he's back? As Billie Joe would say, Wake me up when September ends...

At some point, soon, Cash will need to spend. Today, we'll learn a lot about how he plans to do it. If Trent Grisham chooses to stay, the ensuing OF logjam will prompt the trade of The Martian and/or Spencer Jones. If Grisham leaves, well, we're stuck with The Martian and/or Spencer Jones. Chose your underwear.  

The Yarb could be a decent 6th starter. That's not nothing. You never have too much pitching. We don't know who'll show up in Tampa with elbow pain, but somebody always does. Last year's final four were built by big money (Dodgers), young arms (Mariners), overachievers (Brewers) and unadulterated Yankee hatred (Jays.) The Redsocks and Orioles, if they do nothing this winter, could still be vastly improved. 

Soon, the Yankees must do something huge. 

Today, all we know is that Cashman is alive, and that Hal is counting the beans. Tomorrow? Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance. And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance... o, fuck it, go to the bar and do a shot. 

Welcome to 2025's last day of infinite Yankee expectations

Tomorrow, as the free world knows, Trent Grisham will decide on the Yankees' $22 million qualifying offer, setting into motion one of two competing alt-realities for our looming winter of discontent. There are two scenarios: 

1. With Grisham in CF, hoovering not only long flies but much of Food Stamp Hal's 2026 mad money. The resulting OF logjam would probably eliminate the Yankees from bidding wars for Cody Bellinger and/or Kyle Tucker, leaving next year's outfield to look much like the one we just scrapped from our October hiking boots.

2. With Grisham gone to KC, Texas or Utica - 6-7, eh? - to be replaced in CF by Bellinger, Spencer Jones, a defensive stopgap - or even Jazz Chisholm, who played there in Miami. Tucker could wind up in LF, sending the Martian into trade exile. A complete overhaul. 

What's coming? Dunno. But don't despair. Not today, anyway. 

Instead, let's savor our last few hours of unlimited hope. 

Today, the Death Barge is said to be chasing Tucker, Edwin Diaz, Michael King, Pete Alonzo, Alex Bregman, your mom, and even Tatsuya Imai - this year's Yamamoto - a 27-year-old, RH starter and three-time all-star in Japan. They could sign a SS. They could sign a 3B. They could sign Harrison Bader. My God, today, the Yankees can sign anybody. 

People, this is our last day of unlimited promise in 2025. 

Tomorrow, Grisham will set into motion concrete blocks of reality that shall turn the team into a nautical tribute ballad by Gordon Lightfoot. Tomorrow, we will return to the regular losing template: The Yankees will sign one free agent - they always get one - and finish second in the bids for the rest, the tier that would truly make a difference. They'll stay competitive. They'll snag a few salary dumps - a new Fernando Cruz or maybe another Yerry de los Santos. 

We'll comb the bargain basements. The big names - Tucker, Alonso, Diaz, Imai - will get snapped up by the Dodgers, Phillies or Mets, the elites in MLB's new world order. 

But today - ahh, today - all bets are off. 

Tomorrow, it can turn cold. 

Today, for the last time in 2025, the Yankees can do anything!

Only three shopping days until The Trent Dent

Tuesday,  November 18 - a day that will live in infancy - Trent Grisham must decide whether to accept or reject the Yankees $22 million qualifying offer, setting a template for the 2026 lineup.

There is really nothing else to say. 

Rumors suggest Grisham will ditch the offer and head to free agency, in search of a three year deal. If so, the Yankees would have an extra $22 million in movie money, plus a 4th round draft pick. 

The difference in alt-Yankee future lineups is staggering. 

If he stays...

cf Grisham
rf Judge
1b Rice
2b Chisholm
dh Stanton
lf Dominguez/Jones/somebody? 
3b McMahon/Cabrera 
c Wells/Rice/somebody? 
ss Cabalero/Volpe/somebody?

If he bolts...

2b Chisholm (or cf?)
rf Judge
lf Tucker/Bellinger?
dh Stanton
1b Rice (or c)
cf Jones/Dominguez/Somebody?
3b McMahon/Cabrera? 
c Wells/Rice? 
ss Cabalero/Volpe/a 2b/Somebody?

Until Grisham decides, there is no sense trying to ponder the Yankee paths to success in 2026. In three days, Brian Cashman will learn which alt-Yankiverse he'll inhabit. 

Three days... 

"Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"

 

Okay, so maybe Hal & Pal are not—quite—the moral equivalent of Tailgunner Joe McCarthy (Never to be confused with Marse Joe McCarthy). Or the current inhabitant of the Shambolic White House.

But really.  How many damned MVPs does Aaron Judge have to win before our very own Nepo & Nemo put a decent team around the man?

Col. Ruppert, as cold-blooded an accented-German-American as ever was, this side of Trump's grandfather, not only brought The Babe to town, but surrounded him with Murderers' Row and the greatest baseball stadium ever built—all on his own dime! 

Ed Barrow and George Weiss, a pair of gimlet-eyed, racist sharks...nonetheless built the world's greatest farm system, ever, to keep funneling the supporting talent to those other, three-time MVPs, Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle.

Even Hal's daddy, not always the best judge of talent in the world, dug deep to give us Reggie Jackson, among others.

 

Whatta we got?

We got squaaaaat! As they sang in the greatest baseball musical ever made. Or something like that.

(By the way, technically, doesn't Katherine Hepburn have an asterisk next to those 4 Oscars?  Didn't she tie, back in 1968 or so, with...Barbra Streisand???)

Well, they were dropping a lot of acid in the sixties.

Hal has no such excuse.  

Get Judge a damned team. NOW.

You unsmiling, jumpy-eyed, kinky-booted, silver-spoon-mouthed putz.

Only four wild days until Trent Grisham Decision Day across the Yankiverse

Gather your riot helmets, everybody. The next four days will bring a crazed marathon of felony-grade Yankeetainment. 

First, today, at noon... the infamous Cortica Jug Game - pitting mini-goliaths SUNY Cortland and Ithaca College against each other in the fiercest, most deranged and - by far - drunkest rivalry in college sports. 

Who can forget the Cortica Riot of 2013, when fans massed near a small mountain of kegs, barking, puking, flipping cars and diving off roofs - (that's an actual shot) - eventually requiring police from across the area to quell the insurrection. Thirty were arrested. The school bigwigs were shocked - SHOCKED - and the rivalry was nearly ended. But here we are.  

Why care about a small college rivalry in an area that is steadily moving Metward? (Both Binghamton and Syracuse, former Yankee minor league outposts, are now Met towns.) Well, next year, they'll play the game at Yankee Stadium. Two years back, the did it and sold 40,000 tickets, second-highest in history for a Division III outing. The year earlier, they played at Metlife Stadium, selling 45,000.) Thinking sellout...

Sunday, it's the regular Welcome New Giants Coach game and debacle, featuring recently promoted Mike Kafka, as he dons the Brian Daboll Headset of Doom. The Giants are 2-8, third in the NFL Tankathon for draft picks. Can they keep it up? And should we care? 

As everyone knows, if the Giants draft an eight-foot tall QB, he will turn out to be two dwarfs piggyback. Still, this game does bring out the pageantry. What will the flyover banner say?  

Then... Epstein Monday! Emails, notes, cards, handwritten birthday poetry - it's bubbling up, one grimy morsel at a time. Bill Clinton? Boom. Alan Dershowitz? Boom. Your mom? Boom. Who's next? This isn't going away. 

Here on Epstein Island - this is a tale of our castaways, we're here for a long long time - Mr. Howell was always diddling Mary Ann. We've been at this for six years. By the time we're done, Ghislaine will have a podcast, maybe with Matt Gaetz. Hunker down. The worst is yet to come.  

Then... Tuesday... Trent Grisham Decision Day! The 29-year-old CF will tell the Yankees whether he's accepting their $22 million qualifying offer, and thus, whether he will return in 2026. 

If he says YES - that is, the Vatican chimney belches white smoke - there goes our shot at signing Kyle Tucker and/or Cody Bellinger. The course of our entire Yankee winter will be fundamentally altered. 

Four days from now, we'll know everything. 

Get ready to riot. 

Congrats to Aaron Judge, the rightful MVP. Now, will the Yankees step up and give him the support he deserves?

Congrats to The Captain - our Captain - Aaron Judge, who TOTALLY deserves to be 2025 AL Most Valuable Player, in the same way that Francis McDormand needed to win the 2017 Best Actress award for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, even though Meryl Streep was the secret crowd fave for portraying Katherine Graham in The Post. 

I know, I know... You're wringing your hands because, while McDormand delivered in the role of a guilt-distressed mom, so did Cal Raleigh for the Mariners. Damn, the guy hit 60 HRs and drove in 125, as a catcher.  Those are Jane Fonda numbers, maybe even Julia Roberts. And McDormand goes down as one of the greats - tied for second all-time, with three Best Actress Oscars, after Katherine Hepburn with four. (Nobody beats the Hepper. Not even Sally "You love me" Field.)

But let's be clear here: 

Judge is Nicholson, Hanks, De Niro...

Judge is Meryl Fucking Streep. (Two Oscars and 17 nominations.)

Any look at the numbers puts Judge in his own movie, maybe opposite Debra Winger. Seattle fans can extol Raleigh's values as catcher/team leader - won't deny them, definitely a Hillary Swank toughness vibe - but any Yank fan knows that, without Judge, that sorry lineup would have been the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, or maybe even Show Girls, barely winning more games than it lost, and it probably would have have missed the postseason. 

Wait. There's that word: Postseason.

Yeah. That's it, the word of 2025: To Yank fans, it beats "6-7" and "Gen Z Stare." And it sits in the abyss, at the underside of every award. 

It's hard to give a shit about anybody's trophy case after the Yankee clown car once again ditched itself in early October. Judge now has three MVP trophies. He's up there with McDormand, a great actress, for sure. He's a lock for Cooperstown. Someday, he'll have a burger kiosk in Monument Park. He'll host a podcast, joke with A-Rod in pregame shows, maybe get elected to Congress (running against Texiera?) He'll be a generational icon of New York City, a game show host, if not a talking head for Good Morning America, and he'll wind up among the greatest Yankees, the greatest HR hitters in history, the greatest stars of his time.

But will he have a ring? 

Starting to wonder.

The Yankees have now squandered three MVP seasons from Judge, and a Cy Young year from Gerrit Cole. At least, this time, Judge put together a worthy October - he hit .500, 13-for-26 prying that monkey off his back. Cole, on the other hand, must still exorcize the shame of not covering first on a routine grounder. You'd hate to see that in the permanent ledger.

All hail Aaron Judge! He deserves every plaque, every trophy, every Best Actor accolade. But he's starting to pinch. Without a ring, he's just an empty billboard outside Ebbing. He needs a supporting cast.

After a decade of disappointment, the Yankees fire their top international scout

Yesterday, after Pirates ace Paul Skenes won the NL Cy Young Award, rumors popped that he secretly yearns to play for - gulp - the New York effing Yankees.  

And, of course, he will. Someday. 

Don't they all? 

Around 2040 (assuming that 3I/ATLAS comet now heading our way isn't an alien probe), when Skenes is 37, bald, crag-toothed and gout-toed, he surely will wind up in the Yankee rotation next to Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the cast of Yellowstone. 

But now? Nope. Notta gonna happen. For shits and giggles, let's imagine the package Brian Cashman would have to cobble together to land his ultimate Great White Whale - the reigning NL Cy Young. Here goes... 

1. Cam Schlittler. (The Pirates would demand him, full stop.) 

2. The Martian, Jasson Dominguez. (After all the hype, gone.)  

3. Spencer Jones, the tall CF (and maybe, the next Joey Gallo.) 

4. George Lombard Jr., the SS. (Our best position prospect.)  

5. Ben Rice. (At least one young and cheap, game-ready regular.)

6. A top below-radar prospect. (Pitcher Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz?)

7. Gobs of cash. (They are, after all, the Pirates.)  

A painful package, right? Well, here's the kicker: It would be beaten, easily and instantly, by the Dodgers, Mets, Redsocks, Phils, Jays, Tigers and half the contenders in baseball. The reason? They have explosive and successful international scouting systems, while the Yankees farm has percolated dregs for 20 years.

Which brings me to yesterday's firing. 

First, a disclaimer. I dunno shit about scouting. Neither do you. We sit on our pink brocade toilet seats in places currently under a foot of snow, and we study ERAs and Ks, and none of us could tell a Schlitter from a Benito Schlossolini. 

Nevertheless, you don't need to be a cow to know the milk is sour.

Yesterday, the Yankees canned their chief international scout, Danny Rowland, after 23 years. Rowland, 62, had overseen an ever-flushing urinal of a farm system, with a breathtaking array of failures. The list goes from Alexander Vargas ($2.5 million bonus), Brando Mayea ($4.3 million), Roderick Arias ($4 million), Mani Cedeno ($2.5 million), Hans Montero ($1.7 million) and the infamous class of 2014, when the Yankees strategically shot their wad ($12 million, far more than any other franchise) on seven teens, the most successful turning out to be Dermis Garcia, who eventually would hit .207 over 40 games with the 2022 Oakland A's.

I don't know if Rowland was a good scout in a bad system, or vice versa. His contract ran out, and the Yankees made a change. So be it. In this world, nobody aged 62 can ever know that crazy thing called "job security." (Wait, I take it back: There's Cashman and Boone, and everybody else.)

What I do know is that if Paul Skenes goes anywhere this winter, it will probably be to Los Angeles or Boston - some team destined to crush us in October. Who knows? Maybe we'll get lucky. Maybe that ATLAS thingy will end civilization, in which case, we needn't worry about the rotation. For now, though, the Yankees are still the farm system of Dermis Garcia. 

Isn't that the galaxy we now inhabit? 

The 2025 Tabloids Back Cover Race

Is this finally the Knicks year?  

This morning El Duque asked what is the single most important question in NY sports. 

Not, "Will the Giants fire Joe Schoen? 

Not, "Why didn't they fire Shane Bowen too?" Seriously, how did they not fire Shane Bowen? 

Not, "Why can't the Rangers win at home?"

Or even, "Why didn't the Giants fire Shane Bowen?" 

OK I know I said that already, but how does a Defensive Coordinator whose defense has three epic collapses, historical collapses, in three weeks, keep his job?  

But I digress... 

He asks "Can they (the Knicks) catch the Yankees?" and win The 2025 Tabloids Back Cover Race. 

This could be the Knicks year.

While winning their first NBA Championship since most of us were in short pants would be good, there’s a lot of road between here and there. So, for the time being, let’s focus on an equally remarkable yet achievable goal.

Winning The 2025 Tabloids Back Cover Race I’m guessing for the first time ever. 

(Well, since this blog started tracking it. It's quite possible that the Knicks won between 1969-73 when the Yankees sucked and the Knicks owned the town or maybe the Mets took it but I don't have an intern to task with finding it out, so we'll never know.)

Currently the Knicks trail the Yankees 172.5 to 158.5  

Fourteen covers back with seven weeks and ninety-eight covers available.

You would think it would be a cakewalk but it’s actually going to be very close.

Here’s the breakdown…

Monday back covers are pretty much guaranteed to be football. This takes 14 covers off the table.

84 Remaining.

The Giants have named their head coach for now but as today’s NY Post shows, there are going to still be the random “Bill Belichick? No. Lane Kiffin? No.  Fill in the Blank? No. Basically the print equivalent of click bait. 

Figure at least four of the these per paper. So eight more covers. Let's give the Jets a couple of these too. You never know.

Down to 74.

Unless a NY Ranger, New York Islander dies, or is arrested for stabbing a Door Dash guy or is found cheating, either in a gambling scandal or for managing to nail Jordan Hudson during halftime of a North Carolina football game while Bill is otherwise occupied… no back covers for them. Same with The Nets. 

OK, maybe two per paper. Let’s give the NY Post another one given their love of the salacious.

69. 

Toss in a Saint Johns Big East Tourney and a couple of Met Free Agent signings, some unforeseen big name scandal, or other general sports headline worthy event and we’re down to 61.

The Knicks need to make up 14 back covers with 61 remaining.

Can they pull it off?

The Knicks should always get the back cover after a game and there are 20 games between now and the end of the year. (Actually 21 but the game on Dec 31^st will be in the first paper of the new year.)

There’s 40 right there.

Putting the Knicks up 26 with only 21 covers remaining.

More than enough to win it going away, except…

The Yankees aren’t going to go down without a fight. 

They need to come up with twenty-six (26) back pages, between now and the end of the year to retain the title. So they are going to have to time the announcements of their biggest deals to come on days after the Knicks play a game and knock them off the back pages.

If they can do this just four times they will only need twenty-two to retain the title.

Bellinger on the verge of either signing with them or elsewhere gets them two. (2)

Bellinger signs with them or doesn’t.  (4)

Losing out on a major Free Agent target gets them two. (6)

Winter meetings shenanigans gets them two. (8)

A big trade get’s them two. (10)

The inevitable free agent pitcher signing get’s them two. (12)

Former Yankee found with underage girl in the Dominican Republic or its equivalent, two. (14)

Current Yankee deported by ICE, two. The New York Post approves!  (16)

Michael Kay divorces wife marries Meredith Marakovits. Complete with honeymoon pics from Bali. I know that's not going to happen but try unseeing that! 

Anyway, there will be some other Yankee related thing.  Two. (18)

Still short. They need four more back pages.

Of course if Hal cared about winning this thing he would fire Boone or Brian and take it going away but we all know how he feels about going the extra mile to win. So, no.

Sadly, the Yankees might need Joe Torre to pass away to retain the title. A final gift to the franchise. Two back covers on the news. Two more on the funeral for the win. 

If Joe hangs on, it looks like the Knicks! Oh and, fire Shane Bowen. C'mon this is just nuts. 

The GM meetings won't be the same without the Casherino

Breaking News Drivel: The annual GM swap meet in Vegas is underway, and for the first time in his 27 years at the helm, Yankee super-wiz Brian Cashman will be missing in action. 

That means no big Yankee signings, no colossal Yankee deals, and no epic, until-dawn hoisting of boilermakers in the Hoodle Dasher  lounge, as the world wonders: Where's Pitbull? 

Dunno. Climbing Everest, because it's there? Hiking the Appalachian Trail, grokking nature (with the Pilates instructor?) Or maybe he's just burnt out - tired of the grind, the crapola, the lost Octobers. Could you blame him?     

What could Cashman's absence mean? Some possibilities...

1. Absolutely nothing. Nada, zip, no sir. The GM meetings are not the Winter Meetings. They're probably an excuse to drink, chase hotties and urinate in public. Cash has been Yank GM since 1998. He's 58, and the Yankees are no longer the apex predator in every bidding war. In fact, they're in the second tier of ownership wealth. It's gotta be depressing for a guy who began his GM career with annual parades down the Canyon of Heroes. Could anybody blame Cashman if he's simply doesn't give an airborne shit anymore?  

2. A little, but not much. Supposedly, two years ago, the GM meetings spawned the Juan Soto trade with San Diego. Still, the heavy lifting came later. By not being there, Cashman could conceivably miss out on some 3 a.m. dick measuring contest that eventually unlocks the Pirates' grip on Paul Skenes. But I doubt it.  

3. You can say you went. Right now, the Yankees can't do much of anything. They're waiting for Trent Grisham to decide if he'll accept their $22 million qualifying offer and stay a Yankee, or take his chances on free agency. Everything the Yankees will do this winter hinges on Grisham's decision, which is still a week away. Why go without a plan? 

4. Gossip. The Yankees are sending a contingent. Who knows? Maybe without the boss, the underlings can stay later at the bar, and snap some incriminating photographs, to be used in later negotiations? 

Let's face it: Aside from signing somebody off the scrap heap, everything that happens must be signed off by Cashman - and then by Food Stamps Hal - and if it means busting the budget, probably the rest of the Steinbrenner family. Remember those t-shirts in the 1970's? MY FAMILY WENT TO VEGAS AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY T-SHIRT? Sums it up.