Pinstripe Alley: for New York Yankees fans

Finally, the misery that was the 2023 Yankees is over. Baseball is still being played as the Division Series for both leagues gets ready to start this weekend, but the Yankees will not be participating, something many had resigned the Yankees to as early as June or July. Their play this season was simply pathetic and Aaron Judge's long absence highlighted many of the roster construction flaws that his presence can usually cover up.  Alas, the first Podument Park in awhile eulogizes the Yankees and how things likely won't be much different in 2024 unless significant changes are made. However, reports are indicating that there are going to be no drastic changes made to the front office or coaching staff. Even Sean Casey seems like he'll be returning as the no-longer-interim hitting coach.  In addition to just the overall makeup of the organization, the hosts do take some time to celebrate some of the good, such as Gerrit Cole seemingly on his way to his first Cy Young award, Michael King's emergence in the rotation, and that week of Jasson Domínguez. The show closes out out with the official 2023 Yankees and Manfreds of the Season. Congrats to our lucky recipients. You truly deserved it.  Lastly, a huge thank you to anyone and everyone who tuned in and listened to us during a dreadful baseball season!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Note: This week's podcast was sadly recorded prior to the news of Josh Donaldson's release from the organization. But do know that we would have enjoyed dancing on the grave of his Yankees career. Technically this past week of Yankees baseball was slightly more palatable than the previous week. They actually won two whole games this time, which is still an improvement over the eight-game losing streak they took into last week's podcast. The streak went up to nine games before Aaron Judge had enough and put the team back in the win column, courtesy of a three-homer game. Still, the Yankees haven't won a series since they swept the Royals in mid-July, unless Harrison Bader's moral victory against the Astros counts for something (it counts for nothing). This week's podcast continues with the usual grumbling about the 2023 Yankees, but the co-hosts do offer some potential things to look forward to for the last month of the season. It's mainly all about Gerrit Cole's Cy Young chase, debating how many dingers Judge can hit with nine toes, and wondering if there will be a Martian landing in the Bronx. After checking in on the Baseball Reference WAR leaderboard, the weekly Yankee/Manfred awards were skipped with worthy recipients and a sequel to last week's 2013 Yankees game presented itself in the form of Kunj guessing how many games players from the 2014 Yankees played that year. Will Suit Lady get revenge for last week's defeat? There's only one way to know. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For a few weeks now, readers of this site and listeners of this podcast have read/heard us all talking about how much the Yankees flat-out stink. Well, the Bronx Bombers, er “losers of eight in a row,” have shown us that even we undersold how bad they truly are. With that, Andrew and Kunj had no desire to actually talk in detail about the 2023 Yankees (beyond recent prospect promotions), so they chose to avoid them as much as possible.  The co-hosts hopped in the time machine and traveled a decade down memory lane to 2013. Today's podcast focused on Remembering Some Guys. Andrew named players from the 2013 squad and Kunj had to guess how many games they played for the Yankees that year (the nearly-always voiceless Zoom recorder we call “Suit Lady” was his foe in this exercise). They also added in a bonus element of trying to guess whether the particular player had positive or negative Baseball Reference WAR.  Prior to the game, the promotions of Oswald Peraza and Everson Pereira were briefly discussed. Along with Anthony Volpe and we suppose Gerrit Cole's Cy Young bid, they're the only real reasons to watch this team going forward! So tune in for that anyway. Once the 2013 game concluded, there was an abbreviated check-in for the WAR leaderboard of the 2023 Yankees before handing out default and unenthusiastic Yankee and Manfred of the Week awards. Join us all in remembering the second-half fun brought by Alfonso Soriano, but stay to remember unquestioned Yankees legends Chris Bootcheck and Brennan Boesch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Believe it or not, the 2023 Yankees are not a good baseball team. The times when you think they're going to win a game are few and far between, and even then, they go and find a different way to lose in frustrating fashion. They have a 60-58 record going into recording this podcast, and 58 of those losses all feel like they could qualify for “worst loss of the season.” That number is only going to get higher; the win total might not, though. After another mini-hiatus, Andrew and Kunj return here at Podument Park to discuss the continuously annoying season that the Yankees are having. In addition to just general complaints about the team, they discuss the latest injury and roster moves, posit whether or not Aaron Judge should even keep playing, and then possibly narc on Nestor Cortes' side hustle of selling game tickets.  In addition to that, they do the usual check-in of Baseball Reference's WAR leaderboard (where Randy Vásquez firmly sits in ninth place), and squint their way through handing out the usual Yankee and Manfred of the Week awards. Sprinkled into this week's episode is a look at the upcoming schedule and their baseline for moral victories this coming week, because the Yankees almost certainly won't have many actual ones.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Due to some real-life things happening, Andrew and Kunj haven't been able to record the podcast since before the All-Star break. What doesn't help is that the Yankees haven't done much to motivate us to find some time either. It's just been all bad. The highlight of the second half has essentially been being mildly amused at Domingo Germán getting scratched from a start due to armpit discomfort and then finding himself pitching five shutout innings in relief of Jhony Brito. They've only won six games since the calendar flipped, and three of those came via a sweep of the second-worst team in baseball, the Royals. And now the trade deadline has passed and the Yankees did...nothing. Technically they acquired relievers Keynan Middleton and Spencer Howard, but those don't really count as moves. They had the opportunities to be either buyers or sellers, choosing either direction would've been better than doing nothing. So, of course, they did nothing (as well-articulated by Sam this morning). So, the co-hosts vented frustrations at basically everything that's happened since the All-Star break. If you're looking for trade deadline-only discussions, jump ahead to around the 16:25 mark (though ads might bump it a minute later). After saying their piece, they wrapped up the podcast with the usual check-in at the dire Baseball Reference WAR leaderboard and wrapped things up with handing out Yankee and Manfred awards of the week/second half to date. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whether you think the first half of the baseball season is the 81-game mark or the All-Star break, the first half of the baseball season is officially in the books. And was it ever so ... dull and disappointing for the Yankees? Scattered among the lifeless and uncompetitive at-bats of the first half were some moments of fun and competence, but overall this first half was just not a memorable one for the Bombers. The struggles of the offense were so profound, it led to general manager Brian Cashman making his first-ever midseason coaching change by relieving hitting coach Dillon Lawson of his duties (and the title today riffing on the old #NextManUp mantra). On today's podcast, Andrew and Kunj discuss how it's never good to see someone lose their job, a change was needed just to see if a different mindset can get some of these guys going. While Lawson was the main topic, they also discussed Carlos Rodón making his much-awaited Yankee debut, the MLB Draft officially being underway and the Yankees making their first-round pick in George Lombard Jr., and then provide the weekly injury updates. After that, they wrap of the podcast with our usual check-in of Baseball Reference's WAR leaderboard, and then hand out the Yankees and Manfreds of the Week. Best of luck to Lawson in his future, and even better luck wished to Sean Casey, who will be tasked with making DJ LeMahieu look like a machine again. (As a programming note, Casey's hire was revealed followed the podcast recording.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The most recent of Yankees baseball has featured a perfect game, back-to-back double-digit run outbursts, a gutsy pure bullpen game victory, and the extremely welcome resurgence of rookie shortstop Anthony Volpe. Not bad, right? Unfortunately, as Andrew and Kunj delve into on today's podcast, the highs were pretty much the lone positive developments (the same could be said for the first half as a whole). The Yankees managed to only go 3-3 against the last-place A's and Cardinals, and somehow, the offense found a way to look lifeless at the end of the week despite those 21 runs across two days in Oakland. The problem is that they only scored once in the opener and lost, and then the lineup failed up to show up in two of three games in St. Louis -- punctuated by getting no-hit into the sixth by old friend Jordan Montgomery. New York ended the series loss with a piddling three hits in the finale. The script is the same and the Yankees remain in a holding pattern until they can get any kind of concrete news on Aaron Judge's return. The veterans who were supposed to keep the team afloat aren't doing the job -- DJ LeMahieu, Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Donaldson ... you name 'em. Even with Carlos Rodón on track to finally debut in pinstripes, it's getting late early out there, as Yogi would say. There's all that, the B-Ref check-in, and Yankee/Manfred of the Week in our most recent episode of Podument Park. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When there's no real explanation for something, the best way to explain what happened is with a simple “somehow.” If it's good enough for a billion-dollar franchise to explain their villain coming back from the dead, then it's good enough for me. Somehow, the Yankees managed to win four games and two series this week. They weren't the most exciting wins, but wins are wins and right now that's all that matters. Andrew and Kunj talk about how the Yankees desperately need to find ways to win games without Aaron Judge and the offense just needs to look somewhat competent. They offered some praise at least for doing just that with a 4-2 showing against Seattle and Texas. The Yanks “did something” and found ways to win without their captain. If they can put together a more sustainable approach and keep stealing wins, they should be able to stay afloat in the race until Aaron Judge returns. Unfortunately, as also discussed on the podcast, the latest on No. 99 shows that there's still no real timetable and he'll presumably be out longer than anyone initially thought or expected, now that there's confirmation of a a torn ligament in his toe. Fortunately, we did also have some good injury updates for Ian Hamilton who should rejoin the team in Oakland and Carlos Rodón, whose Yankees debut actually appears to be on the horizon. As always, we end by checking in on Baseball Reference's WAR leaderboard, before handing out our weekly Yankee and Manfreds of the Week. Hooray for the inexplicable Billy McKinney! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you missed the Yankees this past week/weekend, consider yourself lucky. Since the last podcast, the Yankees won the opener of the series against the Mets and haven't won since. They split that series at least, but then got thoroughly embarrassed on the way to getting swept at Fenway Park. The Aaron Judge-less Yankees continue to look lifeless and there's no end in sight for that. As Andrew and Kunj discuss on the latest episode of Podument Park, the Yankees have to learn to score runs and win games without Judge. There's no timeline for his return and if they want to stick around in the playoff race, they have to make do without him. Some reinforcement is at least on the way in the form of Harrison Bader who will return from the injured list tonight against the Mariners. Between him and the Yankees' ace on the mound, maybe we'll see some signs of life from the Bombers.  In addition to the usual musings on the team, the show ends with Andrew and Kunj's weekly check-in of the Baseball Reference WAR leaderboard (which appropriately tells the tale of the Yankees season), hand out Yankee and Manfred honors of the Week, and look to the upcoming schedule and what might be in store for the Yankees. Just for fun, they also roast Rob Manfred himself for his asinine comments about Oakland A's fans and gawk at the topsy-turvy MLB standings -- particularly in the NL West (Dodgers in third?) and NL Central (Reds leading??). Help us, Obi-Wan Giancarnobi. You're our only hope. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to another episode of Podument Park; please leave your socks at the door as they are not welcome on this podcast. As we saw during Aaron Judge's first stint on the injured list earlier this year, this team has a tough time winning games, scoring runs, or convincing us that they're actually living human beings when he's not around. With the Dodger Stadium wall getting the last laugh over Judge, we saw a return to that form as the Yankees dropped a six-game homestand to the White Sox and Red Sox, winning just a game apiece in each series.  In addition to the offensive ineptitude on display this week, Andrew and Kunj discussed the air quality issues New York faced this week, the at least-commendable pitching, and some love was given to Billy McKinney, who has been one of the few to show signs of life this past week. Lastly, of course, there was the obligatory injury updates (please come back soon, Judge and Harrison Bader).  As always, the podcast ended with a look at the schedule and seemingly abundance of off-days coming up, the weekly check-in of Baseball Reference's WAR leaderboard, and handing out of the Yankee and Manfred of the Week. Kind of a shocker the schedule-makers didn't win Yankee of the Week for the sheer amount of off-days the Yankees have been gifted this week while they try to weather the Aaron Judge-less storm.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the first time, perhaps ever (only slightly exaggerating), a West Coast trip for the Yankees was not miserable. Sure, they've had winning trips near the Pacific before, but between the pitch clock letting games that started late end at a reasonable-ish time, and taking two out of three at Chavez Ravine against the Dodgers, it was a mostly great week! Still, it wasn't all LA sunshine for the Yankees this week as they also dealt with some Seattle rain in the form of injuries. The absolute revolving door of injuries continued in a very hectic way this week. As discussed on this week's podcast episode, the Yankees welcomed back Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Donaldson, Tommy Kahnle, and Jose Trevino off of the injured list, but in true soul for a soul fashion, put Harrison Bader, Greg Allen, and Ryan Weber on the shelf, with Nestor Cortes most likely joining them to further deplete the rotation. Aaron Judge also decided to wage war against a fence, and while he did his damage, we wait await the results of his testing to see if the fence ultimately gets the last laugh. And as always, Andrew and Kunj do their weekly check-in of Baseball Reference's WAR leaderboard before handing out their Yankee and Manfred of the Week (spoiler: that fence will not be pleased with the latest addition to its trophy shelf). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The past week got off to a bit of a bumpy start with the Yankees dropping two out of three to the Orioles in the Bronx in a series loss that featured one of the worst innings you'll ever see in the Bronx. New York then fell in its series opener with San Diego before rebounding to win three straight games in exciting fashion! Isiah Kiner-Falefa continued his recent run of solid play with a walk-off hit in the 10th inning on Saturday and the offense had elusive back-to-back 10-run outbursts on Sunday and Monday against the Padres and Mariners. Leading the way, of course, has been Aaron Judge, who is firmly back at the heart of the Yankees' offense and now leads the American League with 17 homers, even though he missed those 10 games at the beginning of May. The man is playing at a separate level from the rest of baseball and Andrew & Kunj can't help but be amazed by him. They talk Judge, the latest on the Yankees' injury and rehab front (Giancarlo Stanton may be on his way soon, as well as Josh Donaldson), the B-Ref check-in, Yankee/Manfred of the Week, and whether a demotion for Oswaldo Cabrera might have to be in the cards.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's been a busy week for the Yankees! After taking three games out of four North of the Border, the team traveled to Cincinnati and swept the Reds to end their road trip and 17 straight days of games on a high note before finally getting the day off today. A 6-1 record over the past week was good enough to properly move them away from last place and into third in the divisional standings; hopefully they continue to climb higher in the upcoming week.   While the inspired play was the highlight of the week, it certainly was not the only thing worth discussing. This last week came with some indirect and nonsensical sign-stealing allegations towards Aaron Judge, a sticky substance ejection and suspension for Domingo Germán, and tons of whining with a sprinkle of body-shaming from the Blue Jays. Following that, the Reds series also saw its own controversies with Clarke “Glove Fur” Schmidt, Reds skipper David Bell being ejected twice in the series, and Aaron Boone being ejected before noon during Sunday's brunchtime affair.  In addition to all the noise happening during the games, co-hosts Andrew and Kunj also discussed some of the transactional moves from the past week including Jhony Brito being optioned to Triple-A, Jose Trevino and Ian Hamilton hitting the injured list, and most notably Aaron Hicks being designated for assignment after the Yankees acquired Greg Allen in a trade with the Red Sox.  Of course a podcast about the 2023 Yankees wouldn't be complete without a good chunk of injury updates, and as always, the show ends with a look at the B-Ref WAR leaderboard and the Yankee/Manfred of the Week.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, the vibes are a little better in Yankeeland this week! It would have been c'est magnifique to have not blown that game on Sunday (and rest assured, we do get into some Aaron Boone/Albert Abreu frustrations) to win that four-game series against the Rays rather than settling for a split, but still, the Yankees have been playing much better lately. Andrew and Kunj explore the highs and lows brought forth by the likes of Anthony Rizzo, Anthony Volpe, Aaron Judge's homerific Saturday, and more, albeit while also expressing some concerns about Nestor Cortes and Clarke Schmidt. The Yankees have another crucial series with a division rival coming up this week as they head up to Toronto to face the Blue Jays (note that this was recorded prior to Jimmy Cordero being announced as Monday's opener for Jhony Brito). It's time to keep up the better play and fully escape last place, as they're only half a game up on Boston for that ignominious rank. All that lies ahead, as well as the B-Ref leaderboard check-in, injury updates (#SevySznSoon?), and the Yankee/Manfred of the Week. Let's go Yankees! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you squint and try real hard, there were some positive takeaways from the last week of Yankees baseball. Since the last episode, the team technically went over .500, they won a series, and they got Harrison Bader back in the lineup. Yet, it's still not a fun time to be a Yankees fan.  As Andrew and Kunj discuss on the latest episode of Podument Park, what should've been a series-clinching win over the Rays at Tropicana Field turning into a Gerrit Cole meltdown and some questionable late-game decision-making (a recurring theme) put a damper on the week as a whole, even if it was marginally better than last week. Hopefully, a series against the Oakland Athletics is just what this team needs before facing the Rays again, but this time in the Bronx. This is all discussed in addition to the jolt of energy that Bader brought in his first week back in action, the imminent return of captain Aaron Judge, and the possible roster implications of his return. As always, the show ends with a look at Baseball Reference's WAR leaderboard for the Yankees, before the Yankee and Manfred of the Week recipients are announced. Spoiler alert: More frustration was directed at Yankees management. You can't say that it's not earned! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The hits just keep on coming for the 2023 Yankees, and we're certainly not talking about hard contact from the lousy offense. Aaron Judge joined the Yankees' walking wounded with a hip injury, and the regular lineups have only become more pitiful since then as Aaron Boone's ballclub has sunk all the way to last place. They're not hitting at all, the back of the rotation is not offering quality starts, and even when someone like Domingo Germán steps up with 8.1 excellent innings last night, the team is apparently still too in love with Clay Holmes to believe that someone else might be a better option in the ninth inning. It feels like the Yankees keep stepping on rakes that they dropped themselves. As Joe Girardi would say, "It's not what you want," and boy have the Yanks become an ugly watch in a hurry. Andrew and Kunj did our best to unpack the disastrous last week and while they're glad that Harrison Bader will be back tonight, it's hard for them to be overly confident in the May schedule ahead with this very flawed team. Put your hazmat suit on and explore the Yankees with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If this past weekend of Yankees baseball seemed particularly annoying, it's because it was annoying. Andrew and Kunj are back at it with this week's episode of Podument Park where they discuss a .500 week of baseball for the Bronx “In Name Only” Bombers. The team was eventually going to lose a series, and got that first one out of the way after starting 2023 with five series wins and one series tie. Losing the weekend series against the Blue Jays wasn't the big issue, though, as the hosts discuss. The offense looking largely lifeless and problems from years past rearing its ugly head put a damper on the whole week. It's not all bad though, as the pitching has been a rock and even the weaker spots in the rotation have looked better recently! Also discussed are Oswald Peraza getting a proper look at third base, DJ and The Tonys (Rizzo and Volpe) finding success, and Harrison Bader hopefully returning soon and what that means for Willie Calhoun's storied Yankees tenure. As always the pod ends with a look at Baseball Reference's WAR leaderboard, and handing out of awards for this week's Yankee and Manfred of the Week. Spoiler: Finding a Yankee of the Week was a bit of a struggle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The journey to get there wasn't exactly smooth sailing, but the Yankees had a winning week against the Guardians and Twins, recovering from a series-opening loss in Cleveland to win two in a row before doing the same after two irritating losses to Minnesota. That wasn't a series win, but New York will gladly take the split. Andrew and Kunj revel in the pitching mastery of Gerrit Cole (and Nestor Cortes, too!) while bemoaning the latest malady to befall Giancarlo Stanton. Despite his hot start, a strained hamstring will keep him out of action for at least a month. Josh Donaldson is supposed to return to the Yankees on Wednesday, but the co-hosts are not exactly not looking forward to the embattled third baseman's return. They talk about a possible general infield platoon situation with the recalled Oswald Peraza, though it feels likely that the Yankees will just demote him instead of cutting ties with the struggling Willie Calhoun. All that is discussed as well as injury updates, Clay Holmes' topsy-turvy week, Anthony Volpe's kleptomania (and first career homer), the B-Ref Top 12 check-in, and the Yankee/Manfred of the Week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's time for another Twitter Space session to land on the podcast feed! Josh Diemert gathered Peter Brody, Alex Eisert, Malachi Hayes, and Jeff Middleton shortly after the Yankees' series victory over the Guardians to talk about that game, the Franchy Cordero Moment, Aaron Hicks' unclear role (plus last week's comments), and those damn 12-0 Rays. The Yankees have won every series in 2023, but Tampa Bay has yet to lose a game. How much credit should they get, and how much should folks raise their eyebrows about Tampa's meager competition so far? It's a tricky topic, but the five Pinstripe Alley writers gave it a shot. Note: Twitter Spaces did not operate smoothly at the end of this episode (or very much at all, frankly), so it ends rather abruptly before a proper goodbye. Blame Elon! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Yankees have been rolling in the early goings of the 2023 campaign, winning every series thus far. After a weather delay forced Thursday's game to Friday, which the Bombers dropped, they bounced back over the weekend to ensure that their streak continued. Andrew and Kunj talk about this and much more on the latest episode of Podument Park. Surprisingly, both hosts agree that the Yankees should continue winning as many series as they can! Also discussed on this week's pod is the potential makings of a home run race between the Yankees' captain, Aaron Judge, and his big beefy counterpart, Giancarlo Stanton. Both players decided that the Camden Yards wall being pushed back in 2022 is only a problem for mere mortals, like Austin Hays and Ryan Mountcastle. Kunj and Andrew also consider Franchy Cordero's recent baseball bashing, the numerous roster moves having to be made due to injuries to players like Josh Donaldson and Jonathan Loáisiga, Clay Holmes meeting the moment in the bullpen, and Anthony Volpe's tough week (albeit one with an encouraging triple). Of course, they end by bringing back a podcast regular in reviewing the Yankees' top 12 WAR leaders — oh-so-important in early April — per Baseball Reference, and then both offer their takes on the Yankee and Manfred of the Week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Beautiful, beautiful regular season play is back, and the Yankees are off to a fine start in 2023! Despite dropping the second game of the season to the Giants, they won both Opening Day and the rubber match on Sunday, and they also dispatched the Phillies on Monday night to move to 3-1. Is it so damn early that this podcast could be miserable next week with just a few bad games? You bet! But Andrew and Kunj are going to be excited about all this anyway. Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres, and Aaron Judge have clubbed two homers apiece in the first four games (with one Stanton's sailing 485 feet away), and each of Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, and rookie Jhony Brito have turned in good-to-great starts. In fact, only 4 of the 13 members of the pitching staff have allowed a single run. You love to see it! Add in some Anthony Volpe steals and you've got just the right mix for a fun opening week at Yankee Stadium. Now, they just have to keep it up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Folks enjoyed hearing some Twitter Space podcast recordings during the 2022 season, so we're going to try to do some more this year! Josh Diemert was joined by Madison Pavich and Peter Brody to banter about Pinstripe Alley's 2023 staff-wide MLB and Yankees predictions, and also the collective excitement over Opening Day. There was some Yankees strategy talk, Anthony Volpe thoughts, and much more. Note that due to the combination of Opening Day timing and personal schedules, this recording was only lightly edited by Andrew Mearns. Thank you for listening! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Opening Day is nearly here, and with it, Anthony Volpe's MLB debut! The rookie — or to be more accurate, the organization — surprised us by making the team, and he will be at shortstop when the Yankees kick off their 2023 campaign in the Bronx on Thursday against the Giants. Andrew and Kunj talked about the exciting news of Volpe's promotion, the less-fun news of Luis Severino's injury and likely replacement in the rotation by Jhony Brito, and the final roster spots. Jimmy Cordero and Albert Abreu are fully in the bullpen, but there are still a couple small matters to settle with the fringes of the 26-man roster. The second half of the show is a sequel to what the PSA Podcast did on Opening Day last year: a draft of what we're most looking forward to during the 2023 season. Sure, there's the obvious — Volpe, Aaron Judge, and the youth movement writ large — but there's so much more to be optimistic about (both in terms of the Yankees and MLB in general). So let's revel in it! Note: This episode was recorded before the Yankees' final Opening Day roster moves were revealed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now that our podcast transition is fully in the books and spring training is almost over, it's well past time for Andrew and Kunj to return to the podcast microphones! The combination of the former and busy schedules led to a delay since the last show, so the two have quite a bit to talk about on the first full-fledged episode of Podument Park. (All RSS feeds should be the same on your end!) There's some older business that needs to be covered of course -- Carlos Rodón and Harrison Bader's injuries, just to name a couple -- but there's also the fascinating shortstop question as the Yankees decide what to do with Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe. It's a good problem to have! Of course, the Yanks also need to sort out their pitching staff with the injuries, but that's less fun. Still worth discussing though! They also got into World Baseball Classic talk as it's hard not to ride the high of the Ohtani/Trout showdown to end it, not to mention the thrilling Japan/Mexico semifinal. What a run. This tournament rules! We'll miss it. (Note: Kunj had some audio difficulties on this episode that we made some adjustments on, so thank you for bearing with us this week.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The long offseason is nearly over, spring training baseball begins tomorrow, and Kunj and Andrew will be regularly podcasting again in short order! In addition to there being a dearth of baseball news, we've been traveling a lot over the past couple months, so there hasn't been a good time to get back together, but hey, we're here now. As we discuss in the show, there will be a change in programming for 2023. Ours was one of many, many podcasts to get axed by SB Nation in their January layoffs. Soon, they will no longer be supporting it, and that's a giant bummer. (To answer the obvious follow-up: No, there are no changes to the website and all operations are go for the coming season.) We do have a plan to keep podcasting this year though! We can't reveal all the specifics just yet, but the show will go on. The only catch with SBN though is that we have to change our name since Pinstripe Alley and SBN will not technically be connected to the podcast anymore. So say hello to Podument Park! In our final PSAP episode/beta Pod Park episode, we welcome the Yankees back with a look at early spring training storylines, like Frankie Montas needing shoulder surgery, Nestor Cortes being a bit of an Opening Day roster question mark due to his hamstring, the left field and shortstop questions, and our excitement for the World Baseball Classic. There is still baseball to discuss; we're only a little navel-gazey at the outset! (Skip to around the four-minute mark if you'd rather just hear Yankees talk.) It's a little strange to no longer be recording under the PSAP umbrella, but we go onward and upward, and as long as the energy is there to discuss the highs and lows of modern Yankees baseball, we will keep on keeping on. Thank you for tuning in and we hope that you stay with us! We're working on getting the RSS feed moved over so that you won't need to subscribe to anything new. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There was briefly some concern that Twitter Spaces would vanish as a platform, but it's back! Josh Diemert, Esteban Rivera, and new PSA addition Alex Eisert gathered on December 21st to chat about one of the most stunning reversals in baseball history (Carlos Correa about-facing from the Giants to the Mets) before digging in to the Yankees' addition of Carlos Rodón, Aaron Judge earning the captaincy, the Yankees' left field conundrum, and more. If you're solely Yankees-focused, skip ahead to a little past the 14-minute mark for the beginning of Rodón talk! Also note that there's an ad break a little less than half an hour into it. Thanks for following along with us all year long and have a happy holiday! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At the start of the 2022-23 offseason, the Yankees knew that while pitching was a strength, they would need to make moves to maintain that position. The steady Jameson Taillon was not extended a qualifying offer and didn't seem likely to return. Even with Gerrit Cole at the top and another 2022 All-Star in Nestor Cortes, the Yankees were in position to bolster their starting rotation. They've now done so with a big move, signing Carlos Rodón to a six-year, $160 million deal. Kunj and Andrew assembled for a late-night podcast to discuss the newest Yankees starter and why this is the move that really gives us the most confidence for 2023. Bringing Aaron Judge back was essential but tantamount to a sigh of relief. They had to bring Judge back to keep their lineup in tip-top shape for next year and not fill it with question marks. However, there is a universe where the Yankees could have gotten cute and signed a middle-of-the-road guy at best to fill Taillon's spot. That is thankfully now not this one.  Carlos Rodón is a Yankee, and as Andrew wrote earlier, that rules. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Yankees made the move they needed to make and secured the services of Aaron Judge for the next nine years. Things were tough for a while as it seemed that the Giants might swoop in and bring the Bay Area native back, and the Padres made things super interesting by offering him $400 million, but ultimately, owner Hal Steinbrenner made a long-distance call from Italy and said all the right things to convince Judge to stay in pinstripes for $360 million. With that, Aaron Judge is a Yankee still and the rest of the offseason becomes a lot easier for GM Brian Cashman and his team. Replacing Judge's production and presence would not have been an easy task and luckily it's not one that anyone has to think about. This was a move that absolutely had to be made, and we're all thankful that it was done. What a wonderful early Christmas present for Yankees fans.  Andrew and Kunj fire up the ol' podcast-mobile to share thoughts and stories of relief and near-heartbreak (thanks, Jon Heyman) on the Yankees bringing back the face of their franchise. They also discuss the return of old friend Tommy Kahnle, and the departures of Jameson Taillon and Miguel Castro. Lastly, the co-hosts end the show with handing out some obvious Yankee- and Manfred-of-the-Week awards but not before discussing some of the rumors swirling around about how the Yankees don't seem ready to call it an offseason just yet. The team has been linked to Carlos Rodón, Andrew Benintendi, Brandon Nimmo, and Bryan Reynolds, while some of it may just be rumors there seems to be real smoke in some places.* *Note: This podcast was recorded before news broke of the Red Sox signing Masataka Yoshida. Until next time: Aaron Judge is a Yankee. Remember that! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Yankees have made their first notable move of the offseason, bringing Anthony Rizzo back on a two-year contract that will guarantee the veteran $40 million and give New York an option to bring him back in 2025. The news came out mere hours after Rizzo rejected the qualifying offer and looked to be headed for a drawn-out negotiation in free agency. Thankfully, the Yankees avoided all that and locked in their Opening Day first baseman: a lefty power bat who has a reliable glove that will assuage any infielder's concerns about their throws. With all due respect to DJ LeMahieu's versatility and the other free agent first basemen, Rizzo is a pretty darn good option for New York to immediately bring back. And even though it's unlikely to be the deciding factor, having Rizzo in the clubhouse is a nice carrot for top priority/Rizzo pal Aaron Judge. Andrew and Kunj discuss Rizzo's return at the start of this week's podcast, and then moved on to recent 40-man roster moves, plus the lack of a qualifying offer for Jameson Taillon. They also discussed the positive signs surrounding the Yankees' chatter about Judge and the awkward potential collusion between Hal Steinbrenner and Steve Cohen on No. 99. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The dust has fully settled on the 2022 Yankees, so now we must look beyond. Josh Diemert, Peter Brody, and Esteban Rivera gathered for a Twitter Spaces chat on November 2nd to chat about the biggest questions facing the Yankees this coming offseason. As Josh detailed, the main four characters are free agent GM Brian Cashman, embattled manager Aaron Boone, steady first baseman Anthony Rizzo, and of course, the 62-homer superstar Aaron Judge. Owner Hal Steinbrenner obviously has his own role to play as well, it would be lovely to see them find a way to unload Josh Donaldson, and there are more questions beyond them -- especially if Judge walks -- but these are the main stories. Join us! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Well, the Yankees' 2022 season is officially over. For the fourth time in the last eight seasons, the Yankees' dreams end at the hands of the Houston Astros. Andrew and Kunj's most recent episode of the podcast prior to now came with the Yankees already facing an 0-2 deficit in the ALCS and heading home to The Bronx to hopefully turn their fortunes. They headed to The Bronx alright, but just like the first two games, the offense failed to show up in Game 3. Harrison Bader and Anthony Rizzo showed some life, but ultimately the team didn't do enough to survive past Game 4. The season is over. Andrew and Kunj are back on the pod to officially eulogize the 2022 Bombers and discuss, vent, and grumble about what exactly went wrong for the Yankees (a lot) and what little went right. After the ad break (~21:52), they also looked ahead to discuss the uncertain-but-maybe-not-so-uncertain futures of GM Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone, and of course, the biggest elephant in the room: Aaron Judge's impending free agency. They also took the opportunity to rip into Josh Donaldson, Bringer of Bad Vibes, and generally bantered about the many questions facing the Yankees in the months ahead before wrapping up the pod by making predictions for the World Series (spoiler: they're both rooting for the Phillies' good vibes and hoping for the worst for the Astros), and picking their final Yankees and Manfreds of the 2022 Yankees season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The rain wreaked havoc on not only the Yankees' playoff schedule, but also our podcast schedule. Real-world commitments kept Kunj and Andrew from doing a post-ALDS pod, but they're back on the airwaves ... just in time to see the Yankees limp back to the Bronx facing an 0-2 deficit in the ALCS to those hated Astros. Whoops! The offense has continued its playoff deep freeze. They did just barely enough to get by the Guardians in the Division Series, but four runs in two games is not going to cut it in Houston. There have been some questionable lineup and bullpen decisions for sure, and Kunj and I definitely got into that, but the bottom line is that this team is not going to make this a series again unless more than a couple of these bats wake up. Although there is still hope as the series shifts to Yankee Stadium, they have serious work to do. The two co-hosts talked about the playoffs at large, plus some NLCS thoughts, and then ruled on the Yankee and Manfred of the Week. Hopefully, there will be another pod before the clock strikes midnight on these Yankees. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Yankees have an early lead in their 2022 American League Division Series matchup with the Cleveland Guardians! So Josh Diemert, Peter Brody, and Sam Chapman gathered in the postgame glow to chat about the big 4-1 win on Twitter Spaces. Gerrit Cole allowed just one run on four hits and a walk in 6.1 innings of work while striking out eight, recovering from third-inning shakiness to keep Cleveland quiet. Meanwhile, Harrison Bader had the Yankee Stadium crowd buzzing with a solo shot for his first homer in pinstripes, tying the game in the third. New York took the lead in the fifth and Anthony Rizzo provided insurance with a two-run bomb in the sixth. The bullpen took over from there and held on for the Game 1 victory. All these themes from the game are discussed, and they also took a peek ahead at Game 2's forthcoming Nestor Cortes/Shane Bieber showdown. One win down and hopefully ten more to go. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Yankees thankfully got to sit out the Wild Card Series weekend and await their ALDS opponent, and now we know who they'll be playing tomorrow night in the Bronx. The Guardians dispatched the Rays in just two games, allowing a single run to Tampa Bay across 24 innings of work. So it'll be New York vs. Cleveland in the Division Series again, in a rematch of past 2017 and 2020 playoff showdowns. Kunj and Andrew bantered about the fun of Wild Card weekend at the start of the show, but feel free to skip ahead to around the 13-minute mark if you'd rather just go straight into Yankees business. They talked about Aroldis Chapman doing fans a solid and going AWOL in Miami to cost himself a playoff roster spot, and then at about 17 minutes, they went into a full ALDS preview, discussing everything from rotation matchups to the bullpen, deep roster spots, and Matt Carpenter's resurgence. At the end, the co-hosts made predictions on both this series and the three other DS showdowns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 2022 regular season has come to a close, but for the 24th time in 28 years, that's not the end for Yankees baseball. The AL East champions finished the year with 99 wins and a first-round bye past the Wild Card round, where they'll await the winners of the Guardians/Rays series in the ALDS. We'll be back for a full Division Series preview on Monday, but we wanted to take a bit to reflect on the regular season as a whole. After briefly chatting about Aaron Judge reaching No. 62, we drafted our five favorite things from the 2022 campaign -- some of them were players, some of them were moments, and some of them were a bit more extended (part of it involved a brief discussion on the Yankees' looming Gerrit Cole vs. Nestor Cortes Game 1 decision). It was all on the table! At the end, following one last (confusing) B-Ref leaderboard check-in, we picked our Yankee and Manfred of the Season. Here's to one or more of these guys standing out and making a good postseason case as well! This episode is dedicated to our friend Sarah Langs of MLB.com. We're thinking of you in your fight against ALS! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Even as Aaron Judge went quiet for most of the past week since the last podcast, it was a good one for the Yankees. They went a perfect 6-0 on the homestand against the Pirates and Red Sox, rightfully taking care of business against some bad teams, and that put them in prime position to clinch the AL East in a head-to-head showdown at Rogers Centre in Toronto. They fell short on Monday but finally clinched on Tuesday, securing not only the division title but also a first-round bye. Judge even managed to make the post-clinch Wednesday a special one too, as he snapped his seven-game homerless drought with No. 61. That tied Roger Maris for the most in franchise and American League history. Needless to say, Kunj and Andrew had quite a bit to discuss on the most recent pod, from the Yankees cementing their AL East title to Judge and Maris (and the annoying discourse around it), and what to watch for as the Yankees prepare to craft their playoff roster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're back for another podcast with two important chases afoot. First, the Yankees are inching closer to their 2022 AL East crown, and their magic number is down to eight with just about a week and a half to go in the season. They shook off a couple annoying losses in Milwaukee to win big on Sunday, and then recorded a huge comeback in the bottom of the ninth at home against the Pirates on Tuesday. That bailed them out of an even more worrying defeat, and then they pummeled Pittsburgh on Wednesday night, moving to 90-58. Aaron Judge, of course, played a huge role in these wins, and his own chase for home run history is what the majority of the baseball world cares about. With two bombs in Milwaukee on Sunday and another on Tuesday, he has become just the sixth player in MLB history to join the 60-homer club, and the first in the American League since Roger Maris in 1961. It's remarkable to see Judge do this while also chasing a Triple Crown, so we obviously spent several minutes in awe of him. We also talked about the impact of both Harrison Bader's introduction and Frankie Montas' IL stint (particularly on how little we trust Montas going forward), as well as Luis Severino and Anthony Rizzo's own returns, and the murky status of each of DJ LeMahieu, Matt Carpenter, and Andrew Benintendi. There are also some thoughts on the surging Gleyber Torres, home stretch, the Wild Card race, and a Lance Lynn anecdote on the AL Central, as well as the usual B-Ref update and Yankee/Manfred of the Week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kunj is back on the PSA Podcast and thankfully, the Yankees have done their best over the past several days to assuage some doubts that their mini-winning streak last week wasn't merely typical Twins nonsense. They took two out of three over the weekend from the Rays in decisive fashion, and after Aaron Judge belted a pair of homers to reach 57 last night, Gleyber Torres ensured that the night would end in a W. The division title is within sight; the Yankees just need to keep it going. Judge is incomparable, but as Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani have demonstrated, the Yankees won't be able to win with Judge alone. That's what has made Torres and the offense's resurgence so important to the last week of play. Hopefully, the rest of the cavalry is coming, as Anthony Rizzo and Harrison Bader are working their way back, in addition to the many pitchers on rehab assignments (Luis Severino, Aroldis Chapman, Zack Britton, etc.). Also, have we mentioned that we love Wandy Peralta? Because that guy rules. All of these topics are discussed, as well as the return of the B-Ref Update and the Yankee & Manfred of the Week. Oh, also an Aaron Judge-sized turtle. Something to think about. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Yankees' extremely lackluster August and early-September had Andrew prepared to tackle the brutal task of discussing this team on his own this week with Kunj on vacation, but a four-game winning streak that followed an awful road trip through Oakland, Anaheim, and Tampa Bay at least the monologue sounding a bit more chipper than it would have otherwise been. With 55 homers through 137 games, Aaron Judge has still been incredible, but he needs some more support in the lineup with so many teammates rendered injured or ineffective -- think Giancarlo Stanton, DJ LeMahieu, Anthony Rizzo, etc. Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza rebounded from slumps to help the Yankees sweep yesterday's doubleheader, Isiah Kiner-Falefa has belted a pair of homers, and even Gleyber Torres went deep for just the third time since the beginning of August. That's promising! But the onus will be on them to keep it going because Judge is not getting any pitches to hit, and it doesn't sound like there's much of a cavalry coming to save them. (The pitching will get Nestor Cortes and Luis Severino back soon, but the men on the mound haven't been the problem.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The once-again slumping Yankees are turning to a top prospect to see if he'll help lift them out of their funk. Oswald Peraza will be with the team on Friday as it enters a now-important three-game set with the Rays at Tropicana Field. Josh Diemert, Peter Brody, and Esteban Rivera had planned to host a Twitter Space on Thursday evening anyway, but that news only made the discussion more interesting. Topics included Peraza (of course), Isiah Kiner-Falefa's highly-debated defense, and how much to trust Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone's words, plus some thoughts on awards season and how the Yankees ended up in a far more tenuous position for October than they every could have anticipated even a month ago. Note: There was some discussion of whether Anthony Volpe would stay in Double-A or move up to Triple-A that occurred before news broke of his promotion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Yankees answered our wishes of riding the wave of the Josh Donaldson walk-off slam into a return to their first-half winning ways. They just had the wipe out, face-first on the sand for a few days before picking themselves back up (obviously). But after losing three in a row at home to Toronto and hearing choirs of boos at Yankee Stadium while Aaron Boone fumed in the postgame, they've actually put some wins together for the first time in quite awhile. New York salvaged the finale against the Blue Jays to avoid a sweep and then won back-to-back games against a tough foe in the Mets, even beating Max Scherzer in the process. That's definitely something to build off of, but they can't stop there. A long West Coast trip through Oakland and Anaheim lies ahead, and the Yankees can't take any games for granted, even against those struggling ballclubs. They'll have Giancarlo Stanton back in their lineup, and while the bullpen has lost some names in the past week (most notably Scott Effross), Clay Holmes should be on track to return in Anaheim and the long-absent Zack Britton is on the rehab trail as well. Andrew and Kunj discuss all the ups and downs of the past week while praising the minor league promotions, big hits from Andrew Benintendi, and more monster blasts from the home run crown-seeking Aaron Judge. They also talk about the 2023 schedule, the B-Ref update, and as always, the Yankee and Manfred of the Week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Yankees' miserable stretch continued after they lost series to the Red Sox and Rays after ending their awful road trip. However, last night's sweep-avoiding extra-innings walk-off win against the Rays did bring some optimism and hopefully did enough to inject some life into this team that's looked lifeless for the better part of two months now. This team was in dire need of a spark and Josh Donaldson might have just provided it for them.  Kunj returned to the podcast after a one-week hiatus (read: a break from talking about this team) to join Andrew in talking about how the Yankees have continued their extremely annoying ways. The discussion revolved mainly around how the offense has looked lifeless now that the pitching has settled down and come back to form. Aaron Hicks' downfall, Isiah Kiner-Falefa actually hitting a home run and single-handedly winning a game against the Red Sox were also notable topics.  And in some good news, the podcast duo discussed the Yankees finally calling up some help in the form of Oswaldo Cabrera and Estevan Florial, the recall of Ron Marinaccio — who should've never been sent down in the first place — and the impending return of Giancarlo Stanton. As always, this was followed by a check-in of Baseball Reference's WAR leaderboard, and the Yankee and Manfred of the Week.  The Yankees' AL East lead is back to double digits and hopefully last night brought this team back to life. If they go back to playing like they did yesterday and get contributions across the board this team will be in good position come October. Let's hope the Bringer of Rain also brought some balance to the Force.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices