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Around the Empire
ESPN | Wallace Matthews: Gary Sanchez just won his second consecutive Player of the Week Award. This is the first time in MLB history that a rookie has won it two weeks in a row. Fingers crossed for three!
New York Post | Josh Kosman & Lois Weiss: Interest rates are reportedly hovering near record lows. So the Yankees are looking to take advantage of that and want to refinance more than $1 billion in debt that went towards building the new stadium. Apparently they could shave up to $10 million annually by doing so and make the team profitable whereas they’re “roughly breaking even” right now.
MLB Trade Rumors | Jeff Todd: The Yankees are being pretty “aggressive” on the waiver wire this season, at least according to ESPN’s Buster Olney (this is behind a paywall). Even though they sold at the trade deadline, they could be looking to add players now that they keep inching towards a playoff spot. Blocking a division rival from claiming a player or looking to add assets for 2017 and beyond could also be a driving force. It’ll be interesting to see if they end up with anyone.
NJ.com | Brendan Kuty: After announcing his presence in a remarkable fashion, Aaron Judge has unfortunately struggled a bit at the plate in the majors. He has been striking out a lot (and not really hitting either), but he went through a similar thing when he first got called up to Triple-A. He’s confident in himself though and is hoping to just stick with his routine and eventually adjust to big league pitching and a new strike zone.
MLB.com | Mike Petriello: Gary Sanchez has made headlines all over with his extraordinary hitting and power. Which is why, as mentioned above, he’s won back-to-back Player of the Week awards. In addition to his bat, however, Sanchez brings a cannon of an arm with him behind the plate. Three of the top 10 “hardest throws to second base on a steal attempt” for catchers in 2016 belong to Sanchez, and he’s only been around for a month. Sanchez has also thrown out six of nine (ni of ce) attempted base stealers.
Newsday | Erik Boland: Colin Kaepernick has caused a lot of controversy for not standing up during the national anthem of a 49ers preseason game. CC Sabathia and Chase Headley said that though they may not chose to voice their displeasures in that exact way, Kaepernick was completely well within his rights to do so. “It’s a good non-violent way to try and get some change” Sabathia said. Joe Girardi expressed the same feelings, that he wouldn’t necessarily protest in that way but woudn’t expressly forbid one of his players from doing so either. (Note: I know this is a very sensitive topic to many, so please remember to be civil and respectful of others’ opinions even if they differ from your own.)
Fun Questions
- Will Gary Sanchez make it three consecutive Player of the Week Awards?
- You formed a rock band with some of your high school friends. What’s your band name?
Song of the Day
Glorious Domination by CFO$ (no seriously)
It’s WWE Week on Pinstripe Alley. Today’s song is the entrance music of Bobby Roode, but how great would it be as a walk-up song for Didi Gregorius? Thought so. As always, please link us your song of the day.