Around the Empire: Yankees news - 7/18/18

MLB.com | Mark Feinsand: The All-Star game is officially over and Manny Machado is heading to Los Angeles to join the Dodgers. The fun part of the All-Star Game was all the dingers. It all started with Aaron Judge. Judge led off the second inning of the game and showed baseball fans a monster dong. He hit a solo shot off Max Scherzer for the first run of the game. Apparently Justin Verlander called the home run before it happened and even better, Luis Severino caught the ball!

Sports Illustrated | Emily Caron: Last year, nine-year-old Luca Iacono was diagnosed with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare cancer that was attacking the soft tissue in his chest. Luca has since gone through 54 weeks of chemotherapy, followed by six weeks of radiation and still gets treatment today. The Make-A-Wish foundation and ESPN teamed up to give Luca a day he’ll always remember. A day with Aaron Judge and other Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Here’s the full video:

SNY | Danny Abriano: Trade season is always one of the most fun times in baseball, especially when you’re favorite team is “buying.” Now that Manny Machado is officially off the list of possibilities, the Yankees can once again focus their efforts on pitching. One of the players the Yankees have been linked to is Mets’ ace, Jacob deGrom. While a trade for him is unlikely, Luis Severino is also on board the deGrom train. The Yankees current ace said it “would be great” if the Yankees were able to land deGrom. Get it done, Cash.

NESN | Ricky Doyle: Pedro Martinez wishes he was his own daddy. Okay maybe not exactly that, but it’s funny to think about that way. Back when he was on the Expos, Martinez supposedly asked them to trade him to the Yankees. Not just on one occasion, but he asked them three different times. Clearly, it never happened and the rest is history, but still a fun little tidbit to know. You know, the Yankees do need a starting pitcher now...

New York Times | Billy Witz: Normally, I would never link to an article like this, but I think some people like to start their days with with laughter, so I present to you this. Apparently, the Yankees should consider offering Aaron Judge, Sonny Gray, and Ronald Torreyes to the Mets to try and pry Jacob deGrom AND Noah Syndergaard from their hands. Go ahead and laugh now. It gets better. The author also thinks a package involving “Domingo German, Luis Cessa or a prospect like Domingo Acevedo” would have landed them Machado. Here are my thoughts summed up in a few tweets: