Fancred | Jon Heyman: Heyman reports that Adam Jones cleared waivers, and that the Orioles recently contacted the Yankees about him. Baltimore was rebuffed because the Yankees are counting on Judge’s return, and are concerned because they are only a few million dollars below the $197-million luxury tax threshold.
In other trade-deadline news, Curtis Granderson cleared waivers on Tuesday. Brendan Kuty, writing for NJ Advance Media, reports that CC Sabathia had some nice things to say about his former teammate. Meanwhile, Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic suggests the recently released Danny Valencia could be a real nice stopgap solution to New York’s outfield problem:
Know who would make sense for #Yankees? Danny Valencia, just released by #Orioles. Valencia .873 OPS vs. LHPs in 125 PAs this season. NYY lineup today against #Rays LHP Blake Snell includes Neal Walker (.510 OPS vs. lefties, 59 PAs) and Shane Robinson (.484 OPS overall, 34 PAs).
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 16, 2018
Newsday | Steven Marcus: Aaron Boone hopes that Sabathia will be able to return from the disabled list to make his start next week. The veteran left-hander was place on the DL with right knee inflammation after he threw six innings of scoreless one-hit ball against the Rangers in last Sunday’s 7-2 victory. In other good news, recent returnee Ronald Torreyes said his wife is “OK.” We’re certainly glad to hear that.
In not-so-good news, Judge is “frustrated” that he’s still out of Yankees lineup, according to Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News. The Yankees’ beat writer also reported that All Rise paid tribute to Aretha Franklin in the clubhouse before Thursday’s game.
New York Post | Fred Kerber: Boone says that Greg Bird appears to lack stamina and may be suffering from fatigue. He also said that the first baseman has lacked explosiveness, while expressing confidence that Bird is trending in the right direction.
“I’m just proud to be playing. I’m proud to be putting this uniform on every day,” Bird said. “It’s the most games I’ve ever played in a season.”
Cut 4 | Chris Landers: In a major departure from their traditional gold, green, and “Irish Blue” colors, Notre Dame football players will don the colors of the Bronx Bombers for their Shamrock Series game against Syracuse at Yankee Stadium on November 17th. Yankee pinstripes will adorn the pants, gloves, and both sleeves. The jerseys are solid midnight blue — similar to the Yankees’ spring training and batting practice garb — and feature “Notre Dame” in Yankees-style script across the chest. In place of the usual gold, the Irish will wear matte blue helmets, reminiscent of the Yankees’ alternate batting headgear. The helmet unites the Notre Dame monogram with a pinstriped Yankees-inspired helmet decal. I’ve seen a lot of atrocious alternate uniforms in my day, but these are among the absolute best. They are truly stunning.
The matte navy helmet unites the Notre Dame monogram with the @Yankees inspired helmet decal. #GoIrish ☘️ #ShamrockSeries pic.twitter.com/NkRbmT2OiV
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) August 16, 2018
New York Post | Associated Press: Finally, fans honored the Bambino on the 70th anniversary of his death by leaving mementos at his grave site. The icon passed away on August 16, 1948, and is buried with his wife Claire at the Gates of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York.