Around the Empire: Yankees news - 7/25/19

NJ.com | Mike Rosenstein: We’re officially in Trade Deadline Week® and that means it’s time to speculate, hard. While names like Madison Bumgarner, Matthew Boyd, Zack Wheeler, and Marcus Stroman have been thrown around, there are dark horses who could be on the move as well: Noah Syndergaard and Trevor Bauer.

With the Indians on the playoff cusp, Bauer is less likely to arrive in the Bronx. The Mets, however, aren’t exactly in striking distance of the postseason, so selling off their assets is a real possibility. The Yankees would love to bring on Thor—a cost-controlled, 26-year-old with devastating stuff, but the Mets are, well, the Mets. They would rather go to the grave clutching their gold and pearls than ever see the Yankees sport them.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: The incredible high of the Yankee’s 14-12 win over the Twins early Wednesday morning was followed by the low of another Gary Sanchez injured list stint. After exiting the game in the eighth inning with an apparent groin injury that came from running out a ground out, an MRI Wednesday confirmed that the Yankee catcher would indeed miss some time. With a positive outlook, Sanchez claims that the “little tightness” he feels is more like a cramp and less like the groin injury he suffered last season. In all fairness, this couldn’t come at a better time for the Kraken who hasn’t been very Kraken-like as of late. Sanchez is hitless in his last 19 at-bats, hitting .118 over his last 21 games.

But, with death comes rebirth. Welcome back Kyle Higashioka and Nestor Cortes!

Sports Illustrated | Stephanie Apstein: This is a fun read about the culture of the 2019 Yankees that stems from an appreciation of the past with an eye to the future. From DJ LeMahieu quizzing himself to memorize the retired Yankee numbers to the championship belt the team passes around amongst fog machines and strobe lights after each win, this group is driving a new path for what it means to be the “New York Yankees.” But, in the end, nothing is more important than winning a World Series. As Aaron Judge says (with one of the coolest quotes you’ll hear in a while):

We want a piece of that history. That’s the coolest thing about coming here. You look around and you see the retired numbers, you see all along out there: 1999, 2000, ‘09—wow, all this history. I want to see 2019 up there. I want to see 2020. I want to see all my teammates’ numbers up there. We honor all the teams in the past who have done these great things, but selfishly, we want to be a part of that.

O Captain! My Captain!