Around the Empire: Yankees news - 7/22/21

Yahoo! Sports | Ryan Morik: The Yankees could never have dreamed of the contributions they would receive from previously unsung Triple-A outfielder Greg Allen. Heading into last night’s contest, the switch-hitter was 4-for-8 with a double, triple, two stolen bases, and five runs scored. He has provided a multidimensionality to an offense that has looked stagnant for long stretches this season.

Allen’s performances haven’t escaped the manager’s notice, with Boone praising his obvious speed, but also calling him “an absolute pro in the room” for whom “the quality of the at-bat has been really strong.” For his part, Allen said he is looking to impact the game any way he can. “You may not always get a hit while you’re at bat, but if you can make a good defensive play, get in scoring position, or help a team score a run with your legs, I think all those things have value.”

NJ.com | Randy Miller: The Yankees announced yesterday that they’ve outrighted Hoy Park off the Major League roster. Park lit it up at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, slashing .325/.475/.541 with eight home runs in 44 games, earning himself a call-up as the Yankees deal with absences. Some might argue that he was never given a fair shake to prove himself during the short stint in the majors, with Rougned Odor given the start most nights. Such is the plight of an emergency call-up, especially given Odor’s solid play of late. Besides, it’s probably for the best that he return to Triple-A to focus on his development rather than sit on the bench in the bigs.

MLB.com | Mark Feinsand et al.: With the trade deadline just over a week away, the rumor mill is picking up speed. Mark Feinsand, Thomas Harrigan, Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru, Jason Catania and David Adler of MLB.com participated in a roundtable to discuss five possible trades the Yankees could pursue. The proposals ranged from rentals to full-blown blockbusters. The trade targets included Trevor Story, José Ramírez, Bryan Reynolds, Starling Marte, and Whit Merrifield while among the Yankees named were Gleyber Torres, Estevan Florial, and Oswald Peraza.

The New York Times | Josh Katz, Kevin Quealy, Tyler Kepner: This one’s a little older but is still a must-read. Now that we’ve reached the month-and-a-half marker post-foreign substance crackdown, writers at the Times investigated changes in trends relative to pre-crackdown as well as other seasons. They found that walks are up, strikeouts are down, and league-wide on-base percentage has risen. They also revealed the pitchers who have been most affected by the ban on sticky stuff. When it comes to loss of spin, James Kaprielian, Trevor Bauer, and Garrett Richards top the list with Gerrit Cole coming in around seventh.

MLB.com | Jonathan Mayo: This one isn’t necessarily Yankees-centric, yet is still good news nonetheless. MLB announced that the Arizona Fall League will return on October 13th after being suspended during the pandemic-altered 2020 season. Touted as MLB’s “finishing school,” the campaign will feature 30 regular season games, a Futures Game, and a Championship game. Former Yankees prospects, including Derek Jeter and 2016 AFL MVP Gleyber Torres, to current top prospects like Glenn Otto — who in 11 starts across Double-A and Triple-A owns a 3.23 ERA with 107 strikeouts in 69.2 innings — have refined their craft in Arizona.

Ballpark Digest | Kevin Reichard: We finish with another piece of welcome news for our local readers. Starting in 2022, Staten Island will once more have a baseball team playing in Richmond County Bank Ballpark, former home of the minor league affiliate Staten Island Yankees. The Staten Island team folded operations as a result of the minor league contraction, causing the former owners to file suit against the Yankees and MLB. Now, thanks to an investment group headlined by a trio of SNL performers, John Catsimatidis, Eric Shuffler, Dany Garcia, Yankee Global Enterprises, and RedBird Capital Partners, Staten Island will have its very own Atlantic League team (though don’t hold your breath that they’ll stick with “Yankees” as the name).