Around the Empire: Yankees news - 6/11/22

NJ.com | Mike Rosenstein: Now that we’ve passed the time that the MLB amateur draft used to occur — often considered as the opening bell for the summer trade market — trade deadline speculation has begun. In what has become an annual tradition, the Yankees are expected to seek veteran relievers to deepen their already-talented bullpen, with Jon Heyman connecting them to a trio of 37-year-old former Yankees: David Robertson, Mark Melancon, and Ian Kennedy. While the bullpen has largely done its job this season, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Cashman add an arm or too in light of the injury to Chad Green.

NBC Sports | Gordon Wittenmyer: Theo Epstein is known as one of the best general managers that baseball has had in the last few decades: how could he not be, after building the teams that ended both the Red Sox and Cubs’ World Series droughts? But if there’s one mistake that he has made in recent years, it would have to be his decision to flip DJ LeMahieu to the Colorado Rockies soon after he became Chicago’s GM for Ian Stewart, an infielder who spent just one season with the Cubs. In the end, though, things worked out for DJ, as he finds himself an integral part of this Yankees team — even if he is still a little “jealous” he wasn’t there for the historic 2016 championship.

MLB.com | Alfred Santasiere III: Hensley Meulens, affectionately known as “Bam-Bam,” returned this season to the place where he made his major league debut in 1989, this time as the Yankees’ new assistant hitting coach. The soon to be 55-year-old sat down with Yankees Magazine to discuss the journey that originally brought him to the Bronx, and then brought him back again more than 30 years later.

New York Post: It’s only June, and we’re already starting to run out of ways to say “Aaron Judge is very good.” While that makes life difficult for us bloggers, it’s a very good problem to have. Fortunately, we have another way: Judge is currently the prohibitive favorite among betters to win the AL MVP, with odds down to +200, suggesting that he has a 33 percent chance of finally claiming the award he was runner-up to in 2017.