Around the Empire: Yankees news - 6/21/22

Forbes | Wayne G. McDonnell, Jr.: One more day — that’s how long the Yankees have until Aaron Judge’s arbitration case to determine the superstar outfielder’s salary for the 2022 season. If the two sides do not settle in time, the case will be historic, as both Judge’s $21 million and the Yankees’ $17 million bid would both be records for the highest salary awarded in arbitration. However, that is not a scenario the Yankees likely wish to see as they prepare to engage in a bidding war this winter to keep the face of the team in pinstripes.

FanGraphs | Jay Jaffe: The 2022 Yankees have been really, really good so far this year. Just how good have they been? Not only had their 49-17 record over the first 66 games entering play on Monday matched the 1998 squad’s record in that time span, their .731 Pythagorean winning percentage (based on run differential) trailed only the 1939 Yankees since 1901, and this team’s pitching staff is more effective than the 1998 version.

Although last night’s win was dramatic, the Yankees managed to again keep pace with the ‘98 club, capturing their 50th game of the year already. I could keep going on Jaffe’s article, but I’ll stop there and refrain from spoiling his excellent work.

Fox Sports | Jake Mintz: When the Yankees acquired Jose Trevino a few days before Opening Day, he was described as a defensive-minded catcher with an elite framing ability. And yet, two months into the season, he has piled up offensive highlights and has posted an OPS higher than Josh Donaldson and DJ LeMahieu. How did this happen?

Building off the fact that he had made contact at a rate higher than league average, Trevino worked this past winter to improve his pitch selection and streamline his swing to elevate the ball more. The result has worked wonders, and while he’s certainly outperforming his peripherals at the moment and will likely see his production fall back down to earth, it has nonetheless made him an incredibly valuable player for the Yankees.

MLB Trade Rumors | Steve Adams: Immediately after firing off 3.2 scoreless frames against the Tampa Bay Rays last Friday, Ryan Weber was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster to return the COVID-negative Luis Severino to the roster. Since then, he has cleared waivers, but rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A Scranton, he decided to elect free agency instead.

Although it’s entirely possible that Weber could re-sign with the team, there’s a good chance that this marks the end of his time with the 2022 Yankees. As of now, he is the leading candidate to be the “Oh right, I forgot about him” on the 2022 Yankees Roster Sporcle, but his efforts for the team are nonetheless appreciated.