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

NJ.com | Bridget Hyland: Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but the Yankees are apparently in on generational slugger Juan Soto. According to Bob Nightengale, everyone’s favourite insider, the Yankees are one of seven teams who have checked in on Soto’s status with the Nationals ahead of the August 2nd deadline. Of course, it would be a complete dereliction of duty if Brian Cashman didn’t at least check in on Juan Soto so this is mostly a non-story for now, but it’s trade deadline season, so stories like these are going to dominate for the next two weeks or so. Buckle up.

The Ringer | Zach Kram: After a fairly wild first half of the season capped by an incredible performance from our New York Yankees, The Ringer (which needs to publish more baseball content, in my honest opinion) has rounded up their top-10 storylines heading into the second half of the season. While narratives like the potential trade of Juan Soto and the return to relevancy of the Baltimore Orioles get their moment to shine, the Yankees’ — and Aaron Judge’s — near-record-breaking pace headlines the pack. Although both the team and Judge have slowed over recent weeks, both the single-season team wins and American League single-season individual home run marks are technically still within striking distance. Does this team, and (the man who should be) their captain, have one more incredible run left in them before the playoffs?

CBS News | Matt Snyder: Speaking of the man who should be captain, Judge has always played his cards fairly close to his chest. He’s mostly an expert when it comes to saying a whole lot of nothing in interviews, recent All-Star break blindside notwithstanding, and it's really hard to get a read on what he’s actually thinking sometimes. Well, I’m happy to report that, even with the Yankees single-season home run record in sight after a ridiculous first half, he’s still the same Aaron Judge we all know and love.

By that, of course, I mean that he’s choosing to go the boring route by not wanting to speak of or acknowledge the quest for 61 until after the season is over. I respect a self-aware man and, as a comms professional, I like how he goes about his business, but my inner desire to be entertained wants me to see him flash that personality we all know is in there. Alas, I suppose I’ll settle for him breaking the record.

NJ.com | Brendan Kuty: In a development that will be welcome news to all of us, the Yankees brass sees a return to form in Jonathan Loáisiga’s future. The flamethrower was arguably the team’s most valuable reliever last season before going down late in the season with a shoulder injury, but the 27-year-old has really struggled to find his footing when healthy so far this season.

Given the state of the Yankees bullpen and some of their recent performances over the last few weeks, a return to form from Loáisiga would go a really long way to shoring up what was once considered to be the best bullpen in the game. He took a good step forward in this goal last night, when he went 1-2-3 against the Astros in the ninth.