Around the Empire: Yankees news - 10/17/23

New York Post | Jon Heyman: It’s crying over spilled milk time in New York right now, as these playoffs have given us ample opportunity to rue some of the Yankees’ mistakes. Heyman goes back in time to review the blow-by-blow of Bryce Harper’s free agency. “Harper’s camp tried hard to get the Yankees involved in free agency, and not just because they had the most money. Harper’s dad Ron grew up a Yankees fan and Bryce wore No. 34 to honor Mickey Mantle, who wore 7. Three plus four,” writes Heyman. Harper sounded almost desperate to play for his childhood team under the brightest lights, and it’s crushing that they weren’t even slightly interested.

New York Post | Joel Sherman: Speaking of spilled milk, Jordan Montgomery shoved in the playoffs again, dominating the Astros for 6.1 shutout in Game 1 of the ALCS, bringing back to mind the Yankees’ surprising swap of Montgomery for Harrison Bader last summer. As shocking as that trade was, I don’t think it’s the deal itself we should be questioning; at the time of the trade, both Montgomery and Bader were 3ish-WAR players with the same amount of team control, and Bader fit the Yankees’ roster slightly better. The more proper question(s), in my eye, pertain to why Montgomery reached new heights away from the Yankees, why his replacement, Frankie Montas, flailed in his stead, and why Bader was never able to reach his potential in New York.

CBS Sports | Mike Axisa: Kim Ng, the first woman GM in MLB history and AGM of the Yankees from 1998-2001, has departed the Miami Marlins. Ng told The Athletic:

Last week, Bruce and I discussed his plan to reshape the baseball operations department. In our discussions, it became apparent that we were not completely aligned on what that should look like, and I felt it best to step away. I wish to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to the Marlins family and its fans for my time in South Florida.

It was reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan that Miami intended to bring in an exec above Ng to be head of baseball operations, which Ng obviously objected to.