Around the Empire: Yankees news - 6/3/23

SNY | Phillip Martinez: After hitting like Barry Bonds for a month, it’s no surprise that Aaron Judge earned the American League Player of the Month honors for May, but MLB made that official on Friday. Judge slashed an absurd .342/.474/.882 with 12 homers and 25 RBI in 21 games to make his case, good for an MLB-best 1.356 OPS over the month. His numbers are now nearly identical to his incredible season last year at the same amount of games, with his short IL-stint being the only thing holding him back currently from challenging his AL home run record again.

NY Daily News | Gary Phillips: Gleyber Torres has faced his ups and downs as a Yankee, and now he finds himself as one of the elder statesmen on the team despite being just 26. Torres isn’t just more comfortable producing at the plate — he’s also become a bit of a leader in the clubhouse for the next generation of youngers, mentoring guys like Oswald Peraza and Oswaldo Cabrera. The young guns credit him with making them more comfortable in the clubhouse, and even the captain himself nodded to Torres’ newfound role in the team as something he’s grown into.

Sports Illustrated | Kade Kistner: Nearly every NL Central team is simultaneously in the running and already forced to consider selling at the deadline with where they stand compared to the rest of the field, so most of the early rumors we’ve gotten about potential trade candidates have come from here. The latest is out of Chicago, where Marcus Stroman is enjoying a resurgent year and could be put on the market if the Cubs want to commit to their rebuild. Personally, even though Stroman is showing solid signs on the field, his off the field detractions make him a guy I’d be fine with the team passing on.

ESPN: The Yanks did swing a trade yesterday, though it was a minor one. José Godoy, a minor league catcher down in Triple-A, got dealt over to the Orioles for an undisclosed return. Hey, not every deal is a blockbuster.