Around the Empire: Yankees news - 7/23/23

Sports Illustrated | Pat Ragazzo: Despite a pair of wins against the (admittedly) last place Royals, the Yankees’ previous 2-8 stretch and temporary sole possession of last place raised the specter of the Yankees being sellers at the deadline. It also brought calls for changes to be made to Yankees leadership, but Brian Cashman dispelled any of those notions by reiterating the team’s trust in Aaron Boone. That being said, Cashman already has set a precedent by firing hitting coach Dillon Lawson, the first time he’s done so mid-season, so it remains to be seen what impact that will have on his willingness to make other changes.

NJ Advance Media | Max Goodman: Anthony Rizzo broke an 0-for-20 skid with a single in yesterday’s win over the Royals, but he’s still neck deep in one of the worst slumps of his career. He hasn’t hit a home run since May 20th — the longest drought of his career — and is batting .180 with a .492 OPS, 43 wRC+ and -0.9 fWAR during that stretch, all MLB worsts. That said, the team feels optimistic that he is close to turning things around, citing a clean bill of health and several mechanical things they’ve identified since his collision with Fernando Tatis Jr. on May 28th.

New York Post | Joel Sherman: Whether the Yankees buy or sell at the deadline, Sherman believes they need to have an eye toward the future with any move they make. He feels that there is little the Yankees can do to guarantee a playoff berth this season and therefore it would be foolish to sacrifice a sizable prospect haul for pure rentals. He centers his debate on a choice between Shohei Ohtani vs. Juan Soto, but makes a valid broader point that the Yankees cannot roll it back with this aging offense next season and should therefore prioritize players with multiple years of control if they do buy.

NJ Advance Media | Max Goodman: The Yankees lost Jose Trevino for the rest of the season after he underwent surgery for a torn wrist ligament and now they have to figure out how to replace him. They might have given a hint of how they are leaning, calling up Ben Rortvedt in time to catch Gerrit Cole in yesterday’s 5-2 victory over the Royals, but one game by no means guarantees that a final decision is made. They can stay in-house with Rortvedt and Kyle Higashioka. They could look outside the organization and try to swing a trade. Finally, they could be aggressive in fast-tracking Austin Wells to the majors, and perhaps his promotion from Double-A to Triple-A on Friday is a step in this direction.

CBS Sports | R.J. Anderson: If the Yankees opt to go an external route to reinforce catcher, they’ll have plenty of options, and R.J. Anderson goes through eight of them. He breaks the octet into two subgroups: below-average defenders with decent offensive production for the position and elite framers with noodle bats. Yasmani Grandal of the White Sox, Yan Gomes of the Cubs, All-Star Game MVP Elias Díaz of the Rockies, and Tom Murphy of the Mariners fall into the former group while Austin Hedges of the Pirates, Manny Piña of the Athletics, Omar Narváez of the Mets, and Joey Bart of the Giants fall into the latter.