Around the Empire: Yankees news - 8/14/23

CBS Sports | Mike Axisa: The Yankees are a team with some talented players, but considering the bind that they’re in with the playoff chase, the microscope is zooming is on the front office. Have owner George Steinbrenner and GM Brian Cashman let this team down? Since 2017, it would seem so. Axisa walks down the winding road of the last six years that got us to this woefully underperforming roster.

New York Post | Greg Joyce: DJ LeMahieu has had an up-and-down season at the plate, but he was trending in the right direction of late and he’s returning to the Yankees’ lineup on Monday against the Atlanta Braves after suffering a calf injury. The hope is that he is fully healed after feeling like he could play the series finale against the Marlins and can come back to make a push.

CBS Sports | RotoWire Staff: The 2023 season has not been one for Carlos Rodón to remember. He’s currently dealing with a hamstring injury after returning in July from back issues and pitching very poorly, but it looks as if he’s going to be returning soon if everything goes to plan. He will be facing hitters later this week with the plan to return as quick as possible, possibly being slated for an August 22nd start.

MLB Trade Rumors | Darragh McDonald: The general managers around MLB have reportedly discussed moving back the Trade Deadline a couple of weeks to the middle of August. Obviously, nothing has gone through, and we’re still not sure how popular the idea itself is, but it has made its way into talks with the front office leaders. The Angels are the perfect example as to why such a move has an argument, considering they decided not to move Shohei Ohtani because they had an almost 17 percent chance to make the playoffs, and then they faltered immediately after the deadline passed. A mid-August deadline would also be a middle ground between the original trade deadline and the old waiver deadline, which was in place until 2019 and saw some significant names get dealt despite the complicated process involved.