Around the Empire: Yankees news - 8/22/23

SI.com | Pat Ragazzo: The big Yankees news yesterday came from the report that prospects Everson Pereira and Oswald Peraza were on their way to the Bronx to join the Yankees for the start of their three-game series tonight against the Nationals. What shouldn’t be missed, however, is that a follow-up move is now in the works, as 20-year-old prospect Jasson Domínguez is bumping up from Double-A Somerset to take Pereira’s spot in the Scranton outfield. He’s been scorching hot in August with a 183 wRC+ in 18 games.

USA Today | Gabe Lacques: It would take a major miracle for the Yankees to make the postseason, with FanGraphs placing their odds at 0.5 percent following the series against Boston. The more likely outcome sees the team limp to the finish line, putting them in danger of their first last place finish in 31 years. The last time that happened, 1991, manager Stump Merrill helmed the team to a 71-91 record. The only positive from that season came from earning the No. 6 overall pick in the following draft (a certain high school shortstop from Michigan).

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Prior to the 6-5 loss that completed the sweep at the hands of the Red Sox, Aaron Boone was called to a closed-doors meeting with Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner in which the latter two expressed their frustration with the team’s performance. The pair in leadership might be better served by a hard look in the mirror considering it was they who assembled this roster. It remains to be seen whether Steinbrenner will indeed be “asking some tough questions” as he avowed he would should they miss the playoffs, and where his attention may turn given Cashman’s assertion at a stagnant deadline that the team was “in it to win it.”

The New York Times | Tyler Kepner: Finishing in last is not the only ignominious distinction this team is in danger of achieving. Failure to win at least 22 of their remaining 38 games will see New York end its 30-year streak of consecutive winning seasons. A sub-.500 season would’ve seemed unthinkable even a month ago, but it’s now trending toward the likeliest outcome.

CBS Sports | Mike Axisa: With the aforementioned pair of possibilities looming, is it time the Yankees throw in the towel on the season and look toward 2024? PSA’s own Andrés Chávez wrote about this 10 days ago and Mike Axisa certainly thinks so too, making four suggestions to the team for the final month of play. He recommends shutting down Aaron Judge and Nestor Cortes, giving them extra time to heal so they are fully fit by next spring. He also suggests giving the youngsters at Triple-A some big league opportunities and concludes by wondering whether the Yankees would part ways with Brian Cashman should the worst-case scenario come to pass — though this is unlikely given the four-year extension that Cashman signed last winter.

NJ Advance Media | Manuel Gómez: One youngster who has certainly earned a major league look-in is Austin Wells. Yankees catchers sport the third-lowest wRC+ (64) of any team and maybe it’s time to start planning for the long-term future at the position. Wells is slashing .241/.333/.449 with 16 home runs, 70 RBI and a .781 OPS in 88 games — all but five played at Double- and Triple-A — with his left-handed swing drawing admiration since the time he was drafted. When rosters expand to 28 in September, Wells’ name could very well be in the offing as at least a third catcher (and hopefully more).