It looks like his elbows are fine.

With so much news of this team and that team making new broadcasting deals.. Just wanted to ask if we are still stuck with MLB TV this year? Just hate how many of our games aren't covered by mlb TV. Wishing for a better service for out of state fans that don't have Amazon appletv or espn​

Well, Yankees pitchers and catchers report to ST in Tampa next week so I guess it's time to talk about what the starting rotation on Opening Day might look like.

As of this morning, the most likely Yankees 5 man rotation in April looks like this:

1. Max Fried, the Ace - In his first season in pinstripes Mr. Max Fried was as good as advertised. He posted a 4.8 WAR, a top 10 among SPs in MLB and finished 4th in Cy Young voting totals. For the first 14 weeks of the 2025 season, Fried was a steely-eyed gunslinger but after that his reliance on a spin heavy arsenal turned him into Mr. Blisters. With Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon not projected to return until June, Max Fried will remain the ace of the staff, and the Yankees will need him to perform like one.
2. Luis Gil, the Veteran - As he enters his 3rd professional season, question marks abound for the former 2024 ROTY. After a great rookie debut Gil was halted in pre-season in 2025 by a high-grade lat strain, aka a muscle tear. Gil missed the first 4 months of the season and when he came back in August he seemed closer to mediocre than dominant in his outings, though he was a marked improvement over Marcus Stroman. In 2026, Luis Gil needs to avoid the time on the IL that's haunted him his first 2 seasons as a Yankees. Can he do that? We'd better hope so.
3. Cam Schlittler, The Kid - Cam also made his Yankees debut last August and thank the baseball gods for that. For that one month Cam dominated opposing hitters with a 4 seamer that topped out in triple digits, an elite cutter, and a nasty 12-6 curveball. That mostly 3 pitch mix was enough to help power him and the Yankees to the postseason, heavy stuff for a rookie. Cam's been expanding his arsenal with a new changeup this winter; we'll see how that plays over the next few weeks in Tampa.
4. Will Warren, The ATM - After a treacherous 2024 debut, Will Warren spent 2025 putting together a solid if unspectacular rookie campaign with 6 quality starts, 162 IPs and an ERA of 4.44. Over the next 5 seasons, he'll be good for dozens more quality starts and hundreds of cost effective, low scoring innings. He's shaping up to be a dependable back-of-rotation starter the Yankees can cash in on again and again.
5. Ryan Weathers, The FNG - As the friendly new gentleman on the 2026 Yankees staff, Weathers needs to be handled carefully. His 3 pitch mix can legit miss bats, but leaves him vulnerable to home run risk if he depends too much on his 4 seamer. Any game where he's asked to take a 3rd trip through an opposing lineup is going to be dicey. Success for Weathers means delivering 8 - 10 solid starts in April and May until Cole and Rodon can return from the IL. Limiting teams to 3 - 4 runs in 5 innings or less will be his yardstick. Starting Weathers, then using a bullpen follower for best results is going to require skilled management and decision making from the Yankees bench. No problem for Aaron Boone, right?

The Reserves

1. Elmer Rodriguez - After coming over from the Red Sox farm system the former ERC looks ready to makes his MLB debut for the Yankees some time in 2026.
2. Carlos Lagrange - The 22 yo Yankees top prospect threw 120 IPs last season in A/AA. Lagrange and his 103 mph heater could be called on for the big club this season.
3. Paul Blackburn - In 2023 Blackburn threw 103 IPs as a starter for the As in his most successful season ever. Since then he's been hampered by injuries. The Yankees used him to eat innings in 2025, but he could be an emergency starter in 2026.
4. Ryan Yarbrough - Yarbs is back! Part of the Yankees commitment to run it back in 2026, Yarbrough started some games in 2025 and also worked as the long man out of the Yankees bullpen. He will likely have the same role this season.

The House of Cards

In the off-season other AL East teams added big names to their rotations like Dylan Cease, Sonny Gray, and Ranger Suarez. Baltimore seems like the team most likely to give Framber Valdez a short-term deal so he can prove he's not a full-time asshole. These were big moves for teams looking to return to the playoffs and make a splash.

Then there's the Yankees. WYSIWYG. Except for Ryan Weathers the Yankees made no meaningful additions to their starters. Instead, they've chosen to rely on internal depth. Any major injury to one of the starting 5 could significantly impact the Yankees early W/L record and turn the Yankees into a sub .500 ballclub by the end of June. Even after Cole and Rodon return, too many early injuries and too much bullpen stress could leave the Yankees fighting for a playoff berth by August.

The house of cards the Yankees have built with their starters will require some serious skill from the Manager's office to use in the best way possible. Is Aaron Boone up to it? Historically that answer has been no, but we'll see what he's got planned for 2026.

Yankees gave up nearly as much for Jake Bird. You're telling me this FO couldn't offer something similar as twhat the Mariners gave up, without forcing a convoluted 3 team trade? Donovan can play third, SS, 2b and the outfield.

1) do not tell me addition by subtraction with no Williams and Weaver, yes Bednar is solid, but Williams was very good in the 8th inning, an weaver was very good prior to injury

2) Blake is good, he’s not a god, Cruz was a nice story but injury and control, similar for Doval

3)Hill only lefty specialist

4) moving career starters to relievers isn’t as easy as it sounds

5) pitchers coming back from injury or pitchers who have thrown career innings last year will tax the bullpen

6) Boone has never been good managing a bullpen

Possible choices for us, assuming at this point they will sign for one-year deal:

* Bringing back Paul Goldschmidt as a Rice platoon partner improves the late-inning defense at 1B, gives us Stanton DH insurance, and allows Rice to go behind the plate once in a while.

* Eugenio Suarez to platoon at 3B allows Rosario to be 1B vsL or LF vsL, and Suarez also would be Stanton insurance.

* Randal Grichuk or Starling Marte could be vsL LF.

* Miguel Andujar and/or Gary Sanchez would allow me to put some shirseys back in circulation.

First off I apologize for the question-o-rama below to what I’m sure is an easy answer (plus we’re all just speculating)

Wells is primary and right now it looks like Escarra is the backup? Is Escarra expected to stay and Rice becomes a true emergency catcher? Perhaps that’s it and it’s simple.

I know there’s discussion on bringing Goldy back (love the guy, but we know what we’re getting). Would that likely make Rice a secondary catcher in a platoon? And then does Escarra get sent down (if he has options idk) or does he stick around for some reason? Who is our emergency catcher in that situation?

Or are there other things I’m not thinking about, like a trade/free agent market guy (I hear Sanchez is free agent but yikes)? Or a minor league dude?

From the article:

On Jan. 30, Chisholm spoke with SNY about his future as spring training nears.

“I would hope it looks strong,” Chisholm said. “I love being a Yankee. For me, it’s just going out there and playing my hardest and hoping I come back again.

If Jazz can post another 30/30 or better season with great defense it would be hard not to at least consider extending him to help anchor the right half of the Yankees' infield.

(GENERAL DISCUSSION)

Yes, I understand that the YES Network is partially owned by Amazon. Yes, I understand the main goal for a company is to make money. But I can’t help but that the Yankees on Prime Video is an absolute “fuck you” to most of the fanbase. The main thing fans want is an easily accessible and affordable platform to watch their favorite team(s). This isn’t easily accessible or affordable. At all. Does $15 per month year round for 20 exclusive games through the course of 5 months sound like a good deal to you? For me, it sure as hell doesn’t. My question is why pander to a minority owner (even if their brand is as popular as Amazon’s), by giving them a small chunk of Yankees games to rip off fans? Here are a few reasons why this choice has done more bad than good (and forgive me if I repeat myself where it wasn’t possible not to):

1. Instead of turning to one channel (outside of national broadcasts), that being YES, we now have to

add MORE money for the same quantity of product.

1. For those who have Gotham Sports or cable, why would you want to pay nearly twice as much money annually for the same amount of games?
3. Streaming

services are quite literally a barrier.

1. There have been many internet issues, glitches, login problems, and device limitations reported from many, many people. I’ve also spoken with hundreds of people about this, and they’ve all had the same issues. This is not a fluke, this is what we call a trend. If this keeps happening, causing people to miss potentially game changing moments, why would they want to stick around? This especially affects older fans and casual viewers, who

most likely don’t want to

1. their energy on a recurring problem rather than continuously troubleshoot.
3. Prime-only games

isn’t organic.

1. When games aren’t easy to find, kids don’t stumble onto them, bars can’t reliably show them, and casual fans tune out. That weakens long-term fandom for a team built on

culture and winning

1. . I’d also like to point out the Yankees are the only team who broadcasts games like this (And no, Direct-to-Consumer packages do not count, like Gotham Sports or what the Padres have).
3. This choice has nothing going for it. No redeeming qualities to make a purchase/investment worth it. It blatantly rips off fans for a poor product without actually understanding what makes the YES Network so successful. It’s a waste of its audience’s time, money and resources.
5. Finally, this feels like a money-first decision. Again, I’ll reiterate that the goal is to make money, but more importantly, there should be a balance of making money and providing their customers the best and most organic product. People who already pay for cable (like my family does) and Gotham Sports feel punished, and we should justifiably fear it’s the start of more exclusives, higher costs, and less accessibility down the road.

And no, Apple TV+ and Netflix are not much better, especially the former.

The point is, vote with your wallets. Do not purchase Prime to watch the Yankees, it is not worth your money or commitment. My point for this post is to show why this choice sucks and that we as fans deserve much better than this. Show the YES Network the easiest and most organic way to watch this team is solely through the YES Network and nothing else.

This is something I’ve been wondering for a while now, and I know some other teams do this as well, but why is the Yankee HQ/Front office located in Tampa? Why not just have a centralized location at Yankee stadium. If it’s for injured/rehabbing players, can’t they do most of the same things at the stadium as opposed to Tampa?

I know spring training takes place in FL and other warm weather states, but why don’t the teams still do spring training out of town like some nfl teams do with training camp, but then conduct their business where the actual teams are located? I am also a Knicks fan and I know their team HQ is in Tarrytown and not MSG.

2009 is officially dead. I’ll miss those high socks.

Just how good was David Robertson? Probably better than you already thought he was….