So, the Yankees continue to either trade or designate for assignment (DFA) any players that SU happens to like on the roster. First, it was Kenny Allen and the shortstop Velazquez who were traded a couple of weeks ago. OK, I get that as they were not key pieces going into 2022, and they have some top prospects at shortstop in the lower minors.

Then, on Friday, we learned that Clint Frazier (good), Odor (extra good) and Tyler Wade (bad) were being DFA’d. Now, Wade has shown in his time with the Yankees that he cannot hit a fastball – we get that. But he finally in 2021 showed signs of productivity for stretches and he filled in a number of holes. Plus, he is one of probably 2 players on the roster who can actually run from 1st to 3rd on a single. SU predicts that he will prosper for some National League team that likes to use the full roster, and you will hear from him again.

The Yankees did hire the Mets’ former manager, Luis Rojas, to be their new 3rd base coach. Interesting move. Boone seems to like him a lot and truth be told, he can only have a better year than Phil Nevin did in 2021 given how many Yankees were thrown out at home plate. I don’t think Nevin ever figured out just how slowly Giancarlo Stanton was running on the base paths. He used the sun dial instead of a stop watch to time that.

Houston shortstop, Carlos Correa, has gone on record dissing Derek Jeter’s gold gloves at shortstop based on the stats. Not a winning move if he wanted to come to the Yankees or at least use them for leverage in his negotiations with some other team. For SU, I don’t want one of the Astros’ cheaters on the team. We had to endure Roger Clemens – isn’t that enough?

With Aaron Hicks returning, it’s hard to know what Cashman sees in the outfield. You know he will get hurt again in 2022 plus he is just another swing for the fences guy like his neighbor in left, Joey Gallo. As a fan, you want to look forward to next year but my requirement is getting younger, faster, more athletic and quite frankly — interesting and exciting. I will wait and hope.

The Mets have hired Billy Eppler – from the Cashman tree – as the new GM. SU thinks that is a good move given that no-one else seemed to be interested which is surprising. You have an owner ready to spend money and while he likes to tweet, he’s not as bad as some others in the sport. How is this not an attractive position for someone?

Ohtani making noise that if the Angels don’t win, he may not want to stick around. I’m sorry: wasn’t the point to be closer to Japan? Now you care about winning? Should have been a Yankee. Enjoy .500 success.

SU continues to enjoy the Red Zone channel. Who knew what I was missing? No need to ever watch a full Giants or Jets game again.

Michigan basketball took it on the chin last night vs. Arizona. They have 3 McDonald’s All-Americans in the freshman class but as we see, going from high school to the college level is not always a smooth transition. However, SU is patient and I always enjoy the journey of watching a team evolve and develop over a season as kids figure things out. On the other hand, not sure who can make a 3-pointer on that team so there is that.

Jordan Poole is lighting it up for Golden State this year. Back-to-back 30+ point games. Golden State is once again must see TV. I have watched most of their games – that is fun basketball. On the other hand, the Knicks are searching for the right line-ups and SU says that you cannot base your offense on making 3-pointers in the NBA if you don’t have the shooters (I have done the research – the ball needs to go into the basket a certain percentage of the time). But they have some fun youngsters and Thibodeau has to figure out how to play the right guys and not destroy the confidence of players on the bench. Well, that is why he’s paid millions of dollars so get to work.

Finally, getting ready for Michigan – Ohio State this Saturday. On paper, it’s hard to see how Michigan can stay with the Buckeyes who have so many weapons on offense but as they say, play the game and let’s see what happens. I just hope the game does not come down to a Big Ten replay review of anything. There is no worse officiating in the country – and I am including Westchester County high school basketball here – than the Big Ten in either football or basketball. They never disappoint.

The Yankees just announced that the LA Dodgers have claimed Andrew Velazquez off waivers from the Yankees. It is officially the end of an era. For those of you not paying attention, Velazquez came up from the minors in the 2nd half of the season and flashed a great glove, speed and some switch-hitting ability. Of course, he played for the minimum salary.

SU had projected him as the everyday shortstop in 2022 as a way to save money (what!!??) and spend on others where there was a greater need. Clearly, Gleyber Torres was not the answer and you don’t need an overpaid player at every position. The Yankees have 2 top prospects at shortstop in the lower minors and they will be ready in 2023 at the earliest. So, why not let Velazquez be that guy? Nope. Now, we will see them pursue one of the many free agent shortstops as they go in big on salary and number of years. SU says not a good investment and the team has other needs.

The rumor is it will be Seager on the LA Dodgers who at least bats left-handed. But Velazquez was a nice NY kid with a great story. Sigh. It will be an interesting winter.

I can’t believe I am even saying this but YOUR NEW YORK KNICKS are one of the most entertaining NBA teams to watch this year. I mean think about it: who else do you want to watch? The Lakers and the Nets are loaded with current/ex-all stars but half of them will be hurt most games. Golden State will soon get Klay Thompson back and they are always a fun watch. I like watching the Heat to see Duncan Robinson and they play the game the right way. But so do the Knicks. They play hard, they’re young, they run and they play defense. True, they are a work-in-progress and still improving but have a lot of upside.

SU saw an interesting comment from Draymond Green over the weekend about officiating. Apparently, the NBA refs are no longer calling fouls on the drive and clutch type of plays that James Harden has made a living on for many years. You know what he does: he drives to the basket and latches onto the defender’s arm/hand with his off-ball hand to make it look like a foul. Or the fake 3-point shot and then lunging into the defender. That’s why he used to shoot 20 foul shots a game. But no more. New era. Thank goodness.

SU can’t say that I have been watching the World Series too much. Rooting for the Braves to beat the cheating Astros but not more than a few minutes a game. But I am gearing up for the off-season. Did you see that the Red Sox hitting coach is not returning? He was very effective for several years with their offense. Maybe the Yankees have offered him a lot of money to come to the Bronx? Just wondering. The Mets still don’t have a President of Baseball Operations or a manager.

Be sure to watch spring training next season for the Red Sox, Astros, Braves and Dodgers. How many pitchers will be having surgery? SU says the over/under is 9. Pitcher abuse is rampant in these playoff games. At what cost a World Series championship?

The College Football playoffs will be very interesting this year. Michigan State is all of a sudden in the mix after beating Michigan in an agonizing loss for Wolverine fans. SU says that Michigan State will get manhandled by Ohio State in the 2nd to last game on the road and then faces Penn State at home in the finale. They have a great running back but their defense is terrible. Props to the coach, Mel Tucker, but let’s see how the season plays out before crowning him best coach of all time. And by the way, his continued success will only make him more attractive to LSU and USC. He is someone to watch this off-season. SU does not see anyone beating Ohio State in the Big Ten. And when we get to December, will a 1-loss Alabama team be more deserving than Wake Forest? One would think so.

Finally, SU is not happy with Djokovic who may skip the Australian Open if they require all players to be vaccinated. Unclear if he is or not vaccinated. Only slightly more than half of professional tennis players are vaccinated. SU says get with the program please. Do your part. Or do the 14-day quarantine in Australia and don’t complain.

SU has officially activated the NBA Season Pass which gives me access to every NBA game each night. Now, the reality is that 2/3 of the teams are unwatchable and SU does not go there but I do enjoy following the ex-Michigan players to see how their careers are progressing… or not.

But last night, SU watched most of the Knick game to see if the hype was for real. My first reaction is that team is much deeper than last year, and it looks like Thibodeau will be playing more guys this year. Fournier and Kemba Walker have been added to the backcourt and that is a definite upgrade. And there were stretches where the 2nd unit was really running and gunning led by Derek Rose and Toppin who is ready to take that next step – very athletic dude.

But SU says that what you need to watch for is whether Julius Randle will embrace having a better cast of characters around him. To me, the team played better when they pushed the pace and scored in transition. That helps the youngsters like Toppin and RJ Barrett who looked much improved I thought over last year. However, when it came to the 4th quarter, the movement stopped and grinded to a halt with every possession going through Randle. For SU, it brought back memories of the Carmelo offense who was another guy that didn’t like to run. If you watched the post-game, on-court interview, Randle said that he was looking for Fournier once in a while as he knew he was hot and wanted him to get his shots. I thought that was an odd comment. Better to say “we need to move the ball and find the open man.” If you run the offense through Randle too much, it will be easy for opposing teams to defense that.

It’s one game and there is talent on this roster. Kemba was way too passive and looked a step slow but he’s a good guy and if he’s healthy, is worth the price of admission. SU will be watching this year and is ready to return to the fold.

Speaking of watching, SU did check out the Red Sox – Cheating Astros games the last 2 nights. I have landed on rooting for Houston as I just cannot root for Boston. Can’t do it – ever. I do not understand the use of starting pitchers in relief on their “throw” days. You put a guy like Eovaldi in there in the 9th inning in a high stress situation. Make a note to see how his arm and shoulder are in 2022. It’s an injury waiting to happen. Neither team has great pitching at this point

So, Boone gets the new 3-year deal. SU says fine – he wasn’t the major issue this year although his in-game managing of the relievers probably cost about 5 wins along the way. But… if this is the Yankees’ major upgrade for 2022, don’t bother. There was no obvious replacement out there so that’s fine. But if the strategy is to roll out the same all right-handed line-up in 2022 and expect guys to have rebound years, well let’s not go there. Trade Gary Sanchez, Clint Frazier, and decide what you will do with Gleyber Torres. No-one will take Gallo so he is here for another season under contract. SU would trade Hicks as well. This will be an interesting off-season and SU expects Cashman to be bold as his contract is up soon as well.

Jared Diamond who covers baseball for the Wall Street Journal wrote an interesting article this week on how the teams that are in the Final Four now in the playoffs all emphasize hitting fly balls over ground balls. All are in the bottom handful of teams that hit the ball on the ground. The theory is that with the shifts, you need to try for home runs and extra base hits as hard hit ground balls into the shift are sure outs. SU says great but can’t you train hitters to hit to the opposite field where there is literally no-one standing? Apparently not. For the fan, this means games with lots of strikeouts and no action. It’s like watching Joey Gallo hit 27 times in a row. This cannot be the long-term answer. MLB may outlaw the shifts which rewards the fly ball hitters. Better to learn to bunt and hit to the opposite field and figure out a better way.

It’s bad enough that the Yankees lost to the Red Sox in the wild card game after a long and generally uninspiring season. I mean the ending was certainly fitting as the team was man-handled by a pitcher that had started against them about 17 times this season. But then the Red Sox beat Tampa Bay including back-to-back walk-off wins in dramatic fashion. Meanwhile, the Astros blow out the White Sox and here we are: the hated Red Sox vs. the cheating Astros.

SU will move to Netflix mode and try and avoid watching any of these games. But the reality is that one of these teams will be in the World Series. And did you see that Houston has made it to the ALCS 5 years in a row? That is pretty impressive whether they have been cheating in the playoffs all those years or not.

The Yankees have started with their off-season moves. Yesterday, they fired the 2 hitting coaches and Phil Nevin, 3rd base coach and best friend of Aaron Boone’s. Now, we have certainly seen this before. SU recalls that Cashman has done this to Joe Torre on occasion and also to Joe Girardi. The goal is always to make them more uncomfortable and attempt to inject some new voices into the leadership positions. There are lots of rumors swirling around Boone with the San Diego Padres supposedly very interested in his situation.

As we all know, the manager in baseball is just not as important as in other sports. Boone is a players’ manager and supposedly a great communicator. His in-game moves have always been lacking but in the end, if the players perform better on the field, you can overcome these moves. SU does not feel strongly about Boone. There is no obvious replacement out there who is a difference maker, and you have to figure that the new analytics way of thinking would mean they want a younger, numbers type person to step in if they make a move. So, for example, you would not bring in Buck Showalter here. But would you consider David Cone who has Yankee pedigree, is not afraid to get in players’ faces and is an analytics guy? He definitely wants the job.

SU believes the Yankees will stay the course with Boone and give him an extension through 2023. But the real need is to do something with the roster. It is not enough to say that most players had down years and will bounce back in 2022. Get more athletic, get faster and be sound defensively at all positions. You don’t need an All-Star at every position.

SU applauds the Nets for trying to move beyond Kyrie Irving although paying him for road games that he will not play is not necessary. And there is no way they offer him the 4-year, $185 million contract now – right? SU says he has been a disruptive influence on every team he has been on in his NBA career. He may be the best one-on-player in the League but it’s not worth all of the drama. Missing games for various personal reasons, the conspiracy theory beliefs, etc. The Nets have enough talent to win a championship and need to focus and move forward.

Who will manage the Mets? That is a great landing spot for someone with a wealthy owner willing to invest in his team. Sure, there will be expectations and tweets galore but embrace the challenge. Who do you want Met fans?

Great game 5 between the Giants and Dodgers last night. So many low scoring, tense games. Of course, awful that the Giants had to play LA in the NLDS. Something to change for future years in baseball. Need to reseed after the wild card games.

SU must admit it: in a way, I am relieved for this season to be over and no longer feeling the need to watch this under-achieving team. Let’s get right to it:

1. If nothing else, 2021 proved that an all right-handed line-up at Yankee Stadium does not work and is just a bad idea. SU was on record on this going back to March. It won’t happen again.
2. Cole is a competitor and he cares. SU is convinced that his hamstring has been an issue going back to early September and I don’t fault him for last night. He tried but was not himself. I don’t think it’s a make-up thing, can’t handle the pressure thing, a can’t pitch in NY thing. Move on.
3. However, the problem is this. Boone went with basically an opener mindset on Sunday to get that one last win thinking he would receive a normal start from Cole. Instead, you get 2+ innings and had to roll out the same pitchers who were in high pressure situations on Sunday. It showed last night. A lot of walks, missed targets. The Sunday game had a direct bearing on the Wild Card game.
4. SU believes that LeMahieu was suffering from the sports hernia all year. He hit with no power this season and so many ground ball double plays. Something has been off all year and I am confident he will bounce back in 2022. He’s not that old and he’s a gamer.
5. SU is done, done, done with the following players:

• Gary Sanchez: he will not hit to right field and is not getting better defensively. Stop telling me that a .210 batting average is “above average” for catchers in 2021. Low baseball IQ. He will do well with a fresh start somewhere else.

• Joey Gallo: SU does not care about the stats. It was stupid to bat him behind Stanton for a half season. A-Rod went off on him all night in the game last night as the weak link, and he did not disappoint. Not a bad guy, great outfielder. Must be a taker for him somewhere in MLB.

• Luke Voit, Aaron Hicks, Odor, Clint Frazier: find a home for them somewhere else. All or nothing players. Odor was the poster child for this year’s team. A .200 hitter who swings for the home run on every pitch and has a mindless approach at the plate.

SU had no favorite players on this year’s team. No Didi type player. I think that sums it up for me. This team played many, many low scoring, close games and won a surprisingly high percentage of them. But the wins were agonizing and Boone’s handling of the relievers made it even more torturous. Chapman was great and then terrible and finally just struggled each time out. The relievers were solid and Cortes was an eye opener. Montgomery improved. Taillon was a great pick-up and Kluber should be brought back for another season. Really, the pitching is fine. The offense is not and SU says the all or nothing approach is not enjoyable or a winning formula. No .300 hitters and few who can hit with RISP.

It will an interesting off-season for Cashman who must figure out shortstop and first base. Rizzo is a free agent and signing him creates the problem with LeMahieu and Gleyber. They need a shortstop but SU is not in favor of overpaying for one of the free agents. Hey, you can probably get back Didi as a rental for a year as he hit about .210 for the Phillies and must have more left in the tank than that. Bring in guys who are likeable and who care. Greg Allen who was banished to Scranton because he was out of options is a nice bench player. Gardner had a long Yankee run but time to move on.

SU never endorses firing managers or coaches. But this team needs a new mindset at the plate. Other than Judge and Stanton, no one had a better year than the year before. Other than Michael King, none of the other young pitchers emerged. Devi Garcia took a step back. But there are some strong arms ready to emerge in 2022 I think.

Much work to do. SU will move on – and easily this year.

Yankee fans: are you disappointed? Ready to move on? Ready to fire the manager? Feel free to weigh in.

They say in sports that it doesn’t matter how you get there, as long as you ultimately get there. You don’t get credit for style points. SU would have to agree. The Yankees had a good run through Boston and Toronto, and then limped through the weekend series against the Rays. They avoided the extra “play-in” game with the dramatic 1-0 win yesterday.

In the end, SU says it’s better that they play Boston vs. Toronto which is a hot team and can put runs on the board throughout their line-up. They lost the ability to play at home but I honestly don’t think that will make a huge difference. This season, playing at Yankee Stadium and watching the team not hit and puzzling over Boone’s in-game decisions only creates stress in the stadium among the fan base. The one issue is having to watch Chapman potentially try and save a game in the bottom of the 9th with the Boston fans cheering. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Here is what’s important:

1. DJ LeMahieu is out through the wild card and Divisional rounds. While unfortunate, SU says he has not been good – all year. And we have to guess that the sports hernia has bothered him all year. The problem is that Urshela was injured making that incredible catch yesterday in the Rays’ dugout and had to be pulled late in the game. At best, hard to believe he can play at all much less at shortstop. SU would play either Wade or Velazquez at shortstop then and put Odor at 3rd base. I think Wade deserves a shot but Boone seems to like him as a pinch runner late in games. Odor got a big hit yesterday but he is basically an automatic out.
2. Which Cole will you get on Tuesday night on an extra day’s rest? He won’t be a secret to the Red Sox who have seen him 4 times this year (at least). Eovaldi is even more familiar to the Yankees. It’s one game and hard to know or anticipate what you will get. What is more important, says SU, is how Boone manages the bullpen. He got away with it yesterday but the analytics have to say that not every reliever will be good in the game. So, maybe you extend the relievers that are throwing well for an extra inning? The “scripting” of the bullpen is not ideal if you remove the hot hand too early for the next guy because that’s what it says on your paper. SU does not trust Boone in these situations.
3. The Yankees hit 1 home run over the weekend. And they had a lot of trouble scoring. The Rays were playing for nothing and must be chomping at the bit to play the Yankees in the Divisional round. SU says that Cash actually faced Judge in the 9th inning rather than walk him to see how things unfolded. I think he was experimenting for the playoffs and what happened here will influence his decision-making. Same with Stanton and whether you walk him to face Gallo. Cash did not do that. It’s so interesting to see how Gallo factors into the post-season if he still hits after Stanton. He finished with over 200 strikeouts and 100 walks. Pretty incredible. He is a very good outfielder and the bunt will be there with the shift. He absolutely has to bunt a lot on Tuesday night if the situation presents itself.
4. The Yankees have played the Red Sox something like 14 times in the last 3 months. It’s fitting that they play each other in the wild card to advance. MLB has done the right thing penalizing the wild card teams to have to play 1 game and rewarding the division winners.

Normally I would say advantage Boston in a game like this. But Cora has not managed well against the Yankees this season and there is no advantage there. The key will be when you take Cole out. His pattern the last few starts is to start badly and then find a groove after giving up some runs. You don’t have the luxury in a 1-game elimination game for that. On the other hand, he makes $30 million a year for these games and he is your best bet. The Yankee bullpen is much better than Boston’s but Houck is good and he can strike out a lot of hitters in a row out of the pen.

At the start of the season, SU said that a successful season for the Yankees would be getting to the World Series. I will stick with that. Losing in the wild card or to the Rays is not a successful season. I am cautiously optimistic that they can win this game. I see a 6-5 win with Chapman given a 6-3 lead going into the bottom of the 9th inning. The only silver lining is that the Yankees can also put its fans out of their misery by losing, and allow us all to catch up on Netflix. The season has been a slog.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers after a 100+ win season have to beat the hot, hot Cardinals just to advance and play the Giants in the Divisional series. MLB should consider reseeding based on wins after the wild card round. A Giants-Dodgers series for 5 games should really happen in the next round.

The floor is open. Any predictions for tomorrow night?

Playoff atmosphere in Toronto last night. The Yankees fought back and you can’t complain about a 1-run loss. Sure, Cole underperformed but you need him for the wild card game and have to hope he can bounce back. He has not been great in his last 3 starts and for the season, the Yankees are 16-14 in his starts despite how good he is. SU says Boone made a couple of good moves last night (see? I admit it). Allowing Higashioka to hit in the 7th inning in a big spot instead of rolling out Sanchez there took some guts. He was rewarded as Higgy got a 2-run single to tie the game.

Now comes the hard part. Joey Gallo was hit by a pitch on his arm and is having x-rays this morning. He was unable to hit in the 9th inning and they put up Sanchez to take Gallo’s strikeout at bat for him. That’s fair – need to spread the strikeouts around. SU only wishes Gallo a fast recovery – he seems like a good guy and keeps his head down. But this creates an opportunity for the Yankees to bring back Greg Allen who was great in August (when he was sent down so that they could play Jonathan Davis who had one infield hit in his entire time with the team), is a switch hitter and can play all of the outfield positions. He can also steal a base. Oh, and he is batting .330 in Scranton this year with an on base percentage of .407 for those keeping score at home. He is a contact hitter. This seems obvious to SU. The question is do you need to put Gallo on the injured list to do that? And if you do that, is he allowed to play in the wild card game if healthy? Cashman won’t want to lose Gallo if that is the case but SU believes you reset your roster for the post-season. On the other hand, does the IL require a certain number of games to be out?

The alternative is to put Stanton in left field and DH Voit. SU says Voit is a gamer but he needs at bats to regain his rhythm and they don’t have the games to allow him to do that. He is also a double play waiting to happen. He is not the answer and they need to look at other options. Keep Stanton at DH and put Allen in left field. See? That was easy and it solves the Gallo problem as well.

The other decision is who catches Kluber today? Kluber is a thinking man’s pitcher. He makes it up as he goes along and has to run through 8 options before every pitch which is why his games take sooooo long. SU says he is a scary guy to face the Blue Jays who can really hit. On the other hand, maybe they won’t be able to hit his curves and sliders? Higashioka is the better choice to catch him. He is just as productive as Sanchez proportionately (long-time subscriber M. Levine has checked the math on this) and is far superior defensively. Boone needs to make that move. Kluber needs to be on a short leash tonight as they face Ray who is a Cy Young contender. Toronto is really good.

Will Tampa Bay try hard this weekend vs. the Yankees? They have nothing to play for except to try and eliminate the Yankees from the post-season. It will be interesting to see. SU likes having Severino in the bullpen and now German is also available. Loaisiga is also back. Suddenly, the overworked bullpen is deep.

Finally, keep an eye on Seattle for the wild card. They finish vs. the Angels at home and are right in the mix. The Yankees seem to lose all of the tiebreakers with Toronto and Boston. SU is very afraid of facing Sale in the wild card game if Boston makes it. As Yogi said, it’s getting late early.

Long-time subscriber, D. Harmon, posed that question last night: why don’t opposing managers just walk Giancarlo Stanton right now while he is red hot? SU would agree. How do you pitch to him when the next hitter in the line-up is Joey Gallo?

Last night, the Blue Jays pitcher, Ryu, had 2nd and 3rd and 1 out in the 1st inning. First base was open but he opted to pitch to Stanton. He did strike him out and then Gallo, surprisingly, popped out (surprising in that he made contact vs. striking out. More on him later). But later in the game, again with 2 runners on and this time 2 outs, they pitched to Stanton in a 3-2 game. Stanton golfed a 3-2 pitch, change-up low and inside, for a 3-run home run. It was a good pitch but the dude is red hot right now. The play there was to walk him and load the bases and pitch to Gallo.

Here is the point: the Yankees do not have a “circular line-up” like they had in 1998 where every hitter can flat out hit. The 2021 version features Judge, Stanton and a little Rizzo. Really, that is it. No one else should scare you or concern you. After Stanton, it’s Gallo, Torres and Sanchez. Sanchez and Gallo will never get a hit with RISP. Torres can but certainly not a sure thing. For SU, it shows how managers cannot think outside of the box and really assess the situation on a given day. I mean, how hard is it to give Stanton the Bonds’ treatment and just walk him even if means loading the bases? Joey Gallo? Did you see the shift used against him last night? Picture 4 outfielders and then the 3 infielders swung way over on the right side. He could bunt for a double on turf every single time if no one is on base. Nope. Have to swing for the fences as he strives for a below-.200 batting average.

David Cone said last night that the Yankees have only 3 players who are above the MLB average for their positions: Judge; Stanton; and Sanchez (slightly above average). Sanchez is hitting .210. Must be a down year for catchers. It speaks to how the pitching has carried this year’s team.

The NBA Players’ Union will not allow a vaccine mandate for their players this season. Assistant coaches are up in arms as they worry about bringing COVID home to their families – some with young children with health issues. The coaches have to be vaccinated. SU says this is so selfish of these players. Plus in certain cities, e.g., SF, NY, unvaccinated players won’t be allowed into the arena and will not be allowed to play home games. Looking at you Kyrie, Beale, Wiggins.

OK, OK, SU will come clean and admit that I was very, very surprised at how the Yankees performed this weekend up in Boston, and truth be told, how the Red Sox performed as well. Friday was a comfortable win but the Saturday and Sunday games featured late inning Yankee rallies from the same cast of characters.

No doubt Alex Cora went into the manager’s office after the game and jotted down the following: “Note to self: don’t pitch to Stanton late in the game with RISP.” Cora is a super-confident, borderline arrogant manager and clearly he has confidence in his relievers. But on the Yankees, only 2 guys are going to beat you this year: Stanton and Judge. That is pretty much it. Last night in the 8th inning, he had the chance to walk Stanton and pitch to Joey Gallo who you know will never come through. 1st base was open. But he liked the righty on righty match-up with Ottavino vs. having Ottavino face Gallo. Dude, think outside of the box. Stanton had lit you up 2 games in a row.

In the end, Cora out-Booned himself as manager. And really, does Boone have any in-game feel for what is going on? Holmes strikes out the side on 11 pitches in the 6th inning. Let him pitch another another inning? Nope because…. he never lets his relievers go another inning. A-Rod was all over that on the broadcast and rightly so.

A few other random observations:

1. Can Gary Sanchez ever run hard to 1st base on a ground out? I know he is conserving his legs but he doesn’t play every day and it’s a bad look. He generally strikes out 3 of the 4 at bats so we are only talking about one time during the game. Annoying.
2. Is Devers on the Red Sox chewing a mix of gum and tobacco all game? I have never seen such a big wad in a player’s mouth. Nasty looking.
3. SU must give Stanton credit. He has carried the offense with Judge for about 2 months now. How any team pitches to him now is beyond me. Gallo is never going to hit a home run with anyone on base – at least not on the Yankees. He ratio of home runs to rbis is 1:2. Dave Kingman like. Are managers so enamored with the the righty vs. righty match-ups that they can’t look at who is hot as in red hot?
4. Judge dislocated his pinky in the 8th inning on a slide into 2nd base. This deserves watching as he absolutely cannot miss a game.
5. The Yankees must be setting a MLB record for most wild pitches with a man on 3rd this year. It’s one of their best ways to score runs.
6. While the Yankees’ relievers are a bit terrifying now (looking at you Chad Green), the Red Sox are even worse. Severino is a huge add as he can actually go 2 innings (Boone wrote that down on Saturday in his book).

But here is the deal: they now have 3 games with Toronto and 3 with Tampa Bay. The Blue Jays need to win these games to climb over Boston, and Tampa Bay would face the Yankees in the first round of the playoffs. They may actually be motivated to knock the Yankees out in that last series vs. resting their players. Boston plays Baltimore and Washington, and the Blue Jays face the Orioles in their last series. SU says other Yankees will need to step up on offense now as other managers surely are paying attention and will not pitch to Stanton. Paging Joey Gallo. Please report for extra batting practice and work on your bunting to the left side.

Is this a tease for Yankee fans? Or is the team ready to seal the deal and at least host a wild card game?

SU watched a fair amount of the Ryder Cup this weekend. So refreshing to see young Americans competing with enthusiasm. The Ryder Cup was a nice diversion from the Giants and Jets. SU was watching the Red Zone channel and I am not sure that I ever saw a Giants’ offensive play yesterday. So bad. In a sport with a salary cap, there really is no excuse for years and years of such poor play by any one team.