AL East

The New York Yankees have reportedly begun to survey the trade market for potential outfield upgrades amid the continued struggles of Joey Gallo and Aaron Hicks.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported Thursday the Yanks' top targets, the Washington Nationals' Juan Soto and Pittsburgh Pirates' Bryan Reynolds, are unlikely to move before the Aug. 2 MLB trade deadline, which has led the club to explore secondary options, including:

• Andrew Benintendi (Kansas City Royals)
• Anthony Santander (Baltimore Orioles)
  
• Ian Happ (Chicago Cubs)
• David Peralta (Arizona Diamondbacks)
• Robbie Grossman (Detroit Tigers)
  

Gallo possesses prolific power, as evidenced by his back-to-back seasons with at least 40 home runs for the Texas Rangers in 2017 and 2018. He also tallied 38 homers in 2021, which he split between the Rangers and the Yanks.

The 28-year-old slugger has provided a little pop this year with nine homers in 63 games, but his other numbers are borderline dreadful. He's compiled a .165 batting average and .606 OPS while striking out 85 times in 217 plate appearances (39.2 percent, the highest of any player with 200 PA).

"He's got to keep grinding through it," New York manager Aaron Boone told reporters Thursday after Gallo's hitless streak extended to 26 at-bats in a 2-1 loss to the Houston Astros. "It's certainly been a challenge."

It's been much the same story for Hicks, who's retained a consistent spot in the starting lineup despite a .622 OPS with three home runs and seven stolen bases in 67 games.

Their lackluster numbers so far haven't held back the Yankees, who own MLB's best record by seven games (56-21) and have scored the league's most runs (384).

Yet, if the Yanks are going to chase down a World Series title, they're eventually going to need more production from the bottom of their order. Catchers Jose Trevino and Kyle Higashioka and shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa have also struggled at the plate.

A player like Soto, whose stock remains sky-high despite underwhelming numbers in 2022, or Reynolds would make the Yanks the undisputed championship favorite.

Without that type of blockbuster, the most intriguing name on the list of trade candidates is Happ, who's tied for 10th in WAR (2.1) among outfielders so far this season, per FanGraphs.

The 2015 first-round pick of the Cubs has posted a .382 on-base percentage so far in 2022, a solid jump from his already strong .344 career OBP. That's exactly the type of player New York could use in the bottom half of its lineup.

It's unclear whether Chicago will move Happ, 27, before this year's deadline since he's still under team control via arbitration for 2023, per Spotrac.

All told, with the Yankees casting a wide net for outfield targets, they're a strong bet to make at least one trade to bolster that portion of the roster in the coming weeks.

It turns out the team with the best record in baseball can get a base hit.

After the Houston Astros held the New York Yankees without a hit during Saturday's matchup, starting pitcher Jose Urquidy took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of Sunday's game. That ended when Giancarlo Stanton launched a home run to put the Bronx Bombers on the board:

Elias Sports (h/t Action Network) noted the Yankees' stretch of 16.1 consecutive innings without a hit tied the longest streak in the expansion era.

Saturday's no-hitter wasn't a one-man show for the Astros.

Starter Cristian Javier struck out 13 and allowed a single walk while throwing 115 pitches, Hector Neris worked around two walks in a hitless eighth inning, and Ryan Pressly closed the door with two strikeouts and a save in the ninth.

Houston won the game 3-0 and improved to 5-1 in its last six contests. Sunday marked an opportunity to take three of four from the Yankees, and Stanton's solo homer cut the Astros' lead to 3-1.

While the Astros are a legitimate World Series contender and deserve plenty of credit for their pitching in the series in New York, it is still shocking to see the Yankees struggle so much at the dish.

After all, they entered Sunday's game with a 52-20 record, which was good enough for the best mark in the league and an 11-game lead over the Boston Red Sox in the American League East race.

There is no shortage of star power in the lineup either with players such as Stanton, Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo, Josh Donaldson, Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu anchoring the offense.

Yet the Astros did what so few teams have done this season and figured out an effective way to approach the star-studded lineup for multiple games in a row.

The New York Yankees reportedly "have talked" about a trade for Cincinnati Reds starter Luis Castillo, according to Peter Gammons of The Athletic.

The Yankees seemingly need little help with an MLB-best 52-20 record entering Sunday, but they still plan to target starting pitching ahead of the Aug. 2 trade deadline. Gammons predicted general manager Brian Cashman will "make a run at" Castillo and Oakland Athletics pitcher Frankie Montas.

The Reds, Athletics, Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs have reportedly been scouting the Yankees organization, looking for potential matches in trades. Cincinnati has specifically looked at right-hander Will Warren, per Gammons, while Luis Gil is also on "ask lists."

Castillo would especially be an interesting addition for the Yankees as one of the top players on the trade market.

The one-time All-Star has a 3.71 ERA and 1.137 WHIP through nine starts, adding 49 strikeouts with 18 walks. He's on pace for a fourth straight year with an ERA under four.

Despite his production, the Reds are in last place with a 24-47 record, making them likely sellers at the deadline. Even though Castillo is under team control through the 2023 season, a trade now would give Cincinnati a chance to add better prospects and hasten the rebuild.

The Yankees don't necessarily need a starting pitcher with arguably the deepest rotation in the league already.

New York is tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best ERA in the majors at 2.94, producing 31 quality starts in 72 games. Of the five regular starters, Luis Severino has the worst ERA at 3.38 while pitchers like Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortes have simply dominated on the mount.

The Yankees are still ready to strengthen the roster even more as they hope to get over the top toward a title. The organization has reached the playoffs in each of the last five years, but it hasn't gotten to the World Series since 2009.

It's clear the team is prepared to go all in for a championship in 2022.

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has played like someone in line for a massive contract this offseason, but for now he is "happy" to just avoid arbitration.

Judge and the Yankees agreed to a one-year, $19 million contract on Friday and avoided the arbitration hearing that was scheduled for that day. As a result, he is set to become a free agent after the 2022 campaign.

"I was happy we were able to agree on a number and settle this thing and not have to go into court there," Judge said, per ESPN. "If I would have went in that room, I probably would have missed the game tonight, and that didn't really sit too well with me. I valued playing this game tonight with my teammates, trying to battle it out."

The center fielder suited up for Friday's 3-1 loss to the Houston Astros and went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.

It was a rare poor performance during what has been an outstanding season for Judge, who is slashing .299/.374/.648 with 27 home runs and 53 RBI in 69 games. The Yankees are also 11.5 games ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East with Major League Baseball's best record at 52-19.

Contract discussions with Judge were a primary storyline for New York ahead of the season, and his performance in 2022 has likely only increased his value.

The $19 million lands between the $21 million the three-time All-Star asked for and the $17 million the team offered in March.

As for a long-term deal?

"That's for when the season's done," Judge said.

ESPN noted general manager Brian Cashman previously said the club offered an eight-year contract worth between $230.5 million to $234.5 million, while the player's side asked for a nine-year deal that surpassed the average annual salary of Mike Trout's contract and ended up at $319.6 million.

Judge is 30 years old, but he appears to be in the middle of his prime and on his way to challenging for an MVP award to add to a resume that includes three All-Star selections and two Silver Sluggers.

New York is also positioned to realistically win its first World Series since 2009 in large part because of Judge's presence in the middle of its lineup.

How valuable that presence is will once again be up for discussion this offseason even if the two sides avoided arbitration for the rest of the 2022 season.

The Boston Red Sox announced they acquired James Norwood from the Philadelphia Phillies for cash considerations.

Norwood has made 20 relief appearances for Philadelphia this season, allowing 16 earned runs over 17.1 innings. The Phillies had designated the right-hander for assignment.

The Phillies transformed their bullpen in the offseason in an attempt to address their most glaring flaw. Brad Hand, Jeurys Familia and Corey Knebel were among the multiple free-agent relievers who signed with Philadelphia.

Still, the bullpen remains an area of weakness.

Norwood undoubtedly had a hand in the unit's struggles, though his eye-popping 8.31 ERA is a bit deceiving. According to FanGraphs, he has a 4.27 xERA and a 3.65 FIP.

Opposing hitters have a .423 average on balls in play, which is partially attributable to the Phillies ranking 25th in FanGraphs' defensive runs above average metric. The Red Sox, by contrast, are fifth.

At 35-30, Boston is fourth in the American League East but only 0.5 games off the pace for the final wild-card spot in the AL. The team has a 62.8 percent chance on Baseball Prospectus of reaching the playoffs.

Matt Barnes isn't pitching well and remains on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation. With Barnes a clear question mark right now, Norwood is a low-cost solution to fortify the Red Sox bullpen, and he might benefit from the change of scenery.

It appears Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale could return to the mound in the near future.

Sale, who has yet to pitch this season because of a rib injury, is set begin his rehab assignment on Monday in the Florida Complex League, the Red Sox revealed Friday, according to Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe.

From there, the 33-year-old would play two games with Boston's Double-A affiliate Portland Sea Dogs and two games with the franchise's Triple-A affiliate Worcester Red Sox. Abraham notes he could return to the majors around July 16.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora told NESN's Tom Caron the plan is for Sale to begin his rehab assignment by pitching two innings on Saturday and that he'll need to toss five innings before starting a game in the majors.

There has been some speculation that Sale could return to the Red Sox lineup as a reliever, but Cora shot down the notion on Friday, telling Caron that the southpaw will return to the starting rotation.

That said, Sale told reporters Tuesday that he would be willing to return from his injury as a reliever if asked, saying, "I think, at this point, nothing really matters other than getting back out there."

Sale opened the 2022 season on the 60-day injured list after suffering a stress fracture in his rib cage during a live batting practice he was throwing at Florida Gulf Coast University during the offseason. He then had to take care of a personal medical issue, which set him back 10 days.

It was an unfortunate ailment for Sale, who has been hampered by injuries over the last several seasons.

The seven-time All-Star hasn't appeared in more than 30 games since the 2017 season and didn't pitch at all during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign after having Tommy John surgery.

Sale returned for the 2021 season in August and started nine games, going 5-1 with a 3.16 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 52 strikeouts across 42.2 innings. His impending return will be a welcome sight for Boston, though the team's starting rotation has done well without him.

Nathan Eovaldi, Nick Pivetta, Michael Wacha, Rich Hill and Garrett Whitlock have held down Boston's rotation this season. James Paxton, Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford have also made starts for the team.

Boston's starting rotation has posted a 3.46 ERA this season, sixth-best in the majors. Adding Sale to the mix should only improve that number.

Despite the team's rotation pitching well, the Red Sox entered Friday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals with a 34-30 record, fourth in the AL East and 13.5 games behind the first place New York Yankees.

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is the most prolific long-ball hitter in MLB at the moment, but he doesn't plan on showcasing his talents in this year's Home Run Derby.

"Nope. No need, I already did it once," Judge told Peter Botte of the New York Post on Thursday. "I’m all good with that."

Judge had won the Home Run Derby as a rookie in 2017, launching 47 total moonshots to become the fourth Yankee ever to win the event. But his performance during the competition had an adverse effect on his play for the remainder of the season, as he batted .185 in August and was slowed by a shoulder injury that required arthroscopic surgery that offseason.

This season, Judge leads the majors with 25 home runs and is on a 162-game pace of 65, per Botte, which would surpass Roger Maris' franchise record of 61. He is the early front-runner for American League MVP, as he also leads MLB in runs (53), slugging percentage (.683) and OPS (1.067). Behind Judge's scorching start, the Yankees have the best record in the league at 46-16.

The 30-year-old Judge is set to become a free agent this year after turning down the Yankees' seven-year, $213.5 million contract offer during the offseason. He will also be the subject of an arbitration hearing next Wednesday to determine his salary for 2022. Judge is seeking $21 million while the Yankees are countering at $17 million, but those numbers were submitted prior to the start of the season.

"We haven’t heard nothing. I’m preparing for us to go to court, that’s the plan," Judge said when asked about the possibility of settling before the hearing. "That’s what you prepare for, that’s why you have a team [of agents] for, to get you ready for that. We’re looking forward to it. All we gotta do is get ready for the hearing, and if they come to us, they come to us. We’ll see what happens."

Baltimore Orioles chairman John Angelos released a statement through the team Monday saying the MLB franchise will "never leave" Baltimore.

Angelos' comments come after his brother, Louis Angelos, filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging John was trying to seize control of the organization from their parents, Peter and Georgia Angelos, and would eventually move the club to Tennessee, per ESPN.

The Orioles franchise has been located in Baltimore since 1954 after previous stops in Milwaukee and St. Louis. They've played at one of MLB's most iconic stadiums, Camden Yards, since 1992.

Peter Angelos placed the franchise in a family trust in 2017 while dealing with a heart issue.

Louis alleged in the lawsuit John has attempted to "squeeze" him out of the picture in order to gain full control of the organization in the future and argued his 92-year-old father would "vociferously reject any effort by an adult child presuming to override his will," per Daniel Chavkin of Sports Illustrated.

The lawsuit also alleges John has been successful in manipulating Georgia, 80, by preying on their mother's "fear of abandonment," according to The Athletic.

"John intends to maintain absolute control over the Orioles—to manage, to sell, or, if he chooses, to move to Tennessee (where he has a home and where his wife's career is headquartered)—without having to answer to anyone," the lawsuit states.

Louis' allegations also include a claim John transferred "tens of millions of dollars" in assets from his father to an LLC in his own name without informing other members of the trust. He seeks that money restored to his father along with John and Georgia being removed as co-trustees, per The Athletic.

John didn't respond directly to the various allegations in Monday's statement.

In March, Forbes estimated the Orioles are worth $1.32 billion on its annual list of MLB team values, which ranks No. 23 among the league's 30 franchises.

Jeff Barker of the Baltimore Sun reported in 2020 there were "at least three people" with interest if the Orioles were put up for sale, but so far, the Angelos family has publicly shown no intention to sell.

John said in February the focus was extending the club's lease with Maryland, which runs through the end of 2023 following a one-year extension.

"I would say that the Orioles and the Maryland Stadium Authority have never at any point in time, from the first minute I got together and sat down with [MSA chairman] Tom Kelso, neither one of us has ever said anything other than, 'We can't wait to extend and renew this public/private partnership,'" Angelos told reporters.

Baltimore owns a 26-35 record during the 2022 season. The Orioles play in the hyper-competitive AL East and last made the playoffs in 2016.