New York Yankees

New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman is going on the injured list with an elbow injury. 

The Yankees announced on Saturday that their All-Star closer has been placed on the 10-day IL with left elbow inflammation. 

The move is retroactive to Aug. 6, meaning Chapman will be eligible to come off the IL as soon as Aug. 16. 

Chapman is one of the most effective relief pitchers of his generation when healthy as a seven-time All-Star who helped lead the Chicago Cubs to the 2016 World Series title and the Yankees to within a game of the 2017 World Series. 

This has been a difficult season for Chapman, despite being named to the All-Star squad. He has a 3.63 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 68 strikeouts in 38.2 innings. 

Pitching depth is a significant problem for the Yankees right now. Four of their five regular starters are currently on the IL, including Gerrit Cole. 

Chapman's absence certainly hurts the bullpen depth for manager Aaron Boone, but he does have options in place to get by. Chad Green and Jonathan Loaisiga have closed games this season. Lucas Luetge has been fantastic in a setup role with a 2.81 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 51.1 innings. 

Still, Chapman gives the bullpen another fireballer who can help shorten critical games for a team fighting to make the playoffs.  

The phrase "Yankee moment" is tossed around quite a bit in New York City. When an impact player comes to a proud, storied franchise like the New York Yankees, greatness is expected right away. 

It's a little bit of an overblown concept, that a player is required to have a "Yankee moment," but everything in New York tends to be a little bit overblown. It's an intimidating place to fail, with a fanbase that will boo you for a single strikeout and tabloid culture that will plaster your face on the back page with a pithy pun. 

No wonder Joey Gallo entered Thursday's game against the Seattle Mariners pressing. The newest Yankee slugger had yet to hit a bomb in the Bronx after being traded from the Texas Rangers last week ahead of the deadline. Gallo, an All-Star outfielder who hit 25 of them for Texas this season, was gripping his bat so hard during batting practice it looked like the thing was going to splinter. 

The team's other big acquisition, first baseman Anthony Rizzo, wasted no time contributing. The former Chicago Cub drove in a run in his first six games with the Yankees, becoming the first Yankee to do so since RBI became a stat in 1920. 

Gallo, on the other hand, was just 2-for-23 in his first six games with the team. But he made up for that slow start Thursday night, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and a towering moonshot of a home run that turned a 2-3 deficit into a 5-3 lead in the seventh inning. 

It was quite the moment—dare I even say his Yankee moment—for the kid who grew up wanting to wear pinstripes. 

"I was thinking in the outfield, the 10-year-old me would be crying and not believing what's going on," Gallo said in his postgame Zoom press conference. "It's really crazy. I had to take a step back from and be like, 'I'm in Yankee Stadium getting a curtain call from Yankee fans.' It's crazy to me."

What's not so crazy is the effect Gallo and Rizzo are having on the Yankees. They were acquired to give the lineup a left-handed presence in a lefty-friendly park, and they're doing exactly that. But they're doing more than just hitting in big spots, they're playing excellent defense, which is something the Yankees have not always done this season, and it's paying off at the right time. 

The Yankees are 6-1 since the trade deadline, at 59-49 they're now 10 games over .500 for first time this season and are currently riding an 18-8 run. Not only do they have a chance to hold off the Mariners in the Wild Card race, but they can gain ground on the Boston Red Sox, the team that currently holds the first AL Wild spot. 

"The energy is at an all-time high," left-hander Nestor Cortes said following the win. "Hopefully we can keep it going."

Gallo and Rizzo give the Yankees a pretty good chance of keeping it going. 

The Mariners were up 3-2 in the seventh after rookie outfielder Jarred Kelenic homered off Chad Green. Kelenic, as you might remember, was supposed to play in New York when the Mets drafted him in the first round of the 2018 draft, but was traded to Seattle as part of the trade for closer Edwin Diaz and former Yankees' second baseman Robinson Cano. 

He's the type of player Yankee fans hate losing to. He's the kind of player that makes Yankee fans boo their own team. 

But a two-out rally by Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton set the table for Gallo, who launched a home run off his hometown friend Paul Sewald that went so high it briefly got lost in the lights above the Yankee Stadium facade before falling into the right field stands. The ball only traveled 331 feet but had an incredibly sharp 48-degree launch angle. Gallo had enough power to get it to go, and the short porch in right field was just short enough. 

"It was so high, you don't see very many that high," New York manager Aaron Boone said. "I got up out of the dugout because I thought it was going to go. It just kept going and hit that perfect spot."

It was Gallo's first home run as a Yankee and his first at the Stadium. Boone wasn't worried that his new slugger would fail to deliver in New York because the quality of his at-bats have been so strong. Gallo wasn't worried either, but it was a relief when the ball finally fell into the stands. 

"Once I saw it get out I was overcome with emotion a little bit," Gallo said. "It was just such a big at-bat and a big moment. You could feel that it could be a game-changing at-bat and I was happy I was able to come through and help the team win because I feel like there were a couple opportunities where I could have done that this week and I didn't, so obviously it felt pretty good to do that today."

Prior to the trade deadline, the Yankees lineup was good, but adding adding Rizzo in the No. 2 spot behind D.J. LeMahieu allowed Judge and Stanton to move down. Gallo provides some protection and adds some depth, which is necessary right now with Gio Urshela on the injured list and Gary Sanchez on the COVID-19 injured list. 

The importance of the duo was on display in the ninth inning as closer Aroldis Chapman labored through 30 pitches to convert the save. Without Urshela, the Yankees are using second baseman Rougned Odor at third base. He fielded leadoff man Tom Murphy's throw and made an off-balance throw to first base. It was a deceptively difficult pick, but Rizzo, a Gold Glove infielder, deftly gloved it for the first out of the inning. 

Having a first baseman like Rizzo allows the infielders to make the best throws they can without the pressure of being perfect. 

"I think it's comforting knowing that you've got somebody who is really elite at that," Boone said. "Riz has said, 'Just get it to me, I'll catch it.' And there is some comfort in that."

Gallo made the last out of the game, tracking down a fly ball by Mitch Haniger at the left field with two left on base. It seemed like a fitting end to the first game in a four-game series. 

The true Yankee moments won't really come until the postseason. But if Gallo and Rizzo continue to have this kind of impact on the Yankees, then they'll get their shots to have them.

New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez has tested positive for CCOVID-19, manager Aaron Boone announced Thursday.

Sanchez was noticeably held out of the lineup Wednesday and Thursday before Boone's announcement. It's unclear if Sanchez has been vaccinated for COVID-19.  Several Yankees who were previously vaccinated tested positive for the virus earlier this season.

Boone said the team is waiting for PCR test results after Sanchez's rapid test came back positive. If the diagnosis is confirmed, Sanchez will miss at least the next 10 days.

Boone said Sanchez seemed to be symptomatic. 

Sanchez is hitting .216/.329/.450 with 17 home runs and 39 runs batted in this season. He's been in the lineup for 84 of the Yankees' 107 games. 

Kyle Higashioka will likely slot into the starting lineup for as long as Sanchez is out. MLB.com's Bryan Hoch reported the team has called up Rob Brantly from AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. 

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone announced that starting pitcher Gerrit Cole has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss his scheduled start against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday.

Left-hander Nestor Cortes is expected to take his spot in the rotation:

Cole will have to isolate for a minimum of 10 days, per Major League Baseball's health and safety protocols for the 2021 season.

Individuals who test positive will be required to isolate for a minimum of 10 days, receive appropriate care and monitoring from the Club medical staff, and be cleared by the Joint Committee and the individual's team physician, following a mandatory cardiac evaluation and a determination that the individual no longer presents a risk of infection to others.

The 30-year-old is 10-6 with a 3.11 ERA and an American League-leading 176 strikeouts in 130.1 innings.

Boone said Cole tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday evening. He spoke with reporters via Zoom earlier in the day and said he felt good at this part of the year, per Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News.

The Cole news comes two-and-a-half weeks after six Yankees tested positive for COVID-19, per ESPN's Jeff Passan:

Yankees infielder Gleyber Torres, who was fully vaccinated, tested positive for COVID-19 in May.

Cortes has impressed in limited action, posting a 1.93 ERA in 11 games (three starts). He most recently held the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays to one run over five innings, striking out five in a 3-1 win on July 28.

He'll be opposed by Alexander Wells, who is 1-1 with a 5.28 ERA and 12 strikeouts. Game time is 7:05 p.m. ET from Yankee Stadium.

The Orioles are in New York for a three-game series. They took the opener 7-1 on Monday.

The New York Yankees remain interested in Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story ahead of Friday's 2021 MLB trade deadline despite their acquisition of slugger Joey Gallo from the Texas Rangers, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network.

SNY's Andy Martino reported Thursday the Yanks' interest is contingent on not trading one of their top prospects, such as shortstop Anthony Volpe.

Story is a popular name leading up to the deadline. He can become a free agent at season's end with the conclusion of his two-year, $27.5 million contract, and the Rockies have faded out of playoff contention in the National League with a 44-58 record.

The 28-year-old's numbers are down this year, including a .741 OPS that would be a career low, but he was one of the most productive hitters in the NL over the previous three seasons. He compiled a .909 OPS with 83 home runs and 65 stolen bases in 361 games from 2018 through 2020.

Story said last week he'd heard the trade rumors but was doing his best do ignore the chatter.

"Obviously, I'm aware of the talk, but that's all out of my control, so it doesn't do me any good to think about that," he told reporters. "I'm just concentrating on playing baseball and helping my teammates. I think I have done a pretty good job of not breathing a lot of life into it."

If Story joins Gallo with the Yankees, it would help revitalize an offense that's been stuck in neutral. The Yanks rank 25th in MLB with 415 runs scored in 2021.

His arrival would lead to some lineup shuffling. Gleyber Torres would likely head to second base while DJ LeMahieu stays at first, even when Luke Voit returns from the injured list, which would make Rougned Odor the odd man out in the infield.

It's unclear whether a trade is possible if New York is unwilling to part with any of its best prospects. Colorado can get a compensation pick in the draft if Story leaves in free agency, so it doesn't have to force a trade.

That said, the Yankees, who are 2.5 games back in the AL wild-card race, showed they're focused on making a playoff push with the Gallo trade. It wouldn't be a surprise to see them get more aggressive on the Story front to further bolster their lineup.

The New York Yankees haven't lived up to expectations in 2021, but that didn't stop them from pulling off the season's biggest trade to date Wednesday.

Mere hours after Jack Curry of the YES Network tweeted that the Yankees were "pushing hard" for Texas Rangers All-Star slugger Joey Gallo, news broke that said push had succeeded:

The trade is unconfirmed for now and the exact structure of it isn't 100 percent clear. But according to Curry, it sounds as if it will be:

• Yankees get: RF Joey Gallo and LHP Joely Rodriguez
• Rangers get: SS Josh Smith, 2B Ezequiel Duran, 2B/OF Trevor Hauver and RHP Glenn Otto

For the Yankees—who are 8.5 games out of first place in the American League East at 53-47—Gallo is obviously the centerpiece. This season has seen him post an .869 OPS and 25 home runs, plus six outs above average in right field. He's also making a modest $6.2 million, with another year of club control in 2022.

For his part, Rodriguez is a nice throw-in. His 31 appearances in 2021 have only yielded a 5.93 ERA, yet he's held left-handed batters to a .488 OPS.

Of the prospects going to Arlington, none of them cracked the club's top 10 in B/R's most recent rankings. According to MLB.com, though, Smith, Duran, Hauver and Otto ranked as the team's No. 14, 15, 23 and 28 prospects, respectively.

So even if they avoided giving up quality talents like outfielder Jasson Dominguez and shortstop Oswald Peraza, the Yankees surrendered quite a bit of quantity to get this deal done. Considering that they only had a middling farm system beforehand, that's not an insignificant sacrifice.

Which obviously leaves just one question: Is Gallo worth it?

Gallo Is an Absolutely Perfect Fit for the Yankees

If there's a way to pessimistically spin the Yankees acquiring a guy whose creds include two 40-homer seasons, two All-Star nods and a Gold Glove, it's that he's yet another all-or-nothing hitter for one of the most all-or-nothing lineups in Major League Baseball.

As personified by powerful yet whiff-prone sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, the Yankees offense ranks second in the American League at generating the three true outcomes: walks, strikeouts and home runs. Gallo, meanwhile, is far and away the league leader with a TTO% of 57.7. The next-closest guy is Shohei Ohtani at 50.9 percent.

Yet it's worth remembering that of the three true outcomes, two of them are good outcomes for offenses. Walks are fine. Home runs are even finer.

As evidenced by his MLB-high 74 walks, Gallo can handle the former. As for the latter, well, roll the tape:

More to one point, the Yankees badly needed a boost for an outfield that's produced minus-2.0 rWAR this season. More to another point, they needed a left-handed slugger to help improve the AL-low .338 slugging percentage they've gotten from the left side of the plate.

Gallo, of course, is both of these things.

By way of his 4.1 rWAR, he's arguably the best outfielder in baseball right now. So even if there's a question of whether he should supplant Judge in right field or play out of position in center or left, it's hard to any scenario in which the Yankees outfield is worse off with him.

Offensively, it's perhaps too easy to assume that Gallo's power will be even further amplified by Yankee Stadium's short right field porch. But, well, it should.

Allow Manny Randhawa of MLB.com to illustrate:

Yankee Stadium certainly couldn't be any more different from Globe Life Field, whose cavernous dimensions cost Gallo a few home runs (i.e., this one and this one) in the 72 games he played there since it opened in 2020.

Because he wasn't yet a regular when the Rangers went to the playoffs in 2015 and 2016, what Gallo lacks is postseason experience. But unless he can actually help the Yankees get there, worrying about that now is sort of putting the cart before the horse.

But Is Gallo the Yankees' Savior?

With back-to-back wins against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Yankees have managed to keep their hopes of winning the AL East somewhat alive.

Even still, they aren't exactly alive and well. According to FanGraphs, the Yankees entered 2021 with a 71 percent chance of winning the division. As they've battled all sorts of ups, downs, injuries and sudden rule changes, that chance is now south of 5 percent.

Gallo will help those odds, but he alone isn't going to put the AL East title back within reach. It would take trades for several Mike Trouts and maybe a prime-era Pedro Martinez to do that.

To this extent, the Gallo trade is a pretty big risk on the part of Yankees general manager Brian Cashman. It's a win-now move for a team that's only kinda-sorta winning now. And if it fails, the thought that Gallo will still be around in 2022 may only be so comforting.

With only one player ticketed for free agency this winter, the Yankees are lined up for an offseason in which they'll have to either stick with what's currently a deeply flawed roster or blow it up. At this point, it's not hard to imagine that neither Cashman or manager Aaron Boone won't still be around when that decision is made.

But if Cashman is merely hoping to salvage a wild-card berth and then hope for lightning in a bottle in October, he might be onto something.

Even though they're looking up at the Rays, Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners in the AL wild card race, the Yankees actually have about a 40 percent chance of getting into the playoffs through that door. And that's before Gallo's influence is factored in, much less anything else that might benefit the Yankees.

For instance, they still have time to make deals before the trade deadline passes at 4 p.m. ET Friday. Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story, who the Yankees have reportedly made an offer on, is still in play. So are pitching upgrades, including Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer if the Yankees can somehow convince him to waive his no-trade rights.

What's more, the Yankees will also get some reinforcements off the injured list in the weeks to come. In the short-term, 2020 home run leader Luke Voit will be back at first base in a matter of days. Hurlers Corey Kluber and Luis Severino won't be back that soon, but both of them could be back in the club's rotation alongside ace Gerrit Cole by September.

To be sure, this doesn't amount to a straight path to what would be the Yankees' first World Series since 2009. But it's at least a path, and it's certainly less long and winding than it was before the Gallo trade materialized.

In other words, it's a start.

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.

The New York Yankees won the Joey Gallo Sweepstakes on Wednesday, acquiring the Texas Rangers' slugger for several prospects and more ahead of Friday's trade deadline. 

New York Yankees Projected Lineup 

1. DJ LeMahieu, 1B

2. Gleybar Torres, SS

3. Rougned Odor, 2B

4. Aaron Judge, RF

5. Joey Gallo, LF

6. Giancarlo Stanton, DH

7. Gary Sanchez, C

8. Gio Urshela, 3B

9. Brett Gardner, LF

The Yankees are sending a number of prospects back to a rebuilding Texas club as New York attempts to catch the Boston Red Sox in the American League East. Adding a much-needed left-handed bat with plenty of power is sure to help that cause. 

New York entered Wednesday at 52-47, third in the division and 8.5 games back of Boston for the lead. The Yanks are three games back for the wild card. 

Faced with a decision to buy or sell at the deadline, New York did what it typically does: go out and get one of the biggest bats on the market. Just how much of a difference it will make remains to be seen. Regardless, Gallo is arbitration eligible this offseason and could sign an extension in New York if the remainder of the year goes well. If not, he'll reach unrestricted free agency after the 2022 season at 28 years old. 

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and field manager Aaron Boone were already under pressure to win this season after getting off to a slow start. That now ramps up with addition of Gallo.

As Cashman makes a push for the postseason, it'll be on Boone to finish the job. 

The New York Yankees are in the market for a Joey Gallo-type player, assuming the team can't land the Texas Rangers slugger himself ahead of Friday's trade deadline.

According to Jack Curry of YES, New York is concerned with adding a left-handed bat to a lineup stacked with righties. The Rangers continue to shop the right fielder, and the Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays have reportedly sent scouts to look at the Rangers recently. 

At 52-47, New York is nine games behind the Boston Red Sox in the American League East and seven behind the second-place Tampa Bay Rays.

Gallo was a late scratch from the Rangers lineup Wednesday as rumors continued to swirl.

As for who a "Gallo-type" player could be, it's not clear.

Not only has Gallo hit 25 home runs, but he also leads all right fielders in outs above average over the last two seasons and is under club control through 2022.

The 27-year-old will be arbitration-eligible this offseason.

That makes him an affordable asset the Yankees could move on from if they do trade for him.