New York Yankees

Thursday's game between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees has been postponed because of COVID-19-related issues within the Yankees organization, the Bronx club announced.

The team announced earlier in the day it had placed Nestor Cortes and Wandy Peralta on the COVID-19 injured list.

Speaking with reporters, general manager Brian Cashman said Cortes, Peralta and Jonathan Loaisiga tested positive and that three results are still pending:

Cashman added that "most" of the players in question have been vaccinated.

According to ESPN's Buster Olney, the trio of Aaron Judge, Kyle Higashioka, and Gio Urshela are in the COVID-19 protocols. Judge represented the American League in the 2021 MLB All-Star Game, which is raising concerns about how the situation will evolve:

Cashman said MLB will have discretion over whether the Yankees and Red Sox play Friday as part of their originally scheduled four-game series.

This was the only matchup on Thursday and signified the start of second half of the regular season following the All-Star break.

Beyond the already high intensity in any game between these two rivals, this also provided the Yankees with an opportunity to make up ground, as New York is eight games behind the first-place Red Sox.

The Associated Press reported in June that 22 franchises had at least 85 percent of their players and on-field staff vaccinated. That's the number required for teams to have the luxury of relaxing some COVID-19 protocols.

The Yankees hit the benchmark in April and experienced some breakthrough cases the following month. 

Making his first start at Minute Maid Park as a member of the New York Yankees, Gerrit Cole apparently didn't want to be taken out of Saturday's game against the Houston Astros.

Cole was seen on television cameras yelling "I ain't leaving," among other things, at Yankees manager Aaron Boone in the bottom of the ninth inning:

Speaking to reporters after the game, Cole explained he "said the f-word a lot and I kind of just blacked out."

With the Yankees clinging to a 1-0 lead, Cole gave up a leadoff single to Jose Altuve on his first pitch of the ninth inning. The four-time All-Star's 112 pitches over the first eight innings was more than he made in any start so far this season.

He got Michael Brantley to fly out after a 10-pitch at-bat, followed by a strikeout of Yuli Gurriel. Cole's pleading with Boone worked, as he remained in the game and struck out Yordan Alvarez on three pitches to secure the win.

The final strike to Alvarez was a 99.1 mph fastball that the Astros designated hitter swung through.

The 129 pitches thrown by Cole set a new career high. He allowed just three hits and struck out 12 against a Houston offense that entered Saturday leading MLB in batting average (.270), on-base percentage (.345), OPS (.785) and runs scored (488).

Since losing the first game of a doubleheader to the New York Mets on July 4 that dropped their record to 41-41, the Yankees have won five of their past six games. They will go for a three-game series sweep of the Astros on Sunday.

Former New York Yankees first baseman Joe Pepitone is suing the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, on the grounds that it refuses to return the Mickey Mantle 500th home run bat that Pepitone says he lent to the HOF.

According to Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic, the 80-year-old Pepitone's lawsuit states:

"Pepitone’s Bat is a one-of-a-kind historical baseball artifact with an estimated value of more than $500,000. Pepitone did not gift, sell, assign, or in any way transferred his sole ownership interest in the Bat to any person or entity. Pepitone unequivocally demanded that the Museum return the Bat on September 1, 2020, as promised. The Museum has unreasonably and unlawfully refused Pepitone's demand to return the Bat and continues to possess the Bat without legal cause or justification over Pepitone's objection."

The Hall of Fame denies Pepitone's account, saying it has owned the bat since the Yankees donated it in 1967.

The bat in question was used by Mantle to hit the 500th home run of his MLB career during a game on May 14, 1967, against the Baltimore Orioles.

The lawsuit states Mantle used Pepitone's bat to hit the historic homer after Pepitone homered earlier in the game: "In the next inning (7th inning) of the Game, Pepitone handed his bat … to Mantle and told Mantle that the Bat 'had another home run in it.' Mantle smiled at Pepitone and took the Bat to the plate."

Pepitone stated in the lawsuit that the bat disappeared from his locker following the game, but then-Yankees executive Robert Fishel told him it had been loaned to the Hall of Fame and still belonged to him.

Pepitone also alleged he has visited the Hall of Fame on many occasions and has always been told the bat belongs to him. Specifically, he said then-Baseball Hall of Fame public relations director William Guilfoile—who died in 2016—told Pepitone the bat was his "for the asking."

Pepitone was Mantle's teammate for seven seasons from 1962 to 1968. While he wasn't a superstar like Mantle, Pepitone had a productive career with three All-Star selections and three Gold Glove awards.

Mantle is considered one of the greatest players in MLB history. The Mick hit .298 with 536 home runs and 1,509 RBI in 18 seasons with the Yanks, earning 20 All-Star nods and three American League MVP awards while winning seven World Series titles.

Per Kaplan, Goldin Auctions founder Ken Goldin estimates Mantle's 500th home run bat is worth "well over $1 million" thanks to Mantle's popularity and the scarcity of game-used items with such significance from that era.

Kaplan also noted the lawsuit doesn't mention written contracts, meaning it could be difficult to prove who owns the bat.

The troll game is strong with the Houston Astros for their weekend series against the New York Yankees at Minute Maid Park.

The Astros will give away a replica 2019 American League champions trophy and ring for the first two games of the series before handing out a Jose Altuve replica jersey Sunday.

The 2019 ALCS marked the second time in three seasons the Yankees and Astros met with a trip to the World Series on the line.

Houston won the 2017 series in seven games. However, when the Astros' cheating scandal was uncovered in 2020, several Yankees players expressed outrage at feeling cheated out of a possible World Series title that season.

In the 2019 rematch, the Astros defeated the Yankees in a memorable six-game series. Altuve sent Houston to the World Series with a walk-off two-run homer off Aroldis Chapman in the bottom of the ninth in Game 6. 

The Yankees have been scuffling this year and could use some positive momentum heading into the All-Star break. Their 44-42 record places them fourth in the AL East standings and 4.5 games out of the AL's second wild-card spot.

Houston has been fantastic this season with a 54-34 record, tied with the Boston Red Sox for best in the AL.

The New York Yankees have gone 1-5 in their last six games amid a season where not much has gone right for the 41-39 Bronx Bombers, who are mired in fourth place in the American League East and sit 5.5 games back of the second wild card.

Star right fielder Aaron Judge is taking on a leadership role to hopefully fix the team's woes, however, telling reporters Friday that he called a players-only meeting three days prior.

"Just [had] some things on my mind, some things I've been seeing over the course of the year," Judge said, per ESPN's Marly Rivera.

"Usually around the All-Star break is the time where you have a meeting and guys kind of address things going into the second half. But I felt like there's some things that couldn't wait until the All-Star break to get brought up."

Judge has been the team's best and most valuable offensive player, hitting .285 (.904 OPS) with 18 home runs and 42 RBI. The rest of the offense has largely struggled, sitting 13th among 15 AL teams in runs scored and eighth in OPS.

He's probably as good a voice as any right now to step up and be this team's de-facto leader. While Judge didn't offer specifics on what was said, he continued to provide a glimpse into the meeting room.

"It was a good time for a lot of us to be honest with each other," Judge added.

"Maybe [say] some things on our mind. ... All the best teams I've been on, you're able to say what you need to say to somebody and not let somebody's feelings get hurt. It was a good meeting. There was a lot of emotion, but I think overall it was great for the team."

The Yankees fell 5-3 to the Angels the night before the players-only meeting. New York responded Tuesday with an 11-5 win but arguably suffered their worst regular-season loss the next night when the Angels scored seventh in the ninth to overcome an 8-4 deficit en route to an 11-8 win.

The Yankees' next two games were postponed due to weather. They're set to host the New York Mets on Saturday.

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone shouldn't have to worry about job security while general manager Brian Cashman is in charge. It just remains to be seen if the status quo will remain in the front office. 

According to SNY's Andy Martino, Cashman doesn't appear ready to move on from Boone despite New York falling to fourth in the American League East and nine games back of the first-place Boston Red Sox.

"In addition to covering the Yankees on a daily basis, SNY spoke this week to five league sources with a feel for the team’s dynamics," Martino wrote. "To put it simply, people around Brian Cashman will be stunned if the GM decides to change managers after this season, even if the Yankees miss the playoffs. But those same people wonder if it will be Cashman’s decision to make."

New York is 41-39 with a minus-three run differential as the All-Star break nears.

Boone's contract with the Yankees ends after this season. The team's managing partner, Hal Steinbrenner, wouldn't commit to the manager returning next year if New York fails to reach the playoffs, telling reporters on a Thursday Zoom call he "can't answer that" with so much of the season left. 

“That’s a hypothetical, and these aren’t things I want to contemplate hard on until the season is over,” Steinbrenner said. "But making the playoffs is important, and the reason it’s important is not just because we do it every year and the fans expect it—that’s important—but it’s important because it will show that we have come back, because we ain’t there right now."

Steinbrenner also placed blame on the players for the Yankees' offense ranking 23rd in runs (329), 14th in OPS (.720) and tied for 10th in strikeouts (737). It doesn't help matters that New York has gone 17-24 against the AL East including 0-6 against the Red Sox. 

Martino noted Steinbrenner's declaration Thursday leaves room for the team to either overrule Cashman on Boone's future or even bring in a new general manager who would then decide Boone's fate. 

The one-time Yankees playoff hero has gone 277-187 as the team's manager since taking over for Joe Girardi in the Bronx, having won the AL East in 2019, but has only advanced to the American League Championship Series once. New York lost to the Houston Astros in six games in 2019.

It doesn't appear likely New York will make a change at manager during the season, but things could always escalate quickly if the Yankees continue to slump. 

The Arizona Diamondbacks traded outfielder Tim Locastro to the New York Yankees in exchange for minor league pitcher Keegan Curtis.

Lindsey Adler of The Athletic first reported the news, noting Locastro's speed and defensive presence.

Locastro, 28, has been in the midst of a season-long slump for a flailing Diamondbacks team. He's hitting .178/.271/.220 with one home run and five runs batted in through 55 games. Five steals and solid defense have been Locastro's only real saving grace in Arizona this season, and it's likely the Yankees will use him as a pinch runner and defensive replacement.

Adding Locastro will do little to help the Yankees' main issue: their offensive woes. New York's American League representative has scored only 329 runs this season, the worst total in the AL East and ninth-worst in the majors.

The Yankees are expected to explore several major acquisitions ahead of the July 31 trade deadline, so this may simply be a precursor to the team adding a slugger who could be replaced by Locastro in later innings.

Curtis, 25, is a career minor leaguer who was playing for the Yankees' Double-A affliate. He is not considered among their top prospects and has a 1-1 record with a 3.94 ERA and 1.31 WHIP in 2021.  

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman provided a blunt assessment of his team during a chat with reporters Tuesday.

"I know they urgently want to get on track, but I also know that we suck right now, as bad as you can be," Cashman said.

Trying to knock ourselves out of that is the effort, but until we get online and start playing high again, it's gonna look bad. It plays bad and it stinks to high heavens. Right now, we gotta own that.

I gotta call it like I see it: It's pretty bad right now.

The 40-38 Yankees have lost four straight games following a three-game road sweep at the hands of the Boston Red Sox and a 5-3 home defeat to the Los Angeles Angels on Monday.

Entering Tuesday, the Yanks have scored the second-fewest runs in the American League, and they are hitting just .234 as a team.

The Yanks' pitching has largely carried the team to its above-average win-loss record, with the bullpen shining all season.

However, one of the Yankees' best hurlers, Corey Kluber, is on the 60-day injured list with a right shoulder strain. Staff ace Gerrit Cole has also not fared well lately, going 2-2 with a 4.65 ERA in June.

The Yanks' other problem is that they may not have much time to turn things around this year. Eight teams sit ahead of them in the top-heavy AL standings, and the Yanks are six games behind the Oakland Athletics for the second wild card.

Changes could be on the horizon for the Yankees, but a move away from manager Aaron Boone doesn't appear to be one of them.

"This is not an Aaron Boone problem and this is not a coaching staff problem," Cashman said. "They're doing what they need to do but we're not getting the results we need. They've got my support. We're in this together."

The Yankees have two more games with the Angels before hosting the New York Mets for the Subway Series beginning Friday.