when also talking about the Yankees and their weekend with the Phillies and kind of what's ahead for them now with the rays coming to town or you know they have this four game series with Tampa and you know my take on it is that I think it's a big week for them I really do leading into the all star all star brux also right God help me

betrayed deadline I got you because of all the teams that are kind of breathing down their neck now and the Aaron Judge injury. And these are, you know, they've made some moves so far, but these are dicey times now for the Yankees that, you know, they have an opportunity to write the ship. They haven't played well now for the last five, six weeks. I feel like even with their leader out in Aaron Judge. And oh, by the way, one guy we haven't mentioned any of this morning that should not be discounted is the fact that they've played the bulk of the season without Garrett Cole. Yeah. You know, it's almost like we forget that their ace isn't here because Freed has been so good. Carlos Rodon has pitched well. They do deserve some credit for picking up the slack the fact that Cole hasn't been here. Yeah, I mean, listen, that's who Max Fried is. Max Fried is the number one. He is an ace. When he comes to the Yankees, he's the number two behind Garrett Cole. But this is a bona fide number one. That's why Brian Cashman went out and got him and gave him such a lucrative contract. Max Fried was wanted by so many teams.

If he can stay healthy, he's dealing with that blister. This is your game one starter,

right? I think this is your game one starter. Kyla Chardon can be your number two. They are going

to miss Clark Schmidt. That's a huge blow to not have him, which is why they need to dip into

the pool. The trade deadline is Thursday, 6 p.m. Seth Lugo is off the market, which is unfortunate. I thought he was the best option for them. You still have Mitch Keller from the Pirates, who's a big deal. Who else? Sandial Contra. Dylan Cease is the lowest on my list. And then Merrill Kelly from the Arizona Diamondbacks. So here's the thing.

All of those guys are pretty good. They're great acquisitions. They don't have a ton of postseason experience, right? That's kind of the killer there. So you're going to get guys who can come into your rotation and help you out. And especially this week, right? You're talking about Tampa Bay. You feel like this is a big week. It is a big week because if

Brian Cashman, who wants to be aggressive and says he's ready to rock and roll and get this show on the road, if he isn't and he lets these guys go and he doesn't get that big arm, whether it's the starter or the reliever or both, they are going to be in trouble. You mentioned the standing. So let me just read this off really quick. So there's four teams right now in the thick of the wild card race.

The yanks have the first one. Then Red Sox Mariners and Rangers are tied for the third. The rays are three games back. Guardians are three and a half. Royals four. Angels five, twins, five and a half. And to me, there's guys from the twins, Joan Duran in the reliever market could be one of those names that you see off. But that's like nine teams that are in the thick of the race for the wild card, which is that I wouldn't want to be there. That's the last place I want to be. The Yankees don't want to be there. They're not going to catch the Blue Jays. There's absolutely no way. And they have to get Aaron Judge back. See, you're probably right. But the same way I would not, if I was the twins, think my season's over yet. I'm not just going to concede the division to the Blue Jays. They played great. There's no doubt about it. But I also just saw the Blue Jays run right past the

Yankees. The same way I could see the Yankees running right past them, the same way I saw the

Mets come back from the depths of hell last year to do what they did and make the postseason and go on a run. I agree. Five and a half is a big number. It's not insurmountable. What makes it a little bit more insurmountable would be the fact that we don't know how long

Aaron Judge is going to be out.

And he can say 10 days all they want. Until I see him back on the field, he's not there. And that makes it a bit of an issue for me for sure. If you had, we'll take the Yankees first, clearly pitching now that they've, I think they're settled at third base. I like them positionally.

I really do.

I think they're a good team.

You want to say Dominguez ain't so good.

You could trade Jason Dominguez.

You could absolutely trade Jason Dominguez and upgrade. And Ben Rice could be a guy that goes to. 100% you could do that. Yes. If you're going to bring in pitching,

but you can only do one or two,

you can't do both.

Are you going for the reliever?

You're trying to get the starter.

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