NYY News: Vlad Jr. softens his stance

06/26/2024 05:00 AM

Vlad Jr. won't rule out playing for the Yankees; Subway Series loss notes; Yanks reunite with Mendoza, others in Queens; Boone, Judge reflect on center; Jeter turns 50

ESPN: Two years ago, when asked about the possibility of playing for the Yankees, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. said he'd "never sign with the Yankees — not even dead."

But with the Blue Jays floundering and 15 games back in the AL East, Guerrero has changed his tune, telling reporters on Monday, "Sometimes one says things. It is not that I am trying to take back what I said about the Yankees, but this is a business."

A trade for Guerrero still seems unlikely, with the Blue Jays loath to see their homegrown star hitting homers for a direct rival. But it's noteworthy Guerrero has softened his stance, with the Yankees in first place and in need of corner infield help.

New York Post | Greg Joyce: The Yankees are in Queens for this quick Subway Series, which means a reunion with a number of old friends. Although he won't start this series, the Yankees will get to meet up with Luis Severino again, with the right-hander in the midst of a solid bounce-back season. They'll also square off with Harrison Bader, who homered last night off Gerrit Cole after spending a little over a season with the Yankees patrolling center behind him, and Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, who was Aaron Boone's bench coach for the previous four seasons and a longtime member of the organization.

The Athletic | Ken Rosenthal ($): As part of Rosenthal's notes, he highlights Aaron Judge's work in center field. The added wear Judge puts on his body would seem to make his league-leading offensive statistics that much more impressive, though Boone argues that, based on player-tracking data, Judge isn't running any more in center than he did in right. Judge emphasizes that he's gotten smarter about deploying energy as he's aged, and notes that he's just willing to do whatever he needs to do to help the team. "When they were talking to me about getting Verdugo and Soto, (I said) wherever I need to play, whether it's left field, center field, second, DH, whatever I've got to do," Judge said.

Marcus Stroman is also mentioned in the notes, though primarily in regard to looking back on how his London start with the Cubs might have derailed his 2023 campaign, as he worries that he might have aggravated the hip that put him in IL trouble last season.

New York Post: Today is Derek Jeter's 50th birthday, which may come as a shock to those who still remember him as the skinny infielder the Yankees took in the first round 32 years ago. The Post spoke to many of Jeter's friends, teammates, and rivals on his milestone birthday. Look for more from PSA later today as well.

Lastly, we don't normally have the bandwidth to quickly get late-night articles into the morning news, but since last night's Yankees/Mets game was eventful, here are a couple rapid-fire links of interest.

• Cole's velocity was concerningly down for most of his outing following the first, in which the Mets rocked him for four homers, six runs, and no strikeouts. Feel free to take Cole at his word or cast skepticism, but per the ace to the Daily News, he felt that he had to take a little off after needing 28 pitches to get through that first inning. He wanted to be more efficient and instead lost some command. Cole says that he's healthy.
• Per the New York Post, Gleyber Torres met with Boone after the loss, which was especially ugly for him. A sixth-inning error led to multiple Mets runs, he squandered scoring opportunities, and he didn't run out a groundball in the eighth after Judge's grand slam. Boone and Torres chalked up the last bit to hamstring to a lingering groin injury that he's trying to manage, but both agreed that the play in the sixth was bad and one that you simply have to make.