Explore every episode of the podcast Monument Pod: A New York Yankees Podcast

David and Anthony discuss the Yankees' rotation and what relievers Aaron Boone seems to trust.

The Yankees won a series with the Pirates, but lost a series to the Tigers. The closer is erratic, but what else is new?

Dave and Anthony discuss torpedo bats, hot starts, irrational takes, and the regional differences in what a 'quick road trip' means.

Anthony and David break down all the Opening Day news, talk about the Yankees lineup, preview the Toronto Blue Jays, and even read some poetry!

This week, Home Run Applesauce's Brian Salvatore joins Dave and Anthony to discuss the crosstown rivalry of the Yankees and Mets.

This week, Dave and Anthony dig into the recent injury news, talk the pros/cons of Spring Training, and preview the Tampa Bay Rays.

This week, Anthony and Dave discuss the state of the Yankees rotation, the injury bug going around, and preview the 2025 Boston Red Sox

There's a new Yankees podcast on the old Podument Park feed, Monument Pod! Slightly different name, but still a great source for Yankees content here on FFSN!

In the first episode of Podument Park in the Jazz Chisholm Jr. Era, Andrew and Kunj are feeling something they haven’t felt in a hot minute with the 2024 Yankees: happiness. After a comeback win to secure the series win against the Blue Jays, the Yankees enter the Monday offday having won their past three series, and winning seven of their past eight games— which includes a sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies! The Yankees look like they’re having fun again for the most part, and playing a little less high-strung. This has led to a return to winning ways and quite a welcome sight for folks who’ve been paying attention to this team since mid-June. Hopefully, they continue trending upwards. The biggest boon for the team has probably been injecting the Trade Deadline acquisition Chisholm into the lineup. Chisholm had a thrilling to start to his pinstriped career with two two-homer games and has played an extremely smooth third base despite never having professionally played that position prior to coming to the Yankees. On the episode, Andrew and Kunj do a quick recap of the Trade Deadline, again highlighted by Chisholm Jr., talk a bit about the midgame benching of Gleyber Torres, and also discuss how Aaron Judge scares Blue Jays manager John Schneider so much it’s actually comical at this point. In addition to the musings of the latest in Yankeeland, they check in at the Baseball Reference WAR leaderboard, a look ahead at the coming week of baseball, and finally close out the show by handing out the first Yankee and Manfred Awards of the second half. The results will shock you!* *No, they probably won’t.

Whether you subscribe to the halfway mark of the baseball season being the 81st game or the All-Star break, the first half of the 2024 campaign is officially in the books. The Yankees started out very strong as one of the best teams in the league but absolutely fell flat on their faces over the past month plus as everything that could go wrong went wrong. The rotation crashed and burned, the bullpen continued being a weak spot, and basically anybody not named Judge or Soto lost their ability to make plays with the bat. Welcome back to Podument Park! After a short hiatus, our hosts return to discuss the end of the first half of the Yankees’ 2024 season and give their overall thoughts on what happened. The short of it is: almost everyone needs to be better. Judge and Soto continued to prove to be one of the best duos in the majors, but outside of that and a possible emergence from rookie first baseman Ben Rice, there’s not much going right in Yankeeland. They did end the first half by at least winning a series against the Orioles, albeit while also dropping the series finale in awful fashion. Actually, the last play of that game probably recapped the Yankees first half better than anyone could. Besides just general grumbling about the way the first half ended, this week’s episode looks ahead towards the Trade Deadline and ponders if Brian Cashman has any tricks up his sleeve to right the ship, provides a quick recap of how the Yankees fared at the All-Star Game, and finally concludes with the usual look at the upcoming slate of games, a check-in of where the B-Ref WAR leaderboard stands as they enter the second half -- plus a ceremonial awarding of the Yankee and Manfred of the First Half Awards.

Even though the Yankees lost weekend’s series at Fenway, the vibes were still pretty good for a team that was the first in the majors to reach 50 wins on the season. Even after a bad week this past week, they’re still one of only two teams to have at least 50 wins. It’s been a frustrating week and some flaws have been exposed, but these Yankees are still a good team and there’s still a lot of season left to play. Every team hits some bumps in the road. This week’s edition of Podument Park is here to help remind fans to not fully succumb to the doom and gloom just yet. Andrew and Kunj also spend some time discussing the recent shakeup in the bullpen with both Dennis Santana and Victor González being designated for assignment, the injury to Giancarlo Stanton, acquisition of J.D. Davis, and the long-awaited return of Gerrit Cole.  As always, the two co-hosts also take some time to preview the upcoming week of baseball as the Yankees go on a long road trip to Queens and hop across the border to Toronto. They also do their regular B-Ref WAR leaderboard check-in, before closing out the show with our weekly Yankee and Manfred of the Week awards.

After almost a month-long hiatus, your favorite Yankees-centric podcast with a Monument Park pun title is back! Since the last time the podcast assembled, the Yankees went 23-5, which our expert analysts have determined is: good. Sure there have been some bumps in the road, but the Yankees have the best record in the league and feature two of the best players in the game leading the way. The vibes are positive in The Bronx. In this edition of the podcast, Andrew and Kunj talked about Anthony Rizzo going on the IL with a fractured arm, Ben Rice getting the call to make his MLB debut, Gerrit Cole’s return to the rotation, and Cody Poteet admirably filling in after Clarke Schmidt went down with injury. We also got our first view into how All-Star voting has gone in the early offing, with Aaron Judge and Juan Soto leading the field in the American League and easily looking like favorites to make the team and start. The Yankees also have some dark horse position player candidates to start the game or at least make the team, but none of those are guaranteed. The podcast then ends with a look at the coming week of games, our usual B-Ref WAR leaderboard check-in, and handing out of the Yankee and Manfred of the Week awards.

Yes, the AL Central is a weak division but the teams still need to play the games and take care of business, and the Yankees did just that. The Podument Park vibes are strongly dependent on how the Yankees played in a particular week, but when they go 6-0 while only allowing six runs total in consecutive sweeps, the vibes are high.  On this edition of Podument Park, Andrew and Kunj review the past week in Yankees baseball while highlighting some fantastic individual performances. Starting with the pitching staff only allowing one run to the Twins over three games, moving on to Luis Gil’s 14-K masterpiece against the White Sox, all while Aaron Judge essentially took just two weeks to resume his rightful place among the MLB leaderboards and Jose Trevino and Giancarlo Stanton turned back the clock, the co-hosts had to dig very hard to find any nits to pick. Even then, they came up short! We'll all take that trade. In addition to just highlighting everything that went right this past week, Andrew and Kunj previewed the Yankees upcoming slate, which starts with them facing what’s been perhaps the best rotation in baseball so far this season and ends with them beginning their first West Coast trip of the year to visit old friends Michael King and Kyle Higashioka. Outside of that, the podcast ends with a refresher on the B-Ref WAR leaderboard, on top of which sits a new non-Juan Soto. You'll never guess who!

The Yankees listened to Andrew and Kunj's pleas and decided not to take the weekdays off last week. They've decidedly won series against two of their biggest rivals. Admittedly, neither the Astros or Rays have played well this season so far, but seeing the Yankees handle them with relative ease remains definitely a sight for the sore eyes of anyone who’s followed the Yanks the past few years. Podument Park is back this week to discuss all the latest happenings from the past week of Bomber baseball. There was some good power on display this past week, including Aaron Judge launching a ball 473 feet (some might call it a “Judgian blast”), and some very good pitching as Luis Gil easily took care of business against both the Astros and Rays, and perhaps the pitching highlight of the week: Clarke Schmidt pitched into the seventh inning! It was easily the best performance of his MLB career.  Outside of that, the podcast also discussed what could hopefully be a turning point for Gleyber Torres’ season, some injury updates mixed in with Remembering Some Guys, and the secret to Luke Weaver’s success: locally made orange juice with pulp. And of course, this week’s podcast rounds out with the weekly B-Ref leaderboard check-in, a preview of the upcoming week of baseball, and delivering of the Yankee and Manfred of the Week awards. 

The last time Andrew and Kunj recorded a podcast, they talked about how the Yankees let themselves off the hook for splitting a series with the A’s by exploding for 37 runs against the Brewers. It wasn’t quite the same this past week, but a new pattern might be emerging. Welcome to the latest edition of Podument Park! In a similar pattern to last week, the Yankees started the week dreadfully by losing a four-game set against the Orioles, who are now leading the AL East. They managed to win a game thanks to a lucky Oswaldo Cabrera home run, but the offense was essentially a no-show in Baltimore. Knowing that Podument Park was set to come together on Monday, the Yankees came to life a bit and swept the Tigers, but there were still nits to pick. Besides the general grumbling around the team’s inconsistencies, the co-hosts also discuss the impact of Jon Berti’s return to the ballclub and what might be ailing Anthony Volpe — is he leadoff intolerant*? *Trademark pending  This week’s edition of the podcast also includes a preview for the upcoming week of games against the Astros and Rays, plus a discussion around the star of Saturday’s game who everyone came to see, Ryan Blakney. The home-plate umpire gave Aaron Judge his first career ejection. What a guy! As always, Andrew and Kunj round out the podcast with a check-in of the Baseball Reference WAR leaderboard before handing out the Yankee and Manfred of the Week.

After a week off, it’s time for a new edition of Podument Park! Most of the past week — especially Friday night — had Andrew and Kunj champing at the bit to yell at the Yankees, and that does still happen a bit. However, as if the Yankees themselves were reading the back-and-forth Slack messages, they did their part to change the narrative. Fifteen runs on Saturday! Fifteen runs on Sunday! Wonderful stuff, and the co-hosts were delighted to talk about it — especially Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo. The pod does, however, also has some grumblings for Aaron Boone’s decision to pull Clay Holmes from the game on Friday night, and of course we can’t fully ignore splitting a home series against the 2024 Oakland Athletics. Eek! Tune in for the highs, the lows, the Judge slide talk, Gleyber Torres preparing for another rumble against the color orange the Orioles, the B-Ref Check-in, and the Yankee/Manfred of the Week.

The Yankees had a rather uneventful week overall as they went 4-3 since the last time the podcast assembled. They mostly played fine, but there were certainly some duds along the way. Some injury news as well happened, as Jon Berti hit the IL with a left groin strain and DJ LeMahieu is working his way to a rehab assignment. In any other week, this would be considered a relatively quiet week of Yankees baseball. However, on Monday afternoon the real news hit. John Sterling retired from his post as the radio voice of the Yankees on WFAN, effective immediately. This news isn’t entirely surprising considering he’d been reducing his workload in recent years, but the timing of it and facing the reality of it is shocking nonetheless. Since the news broke, many have shared their thoughts on what Sterling meant to them as Yankees fans, or baseball fans, or broadcast fans, so we gathered here at Podument Park to do the same.  Our hosts talk about what Sterling meant to them, to the organization, and just what a true change it’ll be to no longer have that presence in the radio booth. Still, not to be too put down, and never ones to miss an opportunity for a draft, we end the podcast by doing two drafts of the man’s legendary home run calls (around the 19:30 mark). The first draft has Andrew and Kunj selecting their overall favorite calls and the latter has them selecting their Top Three “what was that” or WTF calls, still good but definitely raising some eyebrows. As always, the podcast ended with the Yankee and Manfred of the Week awards. There was a joint recipient for Yankee of the Week, and you know exactly who it is. 

The Yankees did drop a couple games in this first full week of the season but overall went 4-2 to move to 8-2 on the young season, so Andrew and Kunj are happy here at Podument Park! Just the difference in how they’re getting these wins compared to last year when sometimes the game felt over from the early goings, right now they at least have us feeling hopeful that games aren’t over until they’re actually over. Yogi would love it! This week saw Juan Soto flirt with looking human and Oswaldo Cabrera coming back down to Earth after their scorching starts, but Anthony Volpe’s torrid start to the year has continued and Giancarlo Stanton closed out the weekend by coming to life and being charged with first-degree murder of a baseball. Outside of the offense, the co-hosts talked about the rotation (sans Marcus Stroman) needing to step up and start providing more length, and Nestor Cortes in particular needing some better outings. The bullpen has been mostly good but they’re only 10 games into the season and they’re already taxed. As legendary YES announcer Joe Girardi would say, it’s not what you want. As always, Andrew and Kunj round out the show by previewing the upcoming week and handing out the weekly Yankee and Manfred awards. This week saw the return of the long-awaited (?) Baseball Reference WAR leaderboard check-in, now we just await the return of Aaron Judge’s face on the leaderboard. Surely, it’s coming.

What a thrilling start for the Yankees and what a way for Juan Soto to get started for his new team! A four-game sweep of the Astros at Minute Maid Park is something no one could have predicted and yet that’s what just happened. It probably doesn’t happen if the Yankees don’t get Juan Soto, but they did and he is a Yankee and never has “Give him a blank check, Hal” been more appropriate. Juan Soto belongs in pinstripes. With the first series of the 2024 season under our belts, Podument Park is back to recap an exciting opening weekend for the Bombers. The starting rotation was more than commendable considering the absence of Gerrit Cole and the bullpen was mostly lights-out. The Yankees came from behind to win the first three games and didn’t lose their composure after letting the Astros tie it up in the finale. It’s early, but this year’s squad has a whole different feel to them. While most of the conversation revolved around Soto and the overall series, Oswaldo Cabrera’s great start to the year did not go unrecognized. Andrew and Kunj also discussed the two moves the Yankees made to shore up their pitching depth (welcome to Jake Cousins, actual cousin of Kirk Cousins) and previewed the upcoming week of games before handing out the first actual Yankee and Manfred awards of the 2024 season to close out this week’s episode.

We made it! Opening Day is finally here and the awfulness of 2023 is officially behind us all. This is the one true day of the year that all baseball fans should be optimistic, because the clock has reset for everyone. The Yankees have spent the long winter talking about how they felt embarrassed last year and they’ve promised to do better. Now it’s time to see if their actions will speak louder than their words. With that, Andrew and Kunj bring you the Opening Day edition of Podument Park. In today’s episode, they quickly recap the last-minute deal that saw the Yankees acquiring Jon Berti from the Marlins and sending Ben Rortvedt to the Rays. The Berti deal was made necessary due to DJ LeMahieu starting the season on the IL, and Berti’s a better bet to hold down the hot corner than relying solely on Oswaldo Cabrera. The co-hosts also go through and do an Opening Day roster preview, complete with excitement over the offense, hesitation over the starting rotation, and curiosity over the bullpen. Lastly, Andrew and Kunj end the show as they do every Opening Day, by drafting the top three things that each are most excited for with regards to the coming season. Yes, Juan Soto is mentioned. But the highlight of the draft might come from speculation over the Joe Girardi/Aaron Boone dynamic, now that the former World Series-winning manager is in the YES booth. No Yankee and Manfred Awards were handed out this week to truly honor the spirit of Opening Day, but we’re coming for you next time, prospective Manfred of the Week winners.

Just about the worst possible injury news for the Yankees came this past week, as we learned Gerrit Cole will miss "at least" the first 1-2 months of the season. The extent of the damage is still unknown as he flew to Los Angeles to meet with Dr. Neal ElAttrache to discuss what’s going on, and get a better idea of a timeline for return. Join us as we cry into the void on this week’s edition of Podument Park. The main focus of the week is obviously around Cole’s injury, what it means for the team who absolutely could not afford a Gerrit Cole injury, and potential options to replace him in the rotation. Cody “Potato Poteet-o” Poteet, Will Warren, Clayton Beeter are all in the mix unless Brian Cashman gets some last minute help from the outside. We know Dylan Cease is off the table as he heads to San Diego. If only there were a two-time Cy Young winner just hanging around and could be had for just money... In addition to the Cole news, we discuss Aaron Judge’s minor dalliance with being hurt, his potential return to action this coming Saturday, and how “mid-spring beat up” is just not a thing. Lastly we discuss we look at some of the last spots on the bench that are still up for grabs, especially now that we know Oswald Peraza has a hurt shoulder and will miss some time as well. (Is there an opening for Ben Rortvedt?) And as always, we wrap up the show with handing out our weekly Yankee and Manfred of the Week awards.

We are so back, folks. With Yankees baseball back in action, it’s time for our friends at Podument Park to gear up for the grind of the regular season as well. It’s an interesting race at Podument Park to see who’s going to make the Opening Day roster; of course, it’s a two-man roster and there are only two candidates, but maybe Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery will make a last-minute surprise signing and put Andrew’s roster spot in jeopardy! Back in the real world, however, Juan Soto is a Yankee. There are a number of new faces in camp for the Bombers this year, including Marcus Stroman, Alex Verdugo, and Trent Grisham. We start our 2024 podcast season by welcoming the new additions to the Yankees and also going through some of the top storylines in camp. Mainly the health of some of last year’s Yankees and hope the likes of Carlos Rodon, Nestor Cortes, Anthony Rizzo, and Giancarlo Stanton can bounce back. There are some conversations around Snell and Montgomery as well, even if it's highly unlikely that the Yankees sign either of the two. And lastly, we close out the pod by handing out our season’s initial Yankee and Manfred of the Week awards. Congrats to the recipients; you truly deserved it.

Finally, the misery that was the 2023 Yankees is over. Baseball is still being played as the Division Series for both leagues gets ready to start this weekend, but the Yankees will not be participating, something many had resigned the Yankees to as early as June or July. Their play this season was simply pathetic and Aaron Judge’s long absence highlighted many of the roster construction flaws that his presence can usually cover up.  Alas, the first Podument Park in awhile eulogizes the Yankees and how things likely won’t be much different in 2024 unless significant changes are made. However, reports are indicating that there are going to be no drastic changes made to the front office or coaching staff. Even Sean Casey seems like he’ll be returning as the no-longer-interim hitting coach.  In addition to just the overall makeup of the organization, the hosts do take some time to celebrate some of the good, such as Gerrit Cole seemingly on his way to his first Cy Young award, Michael King’s emergence in the rotation, and that week of Jasson Domínguez. The show closes out out with the official 2023 Yankees and Manfreds of the Season. Congrats to our lucky recipients. You truly deserved it.  Lastly, a huge thank you to anyone and everyone who tuned in and listened to us during a dreadful baseball season! 

Note: This week’s podcast was sadly recorded prior to the news of Josh Donaldson’s release from the organization. But do know that we would have enjoyed dancing on the grave of his Yankees career. Technically this past week of Yankees baseball was slightly more palatable than the previous week. They actually won two whole games this time, which is still an improvement over the eight-game losing streak they took into last week’s podcast. The streak went up to nine games before Aaron Judge had enough and put the team back in the win column, courtesy of a three-homer game. Still, the Yankees haven’t won a series since they swept the Royals in mid-July, unless Harrison Bader’s moral victory against the Astros counts for something (it counts for nothing). This week’s podcast continues with the usual grumbling about the 2023 Yankees, but the co-hosts do offer some potential things to look forward to for the last month of the season. It's mainly all about Gerrit Cole’s Cy Young chase, debating how many dingers Judge can hit with nine toes, and wondering if there will be a Martian landing in the Bronx. After checking in on the Baseball Reference WAR leaderboard, the weekly Yankee/Manfred awards were skipped with worthy recipients and a sequel to last week’s 2013 Yankees game presented itself in the form of Kunj guessing how many games players from the 2014 Yankees played that year. Will Suit Lady get revenge for last week’s defeat? There’s only one way to know.

For a few weeks now, readers of this site and listeners of this podcast have read/heard us all talking about how much the Yankees flat-out stink. Well, the Bronx Bombers, er “losers of eight in a row,” have shown us that even we undersold how bad they truly are. With that, Andrew and Kunj had no desire to actually talk in detail about the 2023 Yankees (beyond recent prospect promotions), so they chose to avoid them as much as possible.  The co-hosts hopped in the time machine and traveled a decade down memory lane to 2013. Today’s podcast focused on Remembering Some Guys. Andrew named players from the 2013 squad and Kunj had to guess how many games they played for the Yankees that year (the nearly-always voiceless Zoom recorder we call “Suit Lady” was his foe in this exercise). They also added in a bonus element of trying to guess whether the particular player had positive or negative Baseball Reference WAR.  Prior to the game, the promotions of Oswald Peraza and Everson Pereira were briefly discussed. Along with Anthony Volpe and we suppose Gerrit Cole’s Cy Young bid, they’re the only real reasons to watch this team going forward! So tune in for that anyway. Once the 2013 game concluded, there was an abbreviated check-in for the WAR leaderboard of the 2023 Yankees before handing out default and unenthusiastic Yankee and Manfred of the Week awards. Join us all in remembering the second-half fun brought by Alfonso Soriano, but stay to remember unquestioned Yankees legends Chris Bootcheck and Brennan Boesch.

Believe it or not, the 2023 Yankees are not a good baseball team. The times when you think they’re going to win a game are few and far between, and even then, they go and find a different way to lose in frustrating fashion. They have a 60-58 record going into recording this podcast, and 58 of those losses all feel like they could qualify for “worst loss of the season.” That number is only going to get higher; the win total might not, though. After another mini-hiatus, Andrew and Kunj return here at Podument Park to discuss the continuously annoying season that the Yankees are having. In addition to just general complaints about the team, they discuss the latest injury and roster moves, posit whether or not Aaron Judge should even keep playing, and then possibly narc on Nestor Cortes’ side hustle of selling game tickets.  In addition to that, they do the usual check-in of Baseball Reference’s WAR leaderboard (where Randy Vásquez firmly sits in ninth place), and squint their way through handing out the usual Yankee and Manfred of the Week awards. Sprinkled into this week’s episode is a look at the upcoming schedule and their baseline for moral victories this coming week, because the Yankees almost certainly won’t have many actual ones.  

Due to some real-life things happening, Andrew and Kunj haven’t been able to record the podcast since before the All-Star break. What doesn’t help is that the Yankees haven't done much to motivate us to find some time either. It’s just been all bad. The highlight of the second half has essentially been being mildly amused at Domingo Germán getting scratched from a start due to armpit discomfort and then finding himself pitching five shutout innings in relief of Jhony Brito. They’ve only won six games since the calendar flipped, and three of those came via a sweep of the second-worst team in baseball, the Royals. And now the trade deadline has passed and the Yankees did...nothing. Technically they acquired relievers Keynan Middleton and Spencer Howard, but those don’t really count as moves. They had the opportunities to be either buyers or sellers, choosing either direction would’ve been better than doing nothing. So, of course, they did nothing (as well-articulated by Sam this morning). So, the co-hosts vented frustrations at basically everything that’s happened since the All-Star break. If you’re looking for trade deadline-only discussions, jump ahead to around the 16:25 mark (though ads might bump it a minute later). After saying their piece, they wrapped up the podcast with the usual check-in at the dire Baseball Reference WAR leaderboard and wrapped things up with handing out Yankee and Manfred awards of the week/second half to date.

Whether you think the first half of the baseball season is the 81-game mark or the All-Star break, the first half of the baseball season is officially in the books. And was it ever so ... dull and disappointing for the Yankees? Scattered among the lifeless and uncompetitive at-bats of the first half were some moments of fun and competence, but overall this first half was just not a memorable one for the Bombers. The struggles of the offense were so profound, it led to general manager Brian Cashman making his first-ever midseason coaching change by relieving hitting coach Dillon Lawson of his duties (and the title today riffing on the old #NextManUp mantra). On today’s podcast, Andrew and Kunj discuss how it’s never good to see someone lose their job, a change was needed just to see if a different mindset can get some of these guys going. While Lawson was the main topic, they also discussed Carlos Rodón making his much-awaited Yankee debut, the MLB Draft officially being underway and the Yankees making their first-round pick in George Lombard Jr., and then provide the weekly injury updates. After that, they wrap of the podcast with our usual check-in of Baseball Reference’s WAR leaderboard, and then hand out the Yankees and Manfreds of the Week. Best of luck to Lawson in his future, and even better luck wished to Sean Casey, who will be tasked with making DJ LeMahieu look like a machine again. (As a programming note, Casey’s hire was revealed followed the podcast recording.)

The most recent of Yankees baseball has featured a perfect game, back-to-back double-digit run outbursts, a gutsy pure bullpen game victory, and the extremely welcome resurgence of rookie shortstop Anthony Volpe. Not bad, right? Unfortunately, as Andrew and Kunj delve into on today's podcast, the highs were pretty much the lone positive developments (the same could be said for the first half as a whole). The Yankees managed to only go 3-3 against the last-place A's and Cardinals, and somehow, the offense found a way to look lifeless at the end of the week despite those 21 runs across two days in Oakland. The problem is that they only scored once in the opener and lost, and then the lineup failed up to show up in two of three games in St. Louis -- punctuated by getting no-hit into the sixth by old friend Jordan Montgomery. New York ended the series loss with a piddling three hits in the finale. The script is the same and the Yankees remain in a holding pattern until they can get any kind of concrete news on Aaron Judge's return. The veterans who were supposed to keep the team afloat aren't doing the job -- DJ LeMahieu, Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Donaldson ... you name 'em. Even with Carlos Rodón on track to finally debut in pinstripes, it's getting late early out there, as Yogi would say. There's all that, the B-Ref check-in, and Yankee/Manfred of the Week in our most recent episode of Podument Park.

When there’s no real explanation for something, the best way to explain what happened is with a simple “somehow.” If it’s good enough for a billion-dollar franchise to explain their villain coming back from the dead, then it’s good enough for me. Somehow, the Yankees managed to win four games and two series this week. They weren’t the most exciting wins, but wins are wins and right now that’s all that matters. Andrew and Kunj talk about how the Yankees desperately need to find ways to win games without Aaron Judge and the offense just needs to look somewhat competent. They offered some praise at least for doing just that with a 4-2 showing against Seattle and Texas. The Yanks “did something” and found ways to win without their captain. If they can put together a more sustainable approach and keep stealing wins, they should be able to stay afloat in the race until Aaron Judge returns. Unfortunately, as also discussed on the podcast, the latest on No. 99 shows that there’s still no real timetable and he’ll presumably be out longer than anyone initially thought or expected, now that there’s confirmation of a a torn ligament in his toe. Fortunately, we did also have some good injury updates for Ian Hamilton who should rejoin the team in Oakland and Carlos Rodón, whose Yankees debut actually appears to be on the horizon. As always, we end by checking in on Baseball Reference’s WAR leaderboard, before handing out our weekly Yankee and Manfreds of the Week. Hooray for the inexplicable Billy McKinney!

If you missed the Yankees this past week/weekend, consider yourself lucky. Since the last podcast, the Yankees won the opener of the series against the Mets and haven’t won since. They split that series at least, but then got thoroughly embarrassed on the way to getting swept at Fenway Park. The Aaron Judge-less Yankees continue to look lifeless and there’s no end in sight for that. As Andrew and Kunj discuss on the latest episode of Podument Park, the Yankees have to learn to score runs and win games without Judge. There’s no timeline for his return and if they want to stick around in the playoff race, they have to make do without him. Some reinforcement is at least on the way in the form of Harrison Bader who will return from the injured list tonight against the Mariners. Between him and the Yankees’ ace on the mound, maybe we’ll see some signs of life from the Bombers.  In addition to the usual musings on the team, the show ends with Andrew and Kunj's weekly check-in of the Baseball Reference WAR leaderboard (which appropriately tells the tale of the Yankees season), hand out Yankee and Manfred honors of the Week, and look to the upcoming schedule and what might be in store for the Yankees. Just for fun, they also roast Rob Manfred himself for his asinine comments about Oakland A's fans and gawk at the topsy-turvy MLB standings -- particularly in the NL West (Dodgers in third?) and NL Central (Reds leading??). Help us, Obi-Wan Giancarnobi. You’re our only hope.

Welcome to another episode of Podument Park; please leave your socks at the door as they are not welcome on this podcast. As we saw during Aaron Judge’s first stint on the injured list earlier this year, this team has a tough time winning games, scoring runs, or convincing us that they’re actually living human beings when he’s not around. With the Dodger Stadium wall getting the last laugh over Judge, we saw a return to that form as the Yankees dropped a six-game homestand to the White Sox and Red Sox, winning just a game apiece in each series.  In addition to the offensive ineptitude on display this week, Andrew and Kunj discussed the air quality issues New York faced this week, the at least-commendable pitching, and some love was given to Billy McKinney, who has been one of the few to show signs of life this past week. Lastly, of course, there was the obligatory injury updates (please come back soon, Judge and Harrison Bader).  As always, the podcast ended with a look at the schedule and seemingly abundance of off-days coming up, the weekly check-in of Baseball Reference’s WAR leaderboard, and handing out of the Yankee and Manfred of the Week. Kind of a shocker the schedule-makers didn’t win Yankee of the Week for the sheer amount of off-days the Yankees have been gifted this week while they try to weather the Aaron Judge-less storm. 

For the first time, perhaps ever (only slightly exaggerating), a West Coast trip for the Yankees was not miserable. Sure, they’ve had winning trips near the Pacific before, but between the pitch clock letting games that started late end at a reasonable-ish time, and taking two out of three at Chavez Ravine against the Dodgers, it was a mostly great week! Still, it wasn’t all LA sunshine for the Yankees this week as they also dealt with some Seattle rain in the form of injuries. The absolute revolving door of injuries continued in a very hectic way this week. As discussed on this week’s podcast episode, the Yankees welcomed back Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Donaldson, Tommy Kahnle, and Jose Trevino off of the injured list, but in true soul for a soul fashion, put Harrison Bader, Greg Allen, and Ryan Weber on the shelf, with Nestor Cortes most likely joining them to further deplete the rotation. Aaron Judge also decided to wage war against a fence, and while he did his damage, we wait await the results of his testing to see if the fence ultimately gets the last laugh. And as always, Andrew and Kunj do their weekly check-in of Baseball Reference’s WAR leaderboard before handing out their Yankee and Manfred of the Week (spoiler: that fence will not be pleased with the latest addition to its trophy shelf).

The past week got off to a bit of a bumpy start with the Yankees dropping two out of three to the Orioles in the Bronx in a series loss that featured one of the worst innings you'll ever see in the Bronx. New York then fell in its series opener with San Diego before rebounding to win three straight games in exciting fashion! Isiah Kiner-Falefa continued his recent run of solid play with a walk-off hit in the 10th inning on Saturday and the offense had elusive back-to-back 10-run outbursts on Sunday and Monday against the Padres and Mariners. Leading the way, of course, has been Aaron Judge, who is firmly back at the heart of the Yankees' offense and now leads the American League with 17 homers, even though he missed those 10 games at the beginning of May. The man is playing at a separate level from the rest of baseball and Andrew & Kunj can't help but be amazed by him. They talk Judge, the latest on the Yankees' injury and rehab front (Giancarlo Stanton may be on his way soon, as well as Josh Donaldson), the B-Ref check-in, Yankee/Manfred of the Week, and whether a demotion for Oswaldo Cabrera might have to be in the cards. 

It’s been a busy week for the Yankees! After taking three games out of four North of the Border, the team traveled to Cincinnati and swept the Reds to end their road trip and 17 straight days of games on a high note before finally getting the day off today. A 6-1 record over the past week was good enough to properly move them away from last place and into third in the divisional standings; hopefully they continue to climb higher in the upcoming week.   While the inspired play was the highlight of the week, it certainly was not the only thing worth discussing. This last week came with some indirect and nonsensical sign-stealing allegations towards Aaron Judge, a sticky substance ejection and suspension for Domingo Germán, and tons of whining with a sprinkle of body-shaming from the Blue Jays. Following that, the Reds series also saw its own controversies with Clarke “Glove Fur” Schmidt, Reds skipper David Bell being ejected twice in the series, and Aaron Boone being ejected before noon during Sunday’s brunchtime affair.  In addition to all the noise happening during the games, co-hosts Andrew and Kunj also discussed some of the transactional moves from the past week including Jhony Brito being optioned to Triple-A, Jose Trevino and Ian Hamilton hitting the injured list, and most notably Aaron Hicks being designated for assignment after the Yankees acquired Greg Allen in a trade with the Red Sox.  Of course a podcast about the 2023 Yankees wouldn’t be complete without a good chunk of injury updates, and as always, the show ends with a look at the B-Ref WAR leaderboard and the Yankee/Manfred of the Week. 

Hey, the vibes are a little better in Yankeeland this week! It would have been c'est magnifique to have not blown that game on Sunday (and rest assured, we do get into some Aaron Boone/Albert Abreu frustrations) to win that four-game series against the Rays rather than settling for a split, but still, the Yankees have been playing much better lately. Andrew and Kunj explore the highs and lows brought forth by the likes of Anthony Rizzo, Anthony Volpe, Aaron Judge's homerific Saturday, and more, albeit while also expressing some concerns about Nestor Cortes and Clarke Schmidt. The Yankees have another crucial series with a division rival coming up this week as they head up to Toronto to face the Blue Jays (note that this was recorded prior to Jimmy Cordero being announced as Monday's opener for Jhony Brito). It's time to keep up the better play and fully escape last place, as they're only half a game up on Boston for that ignominious rank. All that lies ahead, as well as the B-Ref leaderboard check-in, injury updates (#SevySznSoon?), and the Yankee/Manfred of the Week. Let's go Yankees!

If you squint and try real hard, there were some positive takeaways from the last week of Yankees baseball. Since the last episode, the team technically went over .500, they won a series, and they got Harrison Bader back in the lineup. Yet, it’s still not a fun time to be a Yankees fan.  As Andrew and Kunj discuss on the latest episode of Podument Park, what should’ve been a series-clinching win over the Rays at Tropicana Field turning into a Gerrit Cole meltdown and some questionable late-game decision-making (a recurring theme) put a damper on the week as a whole, even if it was marginally better than last week. Hopefully, a series against the Oakland Athletics is just what this team needs before facing the Rays again, but this time in the Bronx. This is all discussed in addition to the jolt of energy that Bader brought in his first week back in action, the imminent return of captain Aaron Judge, and the possible roster implications of his return. As always, the show ends with a look at Baseball Reference’s WAR leaderboard for the Yankees, before the Yankee and Manfred of the Week recipients are announced. Spoiler alert: More frustration was directed at Yankees management. You can’t say that it’s not earned!

The hits just keep on coming for the 2023 Yankees, and we're certainly not talking about hard contact from the lousy offense. Aaron Judge joined the Yankees' walking wounded with a hip injury, and the regular lineups have only become more pitiful since then as Aaron Boone's ballclub has sunk all the way to last place. They're not hitting at all, the back of the rotation is not offering quality starts, and even when someone like Domingo Germán steps up with 8.1 excellent innings last night, the team is apparently still too in love with Clay Holmes to believe that someone else might be a better option in the ninth inning. It feels like the Yankees keep stepping on rakes that they dropped themselves. As Joe Girardi would say, "It's not what you want," and boy have the Yanks become an ugly watch in a hurry. Andrew and Kunj did our best to unpack the disastrous last week and while they're glad that Harrison Bader will be back tonight, it's hard for them to be overly confident in the May schedule ahead with this very flawed team. Put your hazmat suit on and explore the Yankees with us.

If this past weekend of Yankees baseball seemed particularly annoying, it’s because it was annoying. Andrew and Kunj are back at it with this week’s episode of Podument Park where they discuss a .500 week of baseball for the Bronx “In Name Only” Bombers. The team was eventually going to lose a series, and got that first one out of the way after starting 2023 with five series wins and one series tie. Losing the weekend series against the Blue Jays wasn’t the big issue, though, as the hosts discuss. The offense looking largely lifeless and problems from years past rearing its ugly head put a damper on the whole week. It’s not all bad though, as the pitching has been a rock and even the weaker spots in the rotation have looked better recently! Also discussed are Oswald Peraza getting a proper look at third base, DJ and The Tonys (Rizzo and Volpe) finding success, and Harrison Bader hopefully returning soon and what that means for Willie Calhoun’s storied Yankees tenure. As always the pod ends with a look at Baseball Reference’s WAR leaderboard, and handing out of awards for this week’s Yankee and Manfred of the Week. Spoiler: Finding a Yankee of the Week was a bit of a struggle.

The journey to get there wasn't exactly smooth sailing, but the Yankees had a winning week against the Guardians and Twins, recovering from a series-opening loss in Cleveland to win two in a row before doing the same after two irritating losses to Minnesota. That wasn't a series win, but New York will gladly take the split. Andrew and Kunj revel in the pitching mastery of Gerrit Cole (and Nestor Cortes, too!) while bemoaning the latest malady to befall Giancarlo Stanton. Despite his hot start, a strained hamstring will keep him out of action for at least a month. Josh Donaldson is supposed to return to the Yankees on Wednesday, but the co-hosts are not exactly not looking forward to the embattled third baseman's return. They talk about a possible general infield platoon situation with the recalled Oswald Peraza, though it feels likely that the Yankees will just demote him instead of cutting ties with the struggling Willie Calhoun. All that is discussed as well as injury updates, Clay Holmes' topsy-turvy week, Anthony Volpe's kleptomania (and first career homer), the B-Ref Top 12 check-in, and the Yankee/Manfred of the Week.

It's time for another Twitter Space session to land on the podcast feed! Josh Diemert gathered Peter Brody, Alex Eisert, Malachi Hayes, and Jeff Middleton shortly after the Yankees' series victory over the Guardians to talk about that game, the Franchy Cordero Moment, Aaron Hicks' unclear role (plus last week's comments), and those damn 12-0 Rays. The Yankees have won every series in 2023, but Tampa Bay has yet to lose a game. How much credit should they get, and how much should folks raise their eyebrows about Tampa's meager competition so far? It's a tricky topic, but the five Pinstripe Alley writers gave it a shot. Note: Twitter Spaces did not operate smoothly at the end of this episode (or very much at all, frankly), so it ends rather abruptly before a proper goodbye. Blame Elon!

The Yankees have been rolling in the early goings of the 2023 campaign, winning every series thus far. After a weather delay forced Thursday’s game to Friday, which the Bombers dropped, they bounced back over the weekend to ensure that their streak continued. Andrew and Kunj talk about this and much more on the latest episode of Podument Park. Surprisingly, both hosts agree that the Yankees should continue winning as many series as they can! Also discussed on this week’s pod is the potential makings of a home run race between the Yankees' captain, Aaron Judge, and his big beefy counterpart, Giancarlo Stanton. Both players decided that the Camden Yards wall being pushed back in 2022 is only a problem for mere mortals, like Austin Hays and Ryan Mountcastle. Kunj and Andrew also consider Franchy Cordero’s recent baseball bashing, the numerous roster moves having to be made due to injuries to players like Josh Donaldson and Jonathan Loáisiga, Clay Holmes meeting the moment in the bullpen, and Anthony Volpe’s tough week (albeit one with an encouraging triple). Of course, they end by bringing back a podcast regular in reviewing the Yankees’ top 12 WAR leaders — oh-so-important in early April — per Baseball Reference, and then both offer their takes on the Yankee and Manfred of the Week.

Beautiful, beautiful regular season play is back, and the Yankees are off to a fine start in 2023! Despite dropping the second game of the season to the Giants, they won both Opening Day and the rubber match on Sunday, and they also dispatched the Phillies on Monday night to move to 3-1. Is it so damn early that this podcast could be miserable next week with just a few bad games? You bet! But Andrew and Kunj are going to be excited about all this anyway. Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres, and Aaron Judge have clubbed two homers apiece in the first four games (with one Stanton's sailing 485 feet away), and each of Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, and rookie Jhony Brito have turned in good-to-great starts. In fact, only 4 of the 13 members of the pitching staff have allowed a single run. You love to see it! Add in some Anthony Volpe steals and you've got just the right mix for a fun opening week at Yankee Stadium. Now, they just have to keep it up.

Folks enjoyed hearing some Twitter Space podcast recordings during the 2022 season, so we're going to try to do some more this year! Josh Diemert was joined by Madison Pavich and Peter Brody to banter about Pinstripe Alley's 2023 staff-wide MLB and Yankees predictions, and also the collective excitement over Opening Day. There was some Yankees strategy talk, Anthony Volpe thoughts, and much more. Note that due to the combination of Opening Day timing and personal schedules, this recording was only lightly edited by Andrew Mearns. Thank you for listening!

Opening Day is nearly here, and with it, Anthony Volpe’s MLB debut! The rookie — or to be more accurate, the organization — surprised us by making the team, and he will be at shortstop when the Yankees kick off their 2023 campaign in the Bronx on Thursday against the Giants. Andrew and Kunj talked about the exciting news of Volpe’s promotion, the less-fun news of Luis Severino’s injury and likely replacement in the rotation by Jhony Brito, and the final roster spots. Jimmy Cordero and Albert Abreu are fully in the bullpen, but there are still a couple small matters to settle with the fringes of the 26-man roster. The second half of the show is a sequel to what the PSA Podcast did on Opening Day last year: a draft of what we’re most looking forward to during the 2023 season. Sure, there’s the obvious — Volpe, Aaron Judge, and the youth movement writ large — but there’s so much more to be optimistic about (both in terms of the Yankees and MLB in general). So let’s revel in it! Note: This episode was recorded before the Yankees' final Opening Day roster moves were revealed.

Now that our podcast transition is fully in the books and spring training is almost over, it's well past time for Andrew and Kunj to return to the podcast microphones! The combination of the former and busy schedules led to a delay since the last show, so the two have quite a bit to talk about on the first full-fledged episode of Podument Park. (All RSS feeds should be the same on your end!) There's some older business that needs to be covered of course -- Carlos Rodón and Harrison Bader's injuries, just to name a couple -- but there's also the fascinating shortstop question as the Yankees decide what to do with Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe. It's a good problem to have! Of course, the Yanks also need to sort out their pitching staff with the injuries, but that's less fun. Still worth discussing though! They also got into World Baseball Classic talk as it's hard not to ride the high of the Ohtani/Trout showdown to end it, not to mention the thrilling Japan/Mexico semifinal. What a run. This tournament rules! We'll miss it. (Note: Kunj had some audio difficulties on this episode that we made some adjustments on, so thank you for bearing with us this week.)

The long offseason is nearly over, spring training baseball begins tomorrow, and Kunj and Andrew will be regularly podcasting again in short order! In addition to there being a dearth of baseball news, we’ve been traveling a lot over the past couple months, so there hasn’t been a good time to get back together, but hey, we’re here now. As we discuss in the show, there will be a change in programming for 2023. Ours was one of many, many podcasts to get axed by SB Nation in their January layoffs. Soon, they will no longer be supporting it, and that’s a giant bummer. (To answer the obvious follow-up: No, there are no changes to the website and all operations are go for the coming season.) We do have a plan to keep podcasting this year though! We can’t reveal all the specifics just yet, but the show will go on. The only catch with SBN though is that we have to change our name since Pinstripe Alley and SBN will not technically be connected to the podcast anymore. So say hello to Podument Park! In our final PSAP episode/beta Pod Park episode, we welcome the Yankees back with a look at early spring training storylines, like Frankie Montas needing shoulder surgery, Nestor Cortes being a bit of an Opening Day roster question mark due to his hamstring, the left field and shortstop questions, and our excitement for the World Baseball Classic. There is still baseball to discuss; we’re only a little navel-gazey at the outset! (Skip to around the four-minute mark if you’d rather just hear Yankees talk.) It’s a little strange to no longer be recording under the PSAP umbrella, but we go onward and upward, and as long as the energy is there to discuss the highs and lows of modern Yankees baseball, we will keep on keeping on. Thank you for tuning in and we hope that you stay with us! We’re working on getting the RSS feed moved over so that you won’t need to subscribe to anything new.

There was briefly some concern that Twitter Spaces would vanish as a platform, but it's back! Josh Diemert, Esteban Rivera, and new PSA addition Alex Eisert gathered on December 21st to chat about one of the most stunning reversals in baseball history (Carlos Correa about-facing from the Giants to the Mets) before digging in to the Yankees' addition of Carlos Rodón, Aaron Judge earning the captaincy, the Yankees' left field conundrum, and more. If you're solely Yankees-focused, skip ahead to a little past the 14-minute mark for the beginning of Rodón talk! Also note that there's an ad break a little less than half an hour into it. Thanks for following along with us all year long and have a happy holiday!

At the start of the 2022-23 offseason, the Yankees knew that while pitching was a strength, they would need to make moves to maintain that position. The steady Jameson Taillon was not extended a qualifying offer and didn’t seem likely to return. Even with Gerrit Cole at the top and another 2022 All-Star in Nestor Cortes, the Yankees were in position to bolster their starting rotation. They’ve now done so with a big move, signing Carlos Rodón to a six-year, $160 million deal. Kunj and Andrew assembled for a late-night podcast to discuss the newest Yankees starter and why this is the move that really gives us the most confidence for 2023. Bringing Aaron Judge back was essential but tantamount to a sigh of relief. They had to bring Judge back to keep their lineup in tip-top shape for next year and not fill it with question marks. However, there is a universe where the Yankees could have gotten cute and signed a middle-of-the-road guy at best to fill Taillon’s spot. That is thankfully now not this one.  Carlos Rodón is a Yankee, and as Andrew wrote earlier, that rules.

The Yankees made the move they needed to make and secured the services of Aaron Judge for the next nine years. Things were tough for a while as it seemed that the Giants might swoop in and bring the Bay Area native back, and the Padres made things super interesting by offering him $400 million, but ultimately, owner Hal Steinbrenner made a long-distance call from Italy and said all the right things to convince Judge to stay in pinstripes for $360 million. With that, Aaron Judge is a Yankee still and the rest of the offseason becomes a lot easier for GM Brian Cashman and his team. Replacing Judge’s production and presence would not have been an easy task and luckily it’s not one that anyone has to think about. This was a move that absolutely had to be made, and we’re all thankful that it was done. What a wonderful early Christmas present for Yankees fans.  Andrew and Kunj fire up the ol’ podcast-mobile to share thoughts and stories of relief and near-heartbreak (thanks, Jon Heyman) on the Yankees bringing back the face of their franchise. They also discuss the return of old friend Tommy Kahnle, and the departures of Jameson Taillon and Miguel Castro. Lastly, the co-hosts end the show with handing out some obvious Yankee- and Manfred-of-the-Week awards but not before discussing some of the rumors swirling around about how the Yankees don’t seem ready to call it an offseason just yet. The team has been linked to Carlos Rodón, Andrew Benintendi, Brandon Nimmo, and Bryan Reynolds, while some of it may just be rumors there seems to be real smoke in some places.* *Note: This podcast was recorded before news broke of the Red Sox signing Masataka Yoshida. Until next time: Aaron Judge is a Yankee. Remember that!