The Yankees have placed closer Clay Holmes on the 15-day injured list due to back spasms, as one of a series of transactions. Miguel Andujar and Tim Locastro were optioned to Triple-A, while Ron Marinaccio, Estevan Florial, and Oswaldo Cabrera were all called up from Triple-A. (Florial and Cabrera’s promotions were reported earlier today.)
Holmes’ placement is retroactive to August 14, and he hasn’t pitched since August 12. There was increasing expectation that Holmes would need an IL trip to fully recuperate from his back problem, though New York manager Aaron Boone told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand and other reporters that the team is hopeful Holmes only misses the 15-day minimum.
Since being acquired from the Pirates prior to the 2021 trade deadline, Holmes has been outstanding in the pinstripes, posting a 2.10 ERA over his 77 innings in New York. This outstanding performance elevated Holmes to the closer’s job when Aroldis Chapman went on the IL himself earlier this season, and with Chapman struggling even before he got injured, the Yankees kept Holmes as the top ninth-inning choice even after Chapman’s return.
However, just as the Yankees have looked shaky over the last five weeks of play, Holmes has also come back to earth after his incredible start. The righty has a 9.00 ERA over his last 12 games and 11 innings pitched, and he has blown four of his last five save chances. As a result, it now appears quite possible that Chapman (who has pitched better since his return from the IL) will reclaim the closer’s job in Holmes’ absence, and perhaps for the remainder of the season. The Yankees could also essentially use both pitchers as closers or set-up men depending on the situation, rather than have a strict order to their late-game plans.
Unrelated rant:
Manfred is going to put more and more games on YouTube, Apple TV, Peacock. He’s ruining baseball.
How is this ruining baseball you cheep frock
Because it limits viewing accessibility, A lot of the older Generations don’t like dealing with the multitude of apps, hell even I hate dealing with apps, plus I also run a small bar that shows games and those apps are conducive to our TV set ups.
On top of all that, the broadcasts suck. The Apple announcers are awful, the scorebug and graphics are devoid of any personality, and the stats in the bottom right corner are wrong. It’s cool seeing a game in 4K with a high FPS, but the cameras make everything look dark. NESN is in 4K and they don’t have that problem with light exposure.
Youtube broadcasts are fine because they’re free, can’t be blacked out, and have MLBN guys on the mic with the option of switching the audio channel to either teams’ radio broadcast but I can see how those games are incovenient to people who don’t have smart TVs
Ding DING DING! I am one of those older folks!
Blah blah blah you old fart get a grip
Hey, get off my lawn!!
And how do we know you’re not a retiree typing your troll posts on an old Windows XP PC after a nice afternoon at the shuffleboard court, Michael?
Not even the NBA, the most greedy sport, has games on all these streaming services. This is a clear attempt at money grabbing for the MLB. They are essentially trying to grow through multiple streaming partnerships then actually trying to get more fans into baseball
Have any of you seen how linear TV continues to fade away? Baseball is following the available audience.
It’s all about the Benjamins!
I totally agree
YouTube and Apple are free so far. Peacock is not.
Is viewership up or down on Amazon Prime, AppleTV+, Peacock and YouTube games compared to the normal outlets? Does Manfred even care about viewership as long as revenue is the same or higher?
Streaming audiences aren’t (yet) being measured for baseball.
Manfred only cares about signing exclusive rights deals instead of selling the product to as many fans as possible. The least that Manfred could do is end local blackouts on MLBTV.
YES!
You are spot on! Screw MLB I’m watching less and less tired of this BS!
You are spot on! Screw MLB I’m watching less and less tired of this.
Manfred’s political shot with the AS game made enemies with the GOP. If they take over congress, MLB’s antitrust exemption will be in jeopardy. Regardless what side you take in politics (I don’t vote and don’t care), if you’re pro player like I am, that would be a good thing as the ends justify the means.
I’m 37 and I’ve watched 2 Yankee games on TV this year. Baseball isn’t important enough to me to actively search for the game so If it’s listed I flip to it and I’ll watch if it’s on but 99% of the time even if it’s scheduled to be on it gets blocked out. So it’s really not a sweat off my back to flip to the thousands of other movies and shows available to me. I honestly watch those shows and movies anyway while I’m watching the game bc the product on the field is so bad these days that I can’t sit and watch a baseball game straight thru anymore.
As a Yankee fan, I resent the franchise keeping games off any streaming service that doesn’t require a cable subscription to access the broadcasts. Cutting the cord was one of the best financial decisions I’ve made in the recent past, and admittedly I took too long to do it. I sure as hell will not go back to shelling out thousands a year in ever-escalating cable fees. Yes, I can now access the Amazon Prime feed because I have a subscription to Prime; but those broadcasts are few and far between. I don’t know if other franchises are as fan-unfriendly as the Yankees franchise, but the suits in the Bronx sure are. I’ll never forget how one of them publicly complained about selling the premium seats at the stadium to the plebian riff-raff. And they’re in the freaking Bronx! I doubt that any of them has ever walked five blocks outside the stadium.
Another one bites the dust!
Cabrera and Florial in the starting lineup tonight.
This team is an absolute tire fire
The Ninja’s big deadline acquisition has so far given up 14 earned runs in 13 innings since the trade.
If only Hal cared.
Montas looks like absolute trash. That’s what he gets for prospect hugging and not making a run for a true ace in Castillo
And to make it even better he traded Montgomery away to STL for a guy that won’t be on the team until mid september lololol literal clown stuff
Are you ready for this? So far, Monty is 3-0 with the Cardinals, with an 0.54 ERA, a 1.80 FIP, and a 720 (not a typo) ERA+.
Ninja!
Lmao “mUh Ca$hGoD!”
Why am I NOT seeing an announcement that M. Gonzalez and Hicks are dfa’d/released? Am I missing something here?
Locastro and Andujar went down
Boone will be replaced after this season unless NYY wins the WS
They shouldn’t have given him a three year extension at the beginning of the season.
Cashman is long overdue to get fired too let’s be honest
Cashman downfall is over valuing yankees prospects
Many GMs do this. Cashman’s issue/challenge is the George days are long gone and Hal is not as keen on splurging on every and all free agents. Hal is correct when he says you don’t always need a $300 million payroll to win. Many lower spending clubs find ways and we’ve all seen time and again how big $$ free agents don’t always pan out. Also, I get the impression Hal believes (again he is not incorrect) that a sustained campion-caliber team starts with developing the next generation of Jeter and Riveras, etc.
With this in mind, his Achilles heal in roster development is since the Yankees haven’t had a losing season since 1992 (yes, they haven’t been under .500 in 30 years), you don’t get the top prospects in the draft. To draft Trout, Betts, Freeman, etc., they need to come in last a few years in a row. The Yankees haven’t been THAT bad since 1990.
In the 80s, George let many very good young players go trying to buy old veterans. You really don’t miss that, do you?
“With this in mind, his Achilles heal in roster development is since the Yankees haven’t had a losing season since 1992 (yes, they haven’t been under .500 in 30 years), you don’t get the top prospects in the draft.”
Darth Nihilus;
The Dodgers have been competitive for years and get low draft choices. Yet they constantly come up with quality young players through their farm system. Why is that?
Cashman has had plenty of tradeable prospects to deal, and look at what he’s gotten for them: Joey Gallo and Frankie Montas, most recently.
Garry, if Cashman finally gets fired (which I don’t anticipate), I won’t miss deals like the Montas and Gallo trades.
The one marginal saving grace of the Gallo trade was the inclusion of Joely Rodriguez, who was flipped for Castro. But Cashman gave up four prospects, three of whom are on the Rangers’ 40-man roster and already playing in the bigs.
So far, Montas has a 9:00 ERA as a Yankee, having yielded 14 earned runs in 14 innings. Cashman gave up four prospects to get him and Trivino. All four of those prospects are in Oakland’s Top 30, and Waldichuk is their #3. Sears is already starting games for the A’s and so far owns a 1.74 ERA and a 1-0 record with them.
It’s too early to judge the Montas deal, but the Gallo deal was a bust. And the way Montas is pitching, I won’t be surprised if Sears has a better second half.
Trivino looks good so far, despite being charged with one loss, but the A’s got a haul that weakened the Yankees’ pitching stock substantially with the loss of Waldichuk, Sears and Medina. In all, Cashman gave up seven pitchers at the deadline. He had five shortstop prospects and traded none of them, although shortstops should be readily tradeable as players at a key position that makes them comparatively easy to flip for other talent
We’ll also have to wait and see how Cooper Bowman develops, but his scouting grades are impressive, especially his 65 speed grade for a 6 ft., 205-pound second baseman. He’s stolen 53 bases in 125 minor league games.
The extension always seems to be a precursor to dismissal. Give the guy security and then see if he manages hungry. If he doesn’t, eat the contract. Some teams have so much money, they can do that sort of thing. Or they can find another spot in the organization, like heading up the medical department. Dr. Boonedoggle would be perfect for that job. The press conferences would be priceless word salads. “Well, he tweaked his thingy and he’ll be laying low until he can resume doing stuff. Any questions?”
Keep your fingers crossed … looks like Chapman is the closer!
That’s when you turn off the set and look at the final score the next day.
I did exactly just that tonight.
So glad it’s end the Chapman’s and Britton’s contracts. Get well rested Clay and hope you regain pre-ASG form.
Gotta admit Arod got it right during the KayRod show this past week. Yankees are worse since All star break because of not going all in to sign Castillo to win this year. They are holding onto prospects for future and not trying to win now.
Now I see what they did! Makes some sense. You cannot fire all of the big bucks, even if you are the Yanks’
Boone and Cashman are no hitter,,,do not pitch to Judge and Yankees are DONE,,nobody else hit
Thank you for the eloquent and articulate baseball commentary, Buster Olney.
More like the 15 day because you suck list.
In another unrelated rant, Montgomery is about to pick up his 3 win with the Cardinals. Plus, a nice 0.54 ERA. Joey Gallo is batting .264 with the Dodgers, and he has 3 hrs too. Nice job Cash the master of the great trades….maybe something else is wrong in New York…looks like the Front Office and Coaching staff is the major reason for the Yankees troubles.
Good for Monty. I’m always going to root for him. That trade is still a head-scratcher.
jim-41;
Don’t include Matt Blake with the FO, manager, and rest of the coaching staff.
It would be a hoot if he leaves when his contract is up.
I wrote last off-season that if David Sterns leaves the Brewers and goes to NYC, his destination may well be the Yankees and not the Mets.
“I’m sure everybody in here was like, ‘We just traded for this guy in a boot?'” said Bader, who despite dealing with plantar fasciitis was acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals at the deadline. “‘Are you serious?'”
You got that right, Harrison.
espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/34418314/we-need-spark-new…
Boy, that Montas trade is working out great so far. Six earned runs in five innings tonight. So far in pinstripes, 14 earned runs in 13 innings pitched.
Ninja!
With streaming it all depends. Are the better games/match-ups on paid streaming services? Are only the scrub teams and games free? I think right now it’s a mixed bag, but eventually Yankees vs Redsox, or Mets vs Braves, or Dodgers vs San Fran might all be on paid services. That would be a real cash grab move. But what about the Playoffs? They would most likely stay on the major networks for the foreseeable future, because they get bigger ratings.