Things finally are going well for the Yankees, but it’s going to be harder than ever, and the latest reminder of that resided in the other dugout Tuesday night, right there in black and orange. Yes, the Baltimore Orioles, who have taken flight, rising quickly from perennial patsy to powerhouse.
The American League East, always tough, is certifiably ridiculous this season. All five teams possess winning records, and the third-place Yankees are looking up at the teams with the two best records in baseball — the first-place Rays and the shockingly tough Orioles.
Baltimore’s 40-man payroll is $82.7 million for competitive balance tax purposes (and yes, I can confirm they will pay no tax).
That is only higher than the Oakland A’s, who ceased trying a while back as they endeavor to escape to Las Vegas.
Anyway, the East is a beast, maybe even moreso than ever.
“You better bring your lunch box every day, and you better be ready to put on your hard hat,” Anthony Rizzo said before the Yankees’ 6-5 comeback win over the Orioles at the Stadium. “There’s no easy days, that’s for sure.”
With five straight wins and a 30-20 record through 50 games, they’ve put themselves in decent position, riding a recent hot streak to move precipitously into the sixth and final playoff position in the more difficult of the two leagues.
Aaron Judge, how hit the game-tying homer in the ninth in the Yankees’ win, is a rightful MVP candidate again, and Tuesday’s starter, Gerrit Cole, who may be underrated despite that $324 million contract (about 20 times the combined contracts of the Orioles’ rotation), is a favorite to win his first Cy Young award, despite struggling on Tuesday. They are trending well, having taken care of business against small-market Cincinnati and now have 12 wins in 15 games. But there’s plenty to worry about, such as …
1. When is Carlos Rodon appearing? Well, technically he’s here, as he’s joined the team. But for now he’s playing catch (or having catches, depending what part of New York you are from). From there, he will throw in the bullpen, then pitch live batting practice before finally making rehab starts.
Rodon remains very frustrated and unfailingly polite but neither he nor manager Aaron Boone could pinpoint a possible date for a return to a major league mound. Pressed as tho whether he hoped it could be within a month (by June 23), Rodon said, “I hope so.”
Beyond that, he didn’t want to go into medical detail, which makes sense since last time he erroneously reported that his back condition was “chronic,” triggering panic among hardcore fans who know he has a new six-year, $162 million deal. This time, when quizzed about what triggered his back pain, he smartly responded, “I might have to ask because I’m not so great with the verbiage.”
2. What about the other injured guys? Yes, there are still a lot of them. Among those with some hope for a return within the foreseeable future, Josh Donaldson seems closest, and Jose Trevino doesn’t seem too far behind Donaldson.
Donaldson could begin a rehab assignment as early as Thursday, and Trevino ran without issue Tuesday. Boone reported that Giancarlo Stanton is feeling “really good,” but conceded they may want to do further testing to make sure he’s ready to start really ramping things up.
Tommy Kahnle (remember him?) also seems to be progressing, which is good news considering the lengthy list of relievers lost for most of all of the season, who include Jonathan Loaisiga, Scott Effross and Lou Trivino.
3. Do they have the stickiest fingers going? Clarke Schmidt was judged in his last outing by umpires only to be “tacky,” not “sticky,” which sent unusually emotional Reds manager David Bell into histrionics but is ultimately great news since Schmidt finally seems to be succeeding, having allowed two earned runs or fewer in three of his past four outings.
They also don’t need a second starting pitcher on the ineligible list following Domingo German’s banishment. German, too, received only a warning the first time he was caught, but apparently he didn’t heed it, and is now serving his 10-game suspension, where he has time to ponder how to avoid a third run-in with the men in blue.
4. That division is really the biggest issue. The biggest break the Yankees got this winter — beyond Judge loving his time here and deciding to remain a lifetime Yankee — was the schedule being made more balanced. Because frankly, the divisions are more unbalanced than ever. The Jays, in last in the AL East, would be near the top in both Central divisions.
The Rays, with a rather robust $127 million payroll for competitive balance purposes, at least compared to the Orioles’ $82.7 million, easily have outplayed everyone. But those Orioles somehow lurk, still just three games out of first, thanks to a young, balanced offense, unusual cohesiveness and a shutdown bullpen back-end featuring the unhittable duo of Yennier Cano and Felix Bautista.
“They’re legit,” Boone said. “They’re a force to be reckoned with.”
The Yankees look like a force, too, but there are issues, the biggest being their residence in maybe the greatest baseball division ever.
