JUDGE, YANKS IN GRAY AREA
A’s talks continue as Aaron concern grows
WITH today’s trading deadline at hand, GM Brian Cashman is still pushing to make the muchdiscussed deal for Sonny Gray at least partly because the decision-makers in the Yankee organization want to “seize the moment,’’ as a person close to the situation said on Sunday.
“Starting with Hal, there’s a feeling this is a great opportunity that nobody wants to take for granted,’’ was the way the person put it, referring to the Yankees’ recent hot streak and the state of the AL East.
Yet by late Sunday afternoon, after the Yankees’ six-game winning streak was stopped by a 5-3 loss to the Rays at the Stadium, there was no sense that Cashman was any closer to getting his man.
A source with knowledge of the talks with A’s Billy Beane said no progress had been made Sunday, and there was a sense they would go right down to the 4 p.m. deadline.
Beane isn’t asking for Gleyber Torres or Clint Frazier, but it’s not clear if the holdup is about a specific player such as Estevan Florial or Jorge Mateo, or whether it’s about the A’s wanting a third or even a fourth prospect of that caliber.
The Yankees believe they are the most serious bidder on Gray, but it could be that Beane also wants to wait and see if a team like the Dodgers or Astros jumps in at the last minute.
Cashman is still determined not to give away too much of the future, according to a source, but there is a sense the Yankees are growing more and more enamored with the idea of what Gray could do for their chances of not only winning the division but making some noise in October.
No less important, of course, is Aaron Judge getting back on track, as the rookie slugger’s second-half slump is becoming a significant issue for the Yankee offense.
Judge went 0-for-4 with a walk on Sunday, and is now hitting .158 (.9-for-57) since the All-Star break, with 25 strikeouts. His average has fallen from .329 to .302 during that time, and his three home runs are his only extra-base hits.
On Sunday he came up in a couple of crucial situations, striking out with runners at second and third in the fifth inning, then popping out in the ninth with runners at first and second.
Some type of slump was inevitable, and I’m not buying that it’s related to the Home Run Derby, but it’s concerning because Judge is chasing pitches out of the strike zone again, as he did when he came up last season, and failing to square up the types of pitches he was crushing during the first half.
Afterward, Judge chalked it up to the ups and downs of the season and said, “You’ve just gotta keep grinding.’’
He admitted, albeit indirectly, to pressing a bit, but insisted this feels nothing like what he went through last year.
“When you’re not getting hits, you start trying to do too much,’’ he said. “You swing at pitches out of the zone. But I think it’s totally different from last year. I know I can have success here, so the main thing is not getting overwhelmed by it, and getting back to trusting the process.”
Chances are it’s only a matter of time before he gets hot again, but you can’t blame the Yankees if they’re a little nervous about his slump, and indeed getting him going again has to be their top concern.
At the moment, Judge’s slump surely doesn’t raise the anxiety level in the front office as much as the pursuit of Gray with the clock ticking toward the deadline. It’s clear the Yankees have come to think of Gray as a difference-maker, especially as he has pitched with dominance in recent weeks. And because he’s under contractual control for two more seasons, at age 27 he could be a big part of the future as well as the present.
As such they’re willing to take the risk that his various arm ailments the last two seasons don’t mean he’s injury-prone.
So while Jaime Garcia, the lefty acquired from the Twins on Sunday, helps stabilize the starting rotation by giving them a fifth starter, his arrival has little impact on the Yankees’ desire to add Gray as well.
And not just because Jordan Montgomery had a bad outing on Sunday, lasting only 2 2/3 innings while giving up four runs. The rookie lefthander has been a godsend this season for the Yankees, and Joe Girardi said he sees no indication that Montgomery is hitting any type of wall. But he is going to run into an innings limit at some point, as his previous high as a minor-leaguer is 139 1/3 innings, which is one more reason the Yankees could use another M starting pitcher. ostly, however, it seems they now see championship possibilities this season, as well as down the road, as they should. But there still has to be a limit to what they’ll give up for Gray, and it likely will take until 4 p.m. Monday to find out whether Beane or Cashman finally blinked.