February 18, 2026

102 thoughts on “Jack Curry: Yankees have acquired RHP Angel Chivilli from the Rockies for minor leaguer TJ Rumfield.”

    1. Cashman appears to seek comfort in the known knowns, even when they are known to be inadequate to win a championship.

    2. Overrating the Blue Jays with a lot of “ifs’. And the O’s with the same problem I saw last year for them, pitching.

    3. BF – laughed out loud. I know that was a joke, of course – no one could be such a cockeyed optimist!

    4. I differ with those projections a bit, but honestly, they’re basically saying “They’re all good teams, it is a toss-up who will break through,” which is what I would have said for the last few years.

    5. If that’s true in the AL East, then, with Seattle, and the NL West, and a few other teams, you’re really saying that the Yankees are no better than in the top ten, maybe the top 12 teams in baseball.
      With what they spend, and what they make, that is… not impressive.

    6. I disagree with their projections, but I think it’s fair enough to say that there are enough good teams in the AL East that I wouldn’t be shocked by any one of them surprising everyone by being better than expected.

    9. Not for me – first my reply, then your post, then my question about order and your reply.

  5. Imagine you’re an owner and you are spending more than everyone else in your league all you get is a team that ties for the 6th best record. Wouldn’t you be angry?

    1. Yankees need to toughen up. 16 degree weather has never stopped the Toronto Blue Jays.

  7. Yankee rotation for a month or two or more Fried, Schlittler, Gil, Warren, Weathers/Yarbrough/x

    Pen Bednar, Cruz?, Doval?, and, and, a wing and a prayer, and a chip and a chair

    1. I think a full Spring Training with Blake will do wonders for Bird. They’re already bragging about something they’ve done with him in the offseason. They’ve apparently also been retooling Doval, and Preston Claiborne is actually down working with Doval right now, and they say they’ve done something notable with him, as well.

      Doval was actually pretty darn good by the end of the season, and was one of the only relievers who didn’t suck in the playoffs (his one bad outing was when the season was already lost, and they were down late and he gave up an extra run to make it 5-1).

      I think we see LaGrange in the bullpen this season.

      Getting Kopech would be nice, though.

  10. No player from the most recent draft boosted his standing in the industry since turning pro more than Kilby, the Yankees’ first pick in 2025 with the No. 39 selection. The Georgia high school shortstop went to Low A for 18 games and hit .353/.457/.441 in his pro debut, walking more than he struck out. That’s high school to full-season ball in about 90 days, going from metal bats to wood, Georgia prep pitchers to professionals, and Kilby didn’t miss a beat. He made extremely hard contact, too, averaging 91.9 mph and peaking at 108.9, while his chase rate of 11.1 percent was … well, Juan Soto had the lowest chase rate in the majors last year, and his was 18.1 percent. Kilby saw 106 pitches that were well out of the zone, meaning they were more than one baseball width away from the strike zone, and swung at seven.

    His swing is short and direct, and it looks like he has a lot more present power than it appeared (to me, at least) before the draft. He’s a fringe-average runner and his arm probably moves him off shortstop regardless, with second base the obvious spot for him. If this small pro sample is any indication, he can play any position he likes and still be an above-average big leaguer. (He’s prospect No. 101 this year, by the way.)

    https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6997599/2026/01/28/mlb-top-100-prospects-top-just-missed-keith-law/

    2. i can’t imagine a minor league deal with ST invite for him would ever be a bad deal, but maybe he doesn’t want that? one my favorite Yankees

  13. Jon Heyman of The New York Post reports that they have shown some interest in various free agents, including right-hander Nick Martinez and Michael Kopech, as well as outfielders Austin Slater and Randal Grichuk. Heyman also mentions that first baseman Paul Goldschmidt seems willing to return to the Yankees even if that’s in a part-time role. Jack Curry of Yes Network mentioned the club’s interest in a Goldschmidt reunion on Yankees Hot Stove earlier this week.

    1. The optimistic take:

      This group is loaded with talent, including a few fresh faces we haven’t gotten a great look at yet. Thatcher Hurd went down with Tommy John surgery before his 2025 campaign could even begin. Mac Heuer, drafted in 2025, doesn’t have a professional inning under his belt yet. Bryce Cunningham’s season was interrupted by injury, and Dillon Lewis hasn’t gotten a chance to shine at the upper levels yet.

  16. There are some wonderful arms on that list. We should have a better idea in 2026. As far as pitchers getting injured, par for the course, which is why you need a lot of good arms not just two or three, and they have them.

  17. Yankees apparently made a Major League offer to Slater. Could they possibly be considering sending the Martian to the minors?

    They could do a bench of:
    Slater
    Waldo
    Rosario
    Escarra or Goldy

    And when Volpe returns, send Waldo to the minors.

    3. Slater is obviously worse than Dominguez, but he might be better in a bench role. In other words, if a player gets hurt, Dominguez would be called up and play everyday, but for the current role of “bench righty,” Slater might fit better.

      What good does it do Dominguez to go just sit on the bench, burning through service time while not developing as a player? Let him destroy the minors for another year and then rejoin the team next season as the starting left fielder.

      Slater, meanwhile, doesn’t need to play. He is a good defender, good pinch runner, and decent guy to give Grisham a day off against tough lefties.

    5. Agree that having Dominguez play and learn left field and work on hitting from his weak side and build back the confidence they ????d on would be a smart move.

    6. “Is Dominguez giving up switch hitting out of the question?”

      If they try that, you’d probably also want him trying that out in the minors and not the majors.

  18. I mean, really, simply put, what’s a better outfield for just 2026? Belli in left, Grisham in center, and Judge in right

    or

    Dominguez in left, Belli in center, Judge in right

    I think the former is definitely better (especially since Grisham will presumably be over the knee injury that fucked up his running ability last season, thus making him an actual shitty center fielder for last season, since he couldn’t cover any ground anymore), and they would then still control Dominguez for an extra year, so they wouldn’t even really LOSE anything.

    1. *IF* that that really was just an injury and not defensive decline, then – damn, why wasn’t anybody saying that?
      That makes the offer to him a whole lot more reasonable.
      And it should offset the very probably offensive reversion to norm. And if that really was a breakout year, then that’s a pretty great outfield, yes!

    2. Sorry, I meant hamstring, not knee. Same basic difference, though, it was something that slowed him down in the field half the season, but didn’t affect his hitting.

    1. When they created the categories, people understood the difference, but yes, the terms are so outdated now, they really should come up with different titles.

      I’d go with Album of the Year, Song of the Year (for Record of the Year), and Best Written Song of the Year (for Song of the Year, as that’s what “Song of the Year” is as opposed to “Record of the Year,” but no one hears “Record of the Year” and think that it means “the best overall song, counting performance and production”).

    2. Brian your post makes me even more confused. I’m no Spring Chicken but I think I’m taking the average RLYW age down. What is the difference between record and album meant to be?

    3. A record is a single song (think about how songs used to be released as “singles” on a single disc). An album is a collection of songs.

      Record of the Year currently goes to the best song of the year, and Album of the Year goes to the best collection of songs.

      However, there’s also a category CALLED “Song of the Year” that is strictly for the songwriters of the song. In other words, going back to the days of Frank Sinatra, you would give Sinatra “Record of the Year” for, say, “Fly Me to the Moon,” but you would give Bart Howard “Song of the Year” for writing it.

  22. Fangraphs Yankees 68.2% make playoff 29.7% division 6.1% WS
    Jays 61.8/23.8/4.7
    townies 61.7/24/5.1
    O’s 55/18.6/3.6

    Dodgers 99.1/94.1/28.4
    mutts 80.2/33.1/7.7

    1. 2nd to last in the division, but 68% chance to make the playoffs.
      Without bothering to look, I’m presuming the 2nd-to-last was ZIPs.
      Either way, one of the highest payrolls in the game just doesn’t get us what it used to. (It does for some other teams, though.)

  23. Yankees one of several teams interest in Ty France who’s been kind of mediocre last couple of years OPS+ 90 though he was good to start his career. He has no split.

  24. Why they should be higher: Rice’s offensive skill set already looks special. Last season, he became one of only 12 players since 2015 to rank in the 90th percentile or better in hard-hit rate and barrel rate, and rank in the 60th percentile or better in strikeout rate. The other 11 players are All-Stars, MVP winners and/or Hall of Famers. Rice’s defense at first base is still a work in progress, but if he can be simply league average there, another 3.0-WAR season seems more than reasonable.

    https://www.mlb.com/news/yankees-players-who-can-exceed-expectations-in-2026

  25. Apparently there are some voices in the organization who are high on a Miggy reunion. I suppose to split first with Rice and to pinch hit late in the game. Between Miggy and RIce, that’d be some awwwwwwwwwful first base defense.

    If they got Miggy, though, they’d have to have Rice catch, as well, right? I guess in that scenario, Waldo or Amed could play first base, as well, and do a better job defensively.

    2. Yeah, if they send Dominguez to the minors, it would give them a bench of:

      Miggy
      Rosario
      Waldo
      Escarra

      And they could even STILL resign Goldy, and make Rice the backup catcher.

  26. Yankees were able to outright Luciano. That’s nice. He was once a top prospect.

    In other news, the Diamondbacks signed Carlos Santana, which means that’s one less suitor for Goldschmidt. It’ll be really interesting to see what happens if his market really comes down to the $2 million range.

  27. Okay, if Toronto seriously signs Framber, then I’ll be legitimately pissed off about this offseason. You can’t get outspent by fucking Toronto, dudes. I think Cash would HAVE to make another move at that point.

    2. Valdez just seems like a disaster waiting to happen. Let Toronto take him and ruin their environment.

    3. Long term, 100%, but for a short deal that he’s looking like he’s going to have to take, he’s a great addition. He’s been a top pitcher on a World Series-winning team, ya know?

    1. If there is such a thing (sans Mo).
      But that would hardly meet the criterion in Brian’s last comment, right?

    2. I think he still will. He’s likely hoping that the remaining guys will end up taking prove it deals. Kopech on a prove it deal would be very useful.

      Late in the season, they’ll have Schmidt as an 8th inning guy, or maybe Gil or Warren. But early on, they could really use someone like Kopech.

  29. Yankees To Claim Yanquiel Fernández. He has taken 147 big league plate appearances with a .225/.265/.348 line and 29.9% strikeout rate. In 409 Triple-A plate appearances, his .259/.320/.437 line looks decent at first glance but actually translates to a 77 wRC+ in the hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League.

    1. It’ll be interesting to see who gets DFAed for him, and whether they try to DFA him, as well, to open up a 40-man spot. The fact that he lasted to them sure suggests he’d clear.

    3. A LHB OF with 77 wRC+ and 30% K rate at AAA sounds like exactly the outfield depth these Yankees will need once they trade Jones and Dominguez for a Kirby Yates rental.

  33. Musical chairs. The Yankees have claimed right-hander Osvaldo Bido off waivers from the Angels, according to announcements from both clubs. The Halos had designated him for assignment a week ago when they acquired left-hander Jayvien Sandridge from the Yankees. To open a 40-man spot for Bido today, the Yankees designated infielder Braden Shewmake for assignment.

  34. Congratulations to Tarik Skubal on winning his arbitration hearing, thus raising his 2026 salary to $32M, and raising to 100% the probability of a July trade to the Dodgers and his first World Championship.

    1. The Tigers gave Framber 3/115 when they could have extended Skubal using that money. So, unless the Tigers are in the race at the trade deadline, yeah, they’ll move Skubal.

    2. We don’t know that they could have extended him, though. Maybe he wasn’t going to agree to an extension.

    4. Yeah, I think the two things are unrelated. Skubal wasn’t going to sign for less than 8/$320 million as an extension (and I really dunno if THAT would even get it done), while Framber would sign short term.

    5. They are giving Framber 115 and paying Skubal 32 in a contentious arbitration, so right there they had 147 already to go towards giving Skubal a long-term deal. But I imagine Boras would say ‘no’ to almost any long term extension because that is how he plays it. So Tigers fans can say goodbye to Skubal because I see no way of him ever signing a long term deal with them now.

  35. I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around Framber getting $38m a year. Even if it’s only a 3 year deal this is insane money for a guy coming off his worst season as he hit his 30s, and has only one top-5 CYA vote finish. Who led the league in hitting his catcher with pitches (and also in wild pitches).
    There is either a lot of money floating around the MLB that we don’t know about or we will soon witness a Holland tulip bulb implosion.

    1. The Astros are pretty sharp with pitchers, so they saw something and just walked away. The Tigers, who will lose Skubal, just overpaid him [Framber] to try and assuage their fans.

  37. ESPN: Indicted Cleveland Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase is accused of throwing suspicious pitches to benefit bettors in at least 48 games over two years, significantly more than was initially revealed by federal prosecutors, according to a court document filed Thursday.

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