Yankees have to get 'creative' with closer role & Verdugo is still playing | Around the Bases

Yankees Closer role today is Friday September 6 and we're going to go around the bases with our MLB Insider at the New York Post he is none other than John Heyman John how you doing man I'm good how are you Ryan I'm doing okay uh the Yankees not so much so we're gonna start there right because I know we we got to talk about what happened what's going on with this Yankees Squad right now uh they lose another series to the Texas Rangers um they're now a half game back in the AL East it doesn't seem like Aaron Boon and Company are are worried about the current state of the team and how they've been playing you know Klay Holmes blows up for another save I heard you talk on the show with Joel Sherman about this exact situation with the bullpen I want to start there before we get into the bigger topic of Verdugo and Dominguez so the Yankees you know Aaron Boon has said we're gonna have to get creative here with this Bullpen and the closer situation so John when you're looking at what's going on with the Yankees and Kay Holmes what's your read on it all well get creative here is another nice way of saying that Holmes is demoted at least for the moment and we get it I mean has at 11 blown Sav some of it's bad luck I like clay Holmes I think he'd be a great setup man uh unfortunately we're not sure who the closer can be he's now back but as a starter is he a possibility maybe Weaver's been generally pretty good can he close in New York I mean not anybody else's Marian Rivera I get that but you know it's not an easy job you know uh it's not not not easy at all so uh it's not an easy solution either uh probably get creative is probably accurate besides being euphemistic yeah and they'll probably mix and match and try to figure it out and maybe Holmes will get back in there at some point but uh for the moment I think that means he's demoted and I don't think anybody can argue with it as I wrote in the post today they tried certainly for Tanner Scott they tried for AJ Puck some reason they didn't really love AZ I guess uh I don't think they were close on Fairbanks either but uh you know we can look back on it but look EST brought a ton from the Phillies to get him Tanner Scott brought a ton from the Padres where the Yankees going to really outbid that I you know it's hard to second guess that now we don't know exactly what the Yankees were asked right about but we do know George Lombard Jr was one guy that the Marlins were interested in did they mention Dominguez probably but I mean could they have done it without Dominguez you would think some combination could have done it but we we don't really know all the facts there so it's hard to second guess the Yankees on this it's not hard to second can guess them that Holmes is demoted at least for the time being no I I hear you John I guess the the fans and the outrages is that you're all in on Juan stto we've talked about this so many times this year you are only guaranteed Juan stto for the next month and the postseason after that he's a free agent this is the year you have Aaron judge having one of the best off offensive Seasons we've seen in a long time you know he slowed down recently but he's still the best player in the American League I I don't know what else to say say you had the opportunity at the deadline you should have been Allin if you're Brian kman yes we can second guess that moment the other thing I wanted to hit on with you too with the clay Holm situation is Alex Verdugo still playing don't you find it a little interesting that we're 20 games left in the regular season I understand Klay has 11 blown slaves the most in baseball we know he's a contact pitcher he's going to pitch the contact you have to play great defense behind him but why all of a sudden are we having this reactionary you know moment for Boon and Company to say you now we got to get creative with the closer role when you're so dedicated to other players on the team who were only here for one year in Alex Verdugo do you find that a little interesting here John well I mean obviously these are separate calls um I personally think they shouldn't be so dedicated to Verdugo I it doesn't appear that I'm alone there I mean there's a bit of an overreaction and I'm guess I'm feeding into it I feel a little guilty about that but I mean I don't get it with Dominguez give him a shot the guy was held out of the sto trade even never mind Snell or tenner Scott or whomever he was held out of sto so they actually love this guy and I'm not going to hold it against him that he was over four with three strikeouts against Terk scoble a lot of people are over four with three strikeouts against Terk scoel I mean he obviously had a bad game he double clutched let's not go crazy over that one game I mean Verdugo in the last couple of months has been the third worst offensive player in baseball with 200 played appearances they've given him ample opportunity we 85% of the way through the season I know on the middle of June when he had a big game against the Red Sox I lauded them for that trade and I'm regretting it I'm taking it back I made a mistake I think Boon should probably do the same I mean obviously he's got bigger Stakes he didn't just write one column he advocated for Verdugo for more than a year from what we understand and he loves Verdugo Verdugo in a away is a safer Choice CU he is very good defensively in left field left field not easy in Yankees Stadium maybe a little safer choice I think they need to go for it now I mean look the Yankees were criticized for having a two Superstar lineup for a while now Stanton is back je chisom has been added if you add the Martian to this it's almost a murderer row why not give it a shot they certainly have not separated themselves from the field and by the field I mean the better teams in baseball they certainly are one of the better teams and I think Verdugo is not going to do that at this point I don't know whether still allergic to his batting gloves or his tattoos or what but he has not hit for the last two months I mean you could say whatever you want about it he looks better whatever unlucky look at his stats 65 Ops it's time to call up Dominguez and I do think you know it's easier for me to say that to be the one to have to tell Verdugo that you're mostly on the bench now or you're released it probably don't want they probably don't want to have that uncomfortable conversation but he's a free agent at the end of the year though and you're not committed to him past this season season I understand I I heard you and Joel talk about it you know would you lose Verdugo the rest of the season if you put him on the bench you're not committed to him financially after this season there there's a difference there I can understand to an extent why they keep running DJ lameu out there's no better options and plus you have two more years left of him but the the commitment to Alex rugo not running out a ball to first base getting telling him postgame he's playing his ass off in a moment that it's doesn't look good right there and to your point the WRC plus is the third worst in baseball all season for left fielders so you're not getting good baseball out of Alex Verdugo in a time where you are desperately needing offense in this lineup because to your point it is a two Superstar lineup you're getting contributions from Stanton and Chisum Austin Wells has been a revelation at the offensive spot for the catcher spot so this is your chance you're all in you you're trying to make a push and it just feels like again John they're letting this division slip away and that's what's scary to us as Yankees fans when we watch this it it's it's not fun to watch man like the urgency doesn't feel there right now yeah I mean people talk about it well it's only important that playoffs will know it's important that they win that Division if they win the division uh they will get a buy right I mean the top two division Winners Get buys it does not look like Houston the likely winner in the west is going to be one of those top two teams so you win that division you get a buy I mean certainly they should have the uh medal to the pedal they should whatever cliche you want to use they should be going for it and not worrying about uh you know I admitting a mistake I don't think I don't think that's it but I don't know because there's certainly in the vast minority in thinking that we should stick with Verdugo and not give Dominguez a shot here and you know if you want to put Verdugo on the bench uh you know you don't think you can handle the bench then there's a real problem but I I I i' put him on the bench and uh you know uh find another solution Duke Sims is up right you can release Duke Sims not release B send them down or whatever uh want to get the terminology straight but uh yeah they have this un founded uh love for Verdugo and I'm not sure what it's about I know there are other people in the organization who feel like we do and like most of the fans do and that they should figure out uh how to get Dominguez in that lineup and make it a great lineup you know make it a lineup that's better than Philly and la and Arizona and the other good really good lineups uh you know it's certainly one of the better lineups now and I get the defense that Verdugo gives you but that that sounds like seems like an excuse to me right because I think so Dominguez has got big potential yeah I mean John for dominguez's last 18 games not including last night which he did hit a single and a home run of 105 miles per hour exit velocity four home runs 10% walk percentage he's lowered his 22.6 uh strikeout percentage to 15% and he has a 162 WRC plus he is raking right now in Triple A so is just moving further to the point yeah I will say there is a big difference between Triple A and now so we'll see about that but uh you know the scouts will tell you the guy's got big Talent we saw him up last year in a cameo hit four home runs um you know I believe it uh they gave him a big a big uh contract a big bonus when they signed him I mean the guy is known as having incredible talent and uh like I said we're 85% through this year Verdugo for whatever reason whether it's the allergies or whatever offensively he has not done it you say third worst in left field over the last two months he's the third worst in baseball with that number of plate appearances that's not good I don't know if they do they count lameu lamu's got to be worse maybe he doesn't have the 200 he do have the 200 plate appearances right probably not no he's got too many plate appearances I love lameu and everybody does but uh they have an unusual uh love for lame yeah I don't know yeah John it definitely is something for the Yankees fans we're we're we're well in tune to see what's going to happen here over the coming weeks and real quick I know I know you alluded to it here maybe you said Weaver in your gut opinion real quick who do you think is going to be that closer role for them these next couple weeks are they gonna try and put clay holes back in there is it gonna be Weaver what do you think yeah I mean you could say mix and match but what Lefty do they really have who was a potential closer so yeah that's not a closer I mean he had a 5ye a with the white you escape the white socks and you become great and Michael copek did with the Dodgers and he's certainly better with the Yankees but really there aren't a ton of closing options I don't think kanley is it so uh I mean I to me I thought it was Weaver Joel Sherman said heel um you know there aren't a lot of options which might be why uh Holmes got as much chance as he did get uh but at this point the way the focus is and the closer roll and all that I think you got to do something else and Weaver was my solution so I'll stick with that all right Weaver TBD on the Dominguez thing he could be called up this weekend we don't know we'll see what happens Mets push for Wild Card speaking of teams putting the foot to the pedal the New York Mets John seven games winning seven game winning streaks swept the Red Sox they are now tied after losses from the Braves the Padres Diamondbacks all last night but they are tied with the Braves for the wild card spot that third third spot they're playing great baseball John that lineup is raking Francisco Lindor I know you when I when I had mention you a couple weeks ago about the MVP thing he is having an MVP like season they're getting great starting pitching you know for you when you're looking at this Mets team you've been on high on them what do you think man like this is a playoff team right yeah it's funny that we all we it seems like every week we're killing the Yankees and praising the Mets and the Yankees are basically in at this point right they have to really fall in their faces not to be in the playoffs and the Mets you know it's basically 5050 they are tied with the Braves I know the Cubs are kind of on their heels use a cliche and uh you know maybe the Diamondbacks or Padres could fall back I don't know it's basically 50/50 about the Mets getting in the playoffs and it's all positive right now seven game winning streak swept both socks nine and one against the AL East that's pretty impressive I know we kill the Yankees but they're generally a pretty good team uh Yankees Orioles and red sucks red sucks they caught them in a slump Cub white socks whenever you catch them it's probably good but uh seven game winning Str nothing to sneeze at another cliche uh it's pretty impressive they've got Peterson going great uh manah has been fantastic severino's been outstanding um you know their Bullpen is at least better than the Yankee Bullpen right now and the lineup is deep right I mean they've been missing JD Martinez he'll be back now but uh it's a pretty deep lineup if they ever get Alvarez going it'll really be impressive and as far as Lindor an MVP he's certainly having an MVP type season I think he's in that Bobby Wood Junior category where it's going to be an uphill fight to beat judge and Otani two all-time greats who are kind of staring down history trying to trying to get the history of the 60 plus homers in the 5050 season you know it's going to be difficult but uh you know the guy is an incredible Short Stop he's an amazing leader uh throwing charity everything Lindor has been amazing with everything uh and uh I'd love to see him get it uh not gonna a hell of a short stop defense defensively he's a hell of a short stop too don't talk enough about course of course we could say the same thing about Bobby withit junor he's a hell of a shortstop and incredible uh player all around and you know right now uh you know if judge and Otani don't win it's going to be a surprise it's certainly an uphill battle to beat either one of them but uh W's been incredible uh the The Royals are a great story they lost 106 games last year the Mets are compelling story they've certainly improved quite a bit and it's I would say it's not all Lindor but he's the key man in this whole rise for the ever since they put him in that leadoff spot he has been raking uh he's one of the best hitters in baseball that contract you know a lot of fans were complaining about you know at the beginning of the year he started contct but yeah the value now it's been there he's the leadership too that to your point he's been great for them and they're making a push for the playoffs and who knows they could do some damage hey look the wild card team and the dyack made a wild or World Series appear last year I'm not saying it's going to happen but it could happen for the Mets if they to that wild card spot and get hot can and look manah sevino and Peterson have been really good so it's a pretty good playoff rotation it's a lot better than we would have thought I know s is threatening to come back we shall see about that but Lindor it's been amazing I I sat in on his charity event uh at City Field no no real great uh uh expense to me I just walked across the hallway and sat in on it and it was great he was talking to kids about smiling and even you know even I smiled a little bit more for a half a day so I got to give him credit for that so uh it was terrific that's great J that's a cool that's a cool story you went to go to lindor's charity event he he has a great smile too he's he's a fun guy to root for yep John let's go to speaking World Series predictions of the playoffs World Series favorite who is it for you right now as we're getting closer here to crunch time speaking of a crapshoot I mean I think the Dodgers are probably the best team at full strength but there's no timetable on Kershaw there's no time table on glass now Yamamoto just comes back on Tuesday so who knows with even them the Phillies have been up and down the Orioles have been up and down Yankees as we've gone over at infinite at nauseum even Beyond at infinitum are up and down so you know I don't know are the Guardians the most consistent team I don't know the AST the Astros are interesting certainly they they haven't they haven't been good the last few days but uh they' pieced together a good rotation out of nowhere all those guys outter Kei Javier McCullers uh Garcia they've all basically been out the whole year close to it and they've somehow pieced together a rotation now where Justin Verlander is the sixth best starter that they have so they're a threat the Padres with that lock down Bullpen a threat the Diamondbacks look that they did last year you know they've got now Walker coming back Marte will be back and healthy uh they're a threat I mean one of any just about any team that gets in uh can do it I think uh it is a real crap shoot this year all right so there's John's prediction crapshoot no idea we're gonna see and wait no idea but you know I I I if I'm gonna predict I'm gonna go Phillies and Astros so that's my prediction I can see that I can see it like we all can see that all Red Sox disappoint right John let's bring this all home your most disappointing team of the week who is it I I think it's the Red Sox they were a great surprise team and now they're back down around five 00 they didn't look good against the Mets of course nobody's looking good against the Mets lately but they're on a losing slide and all the good will that they had is kind of come out to some degree um and uh you know they just they got a lot of good young players their future looks better than it did before particularly if they come up with some pitching in the off season but boy Des is in a slump and uh O'Neal's been struggling too since he came back not good yep yep uh you know obviously they got some key players they got looks like he's going to be good uh s raphaela Rafael yeah looks like he's going to be good uh they got they got some good young players and they got a good future but right now they're pretty mediocre so they're my disappointing team I'm glad it's not the white socks this week because I was tired of saying the white socks so we're going to go to the Red Sox John they're breaking that record right absolutely I think they got to go around 500 to avoid any part of that record even better at this point no chance zero chance of that I feel bad about it it's Ed cran pool's going to be happy my friend from the 62 Mets did not want any part of that record he doesn't deserve any part of that record he was 17 years old he played three games and he still takes it to heart like I want those white socks to break our record good for him and uh they will Ed you're going to feel good about that John we appreciate you as always going around the bases and giving us all the latest stories around baseball talking Yankees talking Mets Yankees and Mets got two big series coming up here Mets playing the Reds Yankees playing the Cubs we'll see how it goes appreciate you as always John all right sounds good Ryan