News Significant for Yanks Despite 3rd Off Day of 2025
News is significant today despite their third scheduled off day of the 2025 season. Yankees Manager Aaron Boone has his hands full with all this news. There are three pieces of significant news. First, the Yankees moved Giancarlo Stanton to the 60-day injured list today and made a corresponding roster move. Second, there was a benches-clearing brawl in Baltimore last night that is still making news. Third, the injury to Gerrit Cole continues to reverberate and make news. It is busy despite the off day. Have you ever seen a professional sports team generate such news on an off day?
Giancolo Stanton News
The first piece of Yankees news is about their ailing slugger, on whom they made a decision today. The Yankees claimed outfielder Bryan De La Cruz off waivers from the Braves, optioned him to AAA Wilkes-Barre, and transferred designated hitter and fragile outfielder Stanton to the 60-day injured list on Thursday.
La Cruz, 28, was 9-for-47 with one run scored, one double, three walks, and one stolen base in 16 games for the Atlanta Braves this season. He was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett on April 17 and batted .200 with one run scored, one double, one run batted in and three walks in 11 games.
Brawl News
The benches cleared during the bottom of the fourth inning of Baltimore’s 5-4 win over the New York Yankees following a steal of second base by the Orioles’ Heston Kjerstad. As Kjerstad slid into the second base bag, Young Yankees second baseman Pablo Reyes (who was making his first start at second base for the Yankees) went leaping into the air to try to catch a high throw from catcher Austin Wells.
It led to a bit of an awkward landing for Reyes, who unintentionally got tangled up with Kjerstad’s head when he landed. The way Reyes came down was “out of my control,” he said while trying to prevent the ball from being airmailed to the outfield. Kjerstad got mad and yelled at Reyes, who said, “There were a couple of words there that probably, it felt like they suspected me in the heat of the moment there. But later on, it kind of toned down from there.”
“Emotions from both sides kind of went up,” Kjerstad said. “Didn’t think it was too much.” The minor confrontation still sparked benches and bullpens to clear, as players sprinted onto the field, with speedy Orioles Jorge Mateo among the first to show up. Not much happened in this brawl, but Kjerstad was the catalyst for a brawl between the Orioles and Yankees on July 12, 2024.
Gerrit Cole News
The season-ending injury to Cole continues to make news. Max Fried has been very good. It seems like Carlos Rodon has turned a corner. But that is just about it. Clarke Schmidt is like DeGualle’s Brazil; he has potential and always will. Will Warren has been inconsistent, to say the least. Carlos Carrasco is near the end of his career on is the fifth starter in this rotation. Soon, the Yankees will add Marcus Stroman to this mess. The Yankees are suffering from missing Cole.
Conclusion
Despite the Yankees having an off day today, they managed to generate a lot of news. The Stanton news, though not unexpected, is unfortunate. It does not seem like Stanton will be back for a while. The ‘benches-clearing’ brawl last night is still being talked about and generating news, Finally, the Yankees continue to be plagued by the Cole injury. That piece of news will continue to haunt them throughout the season.
