AL East Showdown Yankees vs The Orioles

The New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles face off in an AL East showdown Tuesday through Thursday, and it has all the makings of a classic heated AL East Divisional battle. The three-game set starts tomorrow at the stadium, where the Yankees will try to gain some self-made separation from Baltimore in the divisional race, something they haven’t been able to do despite being the first team to 50 wins. This series will also allow them to regain some confidence from the fanbase, especially with their recent struggles offensively.

     The Yankees have struggled to get meaningful offensive production in recent weeks from anyone not named Judge or Soto. Anthony Volpe has cooled off at the dish over the last 10 games and has struggled in some big spots. Volpe, who seemingly looked like a budding All-Star may still become one, but when it comes to performing in the clutch Volpe has struggled mightily this season.

     Volpe got a lot of praise early in the season for getting on base and setting the table for Soto and Judge, but when the table is set for him, he’s not able to eat. Throughout the first two and a half months of the season, Volpe has hit .200 with runners in scoring position, a stat that is going to have to change if the Yankees want to win the World Series this season.

     The Yankees are getting the reigning AL Cy Young award winner back for game two of the series on Wednesday, as Gerrit Cole is expected to rejoin the team after he missed the first two and a half months with edema in his throwing elbow. This is a tough matchup for Cole, as his first start comes against one of the more dynamic offensive teams in baseball. Cole figures to have a pitch count of about 90 pitches, so if the Yankees can get five solid innings out of Cole in his first start back, it would be a success.

     The Baltimore Orioles sit at 47-24 coming into this series, two games behind the Yankees for first place in the Division and will be looking to be in first when the series concludes on Thursday. The Orioles took care of the Yankees in dominating fashion earlier on in the year taking three of four games from them and will for more of the same this week.

    The Orioles are 8-2 in their last 10 games including a series win this past weekend against the National League’s best team, the Philadelphia Phillies. Led by Catcher Adley Rutschman (.289, 14 home runs, 53 RBIs) and SS Gunner Henderson (.274, 22 home runs, 49 RBIs), two players who are expected to be All-Stars this year and are looking like they could be the future of the American League, will look to really put major league baseball on notice this week. If Baltimore’s young core can come into the Bronx and sweep the Yankees or just look like the much better baseball team, panic may start to set in throughout the fanbase considering how the team has struggled with good competition this season.

     As the series is set up right now the Yankees are missing out on Baltimore’s ace, Corbin Burnes. The Yankees will face Albert Suarez, Cade Povich, and Cole Irvin while countering with Nestor Cortes, Gerrit Cole, and Luis Gil. The pitching matchups for the whole series favor the Yankees, but if the Yankees bats stay quiet, it won’t matter how good their pitching is.

     This is as big as it gets for a series in June, when it comes to evaluating where two of the top teams in the American League are, up until this point.

With the MLB trade deadline drawing near there are a few players that need to be looked at as potential season changing players for whichever team may acquire them. After the July 30th trade deadline, the landscape of the MLB could look much different, and these are the names you need to look out for in the upcoming weeks.

Robert, while extremely talented, has been very injury prone throughout the first five years of his MLB career. Robert is 26 years old with team control until 2028 and has only been able to play close to a full season one time through the first five seasons of his career. Robert broke on to the scene in 2020 during the covid year where he appeared in 56 of 60 games and flashed a combination of power and speed. He since then has put together close to a full season one time, this came last year where Robert hit 38 home runs, knocked in 80 runs, stole 20 bases while hitting .264 in 145 games. Robert is said to be on the market, but should he be? Robert is young enough to where you can build around him, and he’s also under control for the next 4 seasons making him a valuable piece to build around. That being said, if he is moved, he will bring back a lot of great prospects from contenders despite his injury history. Teams looking for a big bat in the middle of the order, potentially the Royals, Red Sox, Brewers, and Giants could potentially be willing to trade a few top prospects for the services of Robert. When you consider age and team control, Robert is the best player that could be on the move come late July.

In a trade market with very little top relivers available, Mason Miller is certainly going to be discussed and his asking price will be extremely high. Miller, 25 has really broken on to the scene this season with Oakland, where he has a terrific 2.40 ERA, .87 WHIP, 12 saves, and 55 strikeouts in 30 innings. Contenders that are bullpen needy like the Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers, and even a team with a great bullpen like the Cleveland Guardians should certainly be interested in acquiring Miller if he is made available. The asking price is going to be very high considering Millers age and his undeniable potential to become the league's top closer if he can continue figuring it out. For the A’s to move on from the 25-year-old it is going to take a team to blow them away with elite young talent that the A's can see themselves using in the short and long terms. If they can't get what they're looking for it probably wouldn't make sense for the team to move him. That being said they probably can get what they’re asking for since Miller can give any contender an advantage over the other.

The Mets are struggling, Alonso is losing the fan base, and with his contract up and an extension unlikely, the Mets must explore all options come July 30^th. Alonso will cost a few middle of the road prospects, and the team right across town may be interested in acquiring Alonso. The Yankees need more production from their infield and Alonso could potentially bring that to the Bronx during their chase for their 28th World Series. The Red Sox, Mariners, Rays, and Twins could also certainly be interested in acquiring Alonso, at least for the rest of the season. The Mets have an opportunity to clean house and go into the off season with high hopes on acquiring a free agent that can potentially change the outlook on the franchise. It's safe to say with how the fanbase has reacted to Alonso this year the safer play for the Mets is to trade him for some prospects rather than singing Alonso to a long-term deal or lose him for nothing in the winter.

The White Sox may have found gold with 24-year-old starting pitcher Garrett Crochet who has pitched to a 3.16 ERA, .90 WHIP, and 116 strikeouts in 82 2/3s innings. They seem to want to move on from the starter who has been made available by the White Sox, and the Padres seem to have the most interest in the former top prospects. There have been rumors that the Padres and White Sox have been in recent talks for Crochet, and with him being cheap and young the contending Padres would be a great fit for Crochet. Crochet is under team control until the 2027 season which bears the question on why the White Sox may want to move on from the 24-year-old starter. What could the organization possibly be looking for if it’s not a 24-year-old pitcher under team control, who will likely be an All-Star this season. Teams like the Padres, who seem to have interest certainly will not be complaining.

Scott is a free agent at the end of the year and is currently on a team that seems to be rebuilding. The Marlins, 23-45 would be smart to unload on a reliver that seemingly won’t be back with the team next year. Contending teams like the Yankees, Dodgers, Padres, and Phillies would certainly be in the market for a top reliever like Scott. It might not cost that much to acquire Scott as it would Mason Miller, because of his contract but if the Marlins can acquire a young prospect, it would be better than losing him for nothing in the winter. As for teams like the Yankees and Phillies, acquiring a top level reliver this season could be more beneficial to them than holding onto a younger prospect or two who may never see the big leagues with their respective teams. With Scott being one of the few top relivers that may be on the market, it makes him a top trade option come late July.