It won't be difficult to contend in the NL East for the foreseeable future.

I have no idea why Reyes is still on this team, but I understand why the pitchers are still on this team:

"Steven Matz, one of the core four of pitchers the club refused to part with due to delusions of grandeur that they can contend in 2019 with this roster as currently constituted, got lit up by the Nationals. He didn’t make it out of the first inning, allowing eight hits and seven runs and recording just two outs."

Snark is easy enough when a baseball team loses by 21 runs, but the Mets surely don't have delusions of grandeur just because they held onto their pitchers.

1) The 2019 team won't have the roster "as currently constituted." Current is 2018. 2019 is an entirely different year than 2018, also known as the future.

2) The quickest path to contention is good starting pitching, even if Matz stunk it up today.

3) As for contending in the NL East in 2019, what is that going to require? 83 wins or so?

They're only 12.5 games back now.

I'd say 2018 contention is a pipe dream, but this current roster with a productive Cespedes, Bruce, and Conforto? That team would be in contention. If you're a .500 team in the NL East, you're in contention.

Mr. Net Negative has 6 RBIs vs. the Mets today ..

... and it's the third inning.

Too many armchair GMs.

Makes sense to keep good starting pitching and build around it. It's easier than finding good starting pitching. All these armchair GMs would trade deGrom for prospects and then, in a couple of years, trade the prospects for a starter.

One of these things is not like the other.

"He was saving games when most of the country was sleeping.

He was becoming one of the greatest closers in baseball history despite his own general manager refusing to watch him.

He was the West Coast version of Mariano Rivera."

Well, no.

The playoffs, and World Series in particular, separated Mariano from Hoffman and all others.


Trevor Hoffman's WS ERA is 9.00 (very limited sample size).

Mariano's WS ERA is 0.99 ... which is worse than his ALDS ERA and ALCS ERA.

I'd take Bumgarner.

Very insightful column.

The reason the Yankees aren't going to acquire Bumgarner is because the Giants aren't going to trade him.

Felz Stat of the Day

Andujar has 30 doubles in 336 at-bats.

This is Mattingly territory.

Actually, at this pace, Andujar would crush the Yankee record.

No excuses, but this is what I originally thoght.

Earlier in the game, Sanchez "doubled" down the LF line but stopped at first.

It isn't an excuse.

If you can't play properly, get out of the game.

I also don't think Sanchez has demonstrated a willingness to work hard, to improve his defense, to hustle, or even to get into peak physical condition.

I just think yesterday's performance in particular was a combination of laziness and injury.

The Return of the Passed Ball.

I never thought Austin Romine would outplay Gary Sanchez:

"But that wasn’t his only lackadaisical play. The Yankees were trailing by a run in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded and two out when Sánchez hit a sharp grounder to Rays second baseman Daniel Robertson, who flipped it to shortstop Willy Adames. Running from first base, Aaron Hicks got to second before Adames could step on the bag. But because Sanchez was jogging to first base, Adames was able to throw him out to end the game."

My initial impression was that Sanchez was jogging because his groin is not 100% and he was following the instructions of his coaches and his trainers. Maybe not.


"For much of the last month, the question shadowing the Yankees was whether they could overtake the surging Boston Red Sox in the American League East and escape the nail-biting proposition of a wild-card playoff game. But as the Red Sox inch further and further ahead, a hint of concern is creeping in about whether the Yankees will be able to hold on to one of the two wild card slots.

Not too long ago, such a question would seem ludicrous. But after Monday night’s loss, the Yankees’ wild-card cushion is down to seven games."

Yeah, it's funny how the whole world spends so much time worrying about the Yankees' playoff rotation when the first step is to make the playoffs.


"There is some reinforcement coming soon for the Yankees, with second baseman Gleyber Torres expected to rejoin the team for Wednesday’s final game of the three-game series. A 21-year-old rookie, Torres has been on the disabled list since July 5 with a right hip strain. Torres was in the vicinity Monday night, playing for the Yankees’ Florida State League team in Tampa.

Outfielder Clint Frazier isn’t expected to be available for the Yankees anytime soon, although the team received encouraging news on him Monday: Frazier received a diagnosis of post-concussive migraines, the team said, and Boone called it a 'better-case scenario.'

But the bigger issue right now is what to do with their catcher who is batting .188, struggling defensively and showing a disconcerting propensity for not hustling."

I'd be hard-pressed to think of a player who improved at this particular disconcerting propensity.

I'm expecting no improvement in defense or attitude, but a lot of talk about how his defense and attitude are improving.

I've noticed he can't field and he can't run.

Always has demonstrated a lot of power and he will hit a lot of HRs at Yankee Stadium. He strikes out too much, like everybody else. The rather prominent predictions of a batting title seem fairly ridiculous, but so are lots of predictions.

Bird is young and cheap.

He hasn't accomplished nearly as much as several other Baby Bombers and I suspect a 14 at-bat hot streak is just a bad hitter having a good 14 at-bats.

Having said that, Lou Gehrig is not sitting on the bench awaiting his turn.

There is simply no reason for the Yankees to not stick with Bird.

Your weekly David Price Report.

"You have to say that July started out great for the Yankees, a Sunday night game at home, just like the kind of game they will play this Sunday against the Mets, an 11-1 victory over David Price and the Red Sox that made you wonder if Price would ever beat the Yankees in a big game, here or anywhere, on the first night of July or the last weekend of the regular season at Fenway."

Can I get a copy-and-paste job at the Daily News?


"The Yankees and Red Sox were still right there with each other at the top of the American League East, with the Yankees actually two games ahead in the loss column when the Red Sox left town. And since then, the Yankees have played the way they did at the start of the season, when they were 9-9 and then 10-9 at the same time the Red Sox were starting 17-2. Through Friday night, the Red Sox had lost one time since that Sunday night game. The Yankees? They ended up hanging on in the 9th on Saturday against the Mets, or would have been 8-8 since July 1."

"Hanging on in the 9th" is the same thing as "winning."

"Almost losing" is the same thing as "winning."

"Would have been 8-8" is the same thing as "9-7."

The Yankees have been hanging in there with a scorching hot Red Sox team. The Yankees have also done their part by beating the Red Sox head to head.

There is no move that Cashman can make that can prevent the Red Sox from winning.


"So now what does Brian Cashman do as his team moves up on the non-waiver trade deadline? Maybe they really can outscore everybody through October, the way they eventually did against the Mets Saturday afternoon. Or not. A month ago I thought the Yankees were the best team in the league. Not now."

A month ago, Lupica was wrong. The Yankees are not better than Houston or Boston, and I can only imagine Cleveland calmly laughing in their clubhouse at the notion of a 3-team AL Powerhouse.


"We’ll never know for sure how serious the Yankees actually were about adding Manny Machado to the stick they already have in their batting order. It would have been a dramatic and interesting play, of course, we’ve gone over that, and a statement from Cashman that he really did think his team could slug its way past the Red Sox, Astros, Indians."

I think most people with brains never took the notion seriously.

The Orioles trading Machado to the AL East?

The Yankees trading prospects to the AL East?


"The Yankees have a perfect right to think that the past three weeks look a lot differently if Torres and and Sanchez had been healthy. So no one would suggest that they aren’t still on track to win 100 games."

Kewl.

Let's get back to David Price.


"But still: When Price (him again) beat the Tigers 1-0 on Friday night, the Red Sox were 69-30, which sort of means this:

They no longer needed to even play .500 ball the rest of the way just to get to 100 wins."

Let me summarize:

The Yankees are 3 games back on the loss side, but will not catch the Red Sox if the Red Sox continue to win 70% of their games.

David Price.

The Yankees will probably need to add an impact player, but I can't think of who this player would be.

David Price.

Criticizing someone who speeds up the interminable HR Derby.

My idea is to set up a pitching machine that unleashes ten 100-MPH pitches per minute for five minutes.

Hit as many HRs as you can.

So no one blames Aaron Hicks.

There is nothing to apologize for here.

Let's set the stage: Two runs down, one out, eighth inning, runner on first, full count. Do you send the runner? Yes.

If you don't send the runner, Hicks will ground into an inning-ending double play.

If the pitch is in the strike zone, Hicks should make contact, even if it's just a foul ball.

If Hicks strikes out on a pitch outside the strike zone, it will most likely be an off-speed pitch in the dirt, and Judge will be safe at second.

"Sitting around and waiting for a HR" seems like the winning strategy if you know 100% that the next batter will hit a HR ... and if you knew 100% when your batters were going to hit HRs, managing a winning baseball team would be very easy.

Also ...

Judge was safe.

We have no idea if Stanton would have hit a game-tying HR in different circumstances.

Attention is currency.

If you're wondering how Kylie Jenner can (supposedly) be worth $900 million, look at this nonsense.

A mediocre AA ballplayer goes 1-for-4, and that warrants a newspaper article?:

"Somehow, Tim Tebow keeps finding a way to counter his critics by doing something unexpected."

I'm ready to be wowed.


"The former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback was named to the Class AA Eastern League All-Star team despite a rather unremarkable .270 batting average, five home runs and 33 RBI this season for the Binghamton (N.Y.) Rumble Ponies, a New York Mets affiliate."

Unremarkable, but that doesn't stop me from remarking.


"Tebow, 30, was in the East squad's starting lineup Wednesday night, batting ninth as the designated hitter. In his first at-bat against West starting pitcher Beau Burrows, Tebow hit an opposite-field double."

Waiting to be wowed.


"Tebow grounded out to shortstop in the fifth inning, flied out to left field in the seventh and, representing the go-ahead run in the bottom of the ninth, struck out swinging."

Wow!


"The East pushed a run across in the ninth and the game ended in a 4-4 tie."

WOW!

Wilmer Flores is so good, the Mets should consider starting him ... I mean, trading him.

"Wilmer Flores has done this enough times now that perhaps it would behoove some contending team to actually offer the Mets a decent prospect or two for Walkoff Wilmer ahead of the upcoming trade deadline.

Flores came up as a pinch-hitter in the 10^th inning on Monday and promptly did what he does best, ripping a home run off the left-field foul pole to end the Mets’ 4-3 win in the opener of a doubleheader split against the Phillies at Citi Field, while also establishing the record for the most game-ending RBI in franchise history.

What started out as the ultimate feel-good story when Flores had cried on the field after nearly getting traded to Milwaukee just ahead of the 2015 trade deadline – and then clubbing a game-winning home run two days later – has developed into something of a cottage industry for the 26-year-old utility man.

Even if he doesn’t have a true defensive position, it’s hard to argue with his repeated results late in games."

It's easy to argue with.

Maybe a contending team could use Wilmer Flores.

Expecting him to just sit on the bench until it's time for a walkoff HR?Very dumb.

It's just a weird statistical blip and everyone knows it is.

Why did I click on this article?

He fooled me on the MLB website:

"One of the reasons, but not the only one, that the Yankees will be actively seeking a starting pitcher or two before the non-waiver Trade Deadline is because of the way one of the starters they already have, Sonny Gray, has pitched for them so far.

Gray came to the Yankees from Oakland, and always looked pretty good to them out there. Only now he is in New York and Yankees fans act as if he is not only pitching as badly as he has lately, but also vandalizing Monument Park between starts."

For what it's worth ... and it isn't worth much ... Lupica was, like, a HUGE Sonny Gray fan.



"Gray gave up five runs and six hits and threw two wild pitches in the two innings he pitched in the New York's 6-2 loss in Toronto Friday night, after starting a game against the Red Sox last Saturday night that the Yankees ended up losing, 11-1. His record is now 5-7 this season, with an earned run average of 5.85. Gray was 4-7 last season after the Yankees acquired him from the A's, even if he did get two starts in the postseason, one in which he pitched a solid five innings against the Astros in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, a game that Yankees won late."

We all have access to baseball-reference.com, but what does last year's ALCS have to do with ... anything?

In fact, you haven't written anything yet.

Skip the three-paragraph intro if you're going to just repeat things we already know.


"But the problem they have, tied in to Sonny Gray's problems, is that a lot of the starting pitchers who may be available seem to be different versions of the same Sonny Gray the Yankees liked as much as they did when he was pitching for somebody else."

That's the problem in a nutshell, with the Yankees and every team in MLB.

Which is why the Mets should hold on to both deGrom and Synderrggaarrdd.

You can trade them for 10 prospects, 2 of which become MLBers, 0 of which become All Stars, but even if you somehow put together a playoff lineup, you will never be able to replace two top-notch starters.


"Different shades of Gray, basically, if not 50 of them."

His first name is a pun, too. So many decisions to make when you're a professional baseball columnist. 

But 50 Shades of Gray is too good to pass up ... and also timely. Lupica sure has his finger on the pulse of pop culture.


"But there is only one starting pitcher out there -- unless the Giants decide to deal Madison Bumgarner -- who could change everything for the Yankees this October the way Justin Verlander changed everything for the Astros last October and that is a guy they don't have to worry about in New York because he's already pitching in New York:

Jacob deGrom."

"There is only one starting pitcher out there ... other than Madison Bumgarner."


I mean, look, I know the target audience on MLB.com is beyond the New York Metropolitan Area, but that was a pretty big buildup to tell us the Sky is Blue.

Will it happen? DeGrom to the Yankees. I doubt it.

But every single caller to WFAN sure has an offer for the Mets. The first thing I heard this morning was deGrom-for-Stanton. That's probably the highest price I've heard, with the lowest being, say, Andujar and Ellsbury.

One thing these moronic callers have that Lupica doesn't have: the guts to put their offer on the airwaves.

This is all we get from the weasel:

"Will the Mets trade deGrom (who is still only 30)? No one knows that."

OK, so what do you know?

Did you try asking Buck Showalter?

Bird is still young and has a decent amount of power, I suppose.

This doesn't mention a 3-pitch strikeout with bases loaded and one out with the game on the line. 

I don't actually know if an infield shift was on at the time.

I'm the Braves had to play at normal double-play depth, but I guess it doesn't matter when the batter can barely hit a foul ball:

"The Yankees have to be close to losing their patience with first baseman Greg Bird, who’s hitting .198 in 31 games since coming off the disabled list following ankle surgery. After hitting two homers in Saturday’s win, he’s 1-for-8. He entered Monday hitting .171 (7-for-41) in his previous 15 games.

'I've just got to do better,' he said late Monday night."

 I don't know if they "have to be" losing their patience. They seem to give this guy a lot of slack.

At best, he can platoon with, like, the equally horrible Todd Neil Walker. It's a bit of a shock if either of them even put the ball into play.

Bird is 25 years old, has accumulated 400 career at-bats, and has a career WAR of 1.0.

Judge is a five-tool champ.

Judge almost made a game-saving catch that would have been one of the best catches I've ever seen.

Diverting attention from the error that set it up. An error from the star second baseman maybe needs to grow up a little.

I can't think of one Yankee second baseman Pat Kelly who played fundamentally sound defense.

Charge the ball, glove on the ground, hunch over the ball, get into a position to throw.

Maybe there's a youtube clip of Willie Randolph.

Actually, there probably is not a youtube clip. Because winning fundamentals are routine and boring.

Rhetorical Question

Why does Buck Showalter still have a job?

You can maybe "man up" in Scranton.

"Thus far as a Yankee, he's 9-13 in 27 starts with a 4.68 ERA, including 5-5 with a 5.44 this year as the biggest Achilles on an American League power. The Yanks are 7-9 when Gray starts, 46-18 when anyone else starts.

'I feel like we're the best team in baseball four out of five days,' Gray said. 'To come out and do that ... it just sucks.'"

Congratulations to Sonny Gray for self-flagellating himself in the post game locker room.

My advice to anyone associated with baseball, as you review a season's worth of Sonny Gray excuses:

1. Pay no attention to post game comments.

2. Stop associating baseball ability with willingness to be contrite.

3. Never use the phrase "personal catcher" again.