Tuesday night’s All-Star Game comes with plenty of star power, even if some of the biggest names in the sport aren’t taking part. Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Nick Kurtz, Byron Buxton, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Paul Skenes, Jacob Misiorowski, Cam Schlittler and others are out, but the stage is still loaded.
For Yankees fans, though, the conversation gets a little more personal. Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger are in the starting lineup, and the 2026 All-Star Game also features one former Yankee plus a handful of free-agent swings that could have altered the course of the Judge era. There’s also one name that still hangs over multiple postseason exits.
So yes, it’s worth watching. Just maybe don’t let it turn into a full-blown Brian Cashman therapy session. The Yankees are still in good shape this season and could make a run.
Juan Soto is the obvious place to start. The Yankees put $760 million on the table, but Soto took $765 million guaranteed from the Mets, with $805 million total in escalators.
His run in Queens has been a disaster so far, while his lone season in pinstripes helped deliver the Yankees’ first World Series appearance since 2009. If he had been on last year’s club or this year’s version, who knows how different things might look.
Yankees fans are over it, but they still miss him.
Kyle Schwarber is another one that stings. He was there for the taking, yet the Yankees never went all in.
The fit was never perfect with Giancarlo Stanton already in the mix, but New York somehow spent years without enough left-handed bats while Schwarber was available. He was DFA’d in 2021, and since 2022 he’s been the most prolific home run hitter in the league after Aaron Judge.
Put half of those games in Yankee Stadium and he’d probably have at least 25 more homers.
Bryce Harper is the one that still makes you wonder what could have been. He grew up a Yankees fan, said he wanted to be one, and was entering his age-26 season when he hit free agency in 2018.
The Yankees never even reached out during his tour, and Cashman said the club had too many outfielders and wouldn’t consider moving a player of Harper’s caliber to first base. That line ages a certain way now, doesn’t it?
Freddie Freeman belongs in the same bucket. Freeman said he spoke with Cashman, but the Yankees never made an offer.
Jon Heyman reported that Freeman wanted to go back to Atlanta, and if that wasn’t happening, he preferred Los Angeles. Still, the Yankees never truly got in the race.
Instead, they turned to Anthony Rizzo, a move that turned ugly for a lot of reasons and cost them $63 million from August 2021 through the end of 2024. Freeman’s six-year, $162 million deal looks like a bargain by comparison.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto gets an honorable mention, even though the Yankees knew he preferred Los Angeles and was using them for leverage.
Then there’s Aroldis Chapman, the one who really did damage. He was a brutal postseason presence for the Yankees, blowing the 2017 and 2019 ALCS matchups against the Astros, and then came Mike Brosseau’s home run against him in 2020. Chapman was overpaid, left in 2022 after refusing to show up for a workout because he wasn’t guaranteed a postseason roster spot following a tattoo infection, and somehow ended up a back-to-back All-Star in his age-37 and 38 seasons with the Red Sox.
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Juan Sotos Aaron Judge Reaction Will Irritate Plenty Of Yankees Fans
Juan Soto spent a season in the Yankees orbit that gave the club plenty to remember, from a run to the 2024 World Series to the kind of October moment that can define a players year. Even now, with Soto across town for the Mets, he still spoke warmly about that stretch and pointed to one of his biggest postseason swings as a favorite memory from wearing pinstripes.
The part that will stick with Yankees fans, though, is how little interest Soto seemed to show in revisiting the Aaron Judge question. Judge and Soto formed one of the most dangerous pairings in baseball last season, but Sotos answer made clear he is looking forward rather than back, and it comes at a time when the Mets are buried in the NL East and staring at another year without a postseason trip. [Read more 🡒]
Former Yankee Just Landed In The Middle Of Boston's Deadline Push
Boston made its first move ahead of the trade deadline, adding outfielder Jahmai Jones from the Tigers in a deal that sent a player to be named later to Detroit. Jones had been designated for assignment last week after struggling offensively in Detroit, and the move gives the Red Sox another body to evaluate as they try to strengthen the roster for a postseason push.
For Yankees fans, the interesting part is the familiar name landing in the middle of a division rivals deadline plans. Jones has not given Detroit much at the plate this season, but Boston is clearly betting theres something worth mining here, whether it is depth, versatility or simply a low-cost chance to catch lightning before the market gets more expensive. [Read more 🡒]
Jazz Chisholm Just Said What Yankees Fans Feared For Years
Jazz Chisholm Jr. has given the Yankees something more than an everyday spark in the lineup. After a win over the Rays, Max Schuemann pointed to Chisholms comments as part of the reason the club felt more unified, and the message carried extra weight because it came from a player who then backed it up with a crucial two-run homer in a victory over the Nationals.
For a Yankees team that has spent years hearing questions about its clubhouse chemistry, Chisholms willingness to speak plainly about the groups internal cohesion landed like a shot across the bow. The broader issue has hovered over the franchise since the 2020 season and through repeated postseason frustrations, and now the conversation is no longer just about talent or results. It is about whether this roster can stay connected through the kind of stretches that have pulled it apart before. [Read more 🡒]