Around the Empire: Yankees news – 5/17/24

New York Post | Greg Joyce: The newest episode of Jack Curry’s podcast features an interview with Hal Steinbrenner, who politically addresses the impending free agency of Juan Soto. Steinbrenner doesn’t shy from the difficulties of negotiating with Scott Boras, but re-iterated that the Yankees seem prepared to make a sizable financial commitment to keep Soto in the Bronx. For his own part, Juan himself said “the door is always open” after Thursday’s victory…maybe his current cold streak has lowered the asking price.

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: If there’s one thing the Yankees can do, it’s make elite relievers out of guys you’ve never heard of. This year’s example might end up being Luke Weaver, who is playing the best baseball of his life in the season’s first few weeks. Starting by slashing the walk rate and inducing less and less hard contact, pitching coach Matt Blake may have done it once again.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: That big home run on Sunday may be a turning point in Gleyber Torres’ season, as it kicked off a strong series for the second baseman in Minnesota. Torres himself admits how much the long ball helped relieve some pressure, and how much the bonds between himself and others in the clubhouse have kept him optimistic. The weight of a contract year might be on his shoulders, but as a veteran on the squad, his performance is needed now…and may be looking up.

FanGraphs | Dan Szymborski: Giancarlo Stanton’s had a nice bounceback to start 2024, but he hasn’t exactly been what the Yankees wanted when they traded for the then-reigning MVP in 2017. Now closer to the end of his career than the beginning, Dan takes a look at Stanton’s Cooperstown case, especially as the slugger starts to climb the home run leaderboard. 500 dingers is a possibility for Big G, but the rest of the resume might leave him just shy of the standards of enshrinement.