Hour 1: Red Sox Catching Up to the Yankees

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This is The Michael Kay Show Podcast.

**Michael Kay** (0:34)
I gotta get more Kay.

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**Michael Kay** (0:45)
We thank you for joining us on this Friday, August 7, 2026 Me and you for two. Those are the rules of engagement. It's the fastest moving two hours in Sports Talk Radio, let's be honest. And you're the co-host. You know the deal. You know the password 1-800-919-3776.
I have not been with you for a while since last Friday. I've missed you. I took four days off, little bit of vacation. So I know there's a lot of stuff to cover. There's a lot of stuff that's been going on. We'll try to hit all of it. And you know that today is a free for all Friday. So anything that's been on your mind this past week, and you have not been able to get in touch with me, please feel free. I am here to answer everything to give you my take on the things that you might have missed my take on. And again, the number 1-800-919-3776.
The Michael Kay Show on ESPN New York. You can watch us on the ESPN New York YouTube channel presented by our good friends at the Parisman Firm. You're listening on the ESPN New York app on 880 ESPN. How's everybody doing? You know, something resonated with me because I saw on social media today, a guy playfully said, you would think that if my co-host is going to take four days off, I should have been notified. You know, you're absolutely right. But the days off other than afternoon games are going to be few and far between until after Christmas. So we are together, we are in lockstep, all of us. You hear that? I'm here for you. I've missed you. So let's get right to it. I did talk with Dan Grasse, who was doing the show on Tuesday. So if you didn't hear that, I'll give you my quick take on what the Yankees did or didn't do at the trade deadline. Now, there's no way even the most pie in the sky optimist, you know, glass half full guy, is going to say they accomplished what they needed to accomplish at the trade deadline. They didn't. The top two things that they needed were right-handed hitting catcher. They didn't get it. And another arm in the bullpen. They didn't get it. Now they needed a right-handed hitting outfielder. They got that with Elliott Ramos, although he's not a good defender. And they got Luis Garcia Jr. And the reason they got Luis Garcia Jr., they can't score. They just needed another bat. And the guy's versatile. He could play different positions. He's going to be with the team. Both guys will be on the team next year if there is a 20-27 season. And I know that's very important for the Yankees when they give up, you know, mind the league capital. They want to have the guy for more than just the two months after the trade deadline. Now, if you read John Heyman's column today, they tried. They tried to get a reliever. They tried to get catchers and they could match up. And every significant move that they wanted to make, people were asking for George Lombard Jr. And I told you even before I went on vacation, they were not trading George Lombard Jr. They looked at him as a shortstop of the future. Now, little did I know that that future was going to start on Tuesday, but it did. It did. And he burst upon the scene with a home run. So that's an impediment. Now, I don't know if there's a Yankee tax out there when people are discussing deals, but they wanted the Yankees' number one prospect. I mean, the Tigers didn't get the Dodgers' number one prospect for Tarek Schubel. They didn't get the number one prospect. I think the highest prospect they got was just like eighth or ninth in the Dodger system. But everybody asked for the Yankees' number one guy, and Cashman wasn't going to give them up. But you can't sit back, even though they ran into these blockages, you can't say it was a good trade deadline. Because what you've done is you said, okay, we are going to gamble, that we'll get back Judge, we'll get back Bellinger, we're going to get back Stanton, we'll get back Schmidt, we'll get back Rodin. And when we get those guys back, then everything will fall into place. We'll see. We'll see. So Judge had an MRI the other day, showed more healing, but it's still not healed. So he's able to do some upper body work, still not healed. I've been saying this for a while. If you get him back last week of August, first week of September, throw a party in the Bronx. I think of the three of them, barring a setback, and you never know, because obviously his soft tissue injuries go on forever. I think the first guy back of the hitters is going to be Stanton, then it's going to be Bellinger, and then it's going to be Judge. As for the pitchers, probably Rodin first, then Schmitt. When you get back Rodin and Schmitt, I think Schmitt goes into the bullpen, either Warren or Weathers goes in the bullpen, although Weathers has turned in two good performances as a starter, the last two. They got some decisions to make, but all of it rests on that. I also said at the time, there's no way if I'm the Yankees, and they don't ask me about these things, by the way, maybe they should, that I would have made any kind of significant trade, if I thought that Aaron Judge wasn't coming back. Because Aaron Judge is not available in the trade market. So you are not going to get anybody that's going to approximate what Aaron Judge does for the team. Now, one thing that I've been asked a lot about, you mean to tell me, Michael, that all of this cratering of the offense is because of one guy.