Newsday: The Yankees dropped Game 1 against the Rays on Saturday night. The story of the game was Tampa Bay starter Drew Rasmussen, who completely shut down the Yankees, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning.
The Athletic | Chris Kirschner: The Yankees ended up sticking with Gerrit Cole to start game one of the ALDS, despite his struggles at points this season and despite Carlos Rodón’s impressive run to end the season. However, the reason they ended up going with Cole was that they plan on using
all four starters during the series and they liked Cole in Tropicana Field and believe his “stuff” would play up better there. While he wasn’t perfect, Cole was hardly the reason the Yankees lost Game 1, allowing one run in five innings.
New York Post | Jon Heyman: Speaking of pitching, Matt Blake’s contract is reportedly up after the 2026 season. After leading the league in ERA this past season and having a pretty stellar pitching staff in general, the Yankees are unsurprisingly hoping to retain him.
MLB Trade Rumors | Mark Polishuk: There’s nothing that can be done at this point, but we did get some intel on the Yankees’ trade deadline, specifically around catcher Adley Rutschman, who ended up going from the Orioles to the Red Sox. Baltimore reportedly would’ve accepted a Yankees’ trade package, but the sticking point on the Yankees’ end was around prospect Yostin Pena, who rocketed onto the scene this past season.
