Jimmy Sez

Last year I embarked on a journey to definitively rank the plaques that adorn the walls of Monument Park, lurking behind centerfield in Yankee Stadium. After a long pause, we're ready to bring you the thrilling conclusion and reveal the top eight pieces of bronze that thousands of Yankee fans flock to go see each year. I know the suspense has been killing you... One thing I learned in doing this project is that there is no perfect plaque in Monument Park. Much like the plaques in the Baseball Hall of Fame, even the best ones have their flaws. Regardless, if you have the time to stroll through them during your next trip to Yankee Stadium, these are the can't-miss plaques you should tell your friends about. A view inside Monument Park in New Yankee Stadium. Most of the plaques covered in this series sit behind the wall of retired numbers in the foreground. PVSBond/Wikimedia Commons As was the case previously, I won't share a picture of every plaque because they tend to run...

Whether it's home run barrages, torpedo bats, Aaron Judge doing Aaron Judge things, or the shock of seeing facial hair in pinstripes, there's been no shortage of excitement in this young Yankee season. It's almost like we've forgotten about the major injuries that dominated the headlines this spring. Yet, sooner or later, the Yankees' razor thin depth will be tested and they'll need to rely on contributions from the Baby Bombers down on the farm. Are they ready for that test? We can answer that question by digging into Keith Law's latest Top 100 MLB Prospect List like we do every year here at Jimmy Sez. We'll also use Law's Top 20 Yankees Prospect List to assess what's happening in the system, and his Farm System Rankings to see how they're stacking up against their division rivals. Spoiler alert: it's not looking good... What Happened? Over the last few years, the Yankees' future seemed on the upswing. In 2022, Keith Law ranked th...

Over the past couple of years I've had the privilege of meeting some of the former Yankee players that I included in The New Yor Yankees All-Time All-Stars  and secured their signature in a copy of it. Earlier this month I was able to keep that going at the latest Pinstripe Pride show near Giants Stadium. This time around I went squad deep with my son Seamus, my brother Sean, and my nephew Tommy. Not only was it nice to have non-strangers to talk to while waiting on the lines, but they seemed to enjoy themselves as well. There was only one All-Time All-Star signing during the day we attended, but the lineup included three players that are in the book as Honorable Mentions, so we met them as well. As in the past, I gave each player we met a personalized, signed copy of the book before they signed what I'll now call the Master copy. In that book I now have autographs from eight of the 17 living All-Time All-Stars and three of the nine living Honorable Mentions. Sadly, I won...

In the first two installments of this series we focused on players who had only brief stints with the Yankees and were mostly remembered for playing with other teams. Now we're ready to take a deep dive into some players who are known primarily as Yankees, mainly because they won the only World Series championships of their careers in pinstripes. Each of these guys has a viable case for the Hall of Fame, but for various reasons only one is likely to be elected this year. For each player, their JAWS (Jaffe Average WAR Score, developed by Jay Jaffe) value is given along with the average Hall of Famer's JAWS at the player's position. JAWS is a Hall of Fame rating system based on WAR that incorporates both career and peak value. If you're interested in learning more about this,  click here . CC Sabathia - Starting Pitcher - JAWS: 50.8, HoF JAWS: 61.5 In December 2008 George Steinbrenner responded to the first playoff-less season the Yankees had since 1994 with the fire of...

In our first look at former Yankees on the 2025 BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot, we focused on players who don't really stand a chance at election. Here we'll dig into a batch of players whose chances are much better. In fact, at least one of these players is virtually guaranteed to be heading to Cooperstown this summer. The common thread for this group is that they're all outfielders who earned Gold Gloves at some point in their career. Between the four of them, they account for 24 of the awards given to the best fielders at each position for a given season. But these guys didn't just flash the leather. Each of them could impress spectators in various ways and all are worthy of consideration for baseball's highest honor. For each player, their JAWS (Jaffe Average WAR Score, developed by Jay Jaffe) value is given along with the average Hall of Famer's JAWS at the player's position. JAWS is a Hall of Fame rating system based on WAR that incorporates both career an...