Yankees News: Trade acquisition released, Ian Hamilton return, Orioles collapse

If it weren't for the Juan Soto and Jazz Chisholm trade acquisitions, Brian Cashman might've fully been run out of town by now. The New York Yankees have lifted themselves up to gain a three-game lead in the AL East with an 87-63 record, but, as we know, things could always be way worse.

This past offseason, the roster underwent a lot of changes. Soto arrived, along with Trent Grisham, Alex Verdugo, Cody Morris, Jorbit Vivas, Victor Gonzalez, Caleb Ferguson, Clayton Andrews, JT Brubaker, Jake Cousins and Jon Berti. Soto, Cousins and Berti will be on the playoff roster, but nobody else is playing meaningful roles. As for the trade deadline, Chisholm, Mark Leiter Jr. and Enyel De Los Santos were brought in. Chisholm has been great, but Leiter Jr. has been awful and De Los Santos isn't here anymore.

As for the offseason moves, Grisham and Verdugo will likely be gone in the offseason. Morris and Andrews are gone already. Ferguson was traded to the Astros. Brubaker is working his way back from injury. And Gonzalez was just officially sent packing after being DFA'd a few months ago.

The Yankees seemingly held out hope Gonzalez could figure things out at Triple-A, but he spent 21 games there and logged a 4.50 ERA and 1.73 WHIP. On Sunday, he was released.

Usually, we'd ignore something like this, but Gonzalez and Ferguson were supposed to be contributing lefties in the bullpen since the Yankees had none heading into 2024. Instead, they were both eventually replaced by Tim Hill and Tim Mayza. Could've just kept Trey Sweeney and got two equally bad lefties for free!

Yankees News: Trade acquisition released, Ian Hamilton return, Orioles collapse

In better news regarding the bullpen, Ian Hamilton's been back since Sept. 9 and had arguably his most meaningful outing of the season on Sunday against the Boston Red Sox.

The right-hander was called upon to take care of a situation in the sixth inning when Carlos Rodón departed after 5 1/3 frames. Boston had a runner on third with one out and the Yankees leading 4-2. Red-hot Trevor Story and Yankee Killer Danny Jansen were due up for Hamilton.

Had that run come in, it could've been a completely different ballgame, but Hamilton struck out both hitters to escape the jam and preserve the lead. The Yanks eventually won 5-2 and took three out of four from the Sox. Hamilton also blanked the Sox over 1 2/3 innings on Thursday during the series opener. He struck out three batters as the Yanks hung on to win 2-1 in walk-off fashion. His inclusion as a high-leverage piece should really help Aaron Boone with his "creativity" after removing Clay Holmes from the closer role.

And now for the really fun part. The Yankees have been able to distance themselves in the division not because of their own competence, but because the Baltimore Orioles have been so bad. It's an under-the-radar storyline because, of course, we can't make fun of the young surging O's. That would be mean!

Baltimore dropped two out of three to the Detroit Tigers over the weekend, which kicked the O's and Red Sox down the playoff standings. Great times. Just a week ago Yankees fans were (rightfully) complaining that New York failed to take advantage of the Orioles' slide and their own soft August schedule, which was putting them in a precarious situation down the stretch.

Thankfully, the Yankees have dug deep to grab a number of meaningful wins while the Orioles have continued to spiral. This isn't an exaggeration, either. On July 7, the Orioles were 57-33. They've since gone 27-33, which has featured series losses to the Cubs, Marlins, Blue Jays, Rays and Tigers. They haven't won a series against a team over .500 in two and a half months. They split against the Astros, Red Sox and Guardians over that span.

Somehow, the Yankees' 38-42 stretch since starting 49-21 has kept them paced ahead of the O's. The division rivals will play a three-game set next week, but the Yankees have the Mariners, A's and Pirates in their remaining 12 games while the Orioles need to battle Detroit and Minnesota (two playoff hopefuls) and will get stuck facing Blake Snell and Logan Webb when they start a series against the Giants on Tuesday.

Smells like a Wild Card berth to us.