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Around the Empire: Yankees news – 6/24/25

• Posted on June 25, 2025

MLB.com: Yesterday, Major League Baseball released the current standings for the 2025 All-Star Game. Unsurprisingly, right fielder Aaron Judge leads the American League with 2,699,483 votes, 800,000 more than catcher Cal Raleigh. Besides him, only Paul Goldschmidt and Ben Rice, who are second at first base and designated hitter, respectively, are in a position to advance to Phase 2 of the voting. Cody Bellinger, who ranks sixth in the outfield vote, will likely be held back by Judge’s success — since the Captain will take one of the three outfield spots, only five will advance instead of the usual six.

Among former Yankees, Gleyber Torres currently leads AL second basemen, Trey Sweeney has ridden a Tigers wave to fifth among shortstop despite a below average season, Jose Trevino is eighth among NL catchers, and Juan Soto is fifth among NL outfielders.

MLB Trade Rumors | Nick Deeds: With half the season gone and the All-Star Game approaching, the end-of-season award articles have begun. In this piece, Nick Deeds breaks down the leading candidates for the AL MVP. Not surprisingly, Aaron Judge remains the odds-on favorite, but there is some competition. Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh is having a historic season, and if he keeps up his performance throughout the second half, he may be the beneficiary of voter fatigue. Behind them, Bobby Witt Jr. and Jeremy Peña would be in the conversation in most years, but appear destined to compete for the bronze.

Yahoo! Sports | Kristie Ackert: With Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil on the shelf to start the season, it seemed inevitable that the Yankees would be looking for upgrades to the starting rotation at the trade deadline. While things, obviously, could change, it appears that the success of Clarke Schmidt and Will Warren have made the rotation a secondary priority. Instead, the Yankees are more likely to focus on the bullpen and the infield.

Baseball America: (subscription required) Although the MLB Draft does not receive quite the same attention as its NFL and NBA counterparts, the success of young players like Paul Skenes making their MLB debut within a year or two of being drafted has brought increased eyes on the event. With the college postseason in the rearview mirror and the national champions crowned, Baseball America breaks down the latest draft rumors for all the prospect lovers.

The Athletic | Brittany Ghiroli and Dennis Lin: (subscription required) This one is not Yankees-related, exactly, but is still an important thing to note. San Diego Padres outfielder Fernando Tatís Jr. has filed a suit against Big League Advance Fund and Big League Advantage, an organization that “offers players upfront payments in exchange for a percentage of future MLB earnings.” Now, I’m not a lawyer, and as such cannot comment on whether or not he has a legitimate case against them, the truth is, the whole situation highlights how minor leaguers are exploited. To put it bluntly, minor leaguers have historically been paid so little and received such little support from their organizations that they feel compelled to make exploitative deals with predatory businesses ... as teenagers.

Aaron Judge leads AL in All-Star votes; Aaron Judge early favorite for AL MVP; Yanks looking for bullpen help at deadline; MLB Draft preview | Source: Pinstripe Alley

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