The Yankees and Marlins came somewhat close to completing a trade of Gleyber Torres for Pablo Lopez before the Yankees apparently pulled the plug. Neither side should have regret. Though Torres has been slumping (.188 since the deadline), along with most of the lineup, Lopez went through a “dead arm” period until six scoreless innings (vs. the A’s) Tuesday.
The Nestor Cortes groin injury is going to raise new questions about why the Yankees dealt Jordan Montgomery (0.35 ERA in St. Louis) for elite but injured CF Harrison Bader. Brian Cashman said on The Post podcast “The Show,” that center field was the one spot where their defense has been less than great. Unsaid: They felt Montgomery wasn’t a playoff starter for them.
Aaron Boone has done a nice job mixing and matching, but this can’t go on forever. With so many candidates to close and set up, the key to their season may ultimately be whether he finds the reliable ones.
Gerrit Cole on Aaron Judge: “I certainly haven’t seen anything like it, that’s for damn sure. I’m just glad he’s on our side.”
Two names to keep an eye on for Rangers manager: Cubs bench coach Will Venable and A’s bench coach Brad Ausmus. Both know new Rangers honcho Chris Young from San Diego. And both are Ivy Leaguers — Ausmus from Dartmouth and Venable from Princeton — like Young.
The Yankees’ Gleyber Torres celebrates a solo home run in the eighth inning against the Blue Jays. Corey Sipkin/New York Post
Marlins starting pitcher Pablo Lopez (49) delivers a pitch. Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY SportsThe Astros’ deal for Christian Vazquez was roundly praised here (and elsewhere), yet one of the best all-around catchers is mostly a backup in Houston. Word got to the Mets that Vazquez wanted to be a Met. But Houston obviously offered more. The question now is: Why? What’s odd is that Martin Maldonado continues to catch the vast majority of games. That’s partly due to Maldonado being the personal catcher for All-Star starters Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez. But that still doesn’t explain the rest of the time.
I could see Texas for Jacob deGrom (though Pedro Martinez told The Post’s Mike Puma he couldn’t see deGrom off the Mets).
Michael Conforto is expected to have a team where he will DH in September.
The Mets (Jay Horwits principally) did a great job getting 65 old-timers to come for their day Saturday. Lenny Dykstra promised on Twitter to reveal the real reason he wasn’t invited. Geez, I would think that would be obvious.
