COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

The Yankees consistent pursuit of Sonny Gray has finally paid off . The Bronx Bombers were able to acquire Gray from the Oakland A's for minor leaguers Jorge Mateo, James Kaprielian and Dustin Fowler. This is a huge deal for the Yankees, who have been pretty busy here at the deadline as they are clearly going for a world championship after a tremendous start to the season. What makes this deal even better for the Yankees is that they will have Gray under their control for two more seasons, and he is not a free agent until 2020. As for the prospects, much had been made about the compensation going back to Oakland. At one point the A's wanted Gleyber Torres and Clint Fraizer in the deal, but the Yankees would not budge. Instead, the A's get three of the Yankees top nine prospects in their farm system. It may seem like a lot to give up, but this is the Yankees we are talking about. If the Yankees have any hopes of competing with the Indians, Red Sox, Royals and Astros th...

Addison Reed is now officially a member of the Boston Red Sox. The Mets finalized a deal with Boston to send their interim closer to Boston while receiving three prospects in return. The prospects are Jamie Callahan (Triple-A), Greson Bautista (Single-A) and Stephen Nogosek (Single-A). Callahan is 5-2 with a 3.21 ERA in 32 games out of the bullpen, combined between Triple-A and Double-A. No telling what kind of impact if any Callahan will have on the Mets, but if he pitches well, we'll probably see him in September. As for Reed he was a serviceable reliever for the Mets for the past two years. The Mets acquired him in 2015 to help them get to the postseason in 2015, and he was a solid presence back there since day 1. This year, he became the team's closer because of the number of issues surrounding Jeurys Familia. He will be a welcome addition to Boston's bullpen, and will likely be the set-up man to Craig Kimbrel. Reed will be a free agent in the off-season, so a r...

The New York Mets are still looking for a suitor for reliever Addison Reed, who is set to be a free agent at the end of the year. Reed has been the Mets closer for much of the season due to a suspension and injury to Jeurys Familia, and to be honest, he has been mighty impressive. Reed has been one of the Mets most reliable relievers, and one of the best in baseball to date. Through 48 games this season, Reed owns 19 saves and 2.57 ERA. He also has a BB/K ratio of 9-48. Not bad at all. There are rumors now that suitors for Reed could come down to five teams, and according to Buster Olney on Twitter the Red Sox could be one of them. Boston has been looking to upgrade the backend of its bullpen leading up to closer Craig Kimbrel. Reed would do just that. Matt Barnes, Heath Hembree, Fernando Abad and Robby Scott have all had their ups and downs this year, but one thing those guys don't have that Reed does is postseason experience. The question will be compensation going back...

The Yankees remain busy as the MLB trade deadline nears its conclusion tomorrow afternoon. Amid rumors that the Bombers were still in negotiations with the Oakland A's about acquiring starter Sonny Gray, the Yankees veered left and swung a deal on Sunday with the Twins for Jaime Garcia. While Garcia may not be the sexy name that most Yankee fans were looking for, he does bring a great resume with him to the Bronx. In addition to winning 67 games and post a 3.65 ERA over the course of his career that dates back to 2008 with the St. Louis Cardinals, he has a good reputation as a solid postseason starter. In 2011, he helped lead the Cardinals to a World Series title, recording 21 strikeouts over 25 innings, and posting an ERA of 4.21. HIs best seasons as a Cardinal came in his final two years with the squad in 2015 and 2016.  In 2015, Garcia started 20 games and posted a record of 10-6 with a 2.43 ERA. Last season, he recorded 150 strikeouts over 171 innings pitched. The Yank...

When Terry Collins looks in the mirror tonight, he will see the tread marks that came from the bus driven by his left fielder Yoenis Cespedes.  Cespedes did himself, his manager and the Mets no favors Friday night when he opened up to the San Francisco Chronicle that he would like to finish his career in Oakland, and considers A's manager Bob Melvin the best manager he's ever played for.  In an article by Oakland beat writer Susan Slusser , Cespedes told her that he would like to finish his career where it started, with the A's.  Here is the quote from the story.  “I wish that happens,” Céspedes said, adding of former A’s and current Mets teammate Jerry Blevins, “I told Blevins, ‘I don’t know how many years I’m going to play, but I’m going to play the last year of my career with Oakland.’ I don’t know if that’s possible or not, but that’s my goal.” Later in the interview, Cespedes admitted that he had a terrific rapport with Melvin, citing as lo...

As seen on Scout.com, my article on the whether the Mets should promote Tim Tebow come September in order to fill seats. When the Mets went all in on bringing Tim Tebow into the organization, one has to hope that they knew what they were doing because Tebow is currently figuring things out at Port St. Lucie, and, like clockwork, the Tebow-fanatics and the media are peppering Sandy Alderson with questions about Tebow’s future in ** gasp ** the major leagues. Ok, you can drop the paper bag you are blowing into. Yes, Tebow is playing well. He had a 12-game hitting streak and, just recently, had three hits in a game against Fort Myers.   Does this mean that a promotion to the majors should be in the offing? Absolutely not. Tebow does not deserve promotion to the majors. With the Mets quickly falling out of contention and staring at an August and September of pure gloom, yet there is a prevailing thought that the Mets should promote Tebow just to put fans in the seats. ...

The Yankees made a move they had to make. At 48-44 the Yankees are 3.5 out of first place, and hold a 1.5 game lead on the Minnesota Twins for the last wild card slot. So if the Yankees want to have any shot at getting to the postseason this year, they had to make this move. On Tuesday night, the Yankees acquired third baseman Todd Fraizer and relievers David Robertson Tommy Kahnle from the Chicago White Sox for reliever Tyler Clippard, 2016 first round pick Blake Rutherford, and minor leaguers Ian Clarkin and Tito Polo. For the Yankees this move makes all the sense in the world. They are re-united with Roberston, who was the teams closer back in 2014 when he saved 39 games. He has spent the past two-and-a-half years as the White Sox closer. What makes this deal even better, is the Yankees have control of Robertson through next season at $ 13 million. He is going to slide nicely into that seventh inning role as the bridge to Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman. So far this year, Ro...

On this episode of the Open Mike Program, I am joined by 27 Outs Baseball broadcaster and editor, Chris Hogan as we talk about the keys to the second half of the baseball season. Our focus is primarily on this weekend's series between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, and Boston is off to a good start with last night's 5-4 win. We look at the strengths and weaknesses of both, and what their respective front offices should look for come the trade deadline. Enjoy the show!

As Tommy DeVito pointed out in Jersey Boys, “Everybody remembers it in the way they need to.” That is the only way to describe Mike Francesca’s stunning claim that he and former WFAN colleague Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo are the reason the Mets swung a deal with the Florida Marlins to get Mike Piazza to New York. In the most recent clip published by Sirius XM Sports, world-renowned actor, and long-time WFAN caller, Chaz Palminteri, interviews Mike and the Mad Dog, and brings up Piazza’s trade to New York in 1998. Mike pontificates that if it weren’t for them the Mets never would have swung a deal for Piazza. He claims that Piazza’s agent called the WFAN office and told the radio duo that Piazza was heading to the Cubs, but really wanted to play in New York. They wanted Mike and Chris to assure a detour to the Big Apple. “I said we can relay the message. Steve Phillips comes on our show and says under no circumstances are we interested in Mike Piazza. … After he le...

It would figure that on anniversary of Bobby Bonilla's ridiculous deferred money contract with the New York Mets, a story would come out that could put Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson squarely on the hot seat. Earlier this week the Mets promoted Tim Tebow from Class-A Charleston to High-A St. Lucie after hitting a measly .222. Alderson even admitted that Tebow wasn't exactly "tearing up the league," at the time of the promotion. We knew all along that the Tebow's stay with Mets has been a ruse, a public relations stunt meant only to sell tickets and jerseys. That was it. On Friday, Alderson admitted it, in a series of statements that were first published in Newsday, and later on CBS. com. " The guy we sent to see him in California did not exactly send back a glowing report. I knew immediately he would not want his name as the signing scout. Ultimately, the guy we put down was the Director of Merchandising. "Look we signed him because he...

At 44-years old, Bartolo Colon is on the open market once again. The burley right-hander was released by the Atlanta Braves on Friday after a hideous start to the season. His numbers read as follows: 2-8, with an ERA of 8.14, 11 home runs allowed, 57 earned runs allowed in 63 innings. Still the New York Mets are said to be "considering" reuniting with Colon inspite of it all. Make no mistake for three years, Colon was one of the Mets' most dependable starters. Even in times where they were watching the like of Matt Harvey and Steven Matz drop out of the rotation with one injury after another, Colon was the one guy Terry Collins could rely on. Last season alone, Colon was 15-8 with a 3.43 ERA at age 43. He even uncorked his first and only career home run in San Diego last summer. So a reunion has to happen, right? There is reason to believe the Mets are considering it. According to the Daily News , a Mets "source" said "'Get him back here and w...