COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

There is a growing fear that Giancarlo Stanton's season could be over after the Yankees DH suffered a setback in his return from a right calf strain.  On Saturday before the Yankees-Blue Jays game at The Stadium, Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters that Stanton suffered a moderate grade left calf strain after falling while running the bases.  "What that means moving forward, we're not ruling anything out," Boone said. "He'll obviously continue to work to try and get it right and hopefully be available. Obviously, we're at a point in the calendar where it gets challenging, but you also never know." Stanton hasn't played in a Major League game since April 24. And if this left calf strain is anything like the right calf injury, we may not see Stanton again this year. At least it would be pushing it.  The 36-year old Stanton is on the books for $25 million next season, including a club option for 2028 with a $10 million buyout.  One has to ...

 A few weeks ago after the Mets splurged themselves of some of their Major League roster talent via the August 3 trade deadline, New York proceeded to call up a flame-throwing lefty named Jerry Yan to take one of the vacated bullpen roles.   Yan is electric. His fastball tops 98-101 mph, and even though he is 29-years old, he has potential to become a solid late inning reliever.    Since coming up he has electrified a certain segment of the Mets fanbase, particularly on social media who sing his praises not only for his pitching acumen but for the one HUGE flaw in his game: celebrations.  After every strikeout Yan leaps into the air, comes down perfectly flat on his feet, pumps his fist and does as shimmy like he's Michael Jackson.    It's quiet a sight to behold, one that is obviously divisive.  I said on X at the time that such behavior was "unacceptable" or a Major Leaguer, and that the Mets should rein him in before he starts a brawl afte...

 Geno Smith marked his return to the New York Jets starting lineup with a perfect drive as the Jets came away with a 17-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday to improve to 1-1 on the preseason.  Smith, who missed the opener against Tampa Bay because of an ankle injury, looked pretty good on Friday night, completing 7-of-7 passes for 65 yards and a touchdown.  “It felt good to be out there with the guys,” Smith told reporters. “Obviously we got one drive in, but we scored a touchdown. You always want to start fast, and so that was a good thing. Definitely a lot of room for improvement.”  Smith has had a shaky camp this summer. He looked great at the start of Training Camp, but lately has struggled as he's dealt with the ankle injury according to reports.  For Smith to come out and show some poise is exactly what Aaron Glenn's club needs right now out of the position. Whether you love having Geno Smith back with the Jets or not, he gives them the bes...

 To the surprise of really nobody, the NBA made it official that the New York Knicks will open the 2026-27 season at the Garden against LeBron James and the Philadelphia 76ers on October 20.  The announcement was made official on Instagram .     Once James made it be known his intentions to join the Sixers after eight seasons out in L.A. it was pretty obvious where the NBA was going to go with the season opener.  The Knicks will be raising their NBA Championship banner, and what better way to tip things off with a marquee match-up between two bitter Atlantic Division rivals.  Of course, the Knicks had their way with the Sixers in the playoffs, sweeping Philly in four games of the Eastern Conference semi's en route to their historic NBA Finals victory.   James meanwhile had a pretty in depth free agency period, juggling between a number of options with rumors linking him to Golden State, Miami and Cleveland. There were even reports that James ...

 Yankees fans were none-to-happy with the lack of success by Brian Cashman and the front office for the moves they didn't make as the August 3 Trade Deadline came and went on Monday.  The Yankees needed help at catcher, another arm in the bullpen, and potentially another starting pitcher.  For whatever reason, the Yankees couldn't get the job done.  The one catcher they pursued, veteran Adley Rutschman was traded from the Orioles to the Red Sox instead, a move that certainly proved to be a punch to the solar-plexus for many.  George Lombard Jr. Getty Images. Rutschman, who is dealing with a wrist injury, is batting .251 with 8 homers and 47 RBI. Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman didn't get into specifics, but the Yankees admitted that they had many "conversations" with Baltimore.  As for a starting pitcher, the Yankees wanted Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, but Detroit's asking price was insane, as it centered around New York's top prospect, and the m...

 The New York Mets fire sale raged on Sunday night into Monday with a flurry of moves as New York tries to desperately to purge itself from the many mistakes President of Baseball Ops David Stearns made during the last off-season. Highlighting the deals was New York's trade of Freddy Peralta t o the Tampa Bay Rays for minor leaguer's Aidan Smith, Emilien Pitre, and pitcher Gary Gill Hill.  Considering the Mets gave up two top five prospects to pry Peralta from Milwuakee Brewers last January, the haul is not exactly stellar, and it completes a dreadful time for the right-hander in Queens.  Peralta went 5-9 with a 4.99 ERA in 22 starts with the Mets. It just never worked out for a pitcher who before coming to Queens was trending as a five inning starter despite the fact he won 17 games and pitched to a 2.70 ERA for the Brewers last season.  The haul the Mets got for Peralta is exactly what one would expect for a pitcher who has underachieved and is in the walk year of ...

 The New York Yankees got some added pop that they desperately need in their depleted lineup when New York acquired Luis Garcia Jr. from the Washington Nationals on Sunday.  With Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger all on the injury list for the forseable future, the Yankees had to get a bat in the lineup that could give them both pop and consistency. Garcia fits the bill. He's hitting .283 on the year with a career highs in home runs with 23 and RBI's (76). His .560 slugging percentage led the National League.  He was one of a few bright spots in the Washington Nationals lineup this season.  The Nats get four Yankees prospects in return including Yovanny Cruz, Ben Grable, Jake Bird, and Jack Cerbert.   The Yankees can now pair Cruz with slugger Ben Rice giving New York two left handed hitting sluggers in the lineup.  Should the Yankees get Judge, Stanton, and Bellinger back by September, they could have -- at least on paper -- a very dan...

 The New York Mets are open for business!  And about time too. The Mets traded reliever A.J. Minter to the Minnesota Twins for two minor league prospects, highlighted by infielder Bruin Agbayani.  Minter was one of the few effective pitchers coming out of the Mets bullpen, despite his litany of injuries during his two year stint in New York. In 23 innings this season, Minter went 1-1 with a 2.35 ERA. He gives the Twins an added boost as they try to make a case in the cluttered AL Central and wild card.  In return the Mets get two prospects: Billy Amick and Agbayani. Agbayani is the son of former Met Benny Agbayani, which is going to excite a lot of fans, since Benny was a very popular player in New York from 1999 - 2001.  Bruin is only 19 and is only just getting started in his minor league career. His starts are limited at this point. He is left-handed hitter who plays infield.  As for Amick, he was a top five pick out of Tennessee, but has issues making c...

 Giants fans have waited a long time for the John Harbaugh era to begin with the New York Giants. And unless folks are making plans to travel to West Virginia this summer, they'll have to wait at least until the preseason starts to see Harbaugh's Giants live and in living color.  Yes, with the Giants training facility going under renovations, Harbaugh has taken the Giants on a team-bonding venture to the mountains of West Viginia some 7-1/2 hours away from their East Rutherford headquarters.  That is just one of many changes that are coming to the Giants this season. Harbaugh, a Super Bowl winning head coach with the Baltimore Ravens, brings 180 wins and a .614 winning percentage to New York.  He is currently the second winningest, active Head Coach in the NFL, with only Andy Reid ahead of him.  After years of mediocrity the Giants finally have a head coach who gives them the best chance to win games. The question is going to be in Year 1, which players fit his ...

 If there is one head coach in the NFL whose seat could be scalding before autumn officially arrives, it might be Jets head Coach Aaron Glenn.  Coming off a 3-14 campaign his first year as HC of the NYJ, Glenn didn't exactly endear himself to Jets fans, with many in the media questioning his leadership ability and coaching acumen. While General Manager Darren Mougey has received nothing but praise for his moves to put the roster in position to acquire young talent for the foreseeable future,  one has to wonder whether the man Mougey was partnered with 18 months ago will be here long term.  The Jets face a daunting opening month to the season starting in earnest in Week 1 when the Jets travel to Tennessee to face ex-Jets coach Robert Saleh and the Titans .  Saleh who was let go by the Jets following a heartbreaking Week 5 loss to the Minnesota in London, England back in 2024, will almost certainly be out for vengeance.  After that the Jets get a heavy dose o...

 Carlos Beltran is officially a member of Baseball's Hall of Fame .  The Puerto Rican native who signed with the Mets in the autumn of 2004, following a monumental postseason run with the Houston Astros that year, went on to solidify himself as one of baseball's best five-tool players and center fielders in New York over seven years in Mets orange and blue.  Now he can call himself a Hall of Famer.  It wasn't always pretty, but it is beyond outstanding to see Beltran come this far, and finally find his place among the best to ever play the game.  Say what you will, and I know Mets fans have made a lot about that strike-three call against Adam Wainwright and the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS for two decades now, but you can't take away the fact that Beltran was a special player when he was here in New York. He deserves this honor.  While many Hall of Famers have worn a Mets cap in their careers, including fellow 2026 Hall of Fame inductee Je...

 LeBron James made the final decision of his playing career last week when he came to terms on a two-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, as the NBA's All Time scorer will make his return to the East coast after spending the past eight seasons (hard to believe) in Hollywood with the Lakers.  The 41-year old Superstar, who won championships in Cleveland, Miami and Los Angeles signed with the Sixers saying on his personal Instagram that after considering retirement, he opted to play once more for a team that has a chance to win a championship.    This is my last decision. I’m not going for money. I’m not going for family. What am I really playing for at this point? I still want to sacrifice. I still want to work. I still want to grind. I still want to compete, to win and to have a chance at the feeling of winning another championship. What makes LeBron's latest decision so surprising is the fact he picked the Sixers over the Miami Heat who just added Giannis Antet...

The New York Jets introduced a "new" alternate white helmet on Tuesday, because, well, why not?  In a move out of sheer gluttony more than anything else, the Jets whipped out their white helmets, took off their classic decals, and replaced them with a thin green stripe over the top of the helmet, and the current Jets logo in green across each side. The face-mask is white.  The Jets White Out. Instagram New York will adorn their new alternate helmets in Week 2 against the Green Bay Packers in a "White Out" Game. Why the Jets couldn't have just stuck with their traditional white throwbacks for the game is a legitimate question, but the answer is pretty simple: Merchandising. Just ask Mel Brooks!   Who doesn't want to now run out and pay $35 for a white Jets mini helmet? Who doesn't want to run out and pay between $190 to $390 on replica and on field helmets for your mantel?  Gotta add to that helmet collection.  Now that Jets have their traditional green s...

Whether he intended to or not, President Donald Trump has managed to throw some serious mud all over the World Cup Tournament after USA Striker Folarin Balogun had his red card reversed by FIFA, a day after the President spoke with FIFA Presidnet Gianni Infantino to review the red card ruling.  On Sunday the ruling, which levied a one-game suspension of Balogun for stomping on the ankle of an opponent for the Bosnia-Herzgovina team was lifted and delayed f or up to a year after the tournament.  As one can imagine all hell has broken loose since. USA plays Belgium tonight, and Balogun is eligible to play in the Round of 16 game in Seattle.  Both Trump and Infantino t ried to put out the conspiracy theory flames to no avail.  Instead the controversy has only gotten bigger as fans, pundits, politicians, and even people who don't follow soccer ... er ... football throw their collective two cents in.  Said President Trump on Monday, "All I did was ask for a review. I...

 The New York Mets nearly authored one of the most revolting losses in a lost season one can imagine, as they almost blew a seven-run, ninth inning lead in a 10-9 squeaker down in Atlanta, Sunday afternoon.  The Mets held a 10-3 lead going into the bottom of the ninth. Interim manager Andy Green had Huascar Brazoban open the inning in what should have been a routine finish to a rare 'W' for the Metropolitans.  Instead it almost turned into another Metsie nightmare.  First there was the pick-off error by Brazoban that allowed Mauricio Dubon to score to make it 10-4. Then Brazoban proceeded to load the bases with singles by Austin Riley and a walk to Eli White. (ex-Met Dom Smith was already on base).  Then Drake Baldwin got into one, and launched a Brazoban fastball over the left field wall for a grand slam to cut the Mets lead to 10-8.  That was it for Brazoban as Green had no choice but to bring in embattled closer Devin Williams. And Williams nearly blew i...

 Talk about turning up the heat.  About the only good news for the New York Yankees right now is the fact that they hit the road tonight for Tampa Bay, therefore they will be sparred from having to hear the litany of screaming Yankees fans on the talk radio and podcast circuit.  Then again, Florida is like New York South ...  The Yankees dropped another series, this time to the Minnesota Twins by the score of 6-1. That's right, I said the Minnesota Twins; the same franchise the Yankees have dominated routinely over the past quarter century plus.  The Twins enjoy a day in the Bronx. Getty Images.  The last time New York lost a regular season series to Minnesota, you'd have to go back to 2023, the year the Yankees didn't make the playoffs.  If that was an omen of things to come in '23, one would hate to see what's in the cards now.   The Twins simply dominated the Yankees behind a stellar outing by Joe Ryan.  The 30-year old veteran pitche...

 There is no doubt that Steve Cohen loves the New York Mets, and wants to see the team succeed. His frustration over the Mets miserable 2026 season was on display in a very open and honest interview with the New York Post's Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman.  However as honest as Cohen tried to be, and as careful as he tried to be at the same time in what he could say, it felt like a 40-minute diatribe where Cohen consistently contradicted himself, and even backed himself into a corner by endorsing embattled President of Baseball Operations, David Stearns.  "David is a thoughtful man, he's incredibly thorough," Cohen said. " There aren't answers where I walk away and say I don't agree with that. He knows what's he's talking about. Does he get any credit for 2024? Does that not count, we almost made it to the World Series. It's a mixed record. I won't say it's going great, but it's too early to make evaluations.   "If we burn and chu...

 So, can we panic now Yankees fans? Can we take this slump seriously?  The Yankees offense was once again limp, and Jazz Chisholm left in the fourth inning under concussion protocol as the Yankees lost to the lowly Detroit Tigers 7-3 at Yankee Stadium.   New York managed only three hits on Monday night as Tigers veteran pitcher Casey Mize matched a career high with 10 strikeouts as he totally bedeviled the Yankees the entire evening.  In the last four games the Yankees batting average has been .098.  They clearly miss both Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, which is a heck of an indictment for a team that can't keep relying on two aging and brittle superstars.  Meanwhile the Tigers teed off of Yankees starter Ryan Weathers, who was charged with five runs (two earned) on seven hits over an inning and two-thirds of work.  What had to add insult to injury for the Yankees was the fact that Chisholm collided with outfielder Jasson Dominguez on a pop ...

 The Mets might have a new skipper, but it doesn't mean they are exempt from further embarrassing themselves. Quiet the contrary, as the Mets bumbled their way to a 2-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays up in Ontario.  New York has now lost three of their last four since Andy Green took over on an interim basis. What fun!?! The Jays scored in the opening frame when George Springer lined a base hit that bounced off the turf and past Juan Soto and skipped to the wall. A.J. Ewing then bobbled the ball on the relay throw, allowing Spring to touch 'em all. Springer was credited with a triple, and scored on the error by Ewing. There was no inside the park homer.  Toronto tacked on another run later in the contest to make it 2-0, before Francisco Lindor cracked his first home run since returning from a long stint on the Injury List in the seventh inning to make it 2-1.  MEANWHILE... Former Mets hitting coach Eric Chavez, who has made no bones about having no love for Mets Presi...

 One of the major contributors to the Knicks NBA Finals run this Spring will be back long term, with an eye at potentially repeating next season.  Landry Shamet and the Knicks came to terms on a four-year $24 million deal a day before free agency opened up in the NBA.    This signing is HUGE for the Knicks. Shamet averaged six points per game in the playoffs and shot around 47.5 percent from downtown. He proved to be a valuable piece off the bench for the Knicks in the playoffs, and knocked down several important three-pointers during their run. In the Eastern Conference Finals, Shamet connected on 11-of-12 shots from beyond three.  Shamet is the second Knicks bench player to re-up with the team. The other being Jose Alvarado who resigned over the weekend.  The question is going to be what will the Knicks do with Mitchell Robinson. He is expected to hit free agency, and chances are he is going to cash in on a major contract.    Knicks owner James ...

 There is something wrong with these 2026 New York Yankees.  No, it's just the fact that Aaron Judge has been missing from the lineup for over a month.  It's much deeper than that.  While the crosstown New York Mets have been in the short-hairs of the New York media's wrath this season, which kicked into high gear this week with the firing of manager Carlos Mendoza, the Yankees have basically gotten away free of heavy criticism.  Again, we get it, it's the Yankees. It's about October.  But if this weekend's series up in Boston proved anything, it's that nobody fears this Yankees team.  And there is no greater indictment of a team when the teams in its own division look at the Yankees as an opportunity to put together a winning streak.  The Red Sox are pretty much left for dead in the AL East race, but as far as the wild card is concerned? After their sweep of the Yankees this weekend, they are very much alive and well. Boston won all four games ag...

 Can't say nobody saw this one coming.  The New York Mets fired embattled manager Carlos Mendoza amid the team's current six-game losing streak, highlighted by a four-game sweep at the hands of the Chicago Cubs at Citi Field.  When a team is as bad as the Mets are, which is 13-games under .500 (34-47), and 10 games out of a wild card and 16 out of the division, the manager, typically is the one that goes first especially if that team has a payroll as high as the Mets.  While you can debate Mendoza's lineup strategy, or his earnestness to run to the bullpen at the drop of a pop-up, this debacle that was the 2026 season was not his fault.   Mendoza was a decent manager (206-199), and a better man. He deserved a better fate, and hopefully for him he can land elsewhere as a bench coach and rebuild his rep. In many ways he's the lucky one as he departs with the seventh highest winning percentage a mong Mets skippers , and is one of seven managers to take the fra...

 The New York Knicks are back on top of the basketball world.  After 53 long years; five decades of broken promises and shattered dreams, fans of New York's preeminent basketball team were allowed to shed some tears.  Tears indeed. But tears of joy.    As they have seemingly all series long, and all postseason long, the Knicks fell behind by double-digits to the young, athletic and potent San Antonio Spurs in the early stages of the first half, only to storm back by the fourth quarter to snatch away victory by a score 94-90 while capturing the franchises first title since 1973.  Leading the way was Jalen Brunson, an easy MVP recipient on this night, because he put his team on his back when it needed him the most.  Sure it would be easy to shrug at a loss in Game  5. The Knicks were up 3-1 in the series, and who wouldn't want to celebrate a championship in front of the home fans. Only thing is don't tell that to these Knicks, and don't tell that to...