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“I can’t command my slider that well,” he said. “I want to throw my slider in the dirt with two strikes, and that’s about it. ...

Outfielder Aaron Hicks designated for assignment by Angels after poor start

Aaron Hicks was designated for assignment by the Los Angeles Angels on Monday after batting .140 in 18 games.

Hicks was 8 for 57 with the Angels and had only one hit in his last 19 at-bats.

Brian Cashman has drew the ire of New York Yankees fans over the past five years or so, and for good reason. This team's roster construction was poor for the caliber of play that's expected in the Bronx.

Cashman stood pat before Opening Day. Because some of these moves are looking disastrous in the early going.

4 offseason moves Yankees fans are already grateful Brian Cashman didn't make:

Blake Snell

Wandy Peralta

Cody Bellinger

Josh Hader

The Yankees dropped Cody Morris to free up a roster spot for reliever Michael Tonkin, who was claimed off waivers from the Mets earlier Thursday.

Clay Holmes breezed through three batters in the bottom of the ninth inning Friday night on 10 pitches.

But when the game got to the bottom of the 10th with the Yankees leading by one run, manager Aaron Boone went to new reliever Michael Tonkin — one of the last two arms he had available out of the bullpen — instead of asking Holmes to pitch a second inning.

The switch-hitting Cabrera finds himself on the bench for the third day in a row, with each absence coming against a left-handed starting pitcher.

Stanton’s grand slam was the 11th of his career, his third home run of the season. He didn’t have the best day otherwise — striking out twice and bouncing into a double play — but the no-doubter to left is what fans will remember most, another glimpse of a resurgence from the slugger. It’s more momentum for Stanton after his three-hit night on Saturday, including an opposite-field homer and another pulled fastball for a hit that clocked 116.7 mph off his bat.

1. Giancarlo Stanton (four years, $128 million, $30 million of which is owed by the Marlins): He has a full no-trade and is unlikely to accept going anywhere. Aaron Boone had talked about Stanton playing the outfield some, but if Juan Soto is going to continue to be a quality right fielder, then it is going to be difficult to even get Trent Grisham’s glove onto the field … unless … Stanton sits regularly and the DH spot gets moved around. Stanton’s entire value is in the batter’s box. If he doesn’t hit, what does he offer sitting on a bench?

2. Anthony Rendon (three years, $114 million): He hardly endeared himself in spring training when he said baseball has “never been a top priority.” Rendon, who turns 34 in June, then began the season 1-for-23. He has had difficulty staying healthy and over the past three years had a 94 OPS-plus with 13 homers in 148 games.

3. Javier Baez (four years, $98 million): He has been among the worst regularly used players in the majors since signing with the Tigers, with a .273 OPS the past two years before beginning this season hitting .174 with a .167 on-base percentage. The Tigers have designs on contending this year. Will they just keep playing Baez regularly?

4. Kris Bryant (five years, $131 million): When Scott Boras retires, I hope he tells the world what exactly the second-best offer was when he somehow got seven years at $182 million for Bryant from Colorado. Like Baez, he is a 2016 champion Cub who has fallen and not gotten up. He played just 122 games the first two years of the contract and dropped to .233 with a 76 OPS-plus last season. At 32, he began this year 3-for-25 as now a regular first baseman. The Rockies are so far from contention that they can just keep running him out there — for five more years.

5. Andrew Benintendi (four years, $64 million): There were other players to consider. After winning the World Series together for the 2019 Nationals, Stephen Strasburg signed the same seven-year, $245 million contract as Rendon — just to stay with Washington. He has made eight starts since with a 6.49 ERA. But it is understood his career is over because of neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome, and all that is left is his fight with the Nationals over how to pay the rest of his contract.5. Andrew Benintendi (four years, $64 million): There were other players to consider. After winning the World Series together for the 2019 Nationals, Stephen Strasburg signed the same seven-year, $245 million contract as Rendon — just to stay with Washington. He has made eight starts since with a 6.49 ERA. But it is understood his career is over because of neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome, and all that is left is his fight with the Nationals over how to pay the rest of his contract.

Stanton stranded a total of three runners on base with a pair of strikeouts...

Yankees Linked to Trade for Projected $90 Million Ace Lefty

It would be nice, would it not, for the Yankees to land an ace pitcher sooner rather than later? Certainly, some of the shine was taken off the team’s 5-0 start on Tuesday when they were drubbed, 7-0, by the Diamondbacks in Arizona, the second consecutive unconvincing outing from Opening Day starter Nestor Cortes. With Gerrit Cole out, Cortes is the closest thing the Yankees have to an ace.

He has not been up to the job through two starts. Cortes has allowed 13 hits, four walks and seven earned runs in 10.0 innings thus far. Small sample size, yes, but he was not great in last year’s injury-shortened season and was awful (23 hits, four walks, 12 earned runs in 14 innings) in Spring Training.

Which brings us to the always-pleasant land of speculative trades. And there is one out there that would go a long way toward fixing the Yankees’ short-term pitching issue by adding another ace-caliber arm to fill in for Cole and to be the No. 2 starter behind him. The target, as highlighted by Bleacher Report: Marlins No. 1 starter Jesus Luzardo.

Domingo Germán Admits to Still Drinking Alcohol When Discussing Last Year’s Clubhouse Incident

In a recent story published by Randy Miller of NJ.com, Germán said that he still drinks alcohol and denies having a drinking problem, despite the incident in the Yankees’ clubhouse and the ensuing rehab.

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut, the saying goes, and Yankees fans have long believed general manager Brian Cashman was that blind squirrel — groping and searching for the complementary players who could help Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole hang a championship banner.

Joey Gallo? The Yankees nearly traded away the entire farm system to find out it wasn’t him.

Josh Donaldson? The Yankees spent $50 million to discover it wasn’t him.

Aaron Hicks (another $70 million) and the group of day laborers in left field seemingly recruited when the Yankees drove past a Home Depot and said, “Hop in”? Wasn’t them, either.

And on and on.

But, as it turns out, Cashman found his nuts: And you know the kind we’re talking about — family jewels.

"Dawg," left fielder Alex Verdugo said. "Put it like that. [Juan Soto is] a dawg. We're all dawgs out here."

Look, it’s only four games into the season — a mere 2.46% of the schedule — but it appears the unbeaten Yankees have found a roster of gamers. And when was the last time you could say that, Scott Brosius?

Sure, Juan Soto carried the Yankees to their four-game, season-opening sweep of the hated Houston Astros, but look at what the other new guys did, too.

Verdugo gets jumps on balls and tracks them like no other Yankees outfielder since Bernie Williams. It’s ironic that he was traded by the Red Sox because he was late to the ballpark. Slow to roll out of bed, maybe. Slow to roll on fly balls? Fuhgeddaboudit.

Verdugo made two sliding catches (one for the final out on Sunday) and chased down a ball in the gap in a key spot earlier in the series.