Kevin Baker's book is here!

Kevin Baker's book is here!
"... an exemplary sports book..." Kirkus Reviews

Sunday, December 21, 2014

The devil deals Prado: The "before" and "after" Yankee lineups

Potential 2015 batting order a week ago:

Gardner lf
Prado 2b
Ellsbury cf
A-Rod dh
Teixeira 1b
Beltran dh
McCann c
Headley 3b
Gregorius ss


Potential 2015 lineup today

Gardner lf
Ellsbury cf
A-Rod dh
Teixeira 1b
Beltran rf
McCann c
Headley 3b
Refsnyder/Pirela 2b
Gregorius ss

Takeaways: 

1. We're still stuck with Number 13. The Yankiverse loves to speculate that Cashman will dump the chump. But who drives in the runs? Chris Young? Kyle Roller? Might as well have Bill Cosby put the opposing pitcher to sleep. Nothing has changed. We still need Alex to hit. 

2. We have the assembled the world's foremost collection of candidates for Comeback of the Year. Only - Gardner - who had a good 2014 season. 

3. Let's face it: We're praying that either Pirela or Refsnyder can hit .300, as they did in the Anthracite Capital of the World. If so, they would move up, eventually hit second, and the lineup would actually scare people other us. If they fail - whoa, Nelly. Another July at the scrap heap.

4. This is a lineup of bread sticks. Will anybody play 125 games? Cashman cannot whine if injuries decimate his carefully engineered team. Why expect otherwise?  

5. The pitching is even crazier. The more we hear about the thrower from Miami, the more he sounds like a potential NYC headcase. Hey, he's 24, and you never know. But with an injury here or there, we could see a stretch when Adam Warren is our ace. Yow.

6 comments:

Alphonso said...

From what I hear, we now have another Nunez playing second base, whether it is Pirela or Refsnyder.

It is still Nunez.

Now, second base is the new third. We will go through 12 players before we get one who can field and hit. And by that time, some other position will have a donkey playing there, and that position will become the new second.

On and on it goes.

Don't forget; Cano was the best fielding second baseman, with the strongest arm, any of us have ever seen.

If a guy hits .307 ( from Scranton) and fields about the same; we lose.

Local Bargain Jerk said...

My only thoughts on this issue today come from that noted bastion of trenchant sportswriting, Forbes Magazine.

If Forbes says A-Rod is gone by May, he's gone by May. The only question left unanswered by The Capitalist Tool is whether the Yanks can simultaneously release A-Rod, Teixeira, Beltran, and McCann? If they did, then I'd feel like we had a chance.

And, I'd feel like watching.

As it stands now, this team looks so bad that regular old sportswriters have left it behind to be covered by the likes of Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, and Yahoo! Entertainment.

Blah.

Ken of Brooklyn said...

I'm with you LBJ, it's been a looong time since this team's potential has been this uninspiring, the Blah factor is off the charts for me,,,,,

JM said...

Hey, Nick Pinto is in the wind. He's a "veteran" who is injury-prone and hit .207 in an injury-riddled 2014.

Sounds like a perfect fit. Only 1.75 million a year. Whoo.

Bill from Manhattan said...

Alphonso--look at Refsnyder's minor-league numbers. Whatever else he might or might not be, he's not Nunez--Refsnyder actually takes bases on balls.

el duque said...

I agree with Bill.

Alphonso, calling someone "Eduardo Nunez" is a terrible thing to do. Especially a young person, such as Refsnyder. What's he done to you to warrant being called a "Nunez."

Take it back.