Clearly, it's Cashman's job to scout every feral cat that might stray onto the market next month, but starters - right now anyway - don't exactly scream "Rent me!" The Evils have Ivan Nova returning, Adam Warren moving to the bullpen, Chris Capuano weaving quilts, and Joe Girardi conceptualizing a six-man rotation. Why trade for Johnny Cueto? That's a question worthy of Stephen Hawking. But - hey - when Cashman eyes the mid-season nose job, anything can happen.
Still, let's say you wanted to boost the Yankee brand for a stretch pennant/wild card run, and you wanted to address the team's problems. Clearly, you need RH bullpen help, and Cashman is already well into psycho-scavenger, lift-every-rock, Storage Wars mode. He signed Sergio Santos, the latest - (or first, if you're thinking of 2015) - in a conga line of down-and-outers, who seek to salvage their careers. Maybe somebody will emerge for a month or two, until the wheels fall off, as they all invariably do. Maybe the Yankees won't have to trade prospects - because no matter how frugal Cashman is with his chips, you can't deal kids forever without getting burned. We're still watching Manny Banuelos and Pete O'Brien, wondering if either's name will someday be burned into Cashman's gravestone, or cause dispirited Yankee fans to salt his driveway with nails.
But here's the question: Can Johnny Cueto play RF or 2B? Because those are the problems.
For a month now, the Yankee blather squads have been crowing about Carlos Beltran's resurgence. And OK, Beltran did improve over his wretched first month of the season. On May 13, he was hitting .221 with no power. He's now hitting .244 with no power. (Over the month, 2 HRs.) He seems to have plateaued in the .240s. Also, Beltran's fielding is atrocious. It's probably not his fault: The guy should be a DH, but A-Rod is there - so Beltran goes to right, where he covers ground like Chris Christie. Frankly, we might be better off with Mason Williams, Ramon Flores and/or Slade Heathcott. But we'll never know, because one - or all of them - will probably go in a deal. And we'll keep Beltran.
Then there is 2B, still held by Stephen Drew. On May 13, Drew was hitting .161. He's now hitting .172 - but then again, he's belted 5 HRs over that period, with sound defense. Last winter, everyone assumed Rob Refsnyder would take over at 2B around July - (and Refsnyder is red hot in Scranton right now, on a HR-hitting binge) - but the Refsnyder Hope Train doesn't seem to be leaving Scranton. His defense remains suspect. And Jose Pirela is also back at Triple A. I think both will have nice MLB careers, but not necessarily in NYC. And we'll keep Drew.
The Yankees strategy seems to be: We're paying them a lot, so we gotta play them.
But the trades are coming. Cashman has plenty of options. Let's hope he address the problems, rather than just create more of them for this time next year.
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5 comments:
This is the most depressing time of the season, at least in recent history. Which exciting young players will we give up to get some boring, old, half in the grave has-been? And what lugnuts will come in to make our bullpen not at all any better, but forcing young arms with potential to stay in the minors for longer and longer...until they, too, are trade bait?
Argh.
Chris Christie would be better in right field than Beltran.
In addition to his embarrassing lack of speed and ( what used to be called hustle ), have you checked out his arm? He can barely get it to the infield on a fly from short right field.
This is on Girardi. Flores can play. Williams can play defense ( but we have seen his last hit). Slade is still in the infirmary. But Joe keeps trotting a clear liability out to right field.
As for second base, some writer in the Daily News yesterday noted that Drew, in his last 500 at bats, including the tail end of his Red Sock career, is hitting .167. This is no longer something that can be written off as a bad period. It is who he is.
I urge you to revisit the "Martin homers after fans rattle Cueto" clip from the 2013 playoffs.
Would take a lot to get Cueto. Probably no doable.
Re getting their house in order:
1. McCann must be run down, dog tired to let so many balls pass by him. They are going to need Murphy to catch 30 to 40% of the time. Why not DH McCann and play A Rod a little at third? A Rod can still play and he's not so fragile that he can't spend some time in the field.
2. As a general matter, shouldn't A Rod be the backup at third? Why create another dead spot in the batting order when Headley sits?
3. Isn't there some contender out there that can be seduced by Beltran's (very) mild resurgence? Somebody has to need an outfielder. I'd like to move him and see Steinbrenner eat most of the salary (which serves him right).
4. Why do you have both Drew and Ryan on the roster? Shouldn't one of them get the ax?
Oh, sure--some other team is just itching to swallow your shit (Beltran). This is classic dumbass wishful fan thinking--thinking being too kind a word for it.
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