Saturday night, Carlos Beltran pivoted around neatly to watch a fly ball land over his head and bounce against the wall - a sense of daring-do that would have made Bobby "The Wallflower" Abreu look like Minnie Minoso. Carlos merely turned, pounded his mitt, and waited patiently for the ball to return. It came during a 6-6 tie. Fortunately, the Yankees won and, thus, the play never happened. If a ball falls in the forest, nobody hears it, right?
Yesterday, Garrett Jones and Brett Gardner rendered unto us what one blog rightfully called "a little league home run." They nearly collided, both flinched, and then Gardner compounded matters by trying out for the NYCFC. Technically, it was Gardy's error. And Brett apologized to Michael Pineda. But I'd say resumes need to be considered. And here is one element of Garrett Jones' thumbnail: Wherever he plays, the guy is an absolute abomination. Last week, he nearly cost us a game playing firstbase on a bad throw to the plate. He was drummed out of the National League. He is a full-time DH - and the Yankees have three. Yep, three.
Brian Cashman last winter made a big splash by emphasizing defense. He signed Headley, traded for Didi, and has kept Rob Refsnyder on double-secret probation at Scranton - all because of defense. I have no problem with the strategy. But... well... then we watch Beltran and RF and Jones in LF - two bookends, who move like bookends.
Of course, we blame the injuries. Tweaked gonads turn every team into the old KC Keystone Cops. And Jones does hit RH pitching. Trouble is, every time he staggers under a pop fly, he reminds us of Hal Steinbrenner's 2015 original sin: He wanted to screw A-Rod and save a few bucks on milestone money.
The Yankees figured Jones would be the lefty DH, platooning with somebody. Thus, they could ship out A-Rod for a bucket of fried chicken, as they did with AJ Burnett. I don't blame Cashman for being skeptical about A-Rod's ability to come back. But the Yankees sure have launched crazier flights of fancy - Stephen Drew, a prominent one - and when Jones in the OF, they might as well be summoning the Babadook.
We are a team with three full-time DHs.
Hey, if the Redsocks shop Papi at the deadline, should we go for four?
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2 comments:
Not to worry: Esmil Rogers is on his way back to settle the bullpen.
You really should learn something about the game. Gardner is the outfield general, and did not take charge of the play. Big deal, it happens. When you can hit like Beltran has since the first of May, maybe the Yanks will sign you. However, I think they'll just leave you here, in the position of "inane, senseless, negative banter".
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