Monday, November 21, 2016

Sanchez' family to Carrot Top: Baseball America's take on the Yankees

The other day, a Baseball America podcast devoted roughly 33 minutes to the Yankee farm system, and if you've got 33 minutes lying around, with nothing better to do, or you need background drivel while cleaning your Glocks, give it a go. Just keep in mind that a 15-minute call to Geico can blah-blah-blah on car insurance, and with the remaining 18, you could drive to the store and buy a pack of Luckies and quart of King Cobra. Do you really want to spend 33 minutes inside the free-association minds of a Skippy, a Fletch and a Cooter - guys whose lives involve plumbing the ever-sifting secrets of Scranton, Trenton and Pulaski?

Didn't think so. Therefore, I did it for you. Some takeaways.

1. They were comparing SS Jorge Mateo's two-week suspension last summer to that of Gary Sanchez, two years ago. In both cases, you've got a hot prospect pissing off the Yankee pooh-bahs by breaking some unnamed rule. (Panty raid? Serial killing?) It certainly worked for Sanchez, who looked mature beyond his years this summer. Will it work on Mateo? Well, they don't know. But here's the takeaway: Sanchez' change of heart came after he got married and had a kid. Big change. Maybe we need Mateo to find a woman. Oh, and he'll probably play CF. He's literally too fast to be wasted in the infield.

2. While waxing about Clint Frazier's formidable physique, somebody said he is "jacked like Carrot Top." (Both have red hair.) This rattled me. I find shirtless shots of Carrot Top to be unsettling. Stand-up comics who spend all day pumping iron end up looking like steroidal monsters - way too scary to laugh at their jokes. I love how Louis CK and Rickie Gervais, joke about being fat, even though neither is. It makes them human. Now, whenever Frazier comes to bat, I'll have a Carrot Top moment bouncing in my head. Thank you, Baseball America. As for Frazier, they love him, though - and I didn't know this - they say some scouts see too much movement - something "hitchy with his swing." As a result, he might have trouble adjusting to MLB. A final note: They say Frazier is really smart and obsessed with improvement, and one of the most knowledgeable hitters in the game. I suspect this is just their olive branch after comparing the guy to Carrot Top. They're probably scared of him, too.

3. Josh Norris claimed the Yankees could have 10 prospects on Baseball America's Top 100 list. The others said maybe eight. They agreed that we have one of the deepest - if not THE deepest - systems in baseball. (Keep in mind that these rankings are baseball's equivalent to the polls that said Hillary was a shoe-in.) I fear we are being set-up for the inevitable five-for-one trade - coming next month - which will be hailed by the YES-courtier press, and which later will go down as the worst thing we ever did. Yes... I know, I know... I'm being cynical and negative. Now and then, Cashman scores a nice little pickup. But the bigger the deal, the more chance of disaster. If we bundle talent for a Chris Sale, something tells me we'll get the short end... and be thinking of Carlos Quintana.

Would it not be interesting, just for the hell of it, to see what happens if the Yankees simply let the deepest system in baseball grow to its fruition? Must we trade it off? Is it a given that we cannot develop our own ace pitcher, that he must be acquired through trades, and only after having logged 1,200 innings for another team? If one out of every three prospects becomes a decent MLB player, isn't a key to success having a LOT of them?

4. They love Gleyber Torres and might rank him in the Top 5... but... and they didn't say this outright ... but... he'll rank below Yoan Moncada. Gah, that name again! Can you imagine the Yankee system if Hal had not gone alligator arms two years ago while reaching for his purse? Because even with a surge of talent over the coming years, we are probably doomed to watch Boston walk away with the next two divisional crowns. That's because they methodically built a team from the ground up - and then supplemented with outside talent, after seeing what holes needed to be filled.

We now face one unanswered question, which the boys of BA cannot answer:

Will we finish the rebuilding job... or seek the quick fix? Just what the hell is Hal Steinbrenner thinking? Can the Yankiverse - with its self-proclaimed smartest fans in the game - be patient enough to wait? Or when we built the new monstrosity, did we become slaves to always winning the next game? Do we have the guts to actually build over the long haul? Or will it always be about next year?

5 comments:

  1. THE PROBLEM WITH WAITING IT OUT WITH ALL OF OUR PROSPECTS IS........WE ACTUALLY HAVE TOO MANY, AND IT WILL TAKE TOO LONG!...... EXAMPLE: JORGE MATEO PLAYED SS....THEN HE WAS MOVED TO 2B.....NOW THEY ARE TALKING CF......WE STILL DON'T KNOW WHERE HE IS SUPPOSED TO BE PLAYING.....AND YOU KNOW WHEN IT COMES TO THE YANKEE PROSPECTS, EVERYTHING TAKES FOREVER! ....DO YANKEE FANS HAVE TO WAIT ANOTHER 4 FUCKING YEARS (AFTER THE LAST 4 CRAPPY YEARS), TO FINALLY DECIDE "WE FOUND MATEO'S POSITION, AND HE IS STILL ONLY 25!" ....FUCK THAT........ DIDI ISN'T GOING ANYWHERE, I DON'T KNOW IF CASTRO IS GOING ANYWHERE EITHER, SO WHERE ARE WE GOING TO PUT GLEYBER?..... CENTER FIELD?...BUT ISN'T ELLSBURY THERE FOREVER?......AND WHAT ABOUT RUTHERFORD?......WHERE DOES HE FIT IN?...... SEE MY POINT?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Assuming Hal S won't eat Ellsbury's contract NOW, the solution to the E problem is in Girardi's court.

    The solution: Every time the guy gets on base, give him the "must steal on first pitch" sign. If he gets safely to 2B, repeat.

    [Note: Ellsbury was on base 200 times last year, counting Hits, BB and IBB]

    Sooner or later, the guy will get hurt in the process -- and perhaps be delcared out for the season.

    Voila! You solve the problem: (1) Hal pays Ellsbury for sitting, which is what (at this point) he appears to be designed to do; and (2) you get to play someone else in the position for most of the season, a future hope of some sort. Mateo?

    If the injury is minor, bribe the doctors to diagnose him with Cancer of the Fibula. I don't want the guy to GET cancer, mind you -- just a diagnosis of that sort in April, to keep him out-of-action for a full season.

    I would be OK if the treatment for Ells is constant sex with beautiful 23-year-old women. As long as it keeps him out of CF.

    Of course, if THAT is the treatment, we're all going to want to get Cancer of the Fibula.

    BUT

    Of course.....all plans go awry.

    There is the possibility that Ellsbury (a) will be caught stealing a lot of times, and (b) not get hurt in the process until August. And also (c) maybe a constant parade of young post-nubiles is not what he has in mind?


    Someone with a better mind than mine needs to come up with the solution to that (thin) possibility.

    ReplyDelete
  3. J-FOB may have just solved all the Yankees' problems. Or not. But it was more fun to read than most everything else I've looked at today. So thank you for that, and if in fact, Cancer of the Fibula does turn out to be a the baseball equivalent of being greeted by 72 virgins in the afterlife, well, I hope Joe gets himself some of that.

    ReplyDelete
  4. lets face it yankees got screwed on ellsbury coming off that last year with boston
    maybe they can trade him maybe they cant
    the problem with the yankees is girardi he needs a new zipcode and cashman should not be far behind
    they will never win a title like they are
    you just dont trade andrew miller he was a guy everyone looked up to and did not choke ever

    ReplyDelete

  5. I really want the world to know about this great man who brought back happiness into my life again after my husband left me and the kids 3 years ago for another women online when i contacted Dr Believe he cast a love spell for me within 48 hours my ex husband start calling me and begging for forgiveness for everything that have happened between us. I was so happy to have my family back together with love again here is the email of Dr Believe via believelovespelltemple@gmail.com a man with the great powers you can also call him or add him on Whats-app: +2348156148821
    God bless you
    I am very grateful for your help in my marriage.

    ReplyDelete

Members of the blog can comment. To receive an e-mailed invitation, write to johnandsuzyn@gmail.com. And check spam if it doesn't show up. (Google account required.)

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.