Well, today's word - maybe the word for all of 2017 - is "hubris:" defined by the Strunk & White needle-pricks as "excessive pride toward or defiance of the gods, leading to Nemesis." Thanks to hubris, today's Yankee outfield is comprised of Gardy, Chief and the Nemesis brothers, Aaron I and II - and good luck looking for the Yankee future.
Our torture chart for the day shows Yankee hitters in the last 28 days, with our once shining OF quarantined in red. Nobody has hit above .250, and three remain 20 miles south of Mendoza. Statistically, our most productive lug nut has been the heavily maligned whipping mule, "Chief" Jacoby Ellsbury - (though to label anybody "productive" is to throw shoes at the gods.) If you've been wondering where the Yankee offense went, let's just say it disappeared at the warning track.
And here's the real plastic radish in the salad bar: Unless Aaron Judge figures out curve balls in the dirt, next year could be a VHS rerun of Gardy, the Chief and TBA. Judge is heading toward the most Jekyll-Hyde year in history, leaving us wondering what we've got. No matter what happens in September, he'll finish with the all-time HR record for Yankee rookies. But how can we reconcile what our eyes have witnessed: A second-half in which Babe Ruth morphed into Zolio Almonte. Do we just look at the 40 (or so) homers and plug him into right field, as if the last three months of 2017 didn't happen? Do we trade him for whatever we can get, which is shrinking with each golden sombrero day? Listen: We all love Aaron Judge. Not long ago, he was the future face of the Yankees - if not of all baseball. Now... can he bat eighth?
Likewise, I was distressed last night to see that Aaron Hicks also has tumbled into a .258 mediocrity. We can blame his recent injury, but - hey - we've had him two years, both defined by muscle strains. As for Clint Frazier, after this weekend, where will he rehab? And his numbers we falling like the rain in Houston. What the hell happened to our golden outfield of the future, the one with no room for Bryce Harper? It vanished. Jake Cave, anyone?
Clearly, everything rests on Aaron Judge - and I'm not just talking about the 2017 wild card. We made those deadline trades thinking Judge was the real deal - a future bedrock of the Yankees - and now, we simply no longer can assume that will be the case. Thank god he's finally getting a few days off. This needed to happen two weeks ago. And in the future, next time we have too many outfielders, or shortstops, or left widgets, let's keep our future intact and not summon Mr. Nemesis.
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As we have often quoted The Master, you just can't predict baseball. A guy hits 30 home runs with a .340 average like he's the second coming of Sammy Sosa on steroids, and it looks like a reasonable conclusion to think that he's really good. And at the same time, the team is on a roll and goes 15 games over .500 through June, and I know I was one of those guys who thought they were really good: All we need is a really good and deep bullpen so let's trade some of these guys in the minors and we'll be off to the races.
Well, we threw a shoe before we got to the stretch run. As much as the chattering class claims that Sevy is an ace, all I see is a very good young pitcher who's not yet at that level. And this best-in-class bullpen they like to talk about? It is great -- some of the time.
The Judge situation is one of the saddest things I've seen: Complete disintegration in 8 weeks. Maybe he conquers his fear of stepping into the ball. That would be nice, but it looks to me like he's got to prove himself all over again.
Hicks? First half fools gold? Another nice kid who tries really hard. Hope he figures it out, but what has he given us to hang our hat on? Less than two months of very solid play at the start of this year. Otherwise, an all-round excellent ballplayer who can't actually hit the ball.
Cashman pushed his chips to the center of the table because he thought he had a royal straight flush. Turns out he was holding two pair. Fortunately, we've got more resources in the pipeline -- Torres, Andujar and so forth. Hopefully, he doesn't squander them, too.
You know who's really fucked? The guy who about 8 weeks ago paid $14,000 for an Aaron Judge baseball card.
NICELY PUT TOM.....
JUDGE COMPLETELY STOPPED GETTING HITS TO THE OPPOSITE FIELD.
I WAS OVERJOYED HOW WELL HE WAS ABLE TO OCCASIONALLY TAKE THE BALL UP THE MIDDLE AND TO THE RIGHT SIDE......
THAT IS WHAT CONVINCED ME HE WAS 100% FOR REAL, THE ABILITY TO GO THE OTHER WAY.
THEN CAME THAT FUCKING BULLSHIT HOME RUN DERBY WHERE HE HAD TO UPPERCUT HIS SWING OVER 500 FUCKING TIMES IN ONE NIGHT.
SEEMS LIKE HE CAN'T GET THE UPPERCUT SWING TO LEVEL OUT.
FUCKING SHAME.
NOW FOR HICKS....
HE HAD A FEW TERRIFIC MONTHS...
BUT NOW, WE ARE CLOSER TO LOOKING AT LAST YEAR'S AARON HICKS (AND THAT'S HARD TO DO), THAN THIS YEARS FIRST MONTHS.
WE ALL GOT SOLD ON THE NEW HICKS, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE HE IS NOTHING MORE THAN A 4TH OUTFIELDER WHO ONCE AGAIN IS GETTING TOO MUCH PLAYING TIME LIKE LAST SEASON.
SEVERINO...
HE HAS THE TOOLS...
BUT AS YOU POINTED OUT, HE IS JUST NOT THERE YET.... ALMOST.
IN AN ELITE MATCH UP WITH ANOTHER ACE GOING AGAINST YOU, YOU CAN AFFORD TO GIVE UP 1 SOLO HOMER..... MAYBE EVEN 2 SOLO HOMERS..... BUT NOT 3..... HE IS CLOSE THOUGH.
LET HOPE AND PRAY THAN HAL AND CASHMAN DO NOT GO THE CHEAPO ROUTE.
I STILL BELIEVE, THE KEY TO OUR FUTURE LIES WITH A MAN NAMED BRYCE.
EVEN WITH GREG BIRD BACK, OUR LINEUP AGAINST A TOUGH RIGHTY LIKE KLUBER SEEMED 1 PRODUCTIVE LEFTY BAT SHORT.
CAN CASHMAN AND HAL KEEP THEIR EYES ON THE PRIZE?
THE PRIZE IS OUR FUTURE OUTFIELD NEEDS TO BE....
JUDGE...CLINT....AND BRYCE.
We're all fools to believe this team had any shot. I should know better than to get my hopes up about anything, I've rooted for the Jets
Can't say for sure, of course, but the course of all our rookies/young players might—MIGHT—have gone a helluva lot better had management been saying over and over again, 'Hey, this is a rebuilding year, no pressure, let's just see what we got.'
Meanwhile, after many seconds of painstaking research—I clicked on baseballreference—below is the vaunted, 40-man roster so thick with talent that we absolutely had to trade terrific young pitchers and outfielders for the likes of Jaime Garcia and Todd Frazier Take a look.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/2017-roster.shtml
I know...an awesome thing, isn't it? Almost like looking at the NL All-Star roster c. 1963. All those Willie Mays, Henry Aaron, Sandy Koufax types.
Offhand, I'd say that without the likes of Garcia, Kahnle, T. Frazier, Ben Heller, Jonathan Holder, Bryan Mitchell, Kyle "Hitless" Higashioka, David Robertson, Chasen Shreve—or Matt Holliday, who will likely be gone at the end of the year anyway—or Chase Headley, easily disposable—or even, sadly Brett Gardner, at the end of the line, or Ellsbury and Chapman (not so easily disposable)...
...There would have been plenty of room to stash all the top-rated, minor-league talent we had—at least, all those players who had put in the 4-5 years of pro ball required to make them eligible for the Rule V draft.
So, Cashman's claim that we had to trade these guys or lose them for nothing?
What do they call it in those political fact-checking blogs? 4 Pinocchios? Pants on Fire?
How about, Big Fat Freakin' Lie?
HERE'S THE LATEST GUYS....
CASHMAN IS ON HIS WAY TO JAPAN TO SEE OTANI....
AS FAR AS I KNOW, HE IS GOING HIMSELF.
WHERE ARE OUR SCOUTS?.... AREN'T THEY GOING WITH HIM?
WHY IS BRIAN CASHMAN, WHO NEVER PLAYED ANY KIND OF PRO BASEBALL, OUR #1 EVALUATOR?
THIS IS OUR PROBLEM!
MAYBE HAL DOESN'T WANT TO PAY FOR 3 SEATS ON A PLANE TO JAPAN, BUT JUST ONE?
THE DODGERS HAVE ALREADY SENT SCOUTS (INCLUDING OREL HERSHEISER).
I MISS THE DAYS OF GEORGE AND HIS IMPETUOUSNESS.
HE GOT WHO HE WANTED, AND HAD HIS OWN VISION FOR THE TEAM, RIGHT OR WRONG.
NOW WE HAVE TO WAIT FOR BUDGET RESTRAINTS, PHONY "DUE DILIGENCE", AND LUKE WARM DECISION MAKING.
I hope he's flying coach - one row in front of the smoking section.
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