Monday, September 18, 2017

The worst trade of 2017 might be for Jaime Garcia

Tonight - as if to prove the Fates savor the sweet and spice taste of Yankee humiliation - Joe Girardi's binder will trot out Jaime Garcia to face his (brief) former employer, the Minnesota Twins. He will pitch against our likely 2017 One Game Wild Card opponent, Ervin Santana. Tonight's game won't matter much. We have a four game lead over Minnesota with 13 left. They can fluster us, embarrass us and maybe even spook us... but they won't overtake us.

Still, no matter what happens tonight, Twins fans can summon up a shit-eater grin on the subject of Jaime Garcia. 

In late July, as Oakland sought to squeeze us for Sonny Gray, we finagled Garcia from the Twins for minor league pitchers Dietrich Enns and Zach Littell. Garcia was supposed to give us a fallback, in case the A's kept Sonny (which, in retrospect, they were never going to do.) Basically, we obtained Garcia and then learned we didn't really need him, forcing the YES Pravda apparatus to push him especially hard. 

Since arriving, Garcia has - how do I put this? - well, he's stunk. In six starts, he is 0-2 with a 4.60 ERA. He was supposed to keep us from pissing away the farm for Sonny. As it turned out, we may have pissed away the system for him.

This year, Enns - recovering from a spring training injury -  pitched twice for Minnesota. In his first outing, Aug. 10, he went 5 innings and gave up one run. That equals Garcia's best start as a Yankee. In his second game, in relief, Enns gave up two runs in an inning. He's 26 and marginal, sort of an Aaron Small type, not a future power arm. He's probably - well - a Jaime Garcia type.

It's Littell about which we should be concerned. He has been - in a word - fuckingunbelievable. His record this season at Single and Double A: 19-1. Yep, nineteen and one. His ERA: 2.12. His age: 21. He could start next season at Triple A and be with the Twins by next June... at 22.

And we traded him for - gulp - Jaime Garcia, at whom the Twins took one fast look and punted - not only on him, but seemingly on the season. Moreover, by trading Garcia, they ended up keeping the guy they were dangling - Santana - (who, by the way, already has a rich history of killing us in the post-season.) So tonight, we'll see Santana, their ace, our likely Wild Card opponent, and they'll see the guy they converted into two nice young pitchers.

By the way, I don't mean to hurl bile at Cashman here. Two years ago, he traded Justin Wilson to the Tigers for two nice young pitchers, Luis Cessa and Chad Green. Tonight, when Garcia comes out in the fourth, ask yourself: Where would we be without Chad Green? I guess one moral of the story is simple: When you get a chance to trade for nice young pitchers, you should do it, regardless of current the Wild Card standings.

OK, I admit it: I am a "prospect hugger," a term derisively applied to any idiotic fan who wastes his time studying the farm system. It is right to ridicule us for thinking we know a goddamn thing, basing our "expertise" on minor league stats, or box scores, or an occasional game watched on MILB. I get it. We're dolts - certainly not pro scouts, and even the scouts don't always get it right. Being a "prospect hugger" is a sad satire of a knowledgeable fan.

But, dammit!... I do know this: For every three or four legitimate prospects you have, one might make it. The key is not to have one super-duper prospect some Glyber, in your system and think you can deal off all the rest. That only works for selling tickets. The key is to have a wave of youngsters, so that when one gets hurt or simply sucks, somebody else steps up. 

In August, the Yankees traded away eight top prospects for what will turn out to be the 2017 One Game Wild Card. Four were among our top 10 ranked. I shudder to think of the long term ramifications. And Littell - who was not in that elite foursome - might haunt us for a long, long time. 

And for him, we got Jaime Garcia.

17 comments:

  1. I was thinking at the time we didn't need to get Gray, but we actually didn't need to get Garcia.

    This is from ESPN today, about the AL East:

    "Prediction: Tie. We deserve a tie somewhere, somehow. A tie-breaker game would be played Oct. 2, a Monday, with the loser then hosting the wild-card game on Oct. 3. Who would start that game? Right now, our pitching schedules have Chris Sale in line to start the final Sunday of the regular season, but it's much more likely he goes Wednesday-Monday-Saturday, which would give him four days of rest before the division series starts on Oct. 5. In other words, no matter how the rotation falls, he's unlikely to be in line to start either a division tie-breaker game OR a potential wild-card game."

    Yankees have a pretty great September going, and the Sox are, as expected (by me, anyway), barely over .500.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JAIME GARCIA?

    THERE IS CASHMAN BEING CASHMAN.....

    ReplyDelete
  3. I read somewhere that Littell won a minor-league playoff game, too, to go 20-1 on the season. 20-1! That's a record to reckon with, no matter what your velocity!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Also, we should recognize that, this weekend, the Yankees won their 82nd game, guaranteeing them of their 25th consecutive, winning season. That's far from the team—or major-league—record, which is 39 in a row, by the Yanks from 1926-64.

    But overall, it gives the Yankees 93 winning seasons in their 115-year history. That's the second best all-time, just one behind the Giants, who existed for 20 years and ran up 12 winning seasons before the Yankees ever came into being.

    Not bad!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Not bad if all you want is a winning record

    Not bad if you are okay with an early exit from every baseball season.

    Not bad if you enjoy watching the Indians play the Cubs in the WS.

    Not bad if you don't mind watching a ticker-tape parade in downtown Boston.

    Not bad if you are Hal, Brian or Joe.

    ReplyDelete
  6. That's 89 years with at least 80 wins.

    41 years with at least 90 wins (still possible to add to this year).

    19 years with at least 100 wins.

    That's a lot of winning.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sorry, that should be "at least 60 years with 90 wins."

    ReplyDelete
  8. Or rather, 60 years with at least 90 wins. I'm getting my head on straight! No more beer for lunch!

    ReplyDelete

  9. For the record, it would be helpful if the Orioles would beat up on the Blosox this evening. Is it too much to ask the O's to win the series?

    ReplyDelete
  10. "I am a 'prospect hugger,' a term derisively applied to any idiotic fan who wastes his time studying the farm system."

    That's not what a "prospect hugger" is. It's what a "straw man" is.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Austria's Only Baseball FanSeptember 18, 2017 at 9:32 PM

    Paul O’Neill said something to the effect of “That’s the best Garcia has been in Pinstripes,” which is as comforting to me as someone yet again making the pronouncement of your leader, “Tonight he truly became president.”

    Watching this game, I still have this feeling that Brett Gardner is the Yank’s most valuable player.

    Have another beer, Horace. Over here it’s not unusual to see construction workers knocking one back at their morning break.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Austria's Only Baseball FanSeptember 18, 2017 at 10:11 PM

    Delicate Betances "blows?" I'd just say he sucks. He presents the biggest danger to the team. Consistently. Is it just me, or has anyone noticed that he never seems to be thinking? His facial repertoire consists of squinting, occasionally smiling (mstly from the dugout), but generally simply looking dead empty. Like there is nothing between his ears.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Nothing like Dellin to sober one up.

    Our biggest break today? Minnesota giving up an out on a bunt, after he hit the first batter. As Paul Reiser would say, "Why would you do that?"

    Hey, we'll take it!

    Kudos to Joe and the Binders for the quick hook.

    And Judge hit a home run with the score tied!! All right, at 0-0, but that counts! Then it was back to "The Cavalcade of Unclutchness." But still.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Austria's Only Baseball FanSeptember 18, 2017 at 10:42 PM

    Most valuable players: the Yankee fans who booed Betances as he took the Walk of Shame.

    Interesting stuff happening in Baltimore right now...

    ReplyDelete
  15. I had to turn off the Boston game after they loaded the bases in the 11th or 12th or whenever that terrible rally occurred.

    Austria's OBF...yes, Betances sucks is fine. Betances blows is an older form of the same sentiment, chosen for the alliteration. Reminds me of walking around aimlessly with other teenaged ne'er-do-wells, seeing something we found objectionable, and uttering the ubiquitous, "That blows."

    Ah, those were the days.

    ReplyDelete

  16. 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.