Keep in mind than any could be lost to injury. In fact, it's wise to expect at least one to fall.
1. Sevy. The breakout ace. Future Cy Young? He's 23. Fuck, yeah.
2. Tanaka. The loyal soldier. He's 29, and he'll certainly vouch for us in talks with Shohei Otani. He could have walked. If he regains his 2016 form, we'd have two aces, TWO!
3. Sonny Gray. The disappointment (thus far). No idea what to make of him. Why, why, why do these high-priced starters that Cashman finds seem to have pitched themselves out with other teams? He's 28.
4. Jordan Montgomery. The forgotten Yankee rookie of 2017. If he improves, would be a solid third starter. He'll turn 25 next month.
5. Chad Green. The experiment. Why the hell not? He's 26, will get full shot in spring training.
6. Chance Adams (23). Last year at Scranton: 11-5, 2.89. Certainly deserves a shot.
7. Luis Cessa (25). Was originally the more valued piece in the Chad Green deal. Went 0-3 with 4.75 ERA last year. Hey, you never know.
8. Bryan Mitchell (27). Lost cause in 2017. Was supposed to be our next Adam Warren. Supposedly has high-spin ratio on his curve ball, whatever that means.
9. Adam Warren (30). Always overlooked. Could he be our last Adam Warren and the next one too?
10. Justus Sheffield (22). Our best pitching prospect. Had great season in Arizona Fall League. Maybe by August?
11. Domingo German (25). Pitched 7 games last year for Yankees. Almost surely to start in Scranton, but then?
12. Domingo Acevedo (23). He's a walrus, 6'7", moved from Tampa to Trenton to Scranton last year. Pitched 2 games at Triple A - 1-1, 4.38.
13. Albert Abreu (22). High ceiling, would have to streak through system, probably will start in Tampa.
14. Brady Lail (24), Nestor Cortez 22), Josh Rogers (23), Jose Mesa (24), Cale Coshow (25), Caleb Frare (24) - fixtures in Scranton. Any could get taken in Rule 5 draft. But they might be returned.
15. The annual late 30s free agent reclamation project. We always sign one to a minor league deal, and he'd one of the last cuts in camp. Last year: Jonathan Niese. This year...?
15. Dillon Tate. He's 23, once the top-drafted pitching prospect in America. Missed Arizona league for unknown reasons. Hey, you never know...
A few " gut level " reactions;
ReplyDelete1. Chad Green should not become the next "Joba " experiment, just because they can. He should stay where he is.
2. Chance Adams has officially changed his name to, " Last Chance Adams." It is now or never. He is too long affiliated with Mason Williams.
3. Cessa would be better off going into the single engine, airplane business. The Yankees gave him about 10 opportunities and he " crashed and burned" every time.
4. Brian Mitchell is like that old bottle of Ketchup that never seems to get thrown out, but doesn't have enough product for a single hamburger. Hit it on the bottom, take off the top and scrape the inside of the bottle with a knife; all you get is a mess.
5. Domingo German has the physical appearance of Luis Severino. All resemblance to the real pitcher ends at that point.
6. Dillion what's his name, used an alias while in jail this recent Fall. There is no other reason " not to show " at the Arizona league festivities. Either that, or they were performing pre-career Tommy John surgery on him, and chose to keep it a secret.
Every other name on the list is so distant as to be like a star in a galaxy yet undiscovered. It is like listing Alfred Heinstopper as our 6th string catching prospect at single A.
See you all at spring training. $5 says we have named a manager by then. I think he will be Dutch.
ALPHONSO IS RIGHT.
ReplyDeleteLEAVE CHAD GREEN WHERE HE IS.
....AND IF CHANCE ADAMS DOESN'T WOW US, IN HIS FIRST 7 STARTS IN TRIPLE A, THEN IT IS "LAST CHANCE".
LOVE THE BRIAN MITCHELL ANALOGY. HE HAS REAL GOOD STUFF, BUT I GAVE UP ON HIM. THE PROBLEM IS BETWEEN HIS EARS. REMEMBER HOW HE COULDN'T CATCH A 12 FOOT POP OR A LITTLE TAPPER BACK TO THE MOUND?
I READ WHERE IF WE GET OHTANI, CC MAY BE OUT.... I AM ON THE RECORD FOR LETTING CC GO. HE JUST CAN'T GO MORE THAN 5 INNINGS MAX...HE HAS VIRTUALLY BEEN PITCHING ON ONE KNEE FOR QUITE A WHILE NOW AND IS PUSHING 40. HE IS GOING TO GET HURT AND MISS MULTIPLE MONTHS FOR THE TUNE OF $12 MILLION.
ALTHOUGH HE WAS SURPRISINGLY GOOD LAST SEASON, I BELIEVE IT'S TIME TO PASS ON CC.
I agree with all caps anon....
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm jumping on the ALL-CAPS, anti-CC bandwagon. Love the guy, but we will get one year from him at most, and maybe not that.
ReplyDeleteSo...why not sign Yu Darvish? Not only does he have the greatest name in baseball history—or at least, this side of Urban Shocker—but that will then clinch signing Ohtani.
Think of the tabloid headlines and Master Warbles alone! "Darvish Whirls to Victory!" "Yu Da Man!" "Darvish is Something Kinda Marsh!"
Also, didn't Cessa have some really good game before he got hurt? Just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteIf he did ( and you may well be correct), his really good game was not all that memorable. Since none of us can recall it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he only gave up 4 runs in 6 innings against Tampa.
I couldn't remember, either, so I looked it up.
ReplyDeleteTurns out it was against the Mets (I know, I know). Went 4.1 innings, and struck out 5. Gave up solo shots to Cespedes and the Grandy Man, but was looking strong when he was lifted for upper back trouble that turned out to be a case of rhomboideus.
(That is a repetitive stress injury, first diagnosed in Argentinian rhumba dancers, back in the 1930s.)
So...not so amazing. Then again, of his five long relief appearances in 2017, three of them were good—zero runs—and two not so good.
So...still worth looking at, I guess.
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