1. Never ask him to close a game. We're better off with AJ Cole.
2. Always have a reliever warming in the pen. Never send him out there without someone else ready to go.
3. Wait... make it two relievers warming in the pen.
4. If he walks a batter - any batter - take him out. Immediately. Don't talk to him. Take him out.
5. Come November 1, explore all trade possibilities. That's not to say he should be given away. But everyone will be happier - including Dellin - if next year he can pitch in a city where nobody comes to games.
Secondly, I'd like to propose the Yankees watch a replay of last night's loss to Detroit, then convene a free-wheeling, celebrity panel discussion on some of the things that happened.
1. Neil Walker twice taking his good-old, sweet, happy-go-lucky, ho-hum, la-di-da time on ground balls, transforming them into infield singles. Because he is a master veteran, we cannot blame rookie blunders. So "Walk" can explain what he was thinking, as the Tigers sprinted to first.
2. Chad Green failing to execute a rundown that would be an embarrassment at the Little League World Series. Rather than charge the runner, he threw to third base. That led to Miguel Andujar - who, by the way, looks like a great future DH - throwing the ball into the runner's back. Maybe Aaron Boone can give the Yankees tips on what to do, if it happens again.
3. Brett Gardner being thrown out at third on a single to right. On the replay, the entire Yankiverse got to watch him slow down while rounding second. Et tu, Gardy? We could have had two runners on for Giancarlo, who then homered. Folks, we lost that game by one run, and there it was. This, from Gardy, our de facto captain. Lately, he's been as big a reason as Shane Robinson for having to trade prospects for a month of Andrew McCutcheon. What happened to Gardy? Next winter, who will want to sign this guy?
4. Gleyber Torres ridiculously trying to stretch a single into a double. He was out by 20 feet - second time in two nights, thrown out. With Didi out, he has been a fright show at SS - the Yankees rearranged their infield rather than give a shot to Tyler Wade - installing weakness at every position.
Thirdly, I would simply like to ask the fundamental question now echoing across the Yankiverse:
How can a team this talented, this successful, be so unspeakably shitty?
Injuries, you say? I'm sorry. Great teams fight through them. This team has folded its tent on almost every level - from Severino's collapse to the front office's month-long denial on the loss of Aaron Judge.
We gave up an overachieving infielder and somebody who has yet to be named. I'm already this morning seeing news stories suggesting the Yankees received McCutcheon for nothing - and they don't even have a name yet. Insane.
Of course, all is well, as long as Oakland and Seattle don't get hot. So, I suppose Boonie will just keep doing what he's doing. As long as the rest of the league is thoroughly mediocre, the 2018 Yankees can get by. In fact, they actually can fit in quite well.
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A week ago, I was thinking, maybe... maybe we can catch the Red Sox, maybe Judge comes back, maybe we can run up the win total against lousy teams, maybe Boston continues to slump, just for a week or so.
I was naively mistaken. There's probably never been a team 30 games over .500 that's so amazingly bad. Or a front office that's determined to screw up not only this year, but the next 10.
There’s still time to turn this into an Oakland Athletics blog in protest: billymartin.blogspot.com
the theory I espoused earlier on this blog concerning "Situation Effort" and the dangers of hustle explain Walker's and Gardner's degree of effort last night. (More than that alone, actually.)
You may contend that they did not hustle when hustle was called for. Yes, mistakes are to be expected as the Yanks implement The Millennial's Situational Effort directive. Some players will get used to not hustling and will be caught with their pants down when hustle is called for. They have trouble detecting "Hustle Situations". We need a solution....
how about this? Task the base coaches with advising the runners when to exert effort on the base paths. This could be accomplished with hand signals or even verbal sues. Something like "Run, you lazy fucker, RUN!!!!"
That ought to do it.
Hi John. I was there with you in spirit. this reality thing is a bitch...
How can a team this talented, this successful, be so unspeakably shitty?
I got this one...because in New York, the fans, the media...well, we overrate these players. It hasn't changed in all the years I've watched sports, and it doesn't matter which sport it is. So there you have it, the team is overrated because the players are overrated and quite frankly we're all to blame...
Last night’s debacle came down to one important bullpen decision - who pitches the eighth and who gets the ninth. Boone opted for Britton, the proven closer, to pitch the eighth and Betances, the historically unhittable set-up man who has proven time and again that he can’t handle the closer’s role, to pitch the ninth. Why? Matchups. One wonders if the call was made by the millennial in the basement or by Boone himself. Either way it’s just one more example of Boone’s unfitness for the job. I never thought I’’d say this, but I’m really starting to miss Girardi. He at least understood that the ninth inning is different, and not everyone can handle it.
The biggest mistake the Yankees made this season was hiring Boone. The listless performances by the whole team, the endless mismanagement of the pitching staff and the absence of dugout leadership when the trust fund babies in the front office damage the team chemistry with slide-rule-driven micromanaging. Every game reminds me of Girardi's absence and makes me wonder what Hensley Muelens might have done as a Yankee manager.
Yankees need a real manager. One who came up the Yankee way. Someone who has the gravitas and respect of the players, because he is always the most prepared person in the room. Someone who is acknowledged to be a master tactician and strategist.
I think its foolish to over-tinker with a team full of rookies. Better to mold them together, provide stability and surround them seasoned leadership. But the Boone experiment has got to end. Yankees will never achieve their potential under a sock puppet.
Fire cASSman fast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On what night will the fans be receiving the Robinson " Bobble head " doll. It is going to be worth a lot.
Especially on the lake house mantel.
I completely agree with the idea that hiring Boone was the greatest single mistake of this season, and clearly Cashman is to blame for that. This is what you get when you think that all it takes to win a championship is to acquire the right players and then assume that they will play exactly like the metrics say they will. Boone was hired precisely because he was never going to interfere with the metrics, because he has precisely zero on-field coaching/managing experience of any kind to back himself up. The entire Yankee coaching staff is an unmitigated disaster because there are no teachers of any kind on that team, and a young team needs teaching and guidance. Boone wasn't hired to lead the Yankees; he was hired to stay out of the way. Boston, Houston and Oakland are successful because they have great managers who both use the metrics AND use their proven experience to manage games and players.
Boone needs to go - and fast. And Showalter's contract is up in Baltimore. You wonder....
You might be on to something there, poorplayer. Bring back old sourpuss Buck - he could be exactly what this team needs. He could rebuild the team then Hal could fire him just before the Yanks win the next three World Series in a row. He might even bring back cotton uniforms...
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