Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Reality Bites


Next year's team has huge problems.

We used to speak of the vast wasteland at first base, due to the annual Bird injury and melt-down.

Since no one seems to believe Voit can play the position on a regular basis ( except yours truly ), that position remains in Limbo.

But we have a far worse problem, and I haven't even gotten anywhere near the pitching or catching.

Shortstop is our new vast wasteland.

Torreyes can play there, but he is considered too small to be a full-time guy.

 HISTORY HAS FORGOTTEN PHIL RIZZUTO.  WHO DID HE PLAY FOR?

 Torreyes hits .300, sure.  And he can bunt, run, field and throw. He hustles always.  Oh I remember, he doesn't hit homers.  So he is a thorn in the new Yankee gold standard of " how many players can a team have who hit our 20 or 10?"  He is a baseball player, and this Yankee team does not play baseball!

So get ready for this:  Option 1 for the Yankees is to move Torres to SS and re-sign Neal Walker to play second.  Until DIDI returns, of course.  Which , with luck, will be early October, with no minor league work available by then.

Neal can also back-up Voit and Company at first, and play some third and outfield as well.

You think I am toying with you?  I promise this is the plan.

We shall also have a void at third base, as the braintrust has concluded that Andujar can't play the position.  He has too many flaws in his feet, his double clutch, and his rhythm.  So he becomes traded or thrown to to the wolves in the competition to replace Hardy in left.  A rookie of the year, who got benched in the final game we lost by one run.

If Machado is signed, that is the plan.  If Machado declines, because he sees the Dodgers in a far better position to win than the Yankees, we have to start over.  Neal Walker at third, and Frank Weinerschnitzel at second.

Catching anyone?  The Yankees are all-in on the ice cream sandwich.  This year, as they ponder, had to be an aberration.  Gary is a fine catcher, working hard on his mlb-worst defense.  And batting a solid .180 with power, once in a while.

Dreamers dream, don't they?

And we are solid as a rock with pitching.  Young and broken down, mixed with aging and broken down, stirred with old and broken down.

But we still have that world class, unhittable bullpen, right?

Put that all together with an experienced manager, able ownership, an aggressive, inventive GM, and we've got 86 wins for sure.  Or possibly fewer.

The off-season will be more enjoyable than the next season for Yankee fans.


17 comments:

HoraceClarke66 said...

Hardy in left? Is that Joe Hardy? Boy, he's got heart! Something about him, though, that always seems a little strange...I think he might age quickly.

HoraceClarke66 said...

I agree, Alphonso. It's incredible to see the speed at which Coops turned what SI and even the NYT considered the organization with the best combination of MLB and minor-league talent in baseball into this wreck.

It's like those old horror movies where somebody got pushed into a piranha pool, and two seconds later a skeleton came bobbing up. That's why I'm for throwing around the huge contracts. The only alternative is going to be Cashman's famous death by degrees.

TheWinWarblist said...

Yes. Yes. All true. So very true. May I go back to being angry now?

Anonymous said...

So I saw this today https://www.sacbee.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article220062895.html

Jeter is selling his $14.75 million dollar castle and this is the realtor video of it. It is such a bizarre and boring house and is such a strange choice for him based on my apparently limited understanding of him.

Doug K.

Anonymous said...

Hello? Anyone ever consider giving Tyler Wade a meaningful shot?

KD said...

fans think they knew Derek Jeter but did they really? he was such a smooth and polished mouthpiece for the NYY. he never let anyone know his true self. unless, of course, you were in line to receive a gift basket.

at least NY got deep into his pockets with that property. can't imagine what the taxes are on such a place.

Austria's Only Baseball Fan said...

I believe you meant to say "Frank Wienerschnitzel," not "Weinerschnitzel." And don't even think of bringing Austria into this mess. No Wiener (citizen of Vienna) would ever consider playing for such a fucked-up team with no leadership, even if they have no idea what the game is about!

Alphonso said...

This has already been a great day;

1. I just took a wild ass guess at spelling Weinerschnitzel and had it politely corrected by someone who actually knows. I do know that, property, prepared, it is really a great thing to eat. With German beer of course. Or Austrian. Or Dutch. Or Japanese.

2. The Jeter real estate transaction. He has a girlfriend now. He has business interests in Florida. There are people saying, " get that money out...make it liquid...I have plans."

3. Tyler Wade cannot hit major league pitching. He can hit "bozos" in spring training, but not the real pitchers. Sad. I wanted him to succeed. I was much like him when young. Or that's what I like to say. The truth is; I dropped off the baseball map well before him. But my game was fielding, speed and getting on base. No power. If he had become a star, I would be smoking more cigars with armagnac. And pretending I was better than I was.

13bit said...

All of the positions can be handled - or "could be handled" were we to have brains in management and coaching, but they are all do-able.

What cannot be easily done, at least in my dim and ignorant estimation, is to put together a solid rotation. Not only do we have nobody at the moment - and I love Tanaka, but we cannot include him right now. We have nobody AND Cashman's greatest weakness - among many weaknesses - is in assessing pitching talent. He can't do it. He sucks. He's got a broken picker, as my female friends like to lament on occasion.

We are MUCH worse off than we were when the season ended last year, and I'm not talking about nebulous, feel-good metrics, but in actual talent on hand.

I'm tired. I'm going to angry for a while, Winnie. I almost have to not listen to Cashman's off-season pronunciamentos because my capacity for supreme bullshit is pretty much at zero. Part of that is the national news, but maybe it's possible I have "Brian Burnout." Maybe I just can't take his SUPREME BULLSHIT anymore. Maybe.

Vampifella said...

Read the New York Times "Manny Machado warns Yankees and everyone: I don’t hustle" article.
I really REALLY don't want him on the Yanks now. First it was the crazy long contract he'd get but now he'll encourage more players to be sloth-like. I know that running isn't really necessary for a home run derby team as the Yanks appear to be but still I don't like it one bit.

TheWinWarblist said...

Young Nathan throws quite hard considering his surgeon probably keeps a fold-out couch in Eovaldi's right elbow.

Anonymous said...

Vamp - Yeah, that article and others like it are giving me pause on the whole Machado thing. Imagine if he and Sanchez get together and become buddies...

INT: THE GOLDEN RHINO STRIP CLUB - NIGHT

Gary Sanchez,Manny Machado and two strippers are sitting in the VIP section. There is champagne on the table.

Sanchez: You know, when you and I were 2/3's of that 6-4-3 triple play today I was afraid Boone was going to be really pissed and discipline us, but this is great!

Machado: I know. He told the press that we both had hammy issues! Hey girls! How about a Hammy Sandwich?

Sanchez: Yeah, throw a little mustard on these balls.

Machado: Showalter would have gotten in my face and screamed

Sanchez: And Girardi would have made us run laps.

Machado: Well this does have the word lap in it.

CUT TO:

C/U Aaron Boone's head.

He blows a chewing gum bubble. It gets larger and larger until it...pops!


Doug K.




Anonymous said...

OMG....

I JUST READ THE ARTICLE OF MACHADO SAYING "HUSTLING IS JUST NOT MY CUP OF TEA."

GREAT.

SANCHEZ.
MACHADO.
GLEYBER- (ON A FEW OCCASIONS).
HICKS- (LOAFED SOME TOO).

....AND THE PERFECT MANAGER TO LET IT ALL SLIDE.

IS THIS THE NEW BASEBALL?

IS THIS THE NEW "YANKEE BASEBALL"?

HAS HUSTLING BECOME OPTIONAL?

I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS SHIT.

.....AND THIS SOB IS GOING TO GET $350 MILLION DOLLARS!!

YOU CAN'T RUN FAIRLY HARD TO FIRST BASE??... 90 FEET??

Austria's Only Baseball Fan said...

Servus Alphonso! I think this is where you want to be: https://figlmueller.at/en/

HoraceClarke66 said...

I know. It's all going to hell.

BUT...to be more fair to Manny than he probably deserves...from trying to parse Manny's run-on English, I THINK he was trying to say something to the effect of, "Yes, that's the way I am, and it's awful." I believe that last word actually was used.

In other words, I think he was trying to say, "Yes, that's a bad habit of mine that I should fix." That is TRYING to be honest and responsible.

But whatever the case...yes, it is a very, very bad sign. Of course, what signs are good these days?

JM said...

I love Salzburg. It's a lot more than just salt! (That's a joke for Austria's Only BB Fan.)

Trade Hicks. Severino is not our ace. Wade can't hit in the majors. Machado is a cancer, but hits like the other Manny who was also an asshole.

Jeter is a boring guy. The boring mouthpiece stuff wasn't an act, he's really boring. But he does have a temper and there's something a little weird there on the sex front. The gift baskets showed a guy who isn't quite right in the head on that.

And once again: the fish rots from the head down. Ownership, management, field management, coaching, ice cream sandwiches. All of a piece.

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