Monday, December 17, 2018

BOTH

It is said that the sign of a mature individual is the ability to keep two opposing ideas in his mind at the same time.

I would add that another sign is the ability to adjust to changing situations, even when they wreck your original plans.  That's been a characteristic of our most outstanding presidents, generals—and baseball executives.

I was and am all for the Yankees building from within, and skipping free-agent signings like Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, young, talented but flawed players, who are also inherent risks simply because of the size of the contracts they will command.

But.  But.

The situation has changed.  The Yanks now have a gaping hole in their infield, thanks to Sir Didi's injury—one they made worse by releasing the Toe.

The Yanks have a gaping hole in their outfield, despite all of Brian Cashman's defiant folderol.  I love Red Thunder, but sadly, we don't know if he will even play again.  I love Gardy, but he's done.  I...don't actually HATE Jacoby Ellsbury, but let's be serious.

Down on the farm, everybody raves about Estevan Florial, with his five tools and his superstar potential, and his great personality.  I love the IDEA of that.  But let's face it:  the guy is still in Single-A ball and just got through hitting .178 in the Arizona Fall League, with no home runs and two stolen bases.

Some of those tools seem to have fallen out of the tool box, and I'm not talking about the needle-nose pliers.  When Mickey Mantle was his age—barely turned 21—he'd just finished a season as the best player in the AL, and hit .345 in the World Series, driving in the winning runs in Game 7.

(And people still considered him a disappointment.  No wonder the guy turned to drink.)

Is it unfair to compare anyone to Mickey Mantle?  Of course it is.  But it's also unfair to assume anyone is going to BE Mickey Mantle.

So what's that leave us?  Big hole in the infield, big hole in the outfield...and, oh yeah, big hole in a lineup that is only going to swing one way if we don't grab Harper.

So sign both.  Nice as it would be to build from within, Brian Cashman has already screwed that up, and there's no indication he could ever do it in the first place.

In 43 years of free agency, there have never, ever been two players this young and this good on the market.  It could easily be another 43 years before there are again.

Are they imperfect?  Yes.  Could they be complete disasters?  Yes.  Hey, as a great man once said, there's no predicting baseball.

Will they be better than watching Brett Gardner try to play a whole season for us again?  And/or Neil Walker?

Abso-fucking-lutely.

Disappointing as this postseason has been, it is not (yet) a disaster.  Signing Happ instead of Corbin might even have been the smart thing.  Sign up Harper and Machado, and we're guaranteed nothing—except a chance.

Without them, we got trouble.  The situation has changed.








14 comments:

  1. I have always said YES on Harper, NO on Manny.

    What good is the ability to post if I can't be obnoxious and opinionated?

    At least I don't back up my bullshit with statistics - or any facts, at all, for that matter. It's just me and my big mouth and my usually-wrong gut.

    AND 10,000 YEARS OF YANKEES HISTORY, GODDAMNIT!

    I LOVE YOU ALL.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree, yes on Harper. Better hair, will run through a wall, no knee surgeries...do it. They have to know a player like Harper will boost both yes ratings and attendance. Yankee fans have waited patiently as payroll has been reduced and our arch enemy has outspent us on the way to another ws victory. We deserve the big spend.

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  3. WELL SAID HOSS....

    LETS GET BOTH!

    PACKAGE CLINT, FLORIAL AND WHATEVER OTHER MINOR LEAGUE PIECES, BLOW OUT THE FARM SYSTEM AND BRING BACK MADISON BUMGARNER.

    HOPEFULLY THAT WILL BE CHECKMATE.

    THEN WE CAN WORRY ABOUT AARON F@CKING LOUP.

    ReplyDelete
  4. ����������

    Doug K.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Those were thumbs ups. I don't know yes the emoticons translated

    Doug K.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Why are you all worried?

    We have Giancarlo Stanton to play left field.

    We have Gary Sanchez to catch.

    We have Sonny Gray to pitch.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I don't care if they get both Harper and Machado...its not my money and Hal has plenty of it.
    According to Spotrac, they Yankees have 120 million in committed payroll and according to FanGraphics the arbitration available players should cost about 46 million. That's $ 166 million with this year's tax threshold at $ 206 million that leaves the Yankees 40 million. If they hit 220 million then they only pay a tax of 2.8 million which is chicken feed. So to get to just the first tier 2.8 million tax penalty they can spend another 54 million for free agents. They have plenty of room to get at least one of the two and bring back Britton and Robertson.

    By the way, it looks like Clint Frazier will be healthy by spring training. (There was a 10 second video that Conor Foley added of Frazier smashing baseballs off a batting tee that wouldn't link in).

    Clint Frazier

    Verified account

    @clintfrazier
    Follow Follow @clintfrazier
    More Clint Frazier Retweeted Conor Foley
    to everyone asking, yes i’m doing baseball activities and have been for the last couple weeks.Clint Frazier added.

    0:10
    Conor Foley

    @RailRidersTT
    Clint Frazier is back to crushing the ball.

    ReplyDelete
  8. That Frazier Twitter post was from Friday

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  9. And up goes Frazier.

    Come on, admit it. You miss Cosell.

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  10. Great to know about Frazier, Carl. I would love to see him become a big star. I was dreaming that he would be No. 77, in an outfield with Judge (#99) in right, and Foler (#88) in center.

    Sure, like so many of my dreams this was brutally crushed before it could even get off the ground. I'm not bitter. I just wish the best for all my fellow human beings. Though I wouldn't mind if Hal Steinbrenner fell into a ditch.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hoss, this is why I adore you. Both. Yes. I want both. I, we deserve both. King George would have gotten us both. King George loved the Yankees and loved us. Prince Hal is a wee fractured boner, nothing like the King's colossus erect phallus. King George strode across Baseball like a Titan, taking free agents where and when he would. With his huge engorged Member of Winning. Not like the wretched Hal. King George would have fired Hal long ago.

    Fuckers!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Smashing whiffle balls off a plastic tee does not qualify for " Frazier is fully healthy," and ready for the season.

    And the teams lining up for the .197 hitting Florial are not as many as you might think.

    Money talks. And only money talks.

    Unless you are willing to throw in Judge and Severino.

    I'm sure there is a team out there who has an actual pitching coach, and might be able to make something of him.

    Have I mentioned that Larry Rothschild is useless in his role?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks, Warbler. I love you, too.

    John M., I DO miss Cosell. We once showed some old Cosell clip to my young nephew. He was just mystified that this guy ever got on the air. He just seemed so crazy.

    Alphonso, um, that Florial number in Arizona was actually .178. .178. .197 would have been an improvement.

    Really, I hope he becomes a big star for us. But as you say, people are now withholding judgment.

    And yes, Larry R, is useless.

    ReplyDelete

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