Somehow I think we didn't make out so great. I guess we needed Stowers because we traded away all of our minor league outfielders to get Gray and Lynn or something. We also gave up a young left pitcher named Sanmartin.
I'm sure Cashman knows what he's doing. Genius.
ReplyDeleteStowers brings a much-needed right-handed bat to our outfield.
(cough)
Wow. Truly awful.
ReplyDeleteThere ws at least a possibility—a possibility—that Shed Long might have proved to be a useful player for us.
But this guy?
Here is what the website Prospects 1500 has to say about Josh Stowers:
Tier 3:
9. Josh Stowers, OF
Age: 21
Highest Level: Low A
The young outfielder got off to a quick start in Low-A Everett last year and finished with a .260/.380/.410 slash line. He’s a line drive hitter with mid range power and above average speed, compiling 20 stolen bases last year. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Stowers make the jump to AA before 2019 is over.
Hear that? Before another year is out, he could be in Trenton. Woo-hoo.
Oh, wondering what "Tier 3" means? It's this:
Tier 3: Players with an average expectation of making the majors and being a solid contributor
This is what Coops managed to get for a guy who was a top pitcher two years ago—and who probably can be a top pitcher again, outside of NYC.
This what he ended up getting, ultimately, for three top prospects, any of whom could still potentially be outstanding.
Sure, it's possible this extra draft pick might lead to something. But I doubt it (see Coops' twin catcher picks from last year, neither of whom will ever smell the majors).
Un. Be. Lievable.
Of all the Cashman fiascos, this may be the silliest and most unforced.
ReplyDeleteLook at it step by step:
—Packages 3 outstanding prospects for Sonny Gray. Okay, 2 of them are injured, and who knows if they will ever make it? But obviously, no due diligence was done to see if Sonny had any liver to speak of, just that he was relatively cheap and offered years "under team control."
—Sonny is awful at home—but not bad on the road. But Coops does not move him during the season, even as his value slowly drains away throughout the year.
—After the season is over, does Cashie bounce around and say how there is absolutely nothing wrong with Sonny physically, but he's just tipping his pitches/had a hangnail/was depressed over the mindless cancellation of "People of Earth" and now they will bring in his old pitching coach/father/goofy former frat brother to straighten him out.
NO!
—Coops makes it widely known that he willing to trade Gray for a bag of used bating-practice balls. Somehow, the offers don't roll in.
—Gray is traded for an outfielder who put in his full 4 years at a minor college contender (incidentally, while it's being accurately reported that he is now 21, he turns 22 next month) before striking out once a game in the Low-A Northwest League last summer.
Wow, what a deal!! Never thought I'd find myself longing for Shed...
Wow, they couldn't wait to shed Shed.
ReplyDeleteYou know, this one really doesn't make any sense. Are they saying that of all the "interested teams" this was the best we could do?
Maybe it's the draft pick (currently 36th and comes with the pool money) To be fair I believe Judge was a supplemental competitive balance pick. So it is possible to find value there. But this was just weird.
Doug K.
I've not been this disappointed since they've traded Headley and Mitchell for Jabari Blash and then almost immediately got rid of him for a mysterious PTBNL which it seems they never got. Sure I knew he sucked but the name was cool enough to care about him a little to want to see him in Spring Training at least.
ReplyDeleteEither way, I'm thinking at this point it was mostly a salary dump and they gave up trying to shop him around.
From what I've been reading this brings the Yanks REALLY close to the cap again and I wouldn't be surprised if they get rid of Didi to get under it. More likely is to salary dump Ellsbury, but I've not heard a word about him to know if he's even alive, let along tradable. So I'm not expecting a big signing, I'm expecting a salary dump of some sort.
It would be insane to trade Didi now. But hey, these are the new Yankees!
ReplyDeleteI’m exhausted from all the Yankee bullshit.
ReplyDeleteAS EXPECTED, WITH COOP PULLING THE STRINGS, WE GET ANOTHER NOTHING BURGER.
ReplyDelete.....AND THIS BURGER SEEMS TO HAVE NO KETCHUP, PICKLES, OR DICED ONIONS EITHER.
AFTER 3 MONTHS TRYING TO DEAL SONNY, THIS IS WHAT WE GET?
Sonny is gone and we got nothing in return that can help us in 2019 but that doesn't mean this complex trade was a nothing-burger. It most certainly was not! It put money in Hal's pocket. That ain't nothing, baby!! WAY TO GO COOPS!!
ReplyDeleteDon't we need a Shed Long appreciation thread?
ReplyDeleteOh by the way, it's great idea trading Shed. In the history of baseball, no team has ever won the World Series with a player named Shed on their roster. You can look it up.
Well Sonny is gone and it's our last chance to toss out some Sonny Song Parodies(TM). At first I thought I would go with the Elton John classic "Goodbye Sonny You Blowed." but in the interest of time and my sanity I chose the much simpler...
ReplyDeleteGoodbye Sonny (Hello Dolly)
Goodbye Sonny.
You know why, Sonny.
We hope you found a place where you belong.
You weren’t swell, Sonny.
Kind of Hell, Sonny.
You kept throwing , Balls were going
Far o-ver the wall.
We’d feel momentum swayin'
And we’d all be prayin'
That Boonie makes the call and starts the pen.
So, glad you got the fork Sonny.
Not everyone can pitch in NY, Sonny,
Sonny we’re glad you’ll go away,
Next time give clubhouse guys their pay
Sonny we’re glad you’ll go away,
Sorry that Shed's not gonna stay
Sonny we’re glad you’ll go away, (Again!)
Doug K.
Beautiful, Doug.
ReplyDeleteI wrote a version of "Sunny" about Mr Gray last season, but I don't think I can find it. I probably didn't save it. It's somewhere in the greater blogosphere, turning slowly in the solar dusk.
I don't understand. Shed probably would have been ranked as a top 5 prospect for us. He is left handed. He is in AAA this year. He is infield depth when Tulo and Gleybar get hurt and Lemayou has to learn how to play short. Makes no sense.
ReplyDeleteSo then I thought, well, here's the key. The compensation pick gives them a quasi first rounder and might make up for whatever pick they lose if they go over some luxury tax tier. So it means we are going to sign Manny! Or Harper! It ain't over till it's over!
So then I thought, wait. What. This aren't your father's Yankees. These are the New Hal-Ville Yankees. This is all just doing it on the cheap. But you have to wonder--what the hell are the Reds doing? Seriously Sonny for potentially four years beyond this year. In that park? It's Baseball, Susan, you just can't predict it.
I should note that the New Hal-Ville reference is to an economically depressed neighborhood in New Haven CT named Newhallville. Cheap housing stock and dim expectations of success. Granted it is an obscure reference. But it's catchy, no?
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteHey Old Daddy Roger,
"So then I thought, well, here's the key. The compensation pick gives them a quasi first rounder and might make up for whatever pick they lose if they go over some luxury tax tier. So it means we are going to sign Manny! Or Harper! It ain't over till it's over!"
I was just about to write this but you said it first. I think/hope you might be right.
Doug K.
Exhausting. Yes, Bitty, this off-season is exhausting.
ReplyDeleteIt IS an exercise in how doing nothing can be exhausting. Anxiety and depression has a way of wearing one out.
ReplyDeleteBut don't get your hopes up. Neither Manny nor Harper are coming.
Doug K., loved "Goodbye Sonny." Remember last year's "Duque Sonny Gray Song Challenge"?
ReplyDeleteFor the man who's name fits in any verse? I believe you or someone came up with a Sonny song to the tune of "Penny Lane." I did one to "Benny and the Jets."
Here's one to "Hope You Find Your Paradise":
It seemed just like yesterday
We really had a shot
Then we traded our tomorrows
And you is what we got.
Like a boy sent to do a man's job
Like another Cashman con
You could not pitch at home
And you must be moving on
Now I believe you are the worst
That's the undisputed truth.
It's not that you are lost or cursed
Just a scared and callow youth.
Like a fool without a fastball
Like a song with no refrain
Just the thought of your flat pitches
Sends a shiver down my vein.
And you will go on sucking
Sucking like a big ol' Hoover
Without having to watch you pitch
Our ulcers will be fewer.
Goodbye Sonny, it's been bad.
Hope it doesn't make you sad.
Off to Cincy, where you'll get clocked
Boy, those Reds fans will be shocked.
Goodbye Sonny
Goodbye Gray
You turned our tomorrows
Into yesterday....
ReplyDeleteOuch! That's some fine poetry there.
Hopefully the Yankees will sign someone with the last name Moon and we will be right back in business.
Doug K.