Sunday, February 3, 2019

A quiet clubhouse? The 2019 Yankees have added quality people

So... no Manny, no Bryce. Deal with it. But that also means no second-guessing about whether Manny trotted to first, or whether Bryce swung for the fences when a single would do. No generational superstars. No in-house whining, too.

Today, for a change, let's - gasp! - look on the bright side. The Eco-Yankees may not have baseball's best team, but their recycling efforts are working; the players they've added or kept this winter should lift overall clubhouse harmony.  

Consider: 

Danny Farquhar. He's a 31 year-old relief pitcher who collapsed last April and underwent brain surgery for an aneurysm. That's not a tweaked gonad. That's Meet Joe Black. We signed Farquhar last week to a minor league deal. Seriously... who wouldn't root for this guy? Dr. Evil? Whatever happens, Farquhar won't be taking these games for granted. Sometimes hope can be contagious.  

Clint Frazier. Another guy with reasons to count his blessings. (He'll not only see the glass as half-full, he'll see a 2-1 count as half-full.) Everybody knows the story of Red Thunder: He's a bit too brash for his own good, and he crashes into walls. Frazier just lost a year to concussions. What a horrible season. Can he recover? Dunno. But I don't think we'll ever see him accused of jogging to first.  

Brett Gardner. We could have let Gardy walk. He didn't have a good year, but somebody would have taken him. Instead, we kept the de facto Yankee captain. We're betting on a comeback. I have a feeling he might be a lifetime Yankee. The team's leader.

CC Sabathia. Didn't see him returning. Figured he'd pack it in. Obviously, the pinstripes mean something. No, he's not the pitcher he was. But he's the same guy, and the Yankees brought him back to lead the staff.  

Aaron Judge. He's been everything we could have asked, even when the Yankees ridiculously began marketing him - in his rookie season, no less. Judge is showing himself as not just a great talent, but as the great face for the game. I can't imagine him dogging out a ground ball. 

Troy Tulowitzki. It says something that the Yankees offered him a starting shortstop job, and he accepted it for the minimum wage. Too old? Maybe. But he remains one of the game's most respected players. There are concerns about his defensive range between Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar. But nobody will question his positive impact as a role model for the two.

JA Happ and Zach Britton. They've both seen ups and downs in long careers. Happ floundered for years, before deciphering how to pitch. Britton was the game's best closer, then had to relearn everything, after injuries. I gotta believe they will help steady the pitching staff. 

Didi Gregorius. He'll be back. He is simply the most joyous Yankee on the field. 

Do we have sore spots? Hell, yeah. That slacker behind the plate needs to block some pitches and hit more than .191. Our great, young future all-star infielders need to improve their goddamm defense. Our superstar bullpen closers better figure out stability. But the Yankees should field a solid team in 2019. 

The question is not whether we will win, but whether we can beat Boston. A divided clubhouse has no chance. On that front, we should be okay. 

19 comments:

  1. I LIKE WHERE YOUR HEAD IS AT, MR. DUQUE....

    ....BUT THE ONE GLARING THING THAT ANNOYS THE SHIT OUT OF ME IS THIS.....

    RED SOX LINEUP AGAINST A RIGHT HANDED PITCHER WILL HAVE:

    BENINTENDI
    MORELAND
    DEVERS
    BRADLEY JR.
    LEON

    YANKEES LINEUP AGAINST A RIGHT HANDED PITCHER WILL HAVE:

    GARDNER? (MAYBE)
    HICKS (SWITCH)
    BIRD? (MAYBE)

    ...AND THAT'S IT.

    I SEE IT AS A PROBLEM.

    HOPE I'M WRONG.

    DOESN'T COOP REALIZE WE NEED MORE BALANCE?

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  2. Swan songs, feel-good stories, promising youngsters, washed-up vets with sterling characters and good attitudes.

    Your 2019 New York Yankees. Or was that 1966?

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  3. I've led ten piece rock bands and 20+ man softball teams. Teams full of lesser players who play well together will usually beat teams full of rock stars who think they are god's gift to the world.

    The band full of rock stars hated each other so badly they blew themselves up when opportunity finally knocked. After all any band success had to be the result of their presence on the stage. The band that played well together got a lot further and still plays/records 20 years later, despite the fact they they were not quite as talented as their positional predecessors.

    The team full of softball rock stars split in half. The 'better half' (all those who thought the sun shone out their individual asses) went on to a 3-13 season marked by extreme ugliness, internal abuse and dissolved into a fighting mess at the end. The remaining members of the team (mostly the bench) went on to 13-3 in the same league and have collected several 1st place finishes since then. The team full of softball superheroes no longer exists and are collectively remembered by the league as the biggest bunch of jerks to ever grace the field.

    In both cases, the egomaniacs were 'better' technically at their respective positions, but they sucked as teammates and bandmates. Those that played well together, lasted longer together and had more success.

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  4. 1966 baby! Who cares if it’s broken? At least you have a fucking piece of a glass. Now shut the fuck up and play ball. We’re going to win it all baby!

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  5. There's something to be said for team over talent. Lesser players are forced to do the little things to survive and it turns out quite often that the little things make the difference.

    Plus, it would be great if Tulo helps AnDUjar with his foot work. Or to see DJ help someone learn to hit to the opposite field to break a shift.

    Potential abounds. None of these new guys are bad by any means. That said,as ALL CAPS points out today, (because at least one of us is obligated to point this out daily) we don't have a power lefty bat.

    There is a great one just sitting there at a position of need and despite a history of perceived dickishness, he is a guy who LOVES the Yankees, would shave his beard and don the Pinstripes with pride.

    Plus hit 40+ HRS drive in 125 RBIs and play a great left field. Very little risk. High reward.

    And, who knows? Perhaps surrounded by mensches he might become a mensch himself.

    C'mon Hallie. You can do it pal. 7/200. Opt out in year 4.

    Doug K.

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  6. Aren't we stretching the truth just a bit here?

    I mean ; " Tulo signed for minimum wage ." Isn't he being paid about $20 million by Toronto? Or Colorado? Or both?

    In any case, I am for the aneurism guy and I still believe in Andujar.

    I do no t believe in Sanchez, and your optimistic note didn't even mention Stanton, because he is a coach killer, manager killer, and franchise killer with his strike outs.

    And you didn't say a single happy word about the Bird. Like " turd."

    In summary, you are like Santa Claus hunting for the cookie. I like it.

    But we won't come close to eating Boston.

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  7. Doug, Media...I'll take talent over team every time. Clubhouse harmony is vastly overrated. Just look at the Bronx Zoo in the late 70's and early 80's. Thurman, Reggie, Sparky, Billy, Goose, Heathcliffe Johnson, Nettles, and others.

    Nettles was a ball buster, Thurman was a needler, Billy fought Reggie, Johnson hurt Gossage in a shower fight, and on and on. Yet they won a couple of wold series. That's the bottom line.

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  8. Yeah, I gotta side with Alphonso and Carl Weitz here.

    The Bronx Zoo hated each other's guts. So did Oakland before them (Hmm, I wonder if there's a common factor...)

    Tinker, Evers, and Chance didn't talk for twenty years (true story). Many of the old Yankees hated Stengel's guts.

    Baseball is an individualist enough game that you can fill whole rosters with assholes, and if they're the right assholes...

    I do thank Duque for sharing some of these heartwarming stories with me. But I'd rather Troy not waste our time, and I'm heartsick at the idea of watching Clint try to play. It's going to be a mess.

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  9. Tulowitzki is going to get a lot of radio spots—book it.

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  10. We don't have the right asshole collection.

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  11. Exactly, Hoss. Harmony is a nice thing in theory, but I will take fighting spirit any day of the week over it.

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  12. They are all young men. Always so young. Thurman and Reggie hated each other's guts. Reggie is still a colossal ass. And I imagine Thurman would be too had he lived. And that turned out fine. I don't care if the 2019 Yankee clubhouse has a kumbaya infused talking stick of brotherly love or if they commit FUCKING CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY AS LONG AS THEY WIN THE EVER FUCKIN' WORLD SERIES!! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU BUNCH OF ELDERLY CROTCHETY TURDS!? ALL THAT MATTERS IS WINNING!!! WE CAN TRADE THE PEDOPHILES AND SERIAL KILLERS AFTER THE POST-SEASON!!!! JUST!!! AS!!! LONG!!! AS!!! THEY!!! WIN!!!



    FUCKERS!!FUCKERS!!FUCKERS!!FUCKERS!!FUCKERS!!FUCKERS!!FUCKERS!!FUCKERS!!FUCKERS!!FUCKERS!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. My apologizes to ALL CAPS.

    FUCKERS!!FUCKERS!!FUCKERS!!FUCKERS!!FUCKERS!!FUCKERS!!FUCKERS!!FUCKERS!!FUCKERS!!FUCKERS!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. And really? Is it to much to ask the Brady get theismanned tonight? He's old. He can take a career-ender.

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  15. You are the best, Winnie, truly the best.

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  16. Brees and the Saints win that game.

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    I WILL NOT APPOINT MY ATTORNEY'S ON YOU...

    ReplyDelete

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