YOU MANIACS! YOU DID IT! YOU BLEW IT UP! AGAIN! GOD DAMN YOU! GOD DAMN YOU TO HELL!
Brian "Cooperstown" Cashman just exploded the Yankees' long range future for a shot at a wild card. You'd almost think his job was on the line.
Today, the YES teamers and the he-returns-my-phone-calls cheerleaders will roll out countless reasons why Yankee fans should rejoice. The team received another all-star - aren't we already a team of celebrities? - without giving up anybody you've ever heard of. Hooray.
Well, I feel sick to my stomach. Today, I am wondering whether I will live long enough to see the Yankees win another world series. So here goes nothing...
Ten reasons why the Yankees will regret this trade for years to come.
1. At its core, it was made so an incredibly disappointing team could chase the remaining wild card birth. We are not in a pennant race. We are battling for the final slot, a bastion of mediocrity. This is a trade made to save face.
2. We gave up four solid prospects, all having breakout years, including three middle infielders and, arguably, the best arm in their system. Any one of these might haunt the Yankees for the next decade... the one that got away.
3. We received a Joey Gallo, a - huh? - a right-fielder. Hello? That's right. He plays RF, won a gold glove there. They say Gallo can play CF. In the last two years, he's played one game in center. Oh, and he's also a DH! Perfect! Just what we needed!
4. So long, Greg Allen. All you did was have the most successful Yankee debut over 10 games since Bobby Abreu. (Your problem: You weren't being paid enough.) Since coming to the Show, you're hitting .300 with 5 stolen bases. The Yankee problem has not been a lack of production in CF.
5. Oh, here's something exciting to add: More contract bloat. This winter, Gallo will be eligible for arbitration, expecting a big bump from the $4 million he was making in Texas. Considering that Food Stamps Hal puts his highest priority on payroll, adding Gallo will limit opportunities to sign any free agents.
6. Wait, did I note that the Yankees will now have three secondary candidates for DH - following Giancarlo Stanton, who will hold the position through 2027. With Gallo/Sanchez/Judge/Miggy Andujar, we now have a five-man DH rotation - more depth than our pitching staff!
7. Okay, the Yankees will stress that they've kept Anthony Volpe and Oswaldo Peraza, their two top IF prospects. But what they haven't kept is competition. The Yankees don't seem to value that. Nobody in this organization ever loses his job. And the line with prospects is generally this: You have five, maybe one makes it. The Yankees had a surge of talent. Now, they're down to a few chosen names, whom they will hype.
Wait a minute: I'm not done on this. The farm system has now lost six solid prospects in the last week. Aside from the fact that it was a middling-rated system to begin with, how much can Yankee fans can expect in the next few years?
8. Did I mention that this is all about competing for a wild card? And that Joey Gallo doesn't address the huge holes on this roster? Yeah, they've won two in Tampa, with Britton and El Chapo barely holding the line. Hooray. We remain 8.5 behind Boston, five behind the Rays, 2.5 behind Oakland and a half-game behind Seattle, with Toronto breathing down our necks. And that's for the last post-season birth.
9. Gallo is batting .223. That's not a typo. In fact, it's 12 points higher than his career average. (.211.) I'm sorry: I know we're supposed to quote BABIP, and exit-velo, et al - it's uncouth to care about things as dated as batting averages. But this guy is hitting 23 points above the Mendoza Line. He has struck out 125 times already this season - that's 27 more whiffs than Giancarlo has delivered. (And he is/was our team leader.) Don't we already have enough strikeouts? This team has perfected the Platinum Sombrero. What's next, the Diamond Sombrero. We just added two Ks to every game. Yikes.
10. Looking over the players the Yankees traded, yeesh... this is a fucking dangerous trade - a career killer, that is, if Cashman had any future beyond this season. SS Josh Smith, 23, has hit all year, exploding on the scene. Glen Otto has looked good at Double A and now Scranton. But the biggest loss could be 22-year-old 2B Ezequiel Duran, who was hitting .290 with 12 HR and 12 SB at High-A. Four solid prospects, all of whom the Yankees will start whisper-trashing, pooh-poohing that none had a future. Don't you believe it. That's Yankee hubris - that all the other teams are stupid. That we gave up nothing, ha-ha, for an all-star. That Cashman has a way of hypnotizing his brothers of the traveling pants.
I don't know how a GM trades a group of prospects like this, unless he thinks he won't be around when these guys come of age.
MANIACS! YOU BLEW IT UP! GOD DAMN YOU! GOD DAMN YOU TO HELL!
Gallo will fit in perfectly with the '21 Yankees. Against the Red Sox this season he's 3-14 with zero RBIs and 10 strikeouts. Beating them (in the short OR long-term) isn't important.
ReplyDelete- MelquÃades
What Cashman & Hal have done to this franchise is an absolute travesty. after 50 years it may be time to find another team to follow.
ReplyDeleteThat'll teach me to hope against hope!
ReplyDeleteIt's nice that Gallo is left-handed, that he is still young, that he walks a lot, and that he's reputed to be a good fielder. Certainly a cut above the usual midseason pickup, and with the potential to help the Yankees in 2022, when they're vying to win 75 games with the Orioles breathing down their necks, and will need all the help they can get.
I was going to write, let's hope he goes on a tear and proves all the doubters wrong, but I don't think I can root for Cashman's gambles to pay off anymore.
Joey, Joey,
ReplyDeleteWhat made them want to come and trade you away?
I think I'd be more annoyed about this trade if Gallo was a rental. Because the 2021 Yankees aren't going anywhere.
ReplyDeleteBut Gallo is signed through 2022. So maybe he can help next year. Gallo has played 156 career games in LF and 55 games in CF. I'm guessing they'll put him in left field for the rest of this year and have Allen/Gardner play center. I dunno.
Seems Boone will finally get the left-right balance he craves.
I hate that Gallo is a three-true outcomes guy. 60% of his plate appearances end in a walk, strikeout, or homer. Lovely.
As for the prospects we lost.... in the last 15 years, has any infield prospect come out of this farm system and become a star? Hell no. Cashman can't develop infielders. All those players are busts. I'm so sorry Rangers fans.
I think this just punts the potential teardown one year down the road: Gary Sanchez, Rougned Odor, Aaron Judge, Joey Gallo, Jameson Taillon, Zack Britton, Chad Green, etc are all free agents after next year. So if 2022 flops, we'll probably have a massive selloff at the trade deadline.
1) Greg Allen and Florial are probably safe for now as someone has to play center. Gardy should take one for the team and retire. Make him a bench coach for the rest of the year to keep him in the clubhouse.
ReplyDelete2) This is the end of Frazier and probably AnDUjar though. Selling low but selling. I will miss Miggy Two Bags. Totally done with Frazier
3) Rule 5...yada yada yada... 40 man roster... better prospects ahead of them ... blah blah blah.
I'm ok with it only because I watch all the games and now I have something new to ponder. I really wanted them to be totally out of it so that Boone and Hal could be fired but that's not The Yankee Way. Adding redundancies is.
Maybe there's one more trade for a starter.
Doug K.
Before we get too excited about having Gallo as a young guy nearing his peak years; pause to consider that his agent is Boras.
ReplyDeleteThat's B-O-R-A-S.
WE WILL NEVER SIGN HIM LONG TERM.PERIOD EXCLAMATION POINT.
Now in total fairness, I regret losing so many prospects too, but we had Rule 5 considerations on almost all of them [They keep changing who is included, so I don't know quite who we have really lost] AND, with the truncated MILB, we have to have somewhere to play the 20+ guys we just signed. It's not like we could have a second Rookie League team.
What we could have? oh, well those are expensive and those $44.95 Stanton jerseys aren't selling like they used to.
At least now all my Gumbas can buy Gallo jerseys.
The Sicilian Archangel
I was pissed off by the trade, but now, not so much. Like Archangel says, four prospects are just that: prospects, and we had nowhere to put them, whether we should have or not.
ReplyDeleteHe's 27. He does strike out a lot, which I hate. But he has an OBP of .379. That's not bad at all. Walks like a madman. I'm not against that. I would've preferred a guy who makes contact, by far.
He's left-handed, and drooling over the short porch. With 25 HRs already this season, he suddenly becomes our only shot at a 40 or 50 HR guy--which Judge and/or Stanton were supposed to be. Their disappointing power stats probably helped fuel this deal.
He's not reportedly a good defensive outfielder, he really is. And that's great. Will I lose a lot of sleep when our OF is Gallo-Allen-Judge? No, sir, I won't. Gardy is still gumming up the works and holding a valuable roster spot, which is a lousy way to end a Yankees career. (Yo, Derek, I'm lookin' at you.) Gardy does come through at the plate from time to time, but his defense is not what it used to be and he never did have much of an arm. Gallo's is very good.
Miggy can't stay healthy and neither can Frazier. Like a lot of fans, I had high hopes for both of them, but it's not happening. Sad, but true. Forget it. I'll miss them.
This deal, which can be argued from both sides, just points out how big a problem Stanton has become. Very big. He clogs up the lineup and has completely lost the ability to hit, which is all he's good for. So if he can't do that, what exactly IS he good for?
Not to disparage analytics - really not, I have respect for the stat-based angle, even if it's not always done right or it's over-emphasized - but I'd like to set that aside for a moment and go back to a fonder memory from a fonder time, my misspent youth.
ReplyDeleteBack when I was a kid, the 1960s and early 1970s, if a player had a batting average of .223 or a career average of (gulp) .211 and was a strikeout machine, I'd think to myself and loudly proclaim to my buddies on the dead-end street in Yonkers where I grew up that I was not that impressed. Yes, I know that there are other measures to a man - or a woman or any other carbon-based lifeform - but a low batting average really DID play a big part in my forming a judgement.
That was the 1960s and 11970s. I have come a long way since then but, you know what? I felt that way in the 1980s, the 1990s, the aughts and, guess what? Right now. Yes, that's a mediocre idiot right there. I don't give a fuck for his home runs. FOCUSING ON HOMERS ALONG has been part of what's gotten us into this mess. Why is Brian such a horse's ass? He does not know baseball. Hal does not care. As long as the profit is at a certain percentage point, nothing will change.
Money alone will be the deciding factor in getting Hal to look up from the soccer player he is fellating and think about firing Brain. Screw the wildcard. You think George would have been HAPPY making the wildcard every year? He would have considered it an abysmal failure. I'm so tired of thinking fondly of that mega-asshole known as King George, but he was a fan. As long as any business is run strictly for the shareholders, as opposed to the customers and, god forbid, the workers, the product will be secondary. MONEY MONEY MONEY.
We need a fan to buy the franchise. Too bad Hal will never let that happen. Deep down, way way way way way down, as long as he's making money, that is, Hal might even derive some secret pleasure from Daddy's prize possession sucking..
I wonder whose lap Randy is sitting on these days? He has been noticeably absent from the scene, hasn't he?
On Randy! On Brian! On Aaron and Blitzen!
They went out and got a left handed outfielder, something we all wanted to happen. He’s not the best option but Jeter’s Marlins wanted our second best prospect for a soon to be over the hill rental in Marte. It sucks, I thought Otto was a keeper but hey we got Gallo, not the left hander we wanted but the one we deserve.
ReplyDelete13bit, I agree wholeheartedly.
ReplyDeleteI would rather have the 27yr. old Roy White than Gallo.
Played every day , Only 18 hr, but only 66 Ks vs. 8B BB- Contact is still the way. I think that he batted close to .300 that year as well. 1972? They don't make Tham like that anymore, at least to play for the Yankees.
The Archangel
Can we at least have some line up revision? Do we have to every game bat Stanton fourth, Judge second, Odor third, and Sanchez fifth. How about Allen leadoff, Lemieux second, Judge third, Gallo clean up, Ursula, Torres, Sanchez, Odor, and Stanton? Why waste Allen's speed? The Yankees never run when Judge is up; Lemieux is the closest player we have to someone who can handle the bat.. Consider...Allen walks, Lemieux works the count, Allen steals, Lemieux advances the runner to third. Allen scores on a sac fly or on what would be the usual double play ball. DARE TO DREAM! Now consider the same scenario but with Odor and Stanton up with a runner in scoring position. THE MOST FRIGHTENINNG YANKEE SCENARIO: RUNNERS IN SCORING POSITION WITH LESS THAN ONE OUT. I know-- I'm a wild eyed dreamer, Stanton will always be in the top of the order, our hitters will strike out more than they make contact, because that's the way we roll. So sad, we've had much better days.
ReplyDeleteWe'll always have 1927
ReplyDeleteel duque said "We gave up four solid prospects, all having breakout years, including three middle infielders and, arguably, the best arm in their system. Any one of these might haunt the Yankees for the next decade... the one that got away."
ReplyDeleteWe have SSs higher ranked than what we gave up. Otto was ranked 45th in our system before the start of the season, one above Gittens. I would think one of the 2Bs would pan out for Texas. We have LeMahieu at 2B for the next 5 years so those two 2Bs are expendable and would never see New York.
The Rangers are paying the salaries of the incoming players for the rest of the season. This means the Yanks can still make a move...I think they will. It's really not that bad of a deal...we have a left-handed bat finally in the outfield besides Gardner...Gallo has a decent glove so we'll see.
Funny part of this...Stanton was supposed to play LF this weekend in Miami...not looking good for that now that we have Gallo.
It's a "meh" trade. Makes us incrementally better. Better than we were before the trade, but probably doesn't make much difference for the playoff run.
ReplyDeleteBecause Gallo is just another HR or nothing hitter, we'll still need another lefty bat who can really rake. We'd need to trade one of our right handed sluggers for a lefty hitter who can flat out hit. That would make this a much better lineup. But that ain't happening.
Yeah, Gallo is supposed to be a very good fielder, so that helps. And he draws a ton of walks, so maybe he can draw a few walks with the bases loaded. That might help win a few games. And his acquisition should finally put Gardner on the bench. But knowing the stupidity of this organization, they probably continue to play Gardner in center, with Judge in right and Gallo in left.
The Hammer of God
Stanton has already gone 3 for 3 today, three KOs in 3 ABs that is. Just think of the even greater swing and miss futility that's in store for us once Gallo joins the line-up.
ReplyDeleteHave not seen the game, other than my phone to tell me that they are losing 10-0.
ReplyDeleteI thought that Cole was starting?
I see the the Windmill has 3K. as per your comment.
He gives rusty games a bad name
He swings like the last kid on the LL bench that has to play 3 innings and is so embarrassed that he runs back to the dugout.
Stanton should be forced to play the field and bat 8th.
At least today's game will once more bring the reality of the Yankees Suckatude back to everyone.[Please pardon me if I spelled it wrong.]
The Barely 500 Archangel