Saturday, July 10, 2021

The Yankees need to do something with Hoy Jun Park, but are their hands tied?

Last night in Joe Biden's secret Railrider enclave of Scranton, 2B Hoy Jun Park went 1-for-2 with two walks, lifting his average to .355 - 2nd in the former International League, (or whatever they now call it.) In 39 games at Triple A, Park has 8 HRs, 5 stolen bases and leads all of Creation with an OPS of 1.096. A native of South Korea who missed last year due to the shutdown, he is 25, plays SS, bats LH and lately has dabbled in LF. 

Yeesh. Will the Yankees let him rot there? 

Park is one of the last vestiges of the rather unimpactful 2014 international signing blitz, when the Yankees basically spent like Jeffrey Epstein on 16-year-old Latinos. (The big signing that year - Dermis Garcia, now 23 - is still in Double A Somerset, with 15 HRs, hitting a wee .170, with a troubling 93 Ks. Another signee, 23-year-old CF Estevan Florial is treading water in Scranton, hitting .224 with 5 HRs. He also has a proclivity for striking out - with 48 in 36 games.) 

Park is one the few shovel-ready prospects who seemingly can help the Yankees this season. Trouble is... where? Would they bench SS Gleyber Torres? Nope. Or DJ LeMahieu? Not a chance. Is he a left-fielder? Maybe, but what a waste of talent. No... and I'm gritting my teeth now... they will probably trade him.

As you may suspect, I'm no fan of trading innocent youth for cagy vets. In fact, I blame late July salary dumps for much of the now 12-year Yankee malaise. The Death Barge remains a team of first-impression superstars - Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge, Miguel Andujar, Clint Frazier, Luke Voit, Luis Severino, Gleyber - who never lived up to expectations. (Even Judge isn't comparable to his Ruthian rookie season.) The Yankees show little patience for slow risers like Park, though he certainly looks like someone other teams would covet.  

The craziest part here is that he bats LH - exactly what the Yankees need. And it's sort of funny, if you think about it: How can a middling team, barely over .500 and virtually eliminated from its division race, field a lineup so set-into-concrete that there is no place for someone like Park? Well, that's the Yankee way. 

They offer money, but never opportunity. 

How often in the last two years did they ignore - and nearly lose - Nasty Nestor (Octavio) Cortez, who last night shut down Houston in a way we might not see again in this series. The Yankees have never seemed impressed with Cortez's 89-mph fastball - good grief, Nick Nelson throws so much harder! - so they simply dismissed his guile and command. In fact, Cortez is EXACTLY the kind of pitcher that regularly shuts down the Yankees. Still, they seem more obsessed with radar guns (which, I admit, must be great fun. They're guns - that shoot radar!)

Now, will they wait until Park cools off, or just ignore him? What's the plan for this guy? We don't have many assets who can both seemingly help this team and also build for the future. What's the plan, Cash? 

11 comments:

  1. Heaven forbid that we try Park over Gleybor "quadruple clutch" Torres. Torres has a terrible "infielder's clock". He's been playing the game for roughly twenty years, has no feel for the situation, although he's developing Yankee " thousand yard stare". Pqerhaps, like Ginger Lad, the New York pressure is too much for him. BTW, Judge is quietly putting together a terrific year, and he hasn't really gone on a tear yet.

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  2. Would it make too much sense before the trade deadline to bring up Park, send Wade temporarily to Scranton, see if Park works out and if he does, trade Torres and then bring Wade back up? I think the league figured out how to pitch Gleyber two years ago and he hasn't made the adjustment. His lack of hitting is affecting his fielding. Ah...never mind...Brian ain't making that move...

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  3. I understand Park has been moved to the outfield at Scranton. He is a forty man roster. The Yankees are afraid of losing one of their 40 Man Roster Studs.

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  4. @Kevin Yep, I agree, Gleyber Torres has a terrible infielder's clock. The thousand yard stare: everyone Marine, I mean, Yankee has it, when he's been in the shit. Torres has it too. He's been in the shit.

    The Hammer of God

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  5. "Every", not everyone. Sorry, I botched that up.

    The Hammer of God

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  6. Amen, Duque!

    You know, real dynasties are like sharks. They always have the next set of teeth ready to move in.

    Frankie Crosetti can't hit a lick anymore? Too bad, Frankie, we got this guy Rizzuto who's gonna take over for you.

    Andy Carey, Woodie Held, Jerry Lumpe, you're the infield of the future! Oh, wait, here's Tony Kubek, Clete Boyer, and Bobby Richardson. Well you might take a train, you might take a plane, but you're goin' to Kansas City...

    Brain, though, will never admit a mistake, so guys like Gleyber are set until they absolutely, completely break down.

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  7. Park has a name that unfortunately might point to his future. Parked in Scranton, killing it, allowed to atrophy. Yes, it is the Yankees way.

    Sad.

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  8. They will bring up ark when he is 31. To play in the outfield.

    More likely, they will trade him.

    For another right-hand hitting outfielder who bats about .190. But has exit velocity of 108.44.

    And uses Kaopectate.

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  9. Does anyone really care enough about this sinkhole of a team even to mourn or despise it?

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