This geriatric case shouldn't hold the O's back too far: They have the No. 2 prospect in all of baseball, catcher Adley Rutschman, currently at Double A. In MLB's spring 2021 Top 100 Prospects, Baltimore shows six players. (The Yankees had three: the far far away Jasson Dominiquez, the melted-down Deivi Garcia, and the rehabbing Clarke Schmidt. The 2021 Yankees unveiled no impact rookie from their farm system.)
If last night's abomination were adapted into the movies, the game would be titled "Revenge of the Tomato Cans." The talent imbalance that let the Yankees torture Baltimore throughout the 2010s is flattening, and over the next few years, the NY farm system will suffer from the recent trading of 10 prospects for an all-or-nothing pursuit of the 2021 AL wild card.
Of course, it was just one game. Win the next three, and order will be restored to the Yankee-Oriole continuum. In our race for the final wild card, the Yankees sit five games in the loss column behind Boston (who has lost four in a row), two behind Oakland, we're tied with Toronto, and one game up on Seattle.
The reality is that none of those teams looks much like a World Series champion (though the Redsocks, with a returning Chris Sale, could look dangerous. Sale's final minor league rehab start is scheduled for Saturday in - gulp - Scranton.)
But once again, Baltimore has successfully tanked. Next July, the O's will almost surely draft second. Frankly, it's hard to imagine them ever being any good. For nearly this entire millennium, the O's have been our enablers. Whenever we've needed a sweep, there was Chris Davis, stranding the runner on third. Now, Davis is gone - though his spirit seems to linger in our own Giancarlo Stanton.
Today, the Yankees look like a succession of worst-case scenarios. The latest: Gerrit Cole testing positive. The team claims he'll miss one start. (Frankly, I don't understand what math they're using, if he's going to be out 10 days.) Also, Gio Urshela tweaked his hamstring - again. We're seeing a cycle here - he rests, he gets used, his injury worsens. Same with DJ LeMahiue. The parade of ailments just keeps going.
On their current 26-man roster, the Yankees have 11 players over age 30. Eleven. They have one guy - Gleyber Torres - under 25. Time is not on our side, folks. It's now or never, and if you're a bettor, the latter looks pretty solid.
El Duque
ReplyDeleteWhere would they play young guys? Gardy has a job for life, Stanton is here for 7 more years, Dave Kingman (I mean Joey Gallo) will probably be re-signed for 7 years next year. DJ is here for another 6 years. Odor will probably re-up for 4-5 years (because how can you replace that production). Tyler Wade, I don't know exactly what he does, but he'll be here for another 4-5 years. Clint Frazier & Andujar will break out at any time now. How about Florial, another solid .230 hitter. This team is set for years to come.
The Cole news is less than great. Even against Baltimore.
ReplyDeleteLast night was a disaster. We shoulda swept these guys.
Actually if you think about it, last's night's game was exactly the kick in the nuts that we, the readers of this site, needed.
ReplyDeleteLets face it, no matter how much we complain, we are Yankee fans. So when they sweep an opponent and we look at the loss column in the standings there is a part of us that turns, shall we say, speculatively hopeful. Maybe the new guys will make THE difference. Balanced line-up, real 1st baseman etc.
Then they go out and...
Not start warming up a guy in the bullpen after the starter gives up two home runs in an inning.
Not warming up a guy in the bullpen after the starter gives up ANOTHER TWO HOME RUNS in the next inning.
Almost get no hit by one of the worst pitchers in baseball on one of the worst teams in baseball.
Add the gonad tweaks and the Covid positive and Boone etc. and they are the same shit show they were a week ago.
And that's a good thing. As we all know, low attendance and no wild card is our best chance of breaking the cycle of mediocrity.
Doug K.
Please, release your hopefulness into the aether. It is illusory, delusory and possibly hallucinatory.
ReplyDeleteThose are VERY wise words Winnie!!!!
ReplyDeleteMy emotions have been vacillating the same way that Doug's has, now, my Jizzo for Rizzo realizes that he's a good pick up, but team savior is asking waaaay to much from any mortal. A team savior will indeed be what Doug suggests, low attendance and no wild card, and even that is a long shot with Hal at the helm.
I'm very worried about DJ LeMahieu. He hasn't homered since June 26 and isn't driving the ball at all.
ReplyDeleteSince that date, he's batting .235/.331/.284 (.615 OPS).
Yes, you read that correctly. A .284 SLG. That's lower than Brett Gardner's SLG this year.
Now I know, I know, power isn't LeMahieu's main thing. But DJ slugged .518 and .590 in his first two seasons with New York. What a disaster.
Ultimate Juju question:
ReplyDeleteCould Rizzo produce Rizzutons?
@ZacharyA...have to guess some undisclosed or semi-disclosed injury is going on there...
ReplyDeleteHere's a fun stat.
ReplyDeleteGiancarlo Stanton 3 HR, 7 XBH in last 150 PA
Brett Gardner 4 HR, 10 XBH in last 150 PA
The stray cat running around last night was getting chants of M-V-P...lol
ReplyDelete@ZacharyA Giancarlo has seven years to get out of his slump
ReplyDelete@ Jake LOLOL!
ReplyDeleteStanton reminds me a bit like Ken Holtzman after he signed (for that era) a lucrative contract.When Holtzman was benched on orders from Steinbrenner he was asked by a reporter what he thought. He replied:" as long as they pay me every other Thursday I don't care what they do".
Yankee Haiku
ReplyDeleteStanton got lucky
Jeter was victorious
Cashman is a fool
Luis Gil called up. Will start tonight. 23 Years old. Our number four prospect.
ReplyDeleteDoug k.
Actually, Carl, in fairness to Holtzman, he was being kind of tortured by Billy Martin, who was an anti-Semite. Holtzman didn't want to go public with it, but you can imagine his enthusiasm.
ReplyDeleteBut hey, we got Ron Davis for him!
I didn't know that about Billy Ball. That's too bad.
ReplyDeleteThe Hammer of God
@ZacharyA I agree with ranger_lp. There's got to be something wrong with LeMahieu. Perhaps the tricep thing that came out recently is much more serious than they're letting on. He looks like a different hitter from 2019 and 2020.
ReplyDeleteThe Hammer of God