When I see fat old men making decisions like that, I always have the same thought:
There is no god.
Of course, we purists will hate this, but here's the rub: Nobody fucking cares. If there's money in it, both the players union and the owners death cult will sign on, merrily. Jimmy Stewart isn't going to stand up and make a speech about the sanctity of the game. It's as good as done.
What it will mean is that even another colossal Yankees team disappointment - think: the 2021 squad - can contend for the expanded playoffs spot. They'll need about 85 wins. After that, just get hot and be lucky. A little juju, that's all.
Eighty-five wins, hot/ lucky, and a shot of juju.
Oh, and one other thing: Pitching, pitching, pitching...
So, Saturday parlor game here: What if the Yankees ditch the notion of signing big stars - Correa, Marte, etc - at the sinkhole slots of SS, CF and 1B? What if they simply find defensive replacements - Tyler Wade, Aaron Hicks, Estevan Florial and the wizardry whizzes of the waiver wire. Tim Locastro and Greg Allen may be gone, but the scrap heaps are full of others like them. Spend the minimum. Stick DJ LeMahieu at 1B. Think: Defense.
Next, duct tape $29 million in Bitcoin to Giancarlo Stanton, and trade him and his contract somewhere - anywhere - for whatever we can get. He's coming off what could be his last productive season, when he showed the ability to still play LF. Now is the time to dump his salary and free the Yankees from the next six years of a fragile, locked-in DH. Through 2028, we could save $108 million. Brian Cashman says he's been told the Yankees will have more money to spend this winter. Would there be a better way to spend it?
Then, sign Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Corey Kluber - yes, Corey Kluber! - to short-term deals. Use them strategically throughout the season - perhaps a six-man rotation, as much as possible - with the sole purpose of having them healthy and primed for the month of October.
Bad ideas? Yeah, I suppose.
But if MLB starts giving everyone a trophy for participation, all we need is 85 wins and a little juju. We don't need a superstar SS. Eight-five wins, people. Eight-five wins.
That’s crazy, so crazy it just might work. Or more likely look like one of those Met’s teams that lost games 2-1.
ReplyDeleteDuque, I SO wish you were our GM! This is exactly what should be done!
ReplyDeleteI share your frustration at the current state of MLB. Greed has killed the game I played as a child and grew up loving. I haven’t set foot in YSIII for years, and will never return. Would love to dump Stanton and his salary but I believe they only way we’ll do that is a la Ellsbury. Meanwhile how it saddens me to even think of players popping champagne and wearing self-congratulatory t-shirts when the clinch the 5th WC.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I have to say my feelings are closer to BTR.
ReplyDeleteThe notion of yet another round of playoffs fills me with a growing sense of ennui, and makes me question why I spend so much time on this stuff.
I follow a brainless team in a brainless sport, in a city that seems determined to fill itself with nothing but gazillionaires and feral youth. Don't know what the future is in any of this, and I find it increasingly difficult to care.
When they go to full-out ads on the uniforms I suspect that will be the last straw. But who knows? They can find so many other ways to kill the best game that ever was.
"I follow a brainless team in a brainless sport, in a city that seems determined to fill itself with nothing but gazillionaires and feral youth."
ReplyDeleteThis.
Sad but true. Hoss nailed it.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, everyone. Baseball is finally becoming the NBA.
Except for the incredible fast pace and constant action.
ReplyDeleteBut I've already done enough to bring everyone down for now!
By Jove, I think he's got it!
ReplyDelete