Atlanta traded for the A's Matt Olsen, considered a primary trade target of Cooperstown Cashman's back in November - (ah, remember innocent November?) - until Oakland began ticking off players to demand in return. That shut things up, as the "dialogue" goes.
So... now what?
Well... we wait.
Yeah. We sit here in this bunker, get out the rummy card, open another more K-ration and reminisce about the time Mickey hit the homer while on that whopper hangover, or when Scooter fell down beside the holy cow. We channel George Kennedy in Cool Hand Luke, talking about Paul Newman's smile. Or his salad dressing. We count the cars. We ponder who would win in a fair fight, Kanye or Pete? Elon or Vlad? Taylor or Gaga? Hmm. This could be quite riveting...
Listen: It shouldn't be long. Surely, Freddie is as anxious as we are to decide his fate, and with Atlanta seemingly out of the running - (I wouldn't dismiss anything yet) - the shrinking list of suitors should heighten his anxieties. Did he really think the Braves would boot him from bed? Probably not. Could he become our Freddie Kluber? Dunno. We just wait.
Still, I warn you all: BE LEERY OF HOPE.
What is hope, but despair on acid? If you feel hopeful, drink. If a shard of hopefully breaks through amid the gloom, go to the basement and cower in the corner. Hope has no place here.
That said, the Yankees signing Freddie Freeman would:
a. Settle the first base situation, once and for all.
b. Eliminate concerns about a batting order listing to the right side.
c. Create the most feared slugging threesome - Judge, Freeman, Stanton - in baseball.
d. Resurrect the Yankees chances to take NYC.
e. Free up several players to trade for pitching.
f. Restore the Yankees as a power in the AL East.
g. Keep the weaker ones among us from obsessing about that Taylor v. Gaga match.
Signing Freddie makes sense, but for one issue: Hal Steinbrenner's wallet. It has to outmatch the Dodgers, which means finding out, once and for all, who are the real Yankees?
Hope? Nah. Pass the video game. I'm shooting for a personal best on Space Invaders. Hey, how much time passed since you opened this post? Two minutes? Wow. It's moving slowly.
ReplyDeleteMy money is on the Dodgers.
And with The Intern at the wheel and Harold giving directions, getting lost should be no problem. After all, now that the "playoffs" have been expanded, even a losing team has a shot. And this team definitely has a shot at a losing record.
Remember: it's the hope that kills you.
Actually, you have nothing to worry about. Cashman said yesterday that, "Voit looks real good."
ReplyDeleteThere, see, no problem
I have to go back to not reading Yankee stories anywhere but here.
ReplyDeleteBonnie said that losing Sanchez was very emotional for him for him and that he "told him that he loved him" in a private conversation before the screen door hit Sanchez's slow ass.
If there is a God, he will resurrect Earl Weaver for a 30 second interval just to bitch slap that macaroon.
I would say Billy Martin, but in those 30 seconds Martin would kill him.
Weaver will have to stop to have a smoke.
Where does DJ play if we get Freeman? Not that we will, but just wondering. Does he become trade bait? Does he have a no-trade clause?
ReplyDeleteSolve one problem, create another problem. I'm not exactly sure I'd sacrifice DJ for Freeman, if it came to that. But I'm a sentimental kind of guy.
LeMahieu's contract is interesting. He has a full no-trade clause through the first the first two seasons (2021 and 2022) and "limited no-trade rights" for the next four years, whatever that means. I assume he can block trades to certain teams. But wait, there's more. LeMahieu hits his 10-and-5 rights after 2023, so he'll get full no-trade right after that season. So it looks like the only time the Yankees can trade LeMahieu is in 2023.
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ReplyDeleteJM -
ReplyDeleteOptions: DJ goes back to his original role of Super Utility Man. Playing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.
Or he becomes the full time 2nd baseman to complete their mature infield look and they trade Gleyber two years too late.
Zach, didn't know that about the contract. That's interesting. Thanks. He'd be an interesting addition somewhere. Even as a DH. I'm not sure why DHs always have to be "Sluggers" Give me a guy who led the league in hitting a couple of times.
Let's face it, this is the team. Maybe they sign Rizzo. But the narrative all year will be they are healthy, they will pound people. Unfortunately none of these guys stay healthy so get used to seeing the Rob Branlty's of the world come July.
ReplyDeleteDodgers should get Freeman. If not, Jays could grab him. Yanks? No.
ReplyDeleteCould be Rizzo, if not Voit until he gets hurt, then LeMahieu.
From the looks of things, the crack analytics department has decided that they need to reduce the number of team errors to be competitive. If that's the case, expect Torres and Voit to be moved before the start of the season...they probably want to get a pitcher or two in return...
ReplyDeleteBTW...it used to be that defense wins championships...make sense to lower the number of extra outs our opponents have been getting the last few years...
I just looked at last year’s standings and was surprised to discover the Yankees finished 22 games above .500 - and barely finished ahead of the Jays, and aside from a long winning streak, there was little about this team worth watching. They were dull. Repetitively dull.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, this year could conceivably be worse, at least in the standings. The Yankees might be looking at a fourth place finish and are arguably no better than 7th in the AL.
I cannot justify spending any time or money actually watching this team play.
But I’ll always be here wringing my hands and bashing Harold, The Intern, and Boooooone. What a way to live. The Yankees used to be feared; at least respected. Those days are long gone.
As it stands now Toronto has probable passed the Yankees and if they somehow end up with Freeman the yanks might as well do a tear down rebuild right now
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ReplyDeleteAnd in more good news, The Intern had this to say today:
“ Maybe I can run into some more things that give us even more flexibility, more options and more chances,” Cashman said. “So I’m not closed out to pursuing options that might exist at first base. At the same time, we have some pretty good candidates in-house.”
Any guesses as to what this means? Anybody?
Hal won’t pay for Freeman and we’re stuck with Voit?
DeleteHi Dick, just sounds like BC is, excuse the expression, covering all his bases. He seems to be indicating he is pursuing additional trades, but is he just window shopping? At the same time, he assumes us all is well if no moves are made. To me, it’s the same double-speak bullshit both he and Boone have been feeding us for several years. I’m not optimistic, putting it mildly…
ReplyDeleteWith a good glove but limited range, I'd try Donaldson at first (if they don't re-sign Rizzo), move Torres to third and put DJ back at his normal Gold Glove position at second. Sometimes, when teams have an abundance of stars at the same position, they play a Gold-Glover out of position. The Yankees did this with A-Rod when Jeter was a fixture at short. Other teams have also used this approach out of necessity. But the purposeful deployment of a player like DJ at first or as a utility player is mind-boggling. Who in their right mind would play Torres ahead of DJ at second? Oh yeah, Boone's Farm and Crashman would. Look, let Torres move around the infield or get rid of him in a trade.
ReplyDeleteWait, it gets worse!
ReplyDeleteNever mind the Dodgers. Jon Heyman is reporting that not only the Blue Jays but the Rays and...OUR COUSIN FROM BOS-TON are now in on the Freddie Freeman hunt.
Yes, you heard that right. The Sox are in the hunt. Are they serious? Who knows? Maybe they just want to bid up the price to keep anyone else in the AL East from signing Fast Freddie.
But either way...NOT. GOOD.
And don't worry about DJ's playing time, JM. There is no possible way he doesn't get a full season's worth of at-bats with this team, even if they do sign Freeman.
ReplyDeleteAnd since they won't sign Freddie, that means all the more appearances filling in for Voit, Torres, and Donaldson, a.k.a., The Invalid Corps.
And ranger, defense DOES win championships.
ReplyDeleteBut in baseball, defense is 90 percent pitching. And the Yankees as of now don't have anything resembling a staff that can win anything.
For them to be pointing out how much they improved it is like a football team saying, "We really upgraded our D. Of course, we still don't have a really good linebacker or any cornerbacks. But we improved!"
Astute watchers have no doubt noticed that when the baseball got dumbed down, Torres stopped hitting homers, and DJ tumbled in average and power.
ReplyDeleteFreddie Freeman had a better year than both of them combined.
A better year than Cashman or Boone, for that matter.
Of course, Hal kept making money, so it all can be measured a success.