The 2022 Yankees will win 81 games, finish fifth in the AL East, and miss not only the expanded postseason but fail to make the 2023 draft pick lottery.
For four years now, they have circled the drain. This year, they'll disappear down it. Not a complete meltdown - they'll finish at .500. But when a franchise spends upwards of $240 million, a middling team is Webster's pure definition of mediocrity. And that will sum up the 2022 Yankees.
Here's why:
1. The AL East is a beast - toughest division in baseball, perhaps the strongest in this millennium. Toronto, Tampa and Boston have power lineups and more fruit-bearing farm systems. The Yankees have not produced a lasting star since Aaron Judge. Our great hopes turn out to be Estevan Florial. (Okay, he homered again last night for Scranton, but dare we light a candle?)
What should especially frighten us is Baltimore - yes, no misprint, Baltimore - which has tanked for six seasons and finally assembled a lineup of ascending stars. They hate us the way the Ukrainians hate Putin, and once we start to wobble, they will fight like hell to chase us down.
We continually hear high praise for the Yankee farm system. By far, it is one of the deepest and best run systems in the game - according to the Yankee farm system. We should have a great wave of talent coming - according to the Yankee farm system. Why do I feel like Vladimir Putin, receiving joyous news from the front?
2. We have an old and fragile team. Staring into the twilight are Aroldis Chapman (34), Lucas Luetge (35) and Josh Donaldson (36) - (for now, Gardy is resting, I guess.) But the lineup is filled with players reaching their hump: Gerrit Cole (31), Chad Green (30), Wandy Peralta (30), Jameson Tailion (30), Kyle Higashioka (31), DJ LeMahieu (33), Anthony Rizzo (32), Aaron Hicks (32) and Giancarlo Stanton (32.)
Also, aside from Rizzo, every one of the above players spent time on the 2021 Injury List. For unfathomable reasons - the stresses of NYC? - the Yankees are a team of recurring tweaks and strains, and no matter how deep we claim to be, it's always a short step in RF from Aaron Judge to Ryan LaMarre.
I'm amazed that the Yankees are opening Aaron Hicks in CF. Look: Hicksie is a fine teammate, a sterling person, great golfer! But we all know his routine: He starts ice cold, heats up, gives us hope and then gets hurt. It's his thing. And when it happens, the Yankees will pearl-clutch and wail, "Who knew this could happen?" Well, WE FUCKING KNOW. What's amazing is how they pretend otherwise. (And when he does go down, we also know the plan: Brett Gardner will head to Tampa.)
3. We have that kind of lineup: K's, W's and HR's. We will brutalize bad pitching and go knock-kneed against decent starters (and journeymen minor leaguers. Whenever the Yankees face some 30-year-old in his first MLB start, it's a done deal that we won't touch him. I don't know why, but it happens - over and over.)
I get it that last August, the Yankees desperately needed to find a LH bat for the stretch run. What I'll never understand is how they could rationalize Joey Gallo. The last thing we needed was another 150 strikeouts. And that's what we have. He's never going to adjust his swing. He'll never change.
By the way, Diego Castillo - one of the young infielders we traded to Pittsburgh for Clay Holmes - has just finished a breakout spring - third in homers and hitting about .370. He's one of 10 prospects we traded at the deadline in order to prop up the team for its ultimately fruitless finish. Mark these words: When you consistently trade youth for age, you eventually pay a price. You have to be old enough to remember Doug Drabek, Jay Buhner, Willie McGee and all the others. I guess that generation no longer matters, eh?
The Yankees won't fully collapse - that is, they won't finish in the lowest tier of baseball. They will remain in the wild card chase until until the final weeks of the season - which means Hal will consider it a success. Fannies in the seats, you know.
Today, the skies will be dark and full of rain. Get used to it.
A long season looms ahead.
Brian Cashman - the gift that keeps on giving.
ReplyDeleteThe sludge in the bottom of the coffee pot.
The stuff under the inside rim of the toilet bowl.
The brains behind the bombers.
Or, as Sir Mick sings in Memo From Turner, he's "the man who squats behind the man who works the soft machine"
Here's a very challenging trivia question for you all:
ReplyDeleteIsiah Kiner-Falefa will become the fifth Hawaii-born player to play for the Yankees. Who are the other four?
Hints:
Reliever, (1985-1986)
Infielder, (1987)
Outfielder, (2007)
Reliever, (2016)
Answers below.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
RP Brian Fisher
IF Lenn Sakata
OF Bronson Sardinha
RP Kirby Yates
Thanks for pointing out that the teams collective age will be an ongoing issue this season. 2017 seems like such a long time ago, doesn’t it? Still, I feel that a last place finish is just as unrealistic as a first place finish, if not more so. I’ll stick with my prediction of 87 wins and the last WC slot, and of course the requisite early playoff exit. I’ll hold off any profanity laced tirades against Boone/Cashman/Steingrabber for the first losing streak or spate of injuries.
ReplyDeleteI know your pain, but when I think of traded minor leaguers, I always think of 1
ReplyDeleteFRED MCGRIFF
LH in Yankee Stadium.
He had 493 HRs without playing here.
HOF wearing a Yankee cap.
Of course, we did get Dale Murray.
** JOHN AND SUZYN TALKING! BOOBLE HEAD NIGHT>>> AUG 19th!!!!!
ReplyDeleteSound the Trumpets, Bang the Gongs, Shout Shout Let It All Out! >>> I may need to lift my boycott for ONE game this year, might this be the perfect day/night for our long awaited 2nd Annual IIHIIFIIC MeetUp?
AAAAGGGGHHHH! You wrote "Dale Murray," Archie!! His name should be regarded the way actors regard talking about "The Scottish Play."
ReplyDeleteAnd great description, Bitty!
Joey Gallo will strikeout 150 times? Duque, you wild-eyed optimist! He'll leave 150 in the dust by sometime in August.
ReplyDeleteWhile I would do a meet up at a Manhattan bar to watch a Yankees game (preferably one using a pirated service, LOL), I won't give the Yankees on fucking red cent.
ReplyDeleteI should apply to work at a Yankee Stadium concession food stand {just one shift) so I can piss all over their rodent-infested sandwiches and hot dogs. I will drink as much beer as I can hold on the way to the stadium. Probably improve the quality of the product.
Fuck, Hal, Brian and the entire Bloated Front Office!