We neared the trade deadline dreaming of Luis Castillo and a star OF. We exited boasting of cheap contracts and of how we kept our top prospects, even though they didn't seem to be so coveted by other teams.
Now, we wait patiently for a guy to recover from Plantar Fascitis - which is like waiting for trees to grow - with updates from a bullshit machine that is known to brazenly lie about injuries. (Remember how Luis Severino would only miss a couple weeks? Now, it's mid-September. And how about Giancarlo, merely resting his ankle?)
The craziest part: Yesterday, everything made sense - until Cooperstown Cashman cut his final deadline deal.
So goes the rapidly draining hot tub of hope that is 2022 - a season that once seemed so magical, and which now portends as the cruelest joke yet.
While the brown-nosed Yankee media courtiers trowel their praise on the front office - an annual tsunami of sycophancy - permit me to offer an alternative view of the players - no, the contracts - we just obtained:
Andrew Benintendi: Foreshadowed since early June. I have no problem with this deal, aside from that it took so long. He looked lame last night, and some ex-Redsocks (Jacoby, Youk, et al) were Yankee disasters. We gave up three arms, and we can't assess this trade for years. So please, spare the confetti, Mr. Curry.
Scott Effross: Not sure what to make of him. Last night, he nearly got torched, but looked adorable in the way his face puckered, watching a long fly die at the fence. He's a 28-year-old rookie who has thrown a shit-ton of innings this season. (He has now appeared in 49 games, four more than any Yankee pitcher. Michael King blew out his elbow in game 34.) We gave up Hayden Wesneski, our third best pitching prospect. This could haunt us. The Yankees boast that they have Effross under contract for five years. All I want is three months. But the Cubs sure were happy to make that deal.
Clayton Beeter: A Double A arm for Joey Gallo. What a fiasco. Lipstick on a pig.
Frankie Montas: He becomes our No. 2 starter, but with pitchers from Oakland, who among us doesn't immediately think of Sonny Gray? The guy we missed, Luis Castillo, pitches against us today. Should we not worry that the Reds simply preferred Seattle's best prospects to ours?
Lou Trivino: Pitched last night and got two outs. But his numbers sure don't look dazzling. If he had such stats in Scranton, he'd be down there all year. Isn't Brian Weber preferable?
Harrison Bader: From all accounts, a great fielding CF. But... Plantar Fuckin' Fascitis? Are you kidding me? This is not heartburn. Remember Chien-Ming Wang? The Yankees claim Bader will be back in September - September? What does that even mean? Will he rehab in Scranton? And to give up Jordan Montgomery - excuse me, but that means - what - Domingo German? We've traded all our arms from Scranton. Deivi Garcia is now getting whacked in Double A.
Worst feeling of all: In every trade (except Benintendi, a short-term rental), Cashman boasts about getting players with cheap contracts. Entering the deadline, we hoped Food Stamps Hal would open his wallet, as our best chance in a decade unfolded.
Well, so much for that hope. Hal remains a cheapo, and if Cashman wants a longer leash, he should run the Mets. Or the Astros. Or the Padres. And screw the YES analysists who boast of having Effross for five years. I like his funny faces. But if those balls stop dying at the track, I might not want to watch him for five years.
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So the kids they traded for Gallo got them a minor league pitcher with 0 wins. They traded 3 pitchers for a guy who was busted for steroids and has pitched more than 100 innings once and now he is the #2 starter. They traded 3 pitchers for a an outfielder who has 20 xbase hits this year and is batting cleanup. Then they trade quite possibly their most consistent pitcher over the last 3 years for the white Paul Blair. You can't make this shit up. But we still have Devi Garcia who continues to pitch like Pedro Martinez, unfortunately it's the Martinez that is 50 years old.
What a day.
We now have a CF who can't walk, another CF who can't hit, and a third in Scranton who can't get promoted.
What is wrong with this picture? Nothing, really. Remember folks, this is the same guy who thought Joey (what adult still calls himself Joey?) Gallo would be a great Yankee.
We are fucked. This morning we can't even say we're as good as the Padres. There's no crying in baseball, but I'm in tears after losing Montgomery for what? And why?
RIP Vin Scully.
The greatest of the great voices of baseball.
Love "Spare the confetti, Mr. Curry." Your memoir title, Duque?
I think it is incredibly short-sighted to weaken our starting pitching depth. Montgomery was far from an ace, but a dependable no. 4 starter is still very valuable.
I will say this about Bader. Since his first full season in 2018, he's one of the four best defensive center fielders in the game, along with Kevin Kiermaier, Lorenzo Cain, and Byron Buxton. According to the advanced defensive metrics, he's probably the best defensive center fielder the Yankees have had in decades.
I don't know how his injury will play into that. If he can't ran at full speed, I assume he'll be worthless.
But this move continues a 12-month crusade by Brian Cashman to improve the team defense:
1. trading for Anthony Rizzo to replace Luke Voit
2. trading for Jose Trevino to replace Gary Sanchez
3. trading for Josh Donaldson to replace Gio Urshela
4. trading for Isiah Kiner-Falefa to replace Gleyber Torres (at SS)
5. trading for Andrew Benintendi to replace Joey Gallo (in LF)
6. trading for Harrison Bader to push Aaron Judge back to RF
Yes, RIP Vin Scully. Did I mention that, supposedly, the Yanks offered him a contract to stay when the Dodgers went west, and he seriously considered it?
We could have had the dream team of Red Barber, Mel Allen, and Scully in the booth.
Nice summary, Zach, thanks!
But isn't this so Cashman?
What is "defense," ultimately, in baseball, but pitching? So Cashie has strengthened "the defense," but—once again—let the pitching slide.
Imagine the Rangers calling a press conference to say, "We got rid of all of our goalkeepers. But you should see these defensive men we have!"
I have never seen so many professional commentators so admittedly baffled by a move as the Monty deal. They just can't explain it, and admit as much.
Funny, a stats-oriented friend was explaining to me last night how you just HAVE to give vets like Gallo and Donaldson all the time they need to get straightened out, and in any case, Donaldson last year was almost as good as Andujar at his best, and Florial really sucks, etc.
He explained all this, of course, in terms of wRTC+, or maybe it was LGBTQIA+ or whatever. But I just don't think that, if you want to have a championship team, you can let a guy hit .159 through the equivalent of a whole year. Or whatever Crusty is hitting.
Win now? The Yankees are more interested in proving Three True Outcomes.
Did you all also think that when Gallo ground into that inning ending double-play to kill that rally, that was it for the Yankees hopes to win that game? Man, that Gallo is the worst, isn't he.
Wait, did I say Gallo? I meant Hicks. That guy is the worst.
I’ll have no more of this negativity about Frankie Montas! We need to give this one a chance. Castillo was preferred, maybe Rodon and Lopez were better options, but Cashstrapped apparently couldn’t land any of them.
We’ll have to wait and see with EFloss too. He looked like a deer in the headlights last night but it was his first day on the job at the new company so he was understandably nervous.
Montgomery? What the fucking fuck? He’s not great but he’s better than Locastro in a walking boot. Especially since the boy genius traded away the two Scranton lefthanders. This made no sense to me.
Gallows gone like Gary but at least they didn’t take on 50 million for a guy on Medicare.
Andrew Benintendi…more like Joey Benintendi so far.
Fuck Cashman. Fuck Hal.
Mr. Platoni…
Hicks is awful. Last night was not the first time this year we’ve seen that dumb son of a bitch kill a rally, probably won’t be the last either. The baseline has to be “just don’t hit into a double play”. Pop up, strike out for Christ’s sake. Just don’t hit into a double play.
Between Hicks and Torres it’s hard to decide who has the lower baseball IQ.
Cashman is an idiot.
Today's lineup. I count six dead spots.
1. Rizzy
2. Deejy
3. Carpy
4. Joshy
5. Tendy
6. Gleyby
7. Hicksy
8. Kiner-Falefy
9. Higgy
This will be our Winter of Discontent, unless Halitosis wakes up from his money- induced coma and replaces Cashman,
Boone too
For the purposes of this post - shouldn't you have changed your name to Stangy?
Nobody can eat just one, AA
Yankee management ... doing what they do best ... shooting for mediocrity, torpedo-ing another season. Not surprised in the least.
Another game being punted by Boone. I may need to take some time off from this team.
I don't know, AA... Stangy seems awfully informal...
Everybody is talking about us not getting Soto and getting these pitchers and Benny, and trading away Monty...
Here's some questions you should try to answer...
Why didn't the Padres want The Martian, Miggy and Florial? Why didn't the Yanks trade Miggy and Florial at the deadline? When the Yanks got Montas, which starter had to go?
Why the Yanks not promote Miggy or Florial instead of trading for Benny?
Here are my answers...they are probably different than yours...
The Padres think The Martian is overrated. I do too. The Master always says (WMCA days) that our fanbase OVERRATES our talent. It's a NY thing and it happens in every sport. I know it's early and the jury is out on him but he's not in AA yet. He's not exactly lighting it up....
Why the Padres or every other team didn't want Miggy and Florial in a trade? Why don't we promote them? Because they are AAA+ players and not Major League players. Miggy has a bat, but he can't field at a high level. The Yanks are getting players that can field at a high level to reduce the number of outs they give the opponents. Florial? He can hit in SWB but not in NY? 29 other GMs can see that too. I believe (please correct) that they both run out of options next year. They have both hit ceilings and are not going to get better. They will be gone next year. The Yanks guessed wrong on them but that happens to a lot of players on a lot of teams.
Monty? He pitched badly in a high profile game vs. The Mets. Doesn't look good moving forward in a post-season scenario. Yes the Yanks didn't get him run support most of the time but vs. The Mets? Can't have that. They traded for Montas. Hope the analytic staff takes into account he pitched in Oakland which is nothing like Yankee Stadium. Monty was then expendable. For Monty they got a defensive wonder for him while keeping two pitchers (German and Severino) of color instead. Didn't look like a racial issue there eh?
Benny? Best of the worse outfielders to replace Gallo. At least he can do other things like steal a base, maybe lay a bunt and he walks...a lot. And strikes out less than Gallo. He can spell Hicks until Hicks gets on another streak...hopefully scheduled for October.
@ranger_lp, no doubt the Martian is overrated. Nobody knows if he'll ever be any good. But what of all the other prospects, Volpe, Peraza, the catchers, the two W's, etc. Don't you think that Soto is better than all of them combined?
Monty pitched lousy against the Mutts. Big deal, small sample size. Whatever happened to the small size argument? They received a defensive wonder - with plantar fasciitis?
German and Severino, maybe nobody wanted them? Would you take 'em if you were another team's GM? Severino, definitely not. Who in his right mind trades for an injured pitcher?
Benintendi, we all knew of the leg problems. Boston is really good at getting rid of their garbage before the expiration date. Not a great idea picking up Boston re-treads.
The Darth Bader trade and the deadline maneuvering in general was beyond awful, and it certainly speaks to the abject incompetence that permeates Yankee leadership from top to bottom. Fairly obvious that they don’t care about winning a World Series. It’s extremely unlikely that the team ever will win another championship with the Three Stooges in charge. Basically, our fate for this season is sealed. Holding on to the division seems to be a monumental task, with an October heartbreak to follow. I see a bad moon rising. (No bathroom on the right}
I see a bad moon a-risin’
I hear hurricanes a-blowin'
I know the end is comin' soon
I fear rivers over flowin'
I see trouble on the way
I see earthquakes and lightnin'
I see bad times today
I hear the voice of wreckage and ruin.
Don't go around tonight
Well, it's bound to take your life
There's a bad moon on the rise
Hope you got your things together
Hope you are quite prepared to die
Looks like we're in for nasty weather
One eye is taken for an eye
Well, don't go around tonight
Well, it's bound to take your life
There's a bad moon on the rise
- John Fogarty/CCR
Justifying a Montgomery trade because of one bad start in July vs. the Mets, while at the same time hyping up Luis Severino (5.21 ERA in 8 postseason starts) and Frankie Montas (9.53 ERA in 2 postseason games) as the guys to trust in October sounds like a classic Brian Cashman move.
You're right Stang - that was rather presumptuous of me.
Looking into Gleyber's eyes last night after his AB he seems to be struggling on more than one level.
Perhaps its time for some prescription drugs for the lad. Might help his cognitive functioning a bit.
@ZacharyA, yeah, so that Brain-less can claim that injuries derailed the season. When in fact Yankee management internally torpedo-ed yet another season, possibly their best chance to win since 2010.
Severino probably doesn't make it back for the playoffs. I'd be surprised if he was available. The guys that we picked up, Benintendi, Montas, Bader, all have health questions.
@Hammer...I think the only one untouchable is Volpe..the Padres probably wanted him too...for the Yanks, Volpe is the line in the sand...they probably feel he's can't miss...and will replace IKF...cheaper to have Volpe when you're paying Judge $40M a year...
Welcome back El Duque! Everything you said x10!
@ranger_lp, there's what this all boils down to. If they held the line on Volpe, it was a mistake. How often does a team get to shoot for the championship? They should've gone all in to get Soto and Castillo. Instead, they settled for mediocrity and potential injuries.
Mediocrity, thy name is Cashman.
Primum non nocere. First Do No Harm.
Trading a healthy left handed pitcher for a disabled outfielder is general managerial malpractice.
We need to call the Barnes firm. Check that. The "red hot" Barnes firm, as Michael Kaye terms every sub 200 hitter who manages two hits in a ball game. (Looking at you, Josh Donaldson)
It don't matter whatever deal Brain-less had in the works or not. Just stupid, unbelievable.
THE MONTY TRADE IS UNFORGIVABLE, UNEXPLAINABLE AND SOMETHING I WILL NEVER FORGET.
I DON'T KNOW OR CARE WHAT THE GAMMONITES ARE SAYING ABOUT IT. ONLY A MORON WOULD HAVE PULLED THAT BONER.
BRIAN IS A MORON.
HAL DOES NOT CARE.
When you lose 8-6, what does that tell you you need?
Hint:. It ain't hitting.
Cheapskate Hal is his name.
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