The heart of the story, of course, is the Derek-A-Rod clash. And hey, A-Rod seems as clueless as ever about how he comes off, which is no surprise.
But as it went along it occurred to me that acquiring Alex was far from what went wrong with the Yankees in those years.
Yes, A-Rod was always annoying and often un-clutch. But he was productive, winning two MVPs—and even making Jeter a Gold-Glove shortstop, ironically enough.
The Yankees in those years scored runs in droves. In the 9 seasons from 2004—when A-Rod came aboard—to 2012, they led the AL in runs scored 4 times, and finished second, 4 times. Fuhgedabbout your clubhouse chemistry, distractions, yadayadayada.
The truth was, we didn't have enough pitching.
This season—like nearly all Cashman seasons—is no different. July was the Yanks' worst month of the season so far, at 13-13. But they scored the most runs of any month, with 167.
Sure, at times our lineup seems to have more holes than a block of Swiss cheese that's been blasted by a pellet gun. But overall, our boys are still leading both leagues in runs scored. The problem was that they also gave up the most runs of any month so far, at 110.
Yep. Once again our favorite elf has arrived at this key juncture without enough pitching, starting or relief, to take us home.
And once again, he will dumpster dive here, give away a leading prospect there, and then tell us that we're all set, and the playoffs are a crapshoot anyway.
Lest you think I exaggerate, let's take a look at the record of The Brain's "pitching fixes" over the years:
2001: "Who needs Jeff Nelson? We got Jay Witasick!"
2002: "Who needs Ted Lilly? We got Jeff Weaver!"
2003: Jose Contreras, the Bronze Giant!
2004: "Who needs Pettitte, Clemens, or Wells? We got Lieber, Vazquez, and Kevin Brown!"
2005: The Big Unit! The Glass Buttocks!
2006: Jaret Wright!
2007: Joba Chamberlain, star of the future! ("Who needs Dice-K? We got Kei Igawa!")
2008: Ian Kennedy, star of the future! (Just not our future.)
2009:
2010: Javier Vazquez! Again! (Cliff Lee? "But they wanted Jesus Montero!")
2011: Bartolo—like two pitchers in one!
2012: Michael Pineda! ("Hey, all they wanted was Jesus Montero!")
2013: Phil Hughes, star of the past!
2014: "Of course giving C.C. a long-term contract was a good idea!"
2015: "Who needs Max Scherzer? Pineda's back!"
2016: "Just release Eovaldi already! It's not like he could ever come back to hurt us."
2017: "Who needs Justin Verlander? We got Sonny Gray!"
2018: "Thank goodness that Lynn Lance Lynn guy is gone for nothing!"
2019: "Who needs Dallas Keuchel? Or Charlie Morton? It's not like they ever beat us!"
2020: "Paxton AND Happ? How can we lose?"
2021: "Hey, Sevvy'll be back by October!"
2022: "Who needs Max Scherzer? Or Justin Verlander? We got Jameson Taillon!"
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96 comments:
Yankees To Acquire Frankie Montas, Lou Trivino
2018a: Who needs Buck Showalter? We got a guy who's never managed before!
Astros get trey mancini
So three additional pitchers today - so far.
No word yet (GALLO GALLO GALLO) on who we included in the deal to Oakland.
The Yankees are acquiring Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino from the Athletics, per Jack Curry of YES Network. In exchange, the Athletics will receive pitchers JP Sears, Ken Waldichuk and Luis Medina, as well as second baseman Cooper Bowman, also from Curry.
Too much! Three of our best pitchers! At least montas has beaten the Astros. Plus, we still have all those pieces for Soto (oy)
Most posters on Twitter saying the A's got fleeced...
I approve. Heartily.
The Intern (the chump that he is) has NEVER fleeced anyone. What an idea.
Hello, my name is Joe Isuzu, and I approve of this trade.
Bye Sears. We hardly knew ye.
I'm not wildly impressed by the pitching moves.
Frankie should be able to go tomorrow - he last pitched July 26 - slot him in place of Taillon? Change the rotation to six? Move everyone back a day? Think Cole - the little bitch - will be terribly offended having to change his precious routine?
So now they have Trivino pitching to Trevino. Can they bring in Bobby & Alex Trevino as coaches? Or Luis Trevino. Sterling's head will spin. At least they got Sonny Gray 2.0 for half of their minor league staff and Trivino with and his 6.00 ERA.
So far all these pitching trades seem like minor plugging of leaks--almost sideways moves, not major steps forward. According to MLB.com, Montas "has been battling shoulder injuries this season." Cashman--the designated dupe among MLB GMs.
We might get to see Montas go up against Castillo (last pitched on the 27th).
Looking at MLB Pipeline, these are the prospects from our organizational Top-30 we gave up this week.
5. Ken Waldichuk
7. Hayden Wesneski
11. Luis Medina
19. T.J. Sikkema
21. Beck Way
23. JP Sears
24. Cooper Bowman
That's a lot of talent to leave our system. A quarter of our top prospects.
Better pray Frankie Montas, Andrew Benintendi, Scott Effross and Co. help us win a ring.
I heard that we might have had Rule 5 issues with Waldichuk and Wesneski at the end of the season so getting something back for them sort of worked out...otherwise we would be facing another Garrett Whitlock situation...
As for Montas' shoulder, it it was that bad, we never would have made that trade...it was earlier in the season...
You have that much confidence in Cashman's judgment? Why? You think shoulder injuries just disappear like POOF! and never recur?
Waldichuk is going to be a star.
Everyone else I am OK with getting traded even though all Sears does is get guys out. He reminded me of Jimmy Key for some reason.
Can we make Tallion and IKF part of a package? Gleyber?
Montas’ Home ERA is 2.63 in 2022 & 3.28 for his career.
> Montas’ Away ERA is 4.85 (!) in 2022 & 4.29 for his career
Does anyone here have confidence in Cashman's judgement?
You misread us badly, Barney, if you think we do. He's an idiot.
Boone is an idiot, too.
I saw that, Doug K. Baseballreference has slightly different career stats for some reason, but the same sort of gap: away from the friendly confines of Oakland-Alameda, with its prairie-like foul ground, Montas is a mediocre, even bad pitcher.
Trivino, meanwhile, is a marginally better pitcher away from home (3.94-4.14, lifetime)—but this year has been getting lit up like an aged Christmas tree. 46 hits, 14 walks, and 5 HRs in just 32 innings. Terrible.
Scott "Don't forget to floss" Effross, weirdly enough, is much, much MORE effective in Wrigley Field than on the road. 1.47 ERA to 4.50.
Don't know why that is—a warm and caring girlfriend? some kind of Wrigley quirk that he can throw his sidearm pitches out of?—but again, it doesn't bode well.
Much as I will miss Luis "Funky Cold" Medina for his name alone, the real losses here were Sears and the Ws. Too much, for this Effross dross.
Once again, Cashie the "whisper smooth" GM, adored by every sportswriter who takes his inside tips, eats his press box food, and uses him to help write their books...has failed at the critical moment.
More than likely, this little trio will get hit and hit hard down the stretch.
Major Fail.
Montas also got hammered in his only two playoff starts. Pressure issue? I hope not.
Just read this... IKF's bWAR is 31st out of qualified shortstops.
Don't know what bWAR means but his NYYAAH HA HA... is pretty low as well.
Maybe we can trade him for Dudley Do Right
Plus...we are staring dead in the face the possibility that Joey Gallo will remain on the roster as a back-up.
Radio buzz is Gallo shouldn't even go to the stadium today because he's leaving on a jet plane tomorrow.
Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it.
Meanwhile, Houston got Trey Mancini.
Horace, the only thing Gallo could back up is the toilet.
If they do with erross and trivino what was done with Holmes and Wandy (cept for yesterday) they'll be alright
Dick - You may be given Joey too much credit
And Doug, leave Dudley DoRight out of this - his gal Nell Fenwick was my first boy crush. And he was a pal of Rocky to boot
We have 41 players on the 40-man roster...no more Joey Whiffs to kick around...
DickA,
Nell was hot. As Damsels in Distress go she was way better than Olive Oil (Although, looking back - big points for Olive's flexibility!)
That said... In my advancing age (I turn 66 tomorrow) I confused Snidley Whiplash and Dishonest John of Beanie and Cecil fame.
What makes it worse is I have a Daws Butler autographed poster of Beany and Cecil hanging on the wall of my office. All I had to do was turn around.
Sigh.
Oh, the sound of a DFA would be sweet music to my ears.
ranger, that might just mean they'll release Miggy.
And I don't get it: Baltimore traded Mancini to Houston for a GPS device?
Young love, Doug. Young love. Nothing like it.
There's no way they just release Miggy. That would be the ultimate travesty. It would take the thinking of a complete idiot to do something like that.
Oh, wait...
"You say Trivino
And I say Trevino
You say get a pitcher
And I say I won't, no
You say get Soto
And I say you can go blow
Trivino
Trevino
That Cash-o
Is loco!
Let's call the whole thing off!"
Let's see what happens after the trade deadline...Joey Whiffs to another team for a pitching rubber and some grass seed...is more probable....
Well, the grass seed would be more exciting to watch than the average Joey at-bat.
Hey Doug -
Does that mean your name changes to Doug K66?
Vasquez from Boston to Houston.
A spiteful move by the Sox to, they hope, hurt us.
Astros got Christian Vazquez. That's not a good development. So Mancini and Vazquez and all we've added on offense is Benintendi.
Uh oh...
Severino to 60 day DL.
At least we don't need any more pitching.
CEE
AYE
ESS
TEE
ARE
OHH
Sox getting Pham from Reds, looks like.
I don’t know…I’m not really impressed with any of the 4 players we got.
Somehow I’m wanting…more. What if Montas is really a product of the Cavernous Coliseum? How did they foist Trivino on us? His WHIP is bigger than Indiana Jones’. Hate to say it, but I’d rather see the kids come up than any of the 4 we got. Cut Gallo, bring up the 3w’s, add Florial/Andujar. Bite the bullet on Donaldson, DFA him, being up Peraza. Maybe I’m wrong (wouldn’t be the first time. (Or the last..)
I see Schmidtty was sent done. All he did was pitch solid, dependable long relief. I guess he didn’t strikeout enough batters, or his spin rate was down, or he stood too close to Cole during BP, I don’t know…
No confidence we win either series this week.
So Sevvy out for months replaced ny Montas, weak links Taillon and Monty remain along with the new, not improved German.
Schmidt is important. Stupid move. Of course.
Still deal or deals involving Gallo and Miggy tbd.
Does Lee Trevino come in as a special advisor?
Funky Cold Medina is a heartbreaker, as are most of those clowns on that SILLY LIST. We could trade the top ten for Soto and still win the trade.
Judge is going to break the bank
It's like he doesn't even try when he hits them. Incredible.
John: "IT'S AMAZING! IT'S NOT THAT EASY TO HIT HOME RUNS! It's a Judgian blast to left center!"
We screwed about Judge. If they pay him, that will be the food stamps excuse for the next 5 years. If they don't, he'll not be here any more.
At least we don't need more pitching.
Ca$hmoney is a moron for not getting Castillo. Even if he gets Soto, the roster doesn't fair well in the playoffs.
A long, long time ago, when I still played softball on a semi-regular basis, I had a couple years where I didn't feel like I was swinging hard. But my balance must've been just right and I hit the ball squarely almost every time. And those babies just soared. Doubles, homers...it was so gratifying for me, the bookworm who always got picked last as a kid. I still remember the feeling of those swings. And that was pickup softball.
Judge must be having a blast.
Cashman is an idiot.
And Boone, too.
The kid in the booth with John and Suzyn wasn't bad. I liked when the Master asked him his favorite home run calls.
Suzyn was funny chastising him for not announcing high skool baseball. Funnier when he said they had no broadcast.
Happy 80th birthday to Jerry Garcia.
Donaldson lucked out there. What a schmuck.
Exactly, 999.
"We have to trade these guys because otherwise, they're so great, other teams will pluck us during the Rule 5 draft."
Uh, could we just bring them up, instead?
Does Cashman use the Rule 5 draft for everything? When he comes home three hours late, with lipstick on his collar, does he say, "Sorry, honey, I was just trying a little something to get around the Rule 5 draft"?
Soto just hit a monster HR to deep centerfield off Scherzer. Who the hell needs a bum like that?
A complete bum.
DG looks a bit rusty.
Not truly clear why Seattle is still throwing Gonzalez out there. He's sucking worse than DG.
Gallo going down to da wire.
They may announce a deal minutes after the game.
Gallo straight up for Castro.
They have until tomorrow afternoon to disappoint us with an announcement that Callo is staying as a "special advisor". On how to strike out hard. And not the Dr. Ulu hard.
Hicks - On one knee - Hitless in his last 17 at bats.
Let's throw him in with Gallow for Castro and cover 1/2 his salary
Winnie,
DG has his ERA under 7. Not great, but at least trending in the right direction.
Can't we trade or - better yet - give Gallo to the Astros?
I wonder how all of us would feel if we get Castro....
I'm wondering
Which Castro are you talking about? I'm lost.
(shhhhhhhh JM - I'm trying to get Cashman to acquire SOTO thinking he's acquiring another Castro)
Cuban missile crisis is up with only a 4 run lead.
AA, if you wanted your avatar to be creepy, well, you succeeded. In a James Bond villain sort of way.
Exactly - Roofy - I wanted to present Cashman as a cross between Blofeld and Lex Luthor with a tiny dash of toxic waste dump zombie. Thanks for noticing
I loved the Toxic Avenger series!
Three more fucking outs, but I put nothing past These Our Second Half 2022 New York Yankees.
I love it, AA! Maybe you should say it's Raul, now that Fidel is dead.
AA, there's a strong splash of Dr Evil there too.
Trevino! NOT Trivino!
Supposedly, Mets are trying to pry Robertson and Willson Contreras from the Cubbies.
Right now, Coops is reading that rumor somewhere and smacking his forehead: "Why didn't I think of that?"
Trevino having quite the little game out of the 9 hole.
And now Wandy to break our hearts and minds and will to survive ...
Mets just walked Soto for the 3rd time tonight. Because...they're smart.
He's up to 91 walks on the season.
WANDY !!! DO NOT TOY WITH ME !!!
Thu-uh-uh Yankees win. Hooray. They fucking beat the fucking wretched Mariners.
Thu. Uh. Yankees. Win.
Fuck me.
That was an easy win...
Criminy. 70 wins and I still feel like a battered intimate partner.
Cause you is, Winnie.
AA, that avatar is kinda creeping me out. Why would you use a pic of Cashman without his makeup?
4 HR’s did the trick tonight. Good to see Trevino making solid contact again.
Outstanding work by the pen - Lasagna may be back on the menu!
Winnie,
There's always tomorrow. It's only a day away.
Of course, Dr. Evil Luthor Blofeld is still plotting with laser equipped sharks to ruin our season.
Maybe I should paint an eye scar on to him.
I was too busy writing my song for Gallows
Sometimes they win, sometimes they lose, but they always seem to be on the verge of giving our souls a spiritual venereal disease.
And sometimes it rains
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