On that note, here is a proposed Yankee opening day batting order. Clip and save. Then burn it.
cf Harrison Bader
rf Aaron Judge
1b Anthony Rizzo
dh Giancarlo Stanton
2b Gleyber Torres
3b Josh Donaldson
lf Aaron Hicks
c Jose Trevino
ss Oswald Peraza
(Note: This assumes DJ LeMahieu is still recovering from his toe injury.)
So, what to think?
1. Considering our improved rotation - Rodon instead of Taillon - this lineup could contend. With expanded playoffs, it would chase the wild card and have a shot at the postseason.
2. Again, we see a massive drop off at the bottom of the order. From the six to nine holes, no firepower. If Stanton tweaks his usual gonad, missing 50 games, things could go dramatically south.
3. It's hard to see this lineup on Opening Day. The Yanks will have trouble unloading both Donaldson and Hicks, but it's hard to imagine the pair - viewed by the fan base as pariahs - being trotted out for another season. On April 1, you try to avoid boos.
4. This lineup still ridiculously leans toward RH bats. From the left side, there is only Rizzo and the switch-hitting Hicks (who hits better as a RH.) This is a major issue, a gaping hole in Cashman's plans. Another reason why this lineup cannot hold.
5. Peraza remains the dice roll. A rising young shortstop would do wonders for this team. But if he flounders, and they must fallback to Oswaldo Cabrera or Anthony Volpe, we could require a wipeout makeover at the Aug. 1 trade deadline. Good luck with that.
6. This is a lineup that went .500 over the second half of 2022. Aside from Rodon - and that's not nuthin' - little has changed.
So, here we are, stuck in the snowdrift, while the eyes of NYC turn toward the Amazin' Mets. Something tells me, the Yanks are about to start dealing.
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ReplyDelete"Something tells me, the Yanks are about to start dealing."
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about the Donaldson trade last night and I realized that it was pretty much a lose/lose.
Both Sanchez and Urshala are no longer on the Twins.
Why by the way? Why did the Twins trade Urshala? His numbers were OK. (for the most part) He batted .285 had a WAR of 3.1 plays a good 3B. Was it the lack of power numbers? He's on the Angels now.
Anyway he's gone and I think most Yankee fans would agree we'd rather have him than Donaldson at third.
Sanchez is a free agent and no one is biting. Duh!
IKF is persona non grata. Donaldson is five steps below that, and Ben Rortvedt is only myth at this point.
I guess the only win was the $$$ Minnesota saved. They took it and signed Carlos Correa and now he's gone too.
So Minnesota wound up with NOTHING one year after the trade. We on the other hand are still saddled with Donaldson so I guess we did worse. Still... bad trade all around.
Cashman is the king of doing something stupid. I have no doubt he'll do it again before the season starts. Maybe more than once. And then at the trading deadline during the season. And then by telling Boone who he has to play during the postseason, if we get there.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot of stupid. I don't think adding Rodon will make up for it.
This OF is better than Opening Day 2022, even with Hicks, cuz, Judge , Bader and Hicks is better then Gallo, Judge and Hicks.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Peraza will be fine batting 9th.
We have to put up or shut on playing rookies.
I still think that we will get a LF and Hicks will be banished to other city or our 4-5th OF. with Cabrera and Kiner-Flalafal as super utility depending on DJL tootsies.
When I look around at the options for left, Oswaldo Cabrera looks better and better. His 1.9 WAR and his 1.2 dWAR stand in 154 at-bats, stands in sharp contrast to the options that remain. I'm actually excited to see what the kid can do over a full year. Given Cashman's love for overly expensive, over-the-hill, overhyped goods in the trade market, I am dubious of all trades. As it stands today, I hope Cabrera starts in left, with Hicks as backup.
ReplyDeleteAs for Donaldson, yeah..... I'd love to see him moved on, but I don't think there's another sucker GM bigger than Cashman, with money to burn. So, barring a miracle, DFA or another bad trade, we're stuck with him. At least he can still field his position. Here's hoping he spends the winter schooling up like Carpenter and arrives with his bat ready, his mouth shut and a big humble pie for the fans.
But then, I've always been an optimist at heart. Happy new year, everyone.
ReplyDeleteMy eyes have been telling me Stanton goes through a couple good streaks during the season and hangs paper for the rest but his statistics say he's not as bad as I think he is. So I looked at his game-by-game stats from 2022:
He had a decent enough April on paper but looking at it closer he started the season 12/59 - not bad! but he had two games with three hits each and went 6/53 in his other at-bats - not good! He went on a hot streak, 7/13, through the end of the month - not bad! But then he fell in a 6/31 hole, not horrible for him, followed by the big hot streak - 17/35 over the following two weeks - really good!
He then went 24/150 up to the injury - not good at all - and then 18/109 the rest of the way. The narrative about the injury derailing his season is sketchy at best. He wasn't exactly lighting up the league with the exception of the two hot streaks before his vacation.
Over the entirety of the season he had a little less that three weeks where he was really good - 24/48 with only 8 strikeouts - but the rest of the way he had 59 hits in 350 at-bats. Not trying to kill him here but with all the holes in the lineup we need to have more than 15 good games out of the clean-up spot. And he's not getting any younger.
Duque, I really like what you write. But c'mon now, Bader won't lead off. He is a good choice. Boone will lead off Judge, Rizzo and maybe even Donaldson. Because Boone is an analytics foo.
ReplyDeleteAnd what a shitty batting order you wrote, including the stiffs X two, Barren Hicks and Done aldson.
ReplyDeleteThat's a modern day Murderers Row
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ReplyDeleteSome of those guys couldn't even be a bat boy on the Murderer's Row team.
Is Zoilo Almonte available?
ReplyDeleteThe Yankees were a powerhouse when he played for them before. (According to the ca$hole)
I don’t mean to piss in anybody’s cornflakes, but as presently constituted the team is worse than last year’s. The signing of Rodon does not balance the aging of Donaldson, Hicks, DJL, Rizzo, Stanton and Cole. The dearth of LH hitting beyond Rizzo is a continuing fatal flaw. Does anyone seriously expect Judge to even approach last year’s numbers? And the closer is…
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ReplyDeleteFYI, the cornflakes after your contribution tasted very poorly -- check on whether or not you have a UTI.
Mildred, you are way too nice. Stanton is a cancer on this team, and promised only to get worse.
ReplyDeleteAnd ah, yes, more analytics lineups, with Judge hitting 1 or 2—apparently to absolutely minimize his RBIs. Greeeaaat.
And Duque, I'm more afraid that Cashie WON'T start dealing—that he and the Yankees think they are all set. Heaven help us all.
No, that lineup won't win, no matter how good the pitching is—and it's not THAT good.
ReplyDeleteIs Reynolds the answer? I dunno—and I worry we will give up too much for him. But as somebody pointed out, our young guys never work out anyway.
If we don't trade for him...yes, by all means try Cabrera. And get DJ in there if humanly possible.
How about this (without Reynolds):
DJ, 2B
Rizzo, 1B
Judge, RF
Stanton, DH
Bader, CF
Trevino/Higgy, C
Cabrera, LF
Peraza, SS
IKF, 3B
...The idea being that at least IKF would be back where he won a GG...
With Reynolds, it looks better, I think:
ReplyDeleteDJ, 2B
Reynolds, LF
Judge, RF
Rizzo, 1B
Stanton, DH
Bader, CF
Cabrera, 38
Trevino/Higgy, C
Peraza, SS
Not exactly world-beaters, either, but...