Do the math: If the Yanks carry 12 pitchers, two catchers and five outfielders (counting Giancarlo), that leaves six infield slots, which become:
1. DJ LeMahieu - said to be healed.
2. Anthony Rizzo - key LH bat and 1B glove.
3. Gleyber Torres - starting 2B.
4. Josh Donaldson - the GOAT (as in "ba-a-a-ad")
5. Isiah Kiner-Falefa - much maligned, (overly?)
6. Oswaldo Cabrera - all-purpose, or everyday?
7. Oswald Peraza - for now, the starting SS?
8. Anthony Volpe - next year.
I count eight cadavers for six caskets. Let's send Volpe to Scranton. That still leaves one too many pizza slices. Someone must go. He must be replaceable. He must draw interest from at least one other team. That means... Gleyber?
The case for trading Gleyber: We've seen enough. He peaked in 2019 - 38 HRs - and hasn't hit that many in the five years since. He doesn't walk enough: a .310 OBP doesn't cut it. He bats RH, not what we need. DJ and Cabrera are natural 2B, and Volpe might end up there, anyway. We can trade Gleyber now, after a 24-HR season, or wait until next year, when he's a year from free agency. It's time to pull the trigger. Some of us feared what Gary Sanchez might do when he left NYC and grew a beard. Well, he sucked just as much in Minnesota as he did in Gotham. We've seen Gleyber's best years. Let's cash in our cards. Package him for a lefty outfielder.
The case for keeping Gleyber: How do you punt on a guy who just turned 26 - twenty-six - and, for what? DJ is 34: the injuries will keep coming. Oswaldo Cabrera will turn 24 in March - not much younger than Gleyber - and, sorry to disappoint, but he's not a sure thing. At 26, Gleyber remains two years from peak season, and he's played in the NY caldron. And what do we get in a trade? A 3B? Excuse me, but nobody fucking wants Josh Donaldson. We're stuck with him, and he's too big to fail waive. Last winter, we painted ourselves into this corner, and we can sign all the retired GMs in captivity, but nobody can find a path out of this room. Lastly, we all know what will happen: The day after we trade Gleyber, somebody will tweak a gonad and miss 2023. That infield surplus? Kiss it goodbye.
Well... ?
Not that complicated, keep him unless it fills an absolute need (lf) with at least equal production. Start dj at 3rd unless Donaldson look like he’s alive in spring training. Cabrera is the back up. In a much better world Ikf gets traded for some single a pitcher. I get the idea of trading Torres while his stock is up but this team needs his offense.
ReplyDeleteHere’s the thing..Torres is basically the only tradable, MLB experienced commodity we have on the whole roster. This is the result of having an over-30, overpaid, injury prone roster. So if you want to facilitate a trade at the ML Level it’s Torres. He’s making 9.6M this year (per SportTrac) and will hit FA after next year. The real issue here is of course Cashman, with his ridiculous trades and lousy roster construction. Yet Steindummer rehired him…and Sweet Jesus wait until the injuries hit! And then there’s Boone…All the pundits say the team has improved over last year, I guess mistaking Rodon for Sandy Koufax, but I just don’t see it.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI count eight cadavers for six caskets.
Man, morning after morning, you turn phrases like this.
We are so blessed.
Why so glum about Donaldson at third? You never know, there's always a chance that Josh could have a missile fall on him like Kim Jong-un's uncle.
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense to trade Torres...which is precisely the reason why the Yanks wont...
ReplyDeleteThere is no reason why we should have a glut of infielders for the start of this year.
ReplyDelete(1) Donaldson has to be released. There is no such thing as "too big to fail or waive". What, you're telling me that the team has to carry an absolute fucking ZERO with the bat because he makes too much money? Does that make any sense? If he started walking with a cane, are we still running him out there at 3B because he's too big to waive?
(2) Gleyber Torres absolutely should be traded. The tipping point came last year with the "upper and lower body not in sync" slumps. And (at some point before last year, I believe, but not sure exactly when) I remember seeing him take the all time worst swing that I've ever seen from a major league player, where he had his front foot still in the air, and his bat waived feebly!!!
Upper and lower body not in sync! That's like saying a PhD candidate has forgotten how to read and write. Or an astrophysicist has forgotten how to do calculus. WTF!!!
I don't care if he hit 24 homers last year. Haven't you seen enough? Sometimes you've got to make a decision on a player, for better or worse. They should've traded him after several disastrous seasons following his big year. They've waited until now. Fine, so his value has finally come up a bit now. Trade him now while he's a bit lukewarm in the market. We really can't afford to have another year with the "upper and lower body not in sync" business.
And might I add that the attempt by Cashman to trade Torres at the trade deadline last year was the right move. Unfortunately for us, it appears Miami pulled out of the deal. Cashman better move him before the start of the season. Get another starting pitcher or a left fielder. But don't just sit on your ass and hope for the best. The last handful of seasons have been marked by extreme risk averse decision making by Cashman. Going the safe route rarely leads to big success. During his risk averse tenure, it's only resulted in keeping the status quo, nothing more.
ReplyDeleteJust want to add Torres is a terrible baserunner. Terrible.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteAnd if that wasn't the worst of the Yankees problems, the Daily Murdoch says that our great acquisition (Frankie None-tas) has more shoulder inflammation and will not be available for at least the first month of the season.
Given the Yankees always tell the truth about injuries...
Thank The Intern for his prowess as a skilled trader and evaluator of talent.
DickA,
ReplyDeleteSeriously? Wow that was a bad trade. Especially since we actually had the MLB ready pitchers the Pirates claim they are looking for in a Reynolds trade and sent them all to Oakland for Montas.
They could've traded Montgomery for Reynolds and thrown Florial into CF. They might've held onto Sears. They should've held onto the two W's.
ReplyDeleteThey've depleted their pitching prospects, but they could get a couple of good pitching prospects for Torres.
But they won't. Because Cashman is a do nothing ass. Now they don't have Montgomery, Sears, and the two W's. Now they have a pitcher in None-tas who might start a total of five games for them in 2023. And I can guarantee that at least four of those starts will be disasters. Now they have a so-so hitting CF who, if the Yankee coaches get to working on his exit velo and launch angle, will turn into a .180 hitter with 25 home run power. And of course they'll hang onto Donaldson and Torres. The sole new blood is Rodon.
There is much cause for pessimism about the 2023 season. They might be a hell of a lot worse than in 2022. At least until they excise Donaldson and Torres. That might be the thing to watch in 2023. How long will they go with Donaldson, who is hitting .025 at the All Star Break?
ReplyDeleteI fear my sarcasm may be getting a little too subtle in my senility.
In fairness, The Gleyber actually started his major-league career with two excellent seasons. He was supposed to be Cashman's Jeter, the cornerstone of the new dynasty, and for a time it looked as though he might develop into some reasonable facsimile thereof.
ReplyDeleteThen, no. And a lot of the reason seems to be long periods of inexplicable inattentiveness. Looked at overall, last season might be seen as something of a comeback year. But there was no accounting for that malaise in August when he was something like the next-to-worst player in the majors. In the same vein, he started off as an excellent postseason player, only to stink there, too, in the last three years.
Trade him? I'd trade him in a New York minute. Every aspect of his game has eroded, he doesn't care all that much, and he won't get better.
But trade him for whom? We find ourselves once again at the Cashman Conundrum, where any trade is likely to bring in an even worse player.