Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Write this down: The Yankees will regret letting Mean Chad Green go to Toronto

Yesterday, while the Yankees were dicking around with whatever it is they have been dicking around with lately, the worst thing in the world that could happen... happened.

Mean Chad Green signed with the Blue Jays. 

Damn. WTF? Were the phones out? Was everybody on vacation? Who let this happen? 

This punch shouldn't land with the force that it did. Green disappeared last May with a barking elbow and Tommy John surgery. He probably won't return until this fall. He'll be 32, the country will be bankrupt, artificial intelligence will have reached singularity, the UFOs will have landed and who knows who Pete Davidson will be dating, Jasson Dominguez, maybe?

Still, for all the uncertainties in this world, I doubledog guarantee this: 

At some critical point, Chad Green will emerge from the Blue Jay bullpen and shut down the Yankees like the state of Texas' power grid in a snowsquall. This is as unavoidable as Dolly Parton's wig. He will avenge the Yankees' refusal to re-sign him - a spasm of disloyalty that will haunt us in the fierce darkness of October.

Green signed a sweet deal: $8.5 million over two years, even if 2023 is a wash. We should be happy for him. He'll forever represents one of Brian Cashman's greatest trades - he and Luis Cessa from the Tigers for Justin Wilson - back in pre-Trump 2015. He gave us some great moments.

Remember the first inning of the 2017 AL Wild Card, against the Twinkies. Green relieved Luis Severino with three runs in and two more on base. He fanned two batters, then pitched a scoreless second. The Yankees won 8-4, a battle of bullpens. (They went on to beat Cleveland - Greg Bird's HR! - and then lose in seven to the cheater Astros.)   

Green is the rare pitcher who once lost his stuff, found himself in the minors, and saved his career.  That happened in 2019, when he was cruelly bombed in April, then dispatched to Scranton, where many pitchers die. He returned in May, pitching himself back. It takes a special person to do that.

Last May, he reported elbow pain. He was one of our first workhorses to go down, as our vaunted bullpen collapsed. 

Look, I get it: Baseball is a business. You can't sign everybody. Still, I'm surprised Cashman let Green walk to an AL East rival, especially for chump change. 

This we know: Green will return to haunt us, likely at a time when Boone's pitching staff is in shambles. By August, we will scouring the outback for bullpen help, and overpaying for whatever we can find on the market. 

We will regret letting this guy go. 

13 comments:

  1. Duque:
    Chad did give up a lot of homers. But Cashman dumps players. The Yankees want Jurickson Profar. Profar is 29 and has not hit over .239 for the last four seasons. Genius Cashman continues his same old moron analytics fueled attempts. Again, why the Yankees will not see a World Series.

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  2. @HC66...

    (continued from yesterday)

    Yep, Altoona.

    Family is still there and I drive down once in a while, hole up in a hotel. My best lifelong friend died a few years ago though so a lot of the thrill is gone.

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  3. File under sad, but true:

    That salary would put us over the next Luxury Tax threshold, the dread “Steve Cohen” tax. Unless we dump salary somehow, we ain’t signing anyone, unless it’s for minimum or a minor league deal.

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  4. In circling back, does anyone know if Chad will be paid in Mallo Cup Card Coins this year?

    Long Live marshmallow, chocolate and coconut. [At least I think that it was coconut]
    And let us not forget the Boyer Cup that was supposed to taste vaguely like a Reese's Cup. What was that called?

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  5. I think Green is past his prime. He did have a couple of great years with our team but even before his injury he had a history of giving up home runs in crucial situations. Fastballs right over the plate with no movement. Don't get me wrong, he seems like a very decent guy and I hope he does well except against the Yankees. So, El Duque, while I agree with you 90% of the time, I differ in this instance. But as Mayor Ed Koch famously said: " If you agree with me 90% of the time you're a genius. If you agree with me 100% of the time seek psychiatric help."

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  6. Green will be coming off TJ surgery. He might have a rejuvenated arm, a second lease on life in terms of pitching. We'll regret this. Watch, he'll kill us when we play the Jays.

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  7. Green was very productive, but the "not quite" Scott Procter over use did him in. I don't see him doing much this year so they are paying 4.8m for 2024. I can't fault Ca$hman for this.

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  8. He's 32. There are other arms in our system. Enuf said...

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  9. @AA...

    Boyer makes peanut butter cups but they ain't no Reese's. The shit they tried to pass off as the Hershey's competition were called Smoothies. Horrible, some sort of light chocolate substance, peanut butter innards. Awful sweetness that stayed in your belly like a bag of cement for days.

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  10. Yeah, I gotta say, the Yanks' philosophy has to be "win now." Or rebuild. Much as I like Mean Chad Green, he would fit into neither plan.

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  11. Clete Boyer cups. Now they would go down smooth.

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  12. No, we won’t. 32 and major arm surgery..
    At the risk of over simplification, this team is too old. Gotta get younger.

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  13. Smoothies!!!
    Yes Mildred . And I agree with your assessment. Just not good.
    It was Mallo all the way

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