Name the last third baseman the Yankees developed that was actually good, and Miggy Two-Bags doesn’t count. He was a great hit – meh field third baseman at his peak. They replaced him as soon as they could.
No one springs to mind? That’s because there isn’t one.
The reason we're stuck with Donaldson, aside from his
negative trade value, is because there is NOBODY who can take his place. Not in
the minors. Not in trade rumors. Not in free agency. We have a battle for
shortstop and too many second basemen but no one to play the hot corner.
We passed on Machado and Arenado. Usually, when you pass on
a top free agent, like we just did with all the shortstops, you have someone else in mind.
The Yankees have Peraza and Volpe and several more shortstop
prospects in the minors. If they expect to move one over they should do it,
like now.
Maybe trading Gleyber for an outfielder or a pitcher isn’t the best use of our 26-year-old former All-Star. Outfielders and pitchers can be had. Maybe we should be looking trading him and one of our next round of SS prospects (not Volpe or Peraza) for a AA/AAA third baseman with a good glove and some pop.
Donaldson is gone after this year and DJ isn’t capable of playing third every day and will be a year older.
So what's the plan?
If they aren’t traded either Peraza or Sweeney will play 3rd. They won’t mess with Volpe by trying to move him there
ReplyDeleteThe plan is, play the players The Yankees are playign by Cheapskate Hal and allow the Genius to work his Unmagic.
ReplyDeleteTheir plan is to keep the status quo at third because they're paying Josh Donaldduckinson $ 25 million this year. Maybe Cashman is working on bringing back A-Rod for a year.
ReplyDeleteThere will likely be a F/A signed for either LF or 3B next off season when Donaldson’s contract is mostly off the books. (we still have to pay him a $6M buyout in 2024…nice work Cashman) However, the most ready solution (based on how he performs this season) is simply to plug Cabrera into 3B and have DJL as IF utility.
ReplyDeleteThe best plan would be to put Cabrera at third base right now and DFA Donaldson. In fact, the Yankees are so loaded with promising young infield talent, in an ideal universse they would be playing all their top prospects with the big club on opening day, allowing them to develop at the MLB level, as any other sane club would do.
ReplyDeleteBut the Yankees are not sane. They are always stupidly gambling that putting most of their chips on slow, washed-up veterans is a better bet than nurturing athletic young talent, which hobbles them over the long term and all but guarantees also-ran status indefinitely. But this strategy covers Cashman's ass with the daily beat writers and the hosts and callers to WFAN--so the Yankees proceed by appeasing the dumbest cohort in the sports world rather than emulating the most intelligent.
So . . . my plan for the Yankees is to pray to Pedro Cerrano's Voodoo god Jo-Bu that the following old, low, underperforming/overpriced players (in estimated overall order of preference) have season-ending injuries this spring:
1. Josh Donaldson
2. Giancarlo Stanton
3. D. J. LeMahieu
4. Aaron Hicks
5. Aaron Boone
6. Brian Cashman
I think that el duque should run a blog poll on this subject and then submit the results to Yankee management as a barometer of fan disgust with their anachronistic, ghost-of-George-past submerging of young talent and overreliance on splashy long-term, big-name veteran signings that inevitably backfire, ensuring financial hemorrhaging for a player's declining years, and keeping a championship ring out of reach into the next century.
universe
ReplyDelete@EBD, a more sure fire way to get rid of those six is to get a picture of them wearing MAGA hats @ a Trump rally. They would be gone the next day!
ReplyDeleteYanks seem to have found their #3 C: Nick Ciuffo, a lefty hitting former No. 1 draft pick of Tampa Bay with some major league experience. He is a glove first C with a career .188 BA. Rumor has it he has a pulse and can warm up without breaking a rib.
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ReplyDeleteHoly hell I missed Volpe today. I watched the game, same old dilapidated bucket of bolts that creaked to a stop last season, until the Boone put Waldo in. In centerfield no less. He's played 7 positions so far, and I say so far because I believe he could probably catch if needed, and we all saw his RF arm last year so I don't doubt he can pitch too. Play the damn kids!
@ Celerino....actually no, those guys wearing MAGA hats at a Trump rally would endear them to management. The Steinbrenner family and upper management are all conservative Republicans. Randy Levine was on the short list to be the Nectarine Nero's chief of staff after John Kelly departed.
ReplyDeleteOffthecuff, the new catcher, is just the sort of guy Cashman loves: somebody else's old No. 1 pick. Man, he's predictable!
ReplyDeleteTo answer Doug's question, the last outstanding third baseman the Yankees developed was Mike Lowell, handed off to Florida, and then Boston.
ReplyDeleteThe last outstanding third baseman the Yanks developed who played regularly for the team was Clete Boyer. Before that, Gil McDougald. Oy
There are less third baseman in the HOT than any other position. Wouldn't you think that if good-great free agent is available in free agency that teams, cough, Hal would pay whatever it takes to acquire said player? Great fielding and hitting third baseman are almost as rate as catchers with both attributes. Plus it seems that they don't suffer as many serious injuries as most,if not all positions. Passing up acquiring a top #6 with the resources of the Yankees is foolish. I hate to think of the Rings that were lost to the genius of Hal's frugality.
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