Before continuing, let's accept that Week One stats - in the greater realm of numbers - don't carry much weight. For example, Toronto's Matt Chapman leads the world in batting. Last year, he hit .229. And Boston's current hottie, Adam Duval - age 34 - hit .213 last year for Atlanta. It's hard to get an erection over a thirtysomething veteran, because you know he'll soon go ice cold and revert to that level of mediocrity that Fate long ago assigned them.
Still, some emotional triggers occupy the current top 10.
Yoan Moncada, for example. In my mind, he still represents Hal Steinbrenner's G.O.A.T. fuckup - (and he's delivered some doozies.) In 2015, when Moncada escaped Cuba and became a free agent, he was considered a 5-tool future star, the next Robinson Cano, and everyone - apparently including the Yankees - assumed Hal would sign him.
Well, Boston crept in and got him for a $31 million, leaving the Yankees to stew in their own grease. In whispers, the top brass blamed Felix Lopez, who was then married to Jessica Steinbrenner. The veteran Gammonite, Billy Madden, wrote that Yankee insiders claimed Lopez's heavy-handedness botched the Moncada negotiations.
I tell people that the great TV show Succession is not about Rupert Murdoch's horrible family, as is popularly claimed. It's about the Steinbrenner litter. Felix Lopez is long gone, but Moncada's legacy remains. The Redsocks traded him for Chris Sale, who won them a World Series. To punish Boston, the Yankees signed Jacoby Ellsbury. And Moncada, still with the White Sox - now age 27 - might be entering his prime. A double-bank shot fuckup.
Then there is Mike Trout, who is redeeming himself for fanning to end the World Baseball Classic, when it should have Aaron Judge at the plate. Trout is hot, and he might just stay that way. This week, Yankee head scout Damon "Father of the Bomb" Oppenheimer told an interviewer the franchise came really, really, really, really, REALy close to drafting Trout in 2009 - I mean, really close. Yep, it's a certified "Almost." The Yankees can add another "Almost" to their impressive collection. Everybody, stand and clap. We just got another "Almost" flag to wave at the stadium. Can we open an "Almost" section of Monument Park?
The Angeles drafted Trout with the Yankee first round compensation pick for signing Mark Teixeira (who did win us a world series, so there's that.) Oppeneimer says the Yankees would have selected Trout. Instead, they chose Slade Heathcott, a raw talent who had a tempestuous minor league career and who once hit a dramatic three-run HR to beat fucking Toronto. Last I heard, Heathcott hoped to become an airline pilot. I wish him happy and safe skies. Fate is a bastard, eh?
Oh, wait... one more. Among the league leaders in home runs, here's a familiar name: Joey Gallo. Good luck, 'Sota! Start your "M-V-P" chants! Excuse me if I fart.
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51 comments:
The FDR to Yankee Stadium is littered with the wrecks of Yankee mismanagement.
I forget if it was Bill Wordsworth or T.S. Eliot who said that.
Why couldn’t they have close on Stanton, Jackie D, Rondon, Hicks, the list goes on..,,
And Rolaids is throwing between 102 and 104 MPH...hmmm..so far this season, he has pitched two innings and given up no runs...
Moncada: indeed, Yanks should've could've would've had him if they'd wanted to win. 31 mil? Seems like a bargain, eh?
Three poor international signings, Jose Contreras, Kei Igawa and Hideki Irabu seemed to make them gunshy about bringing in top international talent. Moncada came to the majors after those three, right? I'm not sure but I think so. Igawa was a long time ago.
According to the internet, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, Robinson Cano were all international signings when they were young and undeveloped. So maybe they have a better record for signing young unknowns and developing them.
@ ranger_lp, I never thought there was anything physically wrong with Chapman. His problem was all in his head. Maybe he thought too much. Maybe the pitch clock will actually (gasp) help him.
The thing I fear is that Dumbass Cashman will trade Jasson Dominguez at the trade deadline for someone like Chapman. Dumbass might even bring back Chapman himself. You know how he loves second and third go-rounds with troubled players.
Anyway, there was nothing wrong with Chapman that a good pitching coach couldn't have fixed. And maybe a good life coach as well. The guy needed a 24 hour babysitter.
Héctor Gómez
@hgomez27
·
1h
SOURCE: The New York Yankees recalled RHP Jhony Brito from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Ranger: that means someone has to go on the IL otherwise there is is a 10 day wait to recall someone optioned directly to the minors. Donaldson?
Actually, "Hot Trout" was the name of my psychedelic band in the '60s. We were supposed to be at Woodstock, but our bus driver got lost, and ended up in Syracuse. There we entered the International Polka Band-Off instead, but lost in the finals to the Happy Wanderers.
Rocking Hoss! I was in a punk band in the early 80’s called the Sloppy Bastards. What do you mean you never heard of them?
Todays lineup
1LeMahieu3B
2JudgeCF
3Rizzo1B
4StantonDH
5Torres2B
6Cabrera, LF
7TrevinoC
8CorderoRF
9VolpeSS
No official word on Donaldson, but he IS likely heading to the IL
The only thing I fear more than Cashman's dart throwing drafting skills or his buy-the-hype FA signing skills are his farm system-gutting, one-dimensional trading "skills." Then I see Mike Fishman handing him a recommendation and lose all hope for living.
I have several distinct memories of reports indicating that Slade Heathcott was an alcoholic. It is possible that those tales were made up on the internet.
Who knows>
But before I pile into a plane piloted by the mighty Slade, I would like to be certain he is not imbibing.
Michael Kay: Donaldson will go on the IL after the game, when Brito will be activated. Why play short handed? Ask Boone.
Floral passed through waivers and was out-righted to Scranton. It would seem that every team in MLB shares the Yankees' assessment of Florial. Amazing that no team would take a shot at him.
You know, I think the vast number of sucky players on the Yankees' roster these days has come to obscure just how much Giancarlo continues to suck, year in and year out.
Today's first inning, with one out and two on: a weak fly to left on an 0-2 count.
And just think: he'll still be sucking wretchedly through 2028. (Yanks have a $10 mill buyout option that year, but judging by the Hicks Rule, they won't exercise it.)
And now, Gleyber reverting to form with a key error.
Nice stop by The General.
Looked to me like LeMahieu was in there.
All right, today is another day off. Time to get down to work and turn off the tube.
Hi Kevin, I think most teams have their own version of Florial drifting through their system. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him up here again as a spare part.
Schmidt not long for this game, or the starting rotation
Franchy!!!
That seals it. Can't you just see Dumbass Cashman nodding his hair challenged head? "Yup, I done got that one right", says Dumbass to himself.
Franchy Cordero's gonna be here the entire year and might even get signed to 70 million dollar ten year contract in the off season. If they get rid of Hicks at some point, this new minor millstone contract will replace the Hicks minor millstone. We can say goodbye to ever seeing Jasson Dominguez up here. At least not for another three or four years.
Anyone hear John’s HR call?
I found out he didn’t have one…
Very cool to hear Hoss was a psychedelic rocker! And borntorun999 was a punk rocker! Wow, no wonder this site is so awesome. I was a singer in a rock n roll garage type band. We never did any gigs though.
For future reference:
https://moiderersrow.com/the-ultimate-list-of-john-sterlings-home-run-calls/
TBH, the band was terrible, all we had was attitude.
A little troubling seeing Judge struggling with high fastballs? He is late on them.
And can someone tell us what exactly a “sweeper” pitch is?
Actually, I was still 10 when Woodstock took place.
Hey BTR999, I had to comment on Florial because there are many who comment on this blog that Florial was somehow "jobbed" out of making it to the Big Club. Hitting minor league pitching doesn't always equate to being successful in the Majors. Obviously, I should think. Anyway, I can't pin his lack of pitch recognition on Cashman. I believe that a "sweeper" is a hybrid slider-curve combo...
@ Hoss, Oh, all right, I thought you might be kidding! But you had us there for a bit.
Nice at bat by IKF....
@ bornturun999, Yeah, well the Sex Pistols weren't actually all that great either, in the beginning. Word is they practiced their butts off and got their act together before they started gigging. One great album, and they had it made.
Florial was jobbed out of a legit chance. But he never really put up the kind of hitting that gets a guy in the majors or keeps him there. So, indeed, looks like he's just another career minor leaguer.
I hope they don't do the same kind of thing to Jasson Dominguez. But I expect he'll do things in the minors whereby they won't be able to keep him there until he's 26. But I hope they bring him up at some point this year and throw him into LF. Every time Franchy Cordero does anything with the bat, that makes it more likely that Jasson won't come up this year.
If anyone remembers The Fleshtones, they are touring and I’m seeing them next month…
@ Alphonso, Wasn't there a rock drummer named Slade? Maybe it was Chris Slade. If memory serves, he played with The Firm.
Hammer, why do think that Florial was jobbed out of a legit chance? I've read scouting reports over the past four or so years that stated they he had "pitch recognition" issues. Kinda important, no? And what would the team have to gain? A cheap, talented outfielder is something that Hal would love. Maybe I'm missing something.
Goood gawwwwwd, that was ugly
I hate to 2nd-guess Lorna Boone, but
-- duya think pinch-hitting IKF for Franchy with runners on base made any sense?
-- duya think taking the bunt sign Off with a 2-and-0 count on Trevino (2 men on, no outs) made any sense?
For the record, I
a - stay with the hot hand
b - stay with the bunt, get the runners over
Maybe I'm 2nd-guessing because I am an a-hole. Or maybe b/c I hate Lorna Boone.
Still, these seem like legit questions.
@Ranger, sure, I remember the Fleshtones, they were local (NY) guys. What was the leads name? Keith Strong?
Joe, you nailed it.
Thanks Kevin, I hadn’t heard that pitch called that.
Yeah, I don’t think Florial got jobbed…he was considered a good prospect at one point, had the physical tools, but never really showed enough to stick. Now I see him as a fourth or fifth OF type, an excellent defender ghost runner type.
Joe, LMAO @ Lorna Boone
Losing to the O’s not quite as funny.
@btr Peter Zaremba..you’re thinking Keith Streng the guitarist. The original sax player died recently…
Man, was this game Boon'd, or what.
Franchy doesn't hit lefties. Fine. But IKF doesn't hit anybody.
Well, at least they finally showed up.
I have no problem with the Trevino call; he hit the ball hard, the Orioles' 3B just made a very nice stop on it.
Pulling Franchy for IKF was the crazy move. Does he have a hit yet this year? Absurd. And another meltdown by the pen.
I'm somehow glad I can't see the games.
IKF has NO HITS this year!
Kevin claims that he has read scouting reports. Care to provide links to them so the rest of us can read them?
@Kevin, I meant that they never really gave Florial a chance up here. The only reason they should've given him a chance was that they had nobody else! So they might as well have given him a chance. But through this spring training, once again, he was lifeless. So everything taken together, we can only conclude that Florial is at best a 4th outfielder, and probably more suited to a 5th outfielder or a career minor leaguer.
So now my beef with Dumbass Cashman over Florial is that he's got to find out quicker if these guys are good enough. And if they aren't good enough, he's got to move them out and fill the minor league roster spots with guys who really are potential major leaguers. Hearing that their minor leagues are filled with 26 year old outfielders is not encouraging! Their player development is not good enough.
Also, I can only assume that Yankee scouting is not good enough. That they don't know the other teams' farm systems well enough. That they don't find good players as quickly and easily as the Tampons or the ASS-stros. And those are the main reasons why those teams easily beat the Yanks in the post-season.
Hammer, I think there are deep structural problems with player development. Florial is just a good case example. The sabermetrics-driven development approach isolates specific qualities of performance (launch angles, spin rates) and wraps development around a couple of key metrics, at the expense of developing the whole ballplayer to achieve their natural potential. This sabermetric-focused approach not only stunts technical development, but distorts what young ballplayers think expectations are.
So, if the kids see the MLB team is full of 2 and 3 true outcome players - and led by capricious, disconnected decision-makers who judge players by their spreadsheets - then swinging for the seats all the time will be seen as the way to get noticed by management. Piling up the strikeouts won't matter. Even if some coach on the ground is trying to tell them differently. This leads to distorted development and the failure to learn the whole game, including the mental and situational aspects.
After all, the guy who took Florial's potential spot in LF was Joey Gallo. What effect did that dumbass decision have on Florial's mind as he wasted in the minors and approached the end of his option period? If I were him and saw Gallo in LF, I'd stop worrying about K's and try to hit home runs all the time. After all, that's what the front office wants, right?
I hope the kid gets traded. The Yankees will never give him a chance and someone needs to fix his approach to hitting.
@ Doctor T, Amen, I agree 100%. You explained it beautifully.
One day, maybe ten years from now, maybe twenty years from now, who knows, they're going to look back on this as a crazy time of launch angles, exit velos, & spin rates. These are all good tools to analyze a player and get him to improve his performance, but that's all they are, just the tools. They should never be the goal in themselves.
So a pitcher has great spin rate on this pitch or that pitch. Coaching should still emphasize how to get good hitters out by using your brains. It shouldn't teach that pitcher to only throw that pitch and let his stuff get the hitter out. Mechanical approach is inferior to a clever thinking man's approach that observes, analyzes, and makes adjustments during a game and even during an at-bat. Clarke Schmidt has the tools to get hitters out, but he pitches like an idiot most of the time.
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