Saturday, May 20, 2023

Game Thread: An Aaron Hicks Farewell Haiku


Called strike three again.

Lazy route to uncaught ball.

Now who will we boo?


Plus, a big NY Yankee Welcome to Ben Hurt.


Enjoy the game!



51 comments:

  1. Next man up : Josh Donaldson.

    We will never run out of players to hate with Cashman around.

    Now: let’s honor the ancestors and win today.

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  2. So in ditching Hicks and acquiring Allen, the Yankees are swapping out one proven major league failure for another.

    The Yankees have never given Florial a meaningful trial in the majors--as in a statistically significant number of at-bats in the same season uninterrupted by chronic benching and/or demotion. It's time to give him a fair shot. He is a talented all-around player and deserves a real chance. At AAA for the past two seasons he has substantially out-performed other players who have risen quickly to the big club like Volpe, Peraza, and Cabrera. Those who say Florial can't cut it as a major leaguer are operating on prejudice, not empirical evidence.

    Cashman loves digging up proven MLB failures. It's his main professional hobby/obsession. Allen, Cordero, Calhoun--the list goes on forever. He is impervious to the hard data that show that over a large sample size, guys like Allen are CRAP and CANNOT SUCCEED as major league players. In a statistically significant sample size with Pittsburgh last years, he slashed .186/.260/.271--numbers that should not only get you released but demoted--to the Little League.

    This bizarre, inexplicable stupidity alone ought to prove to any doubters that Cashman is NOT guided by analytics, a methodology that is above all EVIDENCE-BASED. Among other examples: The evidence points to NOT signing long-term contracts with guys in their thirties, which Cashman seems to do every ten minutes; NOT allowing pitchers to linger very long the third the through the batting order; NOT over-using the sacrifice bunt, and so on. But Cashman-Boone ignore the evidence and consign their fate to a ouija board Cashman keeps in one of his desk drawers.

    The evidence points to a Florial promotion. The reality points to a Cashman-Boone regime addicted to proven MLB failures, steeped in intuitive-seat-of-the-pants fantasies, and blind to experience.

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  3. Allen's career BA is just about Hicks'.

    Still, after his recent three hit game, I'm amazed Cashman let him go.

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  4. JM -- Based the most recent MLB sample size for each player--2022 for Allen and 2023 for Hicks--Cashman managed to replace Hicks with someone who was even farther below the Mendoza Line. Does Cashman realize that this is not golf and that the higher number is better?

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  5. Let us enjoy the moment friends.

    It will be a delight not to have Hicks to kick around anymore.

    And do not fret - when he's picked up by some other club, we can boo him when he visits.

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  6. Allen is a stop gap. Florial is not going to be promoted. I think the Yanks pull the trigger on The Martian when he gets hot at AAA…

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  7. And he’s going to be promoted soon to SWB…

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  8. "Difficult decision, one we felt we had to make," manager Aaron Boone said.

    One that should have been made five years ago.

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  9. Why does no one know how to slide?

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  10. He wouldn’t have had to slide if he didn’t watch it out of the box

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  11. Ranger-- How do you know Florial will never be promoted? If Allen goes 3 for his first 20 ABs, then what? Call Paul O'Neill dowm from the booth and give him a workout?

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  12. Strong feeling about that EBD. He has no major league success. He cleared waivers which means NO ONE wanted him. Maybe that’s why I feel that way…

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    Replies
    1. Ranger: "He has had no major league success." He had never had a statistically meaningful string of ABs within one season, uninterrupted by benchings and demotions. What has has never had at the MLB level is a fair shot. Besides, Stanton is at best a DH at this point. He's too fragile to be an everyday outfielder.

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  13. Stanton will probably be back before your 20 AB deadline…

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  14. Wow I didn’t know Florial cleared waivers. Why is that guy even worth a thought? He’s not even trade bait. That explains everything I needed to know about why we have Allen. Case closed on that guy…. It’s normal baseball is full of washouts. I washed out of T ball.

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  15. Two words, Beauregard: Governor's. Cup. (Is it still called that?)

    Anyway, as we all know, taking the International League flag—or the AAA Simplex banner, whatever it's called now—is Cashie's real priority.

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  16. And Floral hits well at AAA but just can’t hit at the Major League level, He’s not the first to do that…

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  17. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  18. EBDMay 20, 2023 at 5:23 PM
    Ranger: "HE DIDN’T CLEAR WAIVERS…" So you are assuming that all the other teams needed an outfielder at that time and that his superb AAA numbers are meaningless. AAA numbers are not meaningless. Suitably adjusted for level, they are a consistently, if not infallibly, reliable predictor of MLB performance. Flotial has never been given a meaningful trial at the MLB level, so you don'tknow what he might do if given the chance. Surely it is more rational to try a player with a potential upside than to recycle one who has only a well-proven abysmal downside.

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  19. What’s with this debating? This place isn’t for debating. It’s for lamenting, kvetching, blaming…

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  20. @Beauregard…on point. EBD I’ll agree to disagree…

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  21. Judge should have been held up.

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  22. Yes, JM. He was sent while the ball was almost to second base. Bad send

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  23. As long as we’re complaining, I have a complaint about complainers. I’m bed ridden for another week so I put on WFAN to kill some time. Unlistenable shit. Stupid old men with stupid theories and the hosts just let them drone on and on…. They must have no callers.

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  24. Every time life gets a little too bleak, just remember Aaron Hicks got released. And a man named "Buck Farmer" pitched in the major leagues.

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  25. Yankees have employed a lot of buck farmers lately. Ellsbury, Hicks, maybe Rofon. Their money grew on trees

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  26. “A friend of mine” just opined that he believes that Cashman DFA’d Hicks because he believed that he could re-sign him for less money.

    Sounds about right . . .

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  27. The fact that Florial cleared waivers is not that meaningful in and of itself. Most orgs already have players with similar skill sets to Florial that they’d prefer to develop. He has a total of 54 AB’s over FOUR seasons. That isn’t even close to a fair sample size. The other pretenders to the LF throne have already failed at this level with multiple teams. I think we’re all tired of the parade of rejects Cashman has provided. Cabrera has been a detriment offensively playing every day. Florial has earned his shot for regulator playing time. Then let his performance provide provide the answer.

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  28. Biggest Best Aaron!! Big Tony!!

    Cashbrain trading for Gibaut!!

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  29. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

    ThuuhuhuhuhUHUHAAAAAAAAUHUHUH AAaaaH Yankees win!!

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  30. Sleep well folks, it’s been a good day.

    (Andujar got the DFA today too :/ )

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  31. Just finished dinner…nice to see we pulled it out in extras…

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  32. From Max Goodman on Twitter:

    Max Goodman
    @MaxTGoodman
    ·
    4h
    All in the last few days…

    - Aaron Hicks designated for assignment by #Yankees
    - Gary Sánchez called up to Mets
    - Miguel Andújar DFA’d (again) by Pirates
    - Mike Tauchman called up to Cubs
    - Clint Frazier 2 HR game vs. AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre

    Imagine reading that in 2019.

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  33. The answer to the Haiku (who will we boo?), is none other than Jackie Donaldson.

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  34. The only reason to being Florial up is because every LF has been putrid. But here's the thing, Florial can't hit the curve in the fucking minor leagues! 😱 Barney, as others have pointed out earlier you are hardly in a position to naysay what scouts across baseball have concluded. And yes, he passed through irrevocable waivers. Un-claimed.

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  35. I didn’t realize Hicks was the longest tenured position player on the Yankees. That’s how long we suffered.

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  36. Three Yankee Aarons.

    One is dismissed.

    Another should go.

    He won’t be missed.

    One should stay.

    He saves the day.

    But PLEASE!

    Send our manager.

    Far Far Away!

    Okay?




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  37. I wonder if we could still trade for Andujar, Clint Frazier, Sleepy Sanchez, and some more of the "can't miss" prospects whose careers were nefariously destroyed by various front office staffers who had some kind of a prejudice against these players. I mean, look at Frazier, he looks like he was kicked out of Crackerbox Palace, Andujar didn't get five thousand plate appearances, and "Sleepy" always needed some cafe after lunch (I'm sure that a nutritionist was afraid of too much caffeine. And poor Greg Bird, major surgery on his shoulder (never a good indicator of future performance), then his body just fell apart. He had some real talent, what a shame.

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  38. I wish The Barren well, as far away from The Yankees as possible. Maybe Done-aldson will follow.

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