It's a given that:
1. This team will never play at full strength. Injuries are the new normal, and the lineup will constantly churn for the rest of the season.
2. Though it won't really matter, it will generally be a bad idea for any veteran player to sprint hard or dive for balls. When they bust it going down the line, or crash into a wall, they strain something and miss six weeks.
3. If the team gets hot (4-2 on a road trip), it will simply grow equally cold. (2-4 on a homestand.) The question oft-asked by Michael Kay must be answered with a simple "No... The Yankees do not have a rally in their bones."
4. Regardless of outcomes, the Yankee lineup is carved into stone tablets worthy of Moses, and the typeface cannot change. Some players look like shells of their former selves - either due to age or nagging injuries. It doesn't matter. The team has no choice but to play them.
5. The lack of starters is now draining the bullpen. The Yankees cannot score a lot of runs, and the bullpen cannot be expected to lock down games from the fifth inning on.
6. The Yankees are playing for the final wild card slot. Tampa is the power. Baltimore is for real. And to snag the final spot, the Yankees must beat Houston and Toronto.
7. Regardless of what happens, there will be no change in management. The comfortable clubhouse will not change. Nor will the front office. The Yankee organization is at peace with its business model.
8. The Mets collapse will shield the Yankees from having to face several realities, most notably the failure of their farm system to provide impact players. Anthony Volpe and Oswaldo Cabrera are starting to look like players in distress. But the Yankees still will not promote their best-performing prospects (Oswald Peraza, Estevan Florial) and, instead, go with minor league journeymen.
9. A looming series of deadline trades could decimate the farm system. Last year - the worst accumulated set of deals in memory - the Yankees nearly traded away their huge lead in the AL East. Ever since, Cashman has seemed skittish about deals. But pressure will mount for him to make moves.
10. The Yankees are a home run team, and home run teams do not win in the post season.
11. Yankees have become a team that finds ways to lose. Last night, Gleyber Torres flubbed an easy play, opening the gate to a game-tying run. Old George would be screaming on the back page. Don't expect a peep from Boone. It's just the new normal, and it's not going to change.
The Olney/Sherman columns will be coming soon on how injuries/forest fires have decimated the Yankees. But through all this, Ca$hman has been able to keep the team a float with shrewd pick ups like Calhoun, Mckinney and Bauers. If it wasn't for him, this team would be in the shitter.
ReplyDeleteA lot of people would say that if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be in the shitter.
ReplyDeleteBut this debate will continue forever.
It should be mentioned that Gary Cohen, the NY Mets announcer, did a class thing yesterday. Late during the Mets vs. Pirates game, he shouted out to our beloved John Sterling about the foul ball incident wishing him well and mentioning how great of an announcer he is...
ReplyDeleteGary Cohen is classy. Thanks for reporting that bit, Ranger.
ReplyDeleteThe Yankees are ... dispiriting, as in I have no desire to waste my time watching them lose to a suck-ass Boston team.
The Yankees are 30-19 (.612) with Judge in the lineup, and 8-10 (.444) without him.
ReplyDeleteThey're not a playoff team without Judge, even with the expanded wild card nonsense.
How do you spend $280M on a baseball team that can't survive the temporary loss of a single player?
Last 40 games for Anthony Volpe:
ReplyDelete.162/.200/.345 (.545 OPS) with 6 BB/48 K
That's a quarter of a season. I'm very worried.
Sad to say, Zach, Volpe is not a major-league player. Maybe not ever, but certainly not now.
ReplyDeleteIt would be no disgrace—and would be nothing unusual—for him to go back down now to the level he skipped, and get his head and game together. Something that also would give a more deserving young player a shot.
A more disturbing element—as many here have pointed out—is that the Yankees' crack coaching staff is about to crack him, with their stat-obsessed determination to make him into one more, one-dimensional home-run hitter.
Again, getting out of Smog City here would be the best thing for him.
That's right Hoss. He'll flounder in the Yankees org, up down up down more down than up over time, swinging from his heels like the coaches want him to. Then, he'll be traded or DFA'd in a few years. He'll retool his swing elsewhere and play mlb semi-regularly for a few years as a 4th infielder. In short, the Yankees will destroy a very promising prospect. File under "Refsnyder".
DeleteWhat a funky lineup that was, eh? Willie Calhoun in the leadoff slot, doesn't seem right to me, what about you?
ReplyDeleteNo home run derby, no can win.
Good thing I skipped this one. You can kiss that wild card goodbye!
Going into this year, we all knew the offense was going to suck. Now imagine if they hadn't resigned Judge. But so they resigned Judge, but that was essentially all they did. No big changes, no trades, nothing as far as the lineup. Nothing but a few pickups of minor league journeymen, the usual Cashman dumpster dive. With Judge hurt, all they have is Torres, who we know isn't good enough. And Rizzo, who started out strong but has gone into a tailspin. And a bunch of journeymen minor leaguers.
Now on to the annual thrashing by the Metsies... the annual loss to Max Scherzer... the annual wake up call for the Metsies to get things going.... Yeah, they've been waiting to play the Yankees. That's why they've been pretty brutal so far this year.
One thing you have to say about Cashman's moves over the past 10+ years. Almost none of them pan out.
ReplyDeleteAs I have stated before, if they can send down Mickey Mantle, they can send down Volpe.
ReplyDeleteHard to say that he is not currently overmatched. Maybe he can save himself with a month or two in AAA.
No disgrace in being sent down, it's how you handle it that matters.
Bring Up Peraza and chuck the AAAA outfielders we have now when Bader and Judge get back and next time an OF gets hurt, bring up Florial and just go with him .
Baurs and McKinney have shown enough that some lesser teams may take him. Just look at what Red Thunder did with White Sox.
ReplyDeleteHere is the main choice:
a. Pursue the playoffs. Make stupid trades (by now, the other 29 GMs must know, instinctively, that Cashman can be had!). Get eliminated early, but......Cashman, Boone, and Hal can say "were it not for the injuries, blahblahblah." This turns 2024 (and 2025-26-27) into sheer dreck.
b. Play Volpe. Shed Gleyber, bring up Peraza (I don't care what is obtained for Gleyber).
Recall Bennie R. Play Cabrera. Pitch some young guys. Give Cole the rest of the season off (maybe he's already got a head start?). Throw bananas in the path of Stanton.
Let us see what we've got. Maybe we ain't got nothing -- best to know that before making even more idiotic trades and signing more guys who go "poof" (like Jackie D and DJL).
If 2023 and 2024 (and 2025) are going to be rebuilding years -- trade for really young players, NOW. Stop doing all of the stupid things (like trading Monty).
In other words: Plan for 2026.
Heck, I might even still be alive in that year....
Agreed, Joe FOB. But you watch, if it comes up, we the fans will be blamed for "not letting" them do this.
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ReplyDeleteThis season is a bust, I agree with you all, bring up Peraza and Florial, play Cabrera, etc etc, 2023-4 is all about rebuilding,,,,,,
ReplyDeleteAt least we all take solace from the fact that young Volpe’s batting average is 43 points higher than Jackie Why-Bother-son’s.
ReplyDeleteThis week is going to be interesting - tomorrow is Setback vs Bowie at Citi Field - what could possibly go right/wrong before then?
ReplyDeleteTo quote Cousin Eddie ' Shitters full '
I am astonsished that the New York press seems to accept this mediocrity and just rank bad running of the team from trades,management,tactics,player development,drafting and strength conditioning
Has no hournalist ever questioned how the team is run and why the record is so bad for so long despite spending a fortune?
Last night I was just bored and even worse I didn't get upset I could see the loss coming a mile away and no longer cared enough to be bothered.
Worryng thing is the same thing with happen for the forseeable future as there seems to be no end to continuing this time loop of doing the same stupid thing over and over again and being shocked when it doesn't work.
Anyone who still thinks the coaching isn’t part of the problem, feast your eyes on this direct quote from hitting “coach” Dillon “Dilbert” Lawson:
ReplyDelete“if he was hitting a reckless .200, there’s no chance you’d have confidence. But it’s a PROFESSIONAL .200”
Aside from the fact that no one knows exactly WTF that means, where do we draw the line? A professional .180? .170?? .160???
It’ll take a couple of weeks, but the Yankees will tacitly admit their mistake and return AV to SWB. As Archie noted even the immortal Mick had to take a step back. But that was a different era, a different team, one that only cared about winning instead of how to fleece the suckers who wander into the Bronx mausoleum every summer.
Even so, Peraza will be here soon enough.
Rest assured, Dilbert Lawson will still be here, waiting…
I could see Dylan Mulvaney replacing Dilbert Lawson, although I like his comic strip.
ReplyDeleteAmen, Scotland! This is not only bad baseball, it's boring!
ReplyDeleteI'm missing the late 60s. We weren't very good, no matter what Houk said during the Spring team press tour of upstate. But everyone knew it. The fans, the media, the management.
ReplyDeleteNobody was writing fawning articles about Mike Burke and Dan Topping. Or Lee MacPhail, at least until years later during his second stint as GM.
Yes, stumblin team of mediocrities put together by stumblin' fools.
ReplyDeleteA stiff lineup pout together and agreed upon by stumblin' bumblin" fools.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteJust saw footage of this apologies if already posted I am glad he is ok that looked a serious hit
Stanton would be on th IL till 2027 if he got hit like this
https://twitter.com/emarin671/status/1668217277206986753
He's all right! Really, John is our Iron Man. And you're right, Scotland: Stanton would have retired, and moved into an assisted living development.
ReplyDeleteThe Mets will get well against the Yankees this week. All smiles in Queens by Friday.
ReplyDeleteRIGHT!!!!!! I just saw the clip as well, and it was much worse that I had thought when listening to The Master, he didn't miss a beat, WOW > a total CHAMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete@ AA, He's also hitting 40 points higher than Gary Sanchez in that season from hell when Sanchez hit .147.
ReplyDelete@btr999, I know exactly what he means. He's talking about the homers. If Volpe was hitting under .200 with 1 or 2 homers, he would've been canned already. He's pretty much doing what the coaching staff wants, which is swinging for the fences with big exit velo & moonshot launch angle. Well, he's not quite big enough to hit moonshots, but as long as they make it over the fence, they all count.
ReplyDelete@ Publius, Yep, Refsnyder said the Yankee coaches tweaked his swing to make him hit more home runs. He didn't get into the specifics, but I imagine they had him trying to maximize exit velocity and launch angle by lengthening his swing and maybe adding some uppercut. And he also said that moving him to 2B screwed him up.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile Aaron Hicks is killing it and playing like a new man in Baltimore.
ReplyDeletehttps://yanksgoyard.com/posts/aaron-hicks-orioles-resurgence-is-real-enough-to-cast-doubt-on-yankees-coaches-01h2h01x8e00
10-for-29 with a .472 OBP and 1.058 OPS.
@ Doug K., Well, he's got a new hitting coach, and a new strength training coach, and a new flexibility coach.... We'll see how long he keeps it up, but if he does turn the corner, ain't that another indictment on the coaching staff here?
ReplyDeleteI saw recently that Gary Sanchez was doing alright in Friar City. His K rate was still real high. But let's see if he can keep it going out there.
Hicks will pull his bird and go on the IL soon enough
ReplyDelete