Friday, July 14, 2023

For the 2023 Yankees, it's now or never


Tonight's lineup
2020 BATTING CHAMP, BATTING .220
FUTURE STAR IN 2018, NOW KNOWN FOR LAPSES 
MASSIVE CONTRACT, HITTING .208
LONE LH SLUGGER, NO HR IN A MONTH
MVP IN 2015, NOW AT .146
DEFENSIVE OF, .227 IN LAST MONTH
INFIELDER PLAYING OUTFIELD
GLOVE CATCHER, NO-HIT
HYPED ROOKIE HITTING .215

Well, here we are: 

That point in the ocean where you're not sure in which direction to swim. That moment in the season when - in theory - good separates from bad. 

The good news: For all our setbacks, the Yankees remain only one game behind Houston and Toronto for the final Wild Card slot. 

The bad news: Both the Astros and Jays overcame their own tribulations: Altuve out for a month, the Jays losing their ace. But here they are. (And Boston - after all the shit that's gone down - sits one game behind us.)

Over the next two weeks, I have one hope for the Yankees: 

Either go on a big winning streak, or fucking tank. 

Either take unwavering control, or start unwaveringly thinking about 2024. Over the next 12 days, we play the Rockies, the Angels, the Royals and the Mets - 11 games against certified tomato cans - before facing Baltimore at the trade deadline.

We must win at least eight. And if we can't, let's lose them all and clean house.

15 comments:

Celerino Sanchez said...

That line-up is Murderers Row compared to this years

ranger_lp said...

Buster Olney has to stop talking about Ohtani coming to the Yankees. This is like not happening. Is this another way ESPN is trying to make money by click monetizing?

Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside said...

Certainly murdered my interest in this team.

Rufus T. Firefly said...

Ca$hole is trying to outdo himself. Kinda like when he bids against himself in trades/free agents.

Paraphrasing Lumberg in office space, "you have to ask yourself, how could this hurt the Yankees and demoralize the fan base?"

Joe Formerlyof Brooklyn said...


The thing to do is send all of the overpaid guys -- with a bunch of money going with each -- and get prospects for 2028-2030. All of the prospects will NOT succeed. Some might.

I have questions. Like: If the NYYs released GStanton and Jackie D, would anyone pick either one up? I suspect that same goes for DJL. Perhaps Rizzo might draw something in a trade, but perhaps NOT, based on recent (lack of) performance.

Here are the problems with my grand plan:

1. Hal has to part with perhaps $150 million or more. Just to get rid of these guys. Does anyone think he will do it?

2. Major League Baseball has to approve its richest team getting rid of all of that money. The powers-that-be might choke on it.

3. This plan MIGHT work, and the team might be great in 2030 and thereafter. Problem for me, personally: I might not be a living human being in those years. I'm not certain I'll be able to follow baseball from that very, very hot place for which I'm headed.

JM said...

Joe, just think of what we could do if we could release Hal.

Now that would open up a lot of possibilities.

ranger_lp said...

If you release Stanton, you are still on the hook for his salary...

ZacharyA said...

This weekend, the Rockies are starting a guy with a 6.40 ERA, a guy with a 6.65 ERA, and a guy with a 6.89 ERA.

We're hosed.

Celerino Sanchez said...

Zachery, I smell a no-hitter in one those statrts

HoraceClarke66 said...

ranger, it is now required that all media outlets talk about Ohtani at least three times a day. Soon, reporters will be required to approach him with bouquets of flowers, genuflect, and do a little dance of joy that he is in the world.

HoraceClarke66 said...

Joe FOB, you hit the sweet spot.

HAL does not want to let all these guys go, because he will have to pick up their salaries.

Which sounds logical, until one realizes his choice is:

A—Pay these duds a fortune to continue hurting your team, and

B—Pay these duds a fortune to hurt other teams and thereby help yours, and he chooses...

A.

Sigh.

BTR999 said...

Yeah a lot of chatter about Ohtani. Yes it is primarily to generate clicks. My take: Ohtani does not get traded. He doesn’t want to play in NY anyway.

RE: Stanton and Donaldson, to DFA a player they have to first pass through waivers. If another team claims them during the waiver period they become responsible for the remaining contract. Once the player passes through waivers, they may sign with the team of their choosing who would then be responsible for only the pro-rated minimum remaining on the contract. The Yankees pay the rest. So yeah, if that were to happen, suddenly Stanton and Donaldson (especially Stanton) would become hot commodities affordable by every team.

Carl J. Weitz said...

The entire Yankees organization is one incompetent joke. Other than Andy Pettitte, Aaron Judge (I'd even be generous to include Sevy), what above-average player has the team produced? It's been 30 years since the Yankees had a home-grown third baseman? And then they promptly traded Mike Lowell away.

Pitchers that have great stats elsewhere, wilt under the egis of Yankees coaches. It is a chronic theme. Montgomery, Lynn, Eovaldi, and others have stated that the pitching coaches (mostly Rothschild) would not let them pitch to their strength, which had made them successful prior to their arrival and after their departure. Always pressured to throw more cutters, sliders, etc.

The organization either ruins the player or kills his spirit. The entire organization must change from the owner, GM, Bloated Front Office, scouts, and coaches.

The Hammer of God said...

@ Carl, I've noticed that the Yankees tend to make their pitchers more passive. Ex: Montgomery goes to the Cards and they have him throw a lot more fastballs. He becomes a much better pitcher.

Here, the Yankee coaching makes guys like Schmidt throw off speed after off speed, trying to entice the hitter to go fishing. Well, I don't know that they make him do that. But that's generally what these guys do here. Instead of pitching to the inside corner with fastballs on 0-2 or 1-2 counts and blowing guys away, they always do the same thing with trying to get the hitter to chase. It makes you tear your hair out.

They tell the pitcher that "your fastball is no good; the analytics indicate that hitters are killing your fastball". They're mis-using analytics. If the fastball is getting hit, I say figure out why and make some adjustments. The answer is NOT to stop throwing fastballs. That's just stupid. Mechanical stupidity is mostly what we have here. That's why guys come here and suck. Then they get back to normal once they leave.

The Hammer of God said...

@ Joe FoB, "I'm not certain I'll be able to follow baseball from that very, very hot place for which I'm headed."

Depends on what you did. If you stormed the Capital Building on Jan. 6, you might be forced to watch Joe Biden speeches for the rest of eternity. If you humped a nun, you might be forced to teach Sunday School. According to the Hell's Angels, it ain't so bad, if you know the right people. You might be allowed to watch the Yankee games, hell, they might even consider watching the Yankees to be a form of penitence. (And rightly so.)