How is the summer going? Fun in the sun? Hope you didn't vaycay in Phoenix (ha ha!) From what I hear, it's been rainy in Scranton. Good for the crops, am I right?
Speaking of Scranton, how 'bout that Estevan Florial!
Guy's hitting .297 with 23 HRs - 3rd in the International League - and 18 stolen bases. Not too shabby, right? He's only 25.
What's that? Oh, dear. Your stomach is upset? Lie down. Breathe. It's probably the clams. After all, it's Florial Day in the Yankiverse, and I thought it deserves mention.
Yes, I understand your concerns: That today, ignorant Yank fans will look at Florial's performance in Scranton and wonder why he's not in the Bronx? These dolts are idiots. They don't understand that super scouts in the Yank front office recognized last winter that Florial will never hit MLB pitching, so promoting him would be a waste of everybody's time.
Me, on the other hand, I accept the super wisdom of super scouts, who know far more about hitting that I shall ever learn. Take Dillon Lawson, for example.
That said, there seems to be a glitch in the Matrix here.
That's because the same super scouts who nixed Florial last spring apparently thought that Oswaldo Cabrera would hit, and that he or Jake Bauers or Willie Calhoun or Franchy Cordero would solve the Yankee LF problem, which emerged for everyone to see - even ignorant Yank fans. In fact, everybody saw it except the super scouts, who told the Yankees to stand pat, because Jackie Donaldson would have a bounce-back year.
I don't want to make this all about Florial - the Yankees' problems run much deeper- but today, July 31, is FLORIAL DAY, his final hours as a contractually certified Yankee farmhand. Tonight, when the clock strikes twelve, he should be on his way to some team that actually values him, and the Yankees will have - well, next to nothing to show for the great Latino 16-year-old Signing Class of 2014 - which you commandeered, along with the super scouts. Remember the excitement of landing Dermis Garcia? Nelson Gomez? All the others?
Oh, dear. You look rather green. Take deep breaths. Must be those clams.
Clearly, the Yankees won't get much in exchange for a player in whom they have no respect. So, have at it! Trade Florial for whatever you can get, right? And good luck!
I mention Florial not to criticize. In the name of Frankie Montas, no front office is perfect, am I right? Still, I've been wondering if you'll ever question the super scouts unfathomable wisdom, when their LF track record includes Oswaldo, Miggy Andujar and now Greg Allen.
Like most ignorant fans, I see little hope in 2023. Could it be time to ponder 2024? Of course, you're in a straight-jacket of sorts - you cannot trade Giancarlo Stanton (who is too expensive), Jackie Donaldson (who is out), or Luis Severino (who is, frankly, terrible.)
Actually, I have no clue what to do. Everywhere, the Yankees seem to have painted themselves into a corner. Your only way out is to trade prospects for some new geezer with a pulse - which is how we got to this awful place - last in the AL East.
But Estevan Florial needs to go somewhere where the front office won't have reason to root against him, because he could make a super scout look bad.
Today, The Estevan Florial Story must end. Damn, it's gone on longer than Oppenheimer.
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17 comments:
I just had a moment of clarity...
What's the deal with Peraza and Volpe and Florial? Our better prospects don't seem to have nearly the successes they had in AAA. So question is...is it the coaching? Is it the pitching they see. Or is it the major league analytics that's causing the new major leaguers to mess up their swing and fail at this level? Or is it simply that the organization, fans and media overrate our prospects? John used to say the latter over and over again when he had a talk show ions ago...
But they succeed in Houston and Tampa Bay don't they?
I dunno if quoting the NYPost is OK here (or not), but these lines from a piece on Anthony Rizzo are irresistible --
--
Rizzo had appeared to turn a corner last weekend when he went 4-for-4 with a drought-ending home run against the Royals.
But in the five games since, the 33-year-old has gone 2-for-21 with eight strikeouts.
--
5 of those Ks were in last night's game vs. Bawlmore. Conclusion: The guy keeps turning corners.......
The whole Florial think makes no sense to me. His performance warrants a call-up. I wonder if there is something else that we don't know. Maybe he has character issues, like being the "clubhouse thief" has a character quality that other find repulsive. Maybe he is simply a bad clubhouse guy. Maybe he hit on Hal's wife. Who knows.
This team is really a cross between the early 90's and mid 2010's teams.
Who could forget Andy Stankiewicz, Pat Kelly, Ice Williams, Kevin Maas, Scott Kamieniecki Sam Militello from the the early 1990's and then Brian Roberts, Yangervis Solarte, Stephen Drew, Chase Headly, José Pirela, Vidal Nuño III, Bryan Mitchell from the mid 2010's
I laugh when I think of these guys, the same way I laugh about Jake Bauers, Frauncy Codero, Willie Calhoun, Billy McKinney, Albert Abreau, the list goes on. A $200M payroll and these are the losers you get. The only constant is the idiot GM, who like Celine Dion sang "He will go on and on"
Also, the NAACP will start complaining about Rizzo soon, because in the box scores it's nothing but KKK
Hey, maybe he hit on Hal.
The Kinky Boots photo is what did it.
No, it ain't so neat to admit defeat
Hal can see no reasons
'Cash agrees no reason
What reason do you need?
Tell me why?
I don't like Mondays
Tell me why?
I don't like Mondays
Tell me why?
I don't like Mondays
I want to shoot
The whole day down, down, down
Shoot it all down
I would've loved to have moved Severino out. After that performance, what'll we get for him? Another sitting-on-his-ass performance by genius Cashman. So nothing will happen ... because they might win the wild card ... and then booted out even if they do win the wild card ... and then Severino walks away and the Yanks get nothing for him. Unless Cashman is stoopid enough to re-sign him. Which is a distinct possibility in Yankee Wonderland.
BTW according to Ma Yankee, Severino keeps sayin' he doesn't even know what's wrong. Maybe he's just saying that, but if it's true, that says a helluva lot about our pitching coach, Matt Blake. A guy with a 98 mph fastball literally cannot get anyone out. But they don't know what's wrong. And this has been going on since he came back. It's not just one or two games. What can you do except laugh?
It seems that Florial is still too young for them to bring up. 25? That's considered a baby around here. They'll bring him up when he's 29 or 30 years old, right at the tail end of his career. They'll give him a send-off game and then he'll walk away. Maybe he joins the Mexican league or goes to Japan.
Ranger if you can remember John’s show on WMCA you’re almost old enough to play for the Yankees yourself! I’m completely ok with Peraza Florlal and Volpe stinking up the place. It sure beat the permanent old timers day we have now. Rizzo?? RIZZO??? these aren’t even our heros, he’s still a Cub.
@Celerino, yes, very well expressed.
I guess you can chalk up the team’s demise to a phrase that has recently entered the baseball lexicon: Roster Construction. Cashman, his team, and the entire front office of the last decade or so, have failed to win a championship despite constantly having the advantage of a higher payroll, and until recent rule changes a huge advantage in the International market. Through all this they have refused to take responsibility and have faced no accountability. Their field manager and nightly team representative is a lightless gaslighting fool who gets by on the sycophantic capitulation of the media. In 2023, we seem to be watching the wheel turn and the predictable collapse of the team.
No responsibility, No accountability. The lightweight fans care not and will continue to shower these undeserving incompetents with their money. More perceptive fans, exemplified by the commentariat of this worthy blog, know better, much better…and our numbers are growing.
Florial? He’s honestly just small potatoes in all this. Yes, he should have been promoted and given a full opportunity weeks/months ago. He obviously has no future here and I hope he gets a chance somewhere else.
At this point, why not give Florial a shot. I believe you used idiots for Yankees scouts. From the Geek GM on down, morons, losers, clueless would fit. Do the George Constanza, Genius. Try anything, even if it does not fit. This way you will get a look at what the Yankees have. Ofcourse, I pray that the clueless owner wakes up and you will be gone. Maybe, Florial hits. But that would bruise your wounded bald headed ego.
All of the above.
Yes—there is terrible Roster Construction.
Yes—Cashman has systematically squandered or neglected all of the Yankees inherent advantages over the past two decades.
Yes—there are some very weird disconnects going on with our coaching and training that no one bothers to look into.
Why do so many of our top picks and signings not work out?
Why do those who make it to the majors, highly ranked by scouts throughout the majors, so often suddenly regress or are chronically injured? Or both?
Despite past promises, there is never any real analysis of any of this, just the tame media saying that we should shut up and enjoy "winning."
Oh, and Joe FOB? I'm always ready to hear from the NY Post...sports section. :)
@ Hoss, It's simply bad management, complacency, risk aversity leading to paralysis, fat cats being fat cats. The cure is simple enough too. They've got to clean house of this lousy management. We've got to hang on til Cashman's contract is over. If this continues another four years, I don't think he'll get renewed again. (But hey, you never know....)
As long as they're making all the money in the world, what they have is a winning formula.
I just had the unpleasant experience of seeing this headline in the Wall Street Journal:
“ Birds Are Real! The Baltimore Orioles Are Soaring”
sub headline “Playoff Fever Beckons”
“ Good morning from Balti-more, where the mighty, mighty Orioles own the best record in the American League, are now perched atop the AL East, and may have drained the final puffs of East Coast media hub entitlement out of the last-place New York Yankees. ”
Now if a WSJ slam job doesn’t wake Hal out of his slumber I don’t know what will. These is Wall Street, this is Hamptons billionaires, this is the Bible of HIS PEOPLE!
He can’t let this stand.
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