Contrats are due! Yesterday, in trading for Juan Soto, you did what was necessary for the Yankees to contend for a 2024 wild card birth! Once again, we can look forward to a '24 wild card flag flying proudly over the Duplicate House House That Ruth Built!
The Yankees traded four promising young pitchers for one season of a great, 25-year-old slugger, a generational talent, the batter who will protect Aaron Judge and explode the offense, which was moribund last season.
If you're done for this winter - if you're heading to Sarasota for the cockfights and threesomes - well, ya made a difference! The Yankees could reach the '24 postseason, and from there, hey, who knows? In recent years, making the playoffs seems to have become your annual objective. And, of course, this year, you sorta fell short. But who wants to dredge up memories?
Unfortunately, there is one slight problem with deals like yesterday - the traditional Yankee trades of youth for stardom. When you constantly trade prospects, eventually, you get clobbered. That could happen with yesterday's trade.
But but BUT... Sir, you have a chance to counter-balance the downside of this deal: You can nearly replace Drew Thorp (age 23), Jhony Brito (25), Randy Vasquez (24) and Michael King (28) with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the 25 year old free agent from Japan.
Sign Yamamoto, and the Yankees will challenge for the AL East.
Sign Yamamoto, and even if one of the traded pitchers becomes the next Jordan Montgomery, the Yankees will offset the loss.
Sign Yamamoto, and the Yankees could win it all in 2024.
Sign Yamamoto, and the Yankees will maintain their dominance in New York City.
Sign Yamamoto, and yesterday's deal looks like a steal.
Sign Yamamoto, and Soto might fall in love with NYC - (a parade along the Canyon of Heroes can do that) - and seek a contract extension.
Sir... sign Yamamoto, and we will stop calling you "Food Stamps."
Let him go, and once again, the Yankees will look like a team just good enough to fail. The four lost pitchers will create a hole on the staff, and when the team falls short next fall, the ensuing bad vibes could prompt Soto to pack his bags. If that happens, all will have been for nothing.
Mr. Steinbrenner, I realize it will cost money - your money - but sign Yamamoto, and you will sleep more soundly, knowing you did your part as the Yankee owner.
Sir... sign Yamamoto. Grit your teeth and steel yourself. Don't let 2024 slide through your fingers because you did half the job.
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55 comments:
I can already hear the WFAN defenses of Hal and Cashman and the attacks on Yankees fans if/when Yamamoto is let go.
Ahem...
It's not HIS money the poor little rich kid is spending. It's OUR money that we give him that pays for the Judges, Sotos and Coles of this world. WE are the ones supporting his yachting lifestyle that he was born into. It's the endless stream of Jeep, Montefiore, and other babbling brooks of commercialism we have to listen to that pays The Intern's salary.
Speaking of which, it would seem The Intern finally came to the conclusion that a completely right-handed lineup in YS is a recipe for the disaster that had become (t)his team in the 21st century. Let's hope that whatever voices in the company leadership prompted the acquisition of three new lefty bats continues to make its presence felt because this sudden lineup balance can't possibly be the result of his own pea-brained thinking that turned the Yankees into a mediocrity these past two decades.
All hail the Evil Empire! All hail the best team that money can buy!
WE can afford it because WE pay for it. And WE want to spend the money!
This seemed like a great idea last night, but after waking up this morning, I'm not so sure. Losing King will be a big hurt. I still don't think Holmes is a great closer, maybe pretty good at best. And in general, we've given away the next generation of pitching over the last few years.
Maybe it works out, but has it ever? Even with Yamamoto--he can't pitch every other day with Cole, after all, can't work in the bullpen, and can't make the rest of the rotation any better. Montas? Please. Rodon? Even worse. Nestor? Yeah, well...I like the guy, but he's had his year of fame, just like Trevino, who will be an offensive drag when he plays. Cole just had his favorite catcher traded away, too. I, for one, and maybe the only one, will miss Kyle. A lot better than Rortvedt, who will never pan out to anything and shouldn't be here. (Did the Padres want HIM? I don't think so.) So really, best case scenario, Wells is our regular starter backed by Trevino. Hmmm. Well, maybe.
Meanwhile, our infield is anchored by two old guys whose abilities have slipped noticeably, a space cadet at second, and a few kids who can't hit yet.
This team needed more than a big slugger who can't field and one more great starter (and you never know, Yamamoto might be a Japanese Rodon or something). So, sure, Soto, if we can sign him to yet another forever contract. Great. Super. Soto, Martian, Judge, could be an amazing outfield even with Soto's weak wing.
It's all a crap shoot. Like the NBA...oh, sorry...MLB playoffs.
But JM, you've always been the eternal optimist!
What happened? Why have you all of a sudden gone sentimental and nostalgic for the good old days of Yankees mediocrity?
Sir... sign Yamamoto, and we will stop calling you "Food Stamps."
We might not want to make promises we won't be able to keep.
“I don’t know if anybody can compete with Steve Cohen,” Cashman said. “We can just concentrate on what we’re going to concentrate on. Obviously, it’s a player of interest and we’ll compete for him and see where that takes us, and it will be enough or won’t be enough.”
Cohen flew to Japan last week to meet with Yamamoto.
It’s being reported that the Yankees will be meeting with Yamamoto on Monday.
This dog and pony show needs to be spectacular.
All important “players” need to be present.
Have the Admiral meet and greet Judge and Cole and maybe even have Jeter, Matsui and Tanaka Zoom in for good measure.
Share the history - show how great it is to win in New York and how wonderful the fans are.
Have Suzyn slink in her sexiest dress and sing Take Me Out To The Ball Game,
Take him down to sub level 3 and show him Babe Ruth’s bones.
Then finally, sit him down in front of a computer and have him surf this blog.
That will do it.
The tipping point.
The Babe, the Babe’s Bones and the Blog.
Then offer him 50 million less than the Mets and hope for the best,
You Maniacs! You blew it up! Damn you! Goddamn you all to hell!
Dick, I've just had second thoughts. Even though I was just saying that we should get everybody--Soto and Mr. Moto and Bellinger and anyone else who's an upgrade on what we have (which, as it stands today, is pretty much everybody).
Plus, I've been a big King fan for a couple years now, and have a feeling that one will bite us in the pinstriped ass. Worse than Jordan ever will.
So, yes, I've become circumspect, and you know why: the Brain's massive record of failure. Everything he touches turns to shit. Okay, practically everything.
Moto will not "cure" the rotation, he'll just help it get better. The 3, 4, and 5 slots will still pitch more than 1 and 2. And our bullpen? Wandy, Holmes, and who?
I'm trying not to set myself up for another massive disappointment next year, because all of this may come to doo-doo.
I hear you JM. But acquiring and developing pitching has always been The Intern's strong point. He's been great at that over the years!
All kidding aside, you're absolutely right. The Yankees will have an awesome lineup in 24, but his horrible track record with pitching will be our achilles heel even with the fabulous Mr. Igawa Part II.
But for the first time in years, I feel like I have something to look forward to instead of the usual crap The Intern has fed us all these years.
Let's hope his Christmas shopping isn't done yet.
DickAllen...amen!
The Steinbrenners are a family of cuckoos, making their living in other people's nests—which they often befoul.
They only got hold of their shipping business because of a terrible boating accident that wiped out the family they had married into (true story!). They eventually ran that business into the ground, despite considerable government subsidies and much union-busting.
George's big idea was to buy into...the old ABL. Then to buy the Indians—something he failed to accomplish only because he had been boffing the wife of the son of Ted Stouffer, the TV dinner king. He got the Yankees for a song—and as you write, WE then subsidized him and his sons into a contender.
He'd damned well better spend some of that money...though I, for one, pledge that if he does sign Yamamoto, I will never use the "Food Stamps Hal" sobriquet ever again!
JM, I hear ya. But I think that, more often than not, Cashman and HAL have failed by NOT swinging at the big deals.
Case in point, Cliff Lee, NOT acquired in a deal supposedly because we held onto either Jesus "Ice Cream Sandwiches" Montero or a minor-league infielder named David Adams. That probably cost us at least two rings, right there.
Let's remember that, in the past, even good deals have usually cost us something. I was writing about Oscar Gamble the other day. We sent him to the White Sox in 1977, along with Lamarr Hoyt, a future Cy Young winner, to get...Bucky Dent, a lifetime .247 hitter. But hey, that worked out!
For Chuck Knoblauch, we gave up Eric Milton, a pitcher who last 11 years, once threw a no-hitter, and won 89 games; and Cristian Guzman, a shortstop who made two all-star games in HIS 11 years, and hit a lifetime .271, leading the AL in triples three times. But the Knobber, erratic as he was, proved to be the crucial piece we needed...
Hopefully the exodus of young pitching will be worth it. Re-signing Montas looks likely. I guess Will Warren is the next man up from Scranton now. Clayton Beeter needs more time. Trevor Bauer anyone?
...for this deal, yeah, I hate giving up young pitching, too. You never know when it will come back to bite you on the ass.
I also like Higgy. But he's a lifetime, .210 hitter, who will be 34 next April. I loved King from the get-go—when some around here sneered at him—but he's oft-injured and 29 next year. Vasquez and Thorpe have frightening potential, but when will that be realized? And as for Jhony Brito, well, let's face it: he can't even get the letters of his first name in the right order.
I know, it's a risk. But without a great risk, there is no great reward, as someone once said, somewhere. I think...
...so yes, the pitching still needs work. Though signing the Admiral would give us the two stud hosses needed for playoff success. More relievers must be obtained, somehow. And yes, the infield remains spotty.
But...
LET THE RIVER RUN
LET ALL THE DREAMERS WAKE THE NATION!...
Oh, and 999? Let's re-sign Monty!!! Why the hell not?
In addition to signing the Admiral the Yankees should trade Gleyber for pitching. Young pitching that replaces what we just gave away.
This is like reliving the 80’s all over again. No plan, no player development just trade or sign names. This team will win 90s game and lose in the WC round. Soto is Dave Winfield, Ricky Henderson, Danny Tartabull, you name it. Talented players who don’t inspire or bring other players along with them.
Can Judge play Left Field? That would clear up a big issue. Think about it.
Judge LF
The new CF guy from the trade - gold glove - no hit
Soto RF
When Jasson returns he plays center.
That's pretty damn good. I'd rather see Judge in left than center.
Sorry Celerino, but this guy is generational like few others, and not any of the ones you mentioned.
He’s a career .284/.421/.524 hitter with a 157 OPS+, the fifth-highest for any player with 3,000 plate appearances through his age-24 season.
You ought to be comparing him to:
The players above him? Ty Cobb, Mike Trout, Mickey Mantle and Jimmie Foxx – three Hall of Famers and one on that trajectory.
Source: MLB.com
True, Celerino. But Soto is only 25. It's up to Judge and the elders to bring him along in terms of leadership.
First piece of advice from Judge should be, "Don't listen to the fucking coaches!! I've got somebody who can actually help you."
We gave up too much for Soto. Four starting pitchers for one position player. That's a lot, too too much. It should've been, at most, King and Drew Thorpe. Cashman threw two promising pitchers into the deal, Brito and Vasquez, like so much cannon fodder. Brito & Vasquez looked like very serviceable major league pitchers. They might end up better than King and Thorpe.
At least Cashman didn't give up The Martian and Austin Wells. Speaking of The Martian, when he gets back, where does he play? We've got a full outfield with Verdugo, Soto, Judge. The trade for Verdugo now doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Or is it that Cashman, who hates to develop young players, will turn around and trade The Martian for a righty hitting 3B who hits .115?
Verdugo will become the fourth outfielder when the Martian comes back. Soto, him, Judge are the outfield when everyone is healthy.
Or, Verdugo will be flipped. Maybe for some young pitchers. *cough*
SIGN MONTY!!! DON'T SIGN MONTAS!!!!!
Hose, I’d gladly take Monty back!
Monty . . . may not want to return ~ #yankeesbraintrust
I know, AA. That's the tough part.
Still...Monty, not Montas.
Bartender....I'll have what El Duque's drinking.
@ Horace....I think that quote you were searching for regarding risk and reward is " No balls, no gravy!"
I think that the Yankees will rue the day that they traded Thorpe for a one-year rental. Mike Axios made a good point on his RAB site. the Yankees one strong suit is developing lower-round pitchers and either developing them into decent pitchers or hyping them up to appear that they are decent pitchers. Then they use them as fodder to acquire other talent. The Yankees analytic team figures that because he only throws 92-93 MPH, he won't succeed against a longer exposure facing AA, AAA, or MLB hitters who are more patient and less likely to chase pitches out of the strike zone. Even though he uses the fastball strategically and has 4 other plus pitches to keep the hitters off balance, they don't care. If Gregg Maddux was pitching in the Yankees system today, he would be traded for a pile of garbage because of his low velocity.
If we re-sign Monty and Rodon reverts back to his old form, we will then have decent top-of-the-order SP staff. If we get Yamamoto, so much the better. If we can get Montas on a one-year "make good" contract, sure- but nothing more than that. Will Warren seems like the next Wonder Boy. Employ him as a starter or a relief pitcher. We need a few farmhands to break through as able bullpen lugnuts.
Guys, I’m sorry but when they signed Winfield he was considered the best player in baseball. Henderson was the greatest leader of hitter of all time. Soto has hit .240 2 out the last 3 years. There’s no difference
Verdugo is Martian insurance...
Celerino, you're right: Winfield was a bit of a disappointment in the Bronx, but still an outstanding player, who might have been even greater if Mad George and Billy didn't make it their hobby to harass him. Rickey was one of the greatest players of all time.
But the reason that team didn't win it all was mostly because of the usual cause of woe in this sad world: NOT ENOUGH PITCHING!
Now, some here are arguing that dealing those 4 young pitchers is repeating the same mistake. They may be right. But as Carl Weitz points out, the Yanks have also proved very good at hyping their young pitchers to make them seem like they are better than they are. And to a certain extent with young pitchers...WTF can tell?
The 4 young pitchers the Yanks traded to Oakland for Rickey were Jose Rijo, Jay Howell, Eric Plunk (great pitcher name!), and Tim Birtsas. Rijo was probably the best of the lot. He had some very nice years in Cincinnati, and was a leading pitcher on the Reds' 1990 champion. But he was essentially done at age 29, retiring (later) with 116 wins in 14 seasons. Howell had some very good years as a reliever.
Plunk...not so much—though the Yankees took him, Greg Cadaret, and Luis Polonia from the A's, in trading Rickey back...and missing some of Henderson's greatest years.
Point is: yes, it cost us something. But not too much, for a Top 10 GOAT. And nothing that SHOULD have been irreplaceable...
...There's just no predicting most young pitchers. I remember being HEARTBROKEN when the Yanks dealt Gene "Five Pitches!" Nelson to Seattle in the Shane Rawley trade. Nelson went all of 53-64 in his career, settling in as a serviceable middle reliever. The trouble with that trade was not getting rid of Nelson—it was getting Shane Rawley.
IS Soto as great as they say? I dunno. I doubt if he'll ever be a Rickey Henderson, Celerino—point taken. But then, who will? But he is very young, and has crazy potential.
Like most of us here, I would rather the Yankees had built most of the team from within, adding terrific free agents as necessary. But after years of passing on the likes of Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, J.T. Realmuto, Freddie Freeman, ad infinitum, this is where we're at, with the clock ticking on Judge and Cole, and very limited help available from the farm.
I say: time to throw the dice!
HC, I have no problem with the trade. It will probably go down as a steal, but these deals have to be made because of piss poor management. If they sign Soto it will be for $400m. If they sign Yamamoto it will be $300m. if you don’t win what is the next step? The Dodgers have contracts coming and going, this team will have Cole, Rondon, Judge, Soto and whoever on the books for 3-5 years so there will be $$& left cover any of these mistakes.
Very true, Celerino. This is a sort of Hail Mary, to make up for years of mismanagement, as you say. But boy, I'd rather see it than see them settling for Kevin Kiermaier!
Scond their fourth and more on that.
Come on with this crying over the players that the Yankees gave up. King has a long history of injuries, especially SHOULDER injuries. Nothing to worry about there. If we had traded FOR him the gnashing of teeth would be audible all the way to the space station. Honestly, how many here were in love with Drew Thorpe back in the summer? How many times was he talked about as possibly coming up to shore the staff up for the "stretch run"? Exactly. I'm NOT saying that he didn't have potential, but with pitchers almost anyone MIGHT develop a pitch and become a star. We gave up a decent prospect, King (who is a time bomb), some lottery tickets, and a an old back-up catcher for JUAN FUCKING SOTO! The big hope is that we have an enhanced (well, hopefully) at getting him long-term, or finding out that he isn't the MAN that The Brain thinks he is. And the off-season is young, we can't tell what's in the tea leaves, however we should assume that Hal is going to spend considering what has just transpired. So, let's just let things transpire. There's still lots of time to drip venom on Hal & The Brain. And I'll lead the march.
*We gave up a decent prospect, King (who is a time bomb), some lottery tickets, and a an old back-up catcher for JUAN FUCKING SOTO!
To clarify, I'm not calling King a "prospect", I meant him as a "piece". Thorpe in this sentence denotes "prospect".
I still believe that we will sign The Admiral - thanks to those three Bs and of course, some big coin.
And as Kevin said... said; the off-season is young.
However - since I stir my freshly steeped, whole leaf tea with fifty yarrow stalks - I always stand a fair chance to divine the future.
In this case, the tea leaf covered hexagrams point to increased contentment within all of the rooms of the Yankees house in the coming year.
So Gentlemen - Drink up - Buckle up and get ready for a slightly more enjoyable ride.
2024 will suck - - - a little less.
Celerino, in your list of big money whales on the Yankees, you forgot Stanton.
I grant you, he's easy to forget. Who wouldn't like to?
I am secretly glad that we got Soto. (And that we got him without giving up The Martian or Austin Wells.) But I'm just sayin' that Cashman gave up way too much. That San Diego GM pulled off a steal. He got four starters back in exchange for a position player who has one year left before free agency. So unless the Yankees end up signing Soto after next year, Cashman will have traded FOUR young starting pitchers for one single solitary year of Soto.
Now, I'm pretty sure that Soto will sign with whoever offers the most money, and I'm pretty sure that would be the Yankees. But, and it's a BIG ASS BUTT, it's still no sure thing. A lot of things are still up in the air before he turns free agent, and it's no guarantee that he'll sign with the Yankees.
Cashman should've been able to pry away Soto for just King and Thorpe. Throwing in Brito and Vasquez, that'll probably end up hurting in the long run.
Obviously, if they sign Yamamoto, it would help assuage the heartburn.
I think we should also go for that guy with the long hair, Hader. The one with the herky jerky arms and legs flyin' delivery. Hitters have lots of trouble against those kinds of pitchers.
@ AA "Have Suzyn slink in her sexiest dress and sing Take Me Out To The Ball Game"
I'd go for that! Is she married?
As stated above -
Trade Gleyber for pitching to replace some of what we gave up. Give Peraza SS and move Volpe to 2B.
Move Judge to LF (Center will kill him). Put the Gold Glove guy in CF. Replace with Jasson in August.
@ JM, Who said Holmes is a great closer? Not me. We should get Hader to close.
It's too bad for Higgie. We're never going to hear The Master's call "Higashioka ... the home run stroka" anymore. But he was no longer Prima Donna Cole's favorite catcher. After Trevino got hurt, the Prima Donna insisted on throwing to Rortveldt or else she would hold her breath and turn blue.
The biggest get for SD in this deal was definitely Thorpe. I follow the minor league teams pretty closely, snd he was unquestionably the best pitching prospect we had. That doesn’t always turn into dominance in the Bigs, but there are no sure things with the kids. We’ll miss King this year, but he’s a FA after this season. I like Hig over Trevino, both poor hitters but at least Hig provides power.
Brito is easily replaceable, but Vasquez should be a solid MLB SP.
So who “won” the trade? We won’t know until ‘25. If we make the payoffs, but fold in Oct. and we don’t resign Soto (it says here we won’t) and Thorpe / Vasquez progress we lose - but hey! we tried so we can’t fault the F/O for that.
Yamamoto-san, our balls are in your court.
Hammer...it seems the Yankees management thinks Holmes is a great closer. Beats me.
I thought Cole liked Higgy. I stand corrected.
Potential Line-Up
Volpe 2B
Judge LF
Soto RF
Rizzo 1B
DJ 3B
Peraza SS
Stanton DH/Verdugo/
New Guy CF (Jasson)
Wells C
So were at 60% of what we need. When Jason comes back it's 80%
@ JM, I thought so too, that Cole liked Higgy, but the Prima Donna is going to do Prima Donna stuff.
AA, are you in the High Castle during your ruminations?
@ Carl, You're spot on! The Yankee analytics is bull shit. I liked what I read about Thorpe, but the lack of a 100 mph fastball was his death knell as far as a Yankee career. Smart pitching will beat dumb pitching every time, no matter the velocities. Look at what Severino * Rodon just did this year. Throwing 98, 100 mph and gettin' rocked. Couldn't even survive the 1st innings.
@ BTR999, Trevor Bauer, why the hell not? We always get the badasses. We had Domingo "the Germinator" German. We had Aroldis "Gunslinger" Chapman. We had Steve Howe. I say forget what anyone else says. Get Bauer, Hader & Yamamoto. If they're going to go for it in 2024, go all the way!
Hammer, right on! Besides Bauer was vindicated. Uhh, right?
I don't care if he was vindicated or convicted. As long as he's not rotting in prison, we should get him. It's a matter of winning a championship. Who cares if we have a team full of felons!
Hammer, fucking A!
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