But but BUT... we neglected one key "IF," which has been happily soaring about 20,000 feet above the chattering Yankiverse:
In their current incarnation, the Yankees apparently expect Aaron Judge to play about 120 games in CF, and - basically - this is madness.
A day after waiving OF Oscar Gonzalez to make room for Marcus Stroman, the Yankees are down to eight OFs - one fifth of the 40-man roster. And the nominees for Best Actor in a Limited OF Conundrum are:
Trent Grisham, 27
Aaron Judge, 31
Everson Pereira, 22
Juan Soto, 25
Bubba Thompson, 25
Alex Verdugo, 27
Giancarlo Stanton, 34
Oswaldo Cabrera, 25
And the winner is... Baltimore.
For now, Grisham stands as the fulltime, defensive CF. But he swings a toothpick. Soto and Verdugo, our new LH sluggers, will man the corners. In the vast, pastoral glen of Mickey, Joe and Bernie, the Yankees apparently plan to use their franchise player, their best hitter, their captain - surely the largest biomass ever to patrol centerfield in MLB history - Aaron Judge. He is a legitimate Golden Glove in RF, where Soto is - well - so-so, at best. We will have Judge sprinting gap to gap, coast to coast, pitch after pitch, game after game, and this apparently is no concern?
Lately, we've seen a parlor game on Twitter (or X) where Yank fans work up erections over the batting order. It starts with Verdugo, peaks with Soto, and ends with Volpe, whom everybody secretly still envisions as the Second Coming of Jeet. We ignore the rotation - assuring ourselves the Yankees should hold the line on spending for, say, Blake Snell. (Do you realize that we are exhibiting symptoms of the Stockholm Syndrome, assuming the views of our hostage takers.)
Okay, so be it. So let me just add another "IF:"
IF Aaron Judge can last 120 games in CF, the Yankees will be fine.
And if he can't... that is, if he tweaks a gonad, or runs into a wall, or just blows a gasket from trying to cover an entire Zip Code, well, we can take that wonderful batting order and add Bubba Thompson to the mix. That may happen away. But let's be honest with ourselves: Right now, the Yankee OF out of whack. Let's not claim we weren't warned.
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As I was frantically pouring over all the possible, last name word salads that exist with the current roster (especially now after yesterday’s signing of Josh VANMETER) a tiny voice deep inside my head quietly reminded me to calm down, relax and breath because even with all this chaos and uncertainty, we still have our chess master general, the seedy sage, Bronx’s Brainiac of Bubbles, the Ejaculater himself !!!!!
AARON “DONT FUCK WITH ME” BOONE !
to detangle us out of this mess. We’re all going to be fine.
You’ll see.
Everything’s coming up …. Chrysanthemums
I still don't understand how a basketball player of Judge's size can run up and down the court for 70- or 80-something games per season, and jump, dart, and otherwise maneuver during every game, while Judge playing center somehow means the end of his career.
Somebody explained this once (or twenty) times on IIH, but I still don't get it. Seems awfully strange to me.
Have the Yankees signed a guy this off season who has hit over .200 in the big leagues?
JM. - the answer to your question is quite simple actually. It’s because Judge plays for the 2024 New York Yankees.
I hope that helped.
Thanks, AA. That explains it.
Anytime - JM - just let me know if there’s anything else that I can ever help with.
I’m with you JM. CF is not some mysterious forest of injuries waiting to happen, it’s just another position. A talented world class athlete should have no problem handling it. Soto’s defensive deficiencies are already known, he’s here for his offense. Besides, you know analytics will order Boone to give Judge a pre-determined number of days off regardless of the actual need. Boone will shout “Jawohl!” and Trent Grisham will magically appear in CF as we all gasp at Cashman’s foresight in bringing him here.
Regarding VanParkingMeter, does cashman know that a player with a NEGATIVE career WAR is, um, not so good? This is the deepest of depth signings. Surprised they signed him at all since he is out of options. And cashman, he don’t like that.
JM - Yes! And the other one I don't understand is Tight Ends. They're the same size as Judge run and cut and then get smashed into by pickup trucks coming at full speed in the other direction.
I read an article the other day that was making a football team out of baseball players and they had Aaron as one of the Tight Ends. The other? Stanton!
I had to laugh. Stanton wouldn't make it out of camp. The run through the tires drill would pop his hammies. The hit the tackling dummy would end his back. Hell, just carrying around the playbook could tweak something.
But to your point - yes basketball players are just as big and much more physical. They also don't get to rest as much. So like you, I don't get it.
Thanks, guys. I was feeling like kind of an idiot for not getting it.
Turns out, there's nothing to get!
Also, not to pile on (but I will!) recall that Judge’s injury last year happened in the imagined safe haven of RF…point is, injuries can happen anytime, anywhere you play. Best a player can do is not going around punching walls (or family) and stay flexible to limit soft tissue injuries. I hate to sound like a lightweight fan, but yeah - for 40M a year, he should be able to do it all. I believe his time in the OF will be coming to end soon anyway, and he will morph into a 1B/DH. Not this year, but relatively soon.
That's just not fair Doug!
If Stanton can lift tiny female human beings, the playbook shouldn't be THAT much of a problem.
Ummmm, Travis Kelcie just had a pretty fair year at age 36. But Judge melts into pudding in his early thirties? It's not like the NFL moves tight ends to the tackle spot when they hit 32.
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