Sunday, January 28, 2024

The baseball world seems to agree: The Yankees remain short of pitchers

 



So, here we are, heading into February with six outfielders, three healthy starting pitchers, a pockmarked bullpen, a pothole at third and the most worthy candidates in baseball for 2024 Comeback Player of the Year.

According to the Internet, some nameless NL suit thinks the Yankees will add either Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery or - gasp - Cody Bellinger, which is a notion so ridiculous that, of course, it must be true. 

For whatever it's worth, I doubt the Yankees will sign anybody beyond a bullpen lug nut. Hal Steinbrenner has spent what he always spends: Just enough to look competitive, and not enough to win it all. 

These facts I hold true:

1. The Yankees are one solid starting pitcher away from truly contending for the AL East.

2. We've seen what happens when the Yankees launch without pitching depth. By June, the bullpen is in tatters, and by July, we are trading seed corn for vagabond reinforcements.

3. The first wave of spring training injuries has yet to hit. The Yankees never escape Tampa without losing one or two key pitchers. Last year, it was Sevy and Rodon. Why pretend it won't happen again? 

Thus, I suppose we should take that nameless NL exec at his word. He looks at the Yankee roster and  shakes his head. Cashman must have something up his sleeve, right? He can't be done... right? 

6 comments:

  1. IIHIIFIIC is like the main character from the cult classic “They Live”. (Whattya mean you’ve never seen it? ) Our sunglasses are our honesty and intellect, allowing us to see the corruption & control of the so called Yankee Universe.

    Hal, Cashman, Boone…They Live!

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  2. I'd like to see us sign Monty and Cody, maybe even Snell as a fourth or fifth starter (where mediocrity maybe has an inning-eating advantage). And get rid of Verdugo, for God's sake. Trade him for an arm or two from somebody's minor league system.

    But, you know, none of that will happen. Because Hal and Cashman are Hal and Cashman. So we'll get an old or floundering lugnut for the bullpen but keep Verdugo and that will wrap it up.

    Gonna be a long season. Again. Maybe Judge and Soto will slug it out and battle for the HR title or something. With our luck, they'll both get injured and we won't have signed Bellinger, so the crowded outfield will look threadbare like it did after the Martian went down.

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  3. I beg to differ kind sir.

    Item one should read "two" starting pitchers.

    Other all sadly true.

    And like battered wives, we come back for more.

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  4. *otherwise *

    I hate spell Czech sometimes

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