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Nope, the epic moment of singularity came when Oswaldo Cabrera - a career .232 disappointment - streaked around third and didn't stop, scoring from second base on a fly to center, where two White Sox outfielders intertwined, in a reenactment of the recent Olympics synchronized swimming competition, at the warning track.
It happened because the third most dangerous Yankee - (over the last two weeks , anyway) - was streaking around the bases, and I'm talking about our Oswaldo.
For three years now, Yank fans have waiting for Oswaldo Cabrera, the switch hitting everyman who belted 29 HRs in the minors in 2021, and who looked like our future franchise SS in the days before Anthony Volpe.
Three weeks ago, when the Death Barge traded for Jazz Chisolm, it sorta looked like the end of the conga line for Oswaldo. Third base was no longer an option, his BA was lagging in the .230s, flatlining since his hot opening weekend in Houston. Like so many other Yank prospects - including the other Oswald, Peraza - Oswaldo looked like a guy destined to come and go, and never reach full potential until wearing another uniform. Then came Tuesday's elbow injury to Chisolm, a sad development you couldn't wish on anybody, which cracked open the Oswaldo door for perhaps one last shot.
Check out the numbers over the last three weeks. Yeah, it's a small sample, but I can tell you what those numbers don't: The guy's been hitting line drives. (Last night, one snared by the first baseman supposedly hit 110 mph.) I know, I know... this is probably just another tease. But Oswaldo is still 25 - two years from peak foliage - and with DJ LeMahieu still watchiing called strike threes, it's time for one last audition.
I mean, damn... We just watched a guy score from second on a sac fly. That's exciting. Let's see more. Please, Mr. Boone. LET'S SEE MORE.
this team is not built to win much at all, but especially not in the post season
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell was Cabrera doing running the basebaths with conviction & awareness. That’s not Yankee baseball!
ReplyDeleteThey don't like Oswaldo Cabrera. That hustling play probably gets him benched for a couple of weeks. They much prefer guys who make dumbass mistakes and bonehead baserunning.
ReplyDeleteCabrera has been hot for quite a while now. He was hot in Boston, that series when Grisham beat Boston closer Sleepy Eyes, aided and abetted by Tyler O'Neill and the Green Monstah. Cabrera was benched for a while but still stayed hot. Looks like he really wants to get traded this winter. Guys who play well will attract the attention of opposing GMs. They'll ask for him, and Cashman will punt for a bag of money.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, didn't take long for Jazz Chisholm to get hurt, eh? I thought he'd wreck his back, but it turned out to be an elbow. Surprise, surprise, go figure. Maybe they had Jazz throwing around a weighted ball. Have to get that arm strength up to play 3B, right?
ReplyDeleteThe next guy to get hurt will probably be Aaron Judge. I've said it before, every time he makes a headfirst diving catch in the outfield, I cringe. Because Judge has the bad habit of banging his left knee into the ground as he catches the ball. I saw Grisham make a headfirst diving catch once, and he does it right. Grisham's knees don't hit the ground first. And he slides across the grass as he makes the catch. Judge kind of crash lands on his left knee.
ReplyDeleteIf I was Aaron Boone, I'd never play Judge in CF. He should be a Right Fielder, period. And I'd call him into my office and order him NEVER to dive headfirst for any ball, unless it's Game 7 of the World Series. But Napoleon Boonaparty has a laissez faire approach to managing.
Yankees right now should be focused on keeping Judge healthy, injury free. He is poking outside corner pitches into the right field seats for homers. He is pulling his hands in and belting inside pitches in the left field seats for homers. He is now a complete hitter. Still makes some mistakes, but if he didn't, he'd be hitting .475. He would a very difficult hitter to pitch to in the playoffs. If they can make it to the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteI can see a mountainous iceberg looming 20 miles away. General Napoleon Boonaparty says "Damn the icebergs! Full steam ahead!" And the Yankee Titanic plunges on forward into the dark night....
Terrific play by Cabrera, that’s the type of ball I like! TBH, winning 2/3 from the CWS is the bare minimum. Peraza’s up, boone puts him right on the bench.
ReplyDeleteOh, I forgot, Jazz Chisholm's elbow injury is the non-throwing one, right? So maybe it wasn't from throwing a weight ball, unless he was throwing with both hands, which ain't likely. But I still think these kind of weird injuries on the Yankees are more than mere coincidence. Where there's smoke, there's fire. When you get a 100 year storm every few months, there's gotta be something to the global warming theory.
ReplyDeleteHammer, I very much agree that they should NOT be risking Judge in center. The reason they are is because Food Stamps Hal did not want to sign Cody Bellinger, who is making $32.5 mill this year, and has a player option to make $27.5 mill in 2025, and $25 mill in 2026.
ReplyDeleteJudge is making $40 mill through 2031. But that's typical Hal/Cashie logic: risk $320 mill because you don't want to spend $85 mill on a genuinely good player (much better than Flopsie Vertigo).
I agree, too, that the Yankees get injured way, way too often. And I quite like Chisholm.
ReplyDeleteBut let's face it: like Harrison Bader, Chisholm, sadly, can't stay on the field. He's only 26, and he's already averaged missing 1/3 of every season. He's a skinny guy who plays hard, throwing his body around. Thanks to that and whatever other reason, he gets hurt a lot.
Cashman could have looked at this record, talked to a trainer, and passed. But he didn't. So, for the second time in three seasons, his main, mid-season pick-up will spend most of his Yankee career on the DL.
Remind me again of what the definition of insanity is...
I too am pessimistic about his chances to remain healthy, but we do have him for 2 more arb years. Maybe our crack training team can help him stay injury free for those two years. Nah. It's the Yankees we are talking about here.
DeleteI wish I could remember what that definition was and help you out Hoss but that nail gun to the head made me forget a couple of things. . .
ReplyDeletePretty funny, AA! And Hammer, isn't it Napoleon's birthday? Talk about breaking bad! Guy was an absolute genius, and he ended up killing a generation of young men in Europe for nothing but his own ego. Invading Russia? Oy.
ReplyDeleteThere is no truth to the rumor that his leading advisor was a bald, arrogant little twerp named Briann l'Homme d'Argent.
I understand the concerns, but Judge plays center like he was born there. Granted, he plays RF that way, too, and he's pretty damn good in left. But he LIKES playing centerfield. Maybe because Mickey played center and DiMag played center. And Bernie. It's the marquee position in the marquee city on the marquee baseball team, poorly run as it may be.
ReplyDeleteI'd hate to see Judge get injured, but wasn't he doing that playing in right? So far in center, so good. Why be a Nervous Norvus? Go with the flow, man.
And....go, Oswaldo!
There should be no concerns over Judge playing CF. He’s been DH-ing quite a bit anyway. Dominguez will be here either in Sept. or next year, but all accounts seem to say he’s better suited to LF. I believe the team will eventually move Judge to 1B, but not in the immediate future.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Cabrera's dash from second to home ( the tying or lead run, at the moment) was the most exciting Yankee play of the season. I wonder how Giancarlo would have done in that circumstance? Oswaldo is also an amazing third baseman. He has great reflexes. I would like to see him given the ob and move Jazz to second ( his natural spot ) when he returns. We can trade Gleybar and use Paraza as utility infielder. DJ can retire and still earn $15 million per year for the next two seasons.
ReplyDeleteAlphonso: I forwarded your proposal/plan over to Cashman for review. However I did make some minor adjustments prior to faxing it over. Your plan now reads:
DeleteMove DJ to short, Gleyber to Third, Jazz to First (when he returns), trade Oswaldo and retire Peraza. This new configuration will be immediately ignored by Cashman, ensuring that he will restructure it to be the exact plan that you initially proposed.
Too late to trade The Gleyber. I think we could simply tell him that our next game is in Japan, and that would take care of that.
ReplyDeletePlayers do not get paid if they voluntarily retire. The team can release LeMahieu, and he will receive the full amount of his contract..
ReplyDeleteHoss, it is indeed Napoleon Bonaparte's birthday. According to wikipedia, he was born on 8/15/1769. Great catch!
ReplyDeleteWhat an incredible dude! His whole life was one battle after another. Yeah, he devastated entire continents, destroyed generations of young men. But what a military commander! According to wiki, he died at the relatively young age of 51, in exile on the island of Helena.
Rumors have it that they took his cock from his dead body, put it in a bottle of formaldehyde, and put it on exhibition. I don't think I would've paid money to see his cock, but maybe they didn't have much in the way of entertainment back then.
At least they waited until he was dead before they took it.
ReplyDeleteSo many of us weren't as lucky
DeleteSNY reports: Yankees reinstate Jose Trevino from IL
ReplyDeleteCarlos Narvaez is optioned back to Triple-A
I’m assuming Wells will continue to get the majority of starts. He’s emerged as the team’s best hitter after Soto and Judge.
Duque, you actually want Oswaldo in the lineup, when with his Baseball I.O. and hustle, turned around what could have been another loss to The White Sox. With the buffoon Yankees, he will probably be on the bench in Detroit.
ReplyDeleteAs I understand it, Hammer, the rumor about Napoleon's cock—and also the rumor about him being poisoned by the Brits on St. Helena—are false. But yeah, he was a genius in many ways, putting together France's legal system, the Napoleonic Code.
ReplyDeleteAnd the battles! Tolstoy, at the end of War and Peace, tries very hard to prove he wasn't such a great commander. Nonsense. You don't kick everybody's ass all over Europe for 20 years if you're not good.
Trouble was, ultimately what was it all about? Just him. He had an awful tendency for losing (often abandoning) armies—in Egypt, in Haiti, in Spain, and in Russia. France never really recovered—and he helped bring Germany together in reaction, when he could have kept the Jerries permanently splintered.
I swear, it was that Briann l'Homme d"Argent guy advising him who was the real problem...
And they named a complex after him. I guess asshole was already taken.
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