The Yankiverse is troubled...
Agree. In fact, I believe this is a dream. We shall awaken, it will be 2009, and the last 15 years were computer simulations, devised to generate stressful electricity to fuel our A.I. overlords.
Everyone knows the Yankees have all the money and are willing to spend it.
Disagree. MLB is not in trouble, because it maintains a powerful presence in NYC. It's the Yankees who are in trouble.
This is the second time in Hal Steinbrenner's sad ownership that the Yankees were unwilling to keep a genuine superstar. The fall of the Yankee brand will be a daily media narrative in 2025. It will be part of the national conversation. A once-great franchise, struggling for relevancy.
Agree. God bless the Redsock fans. They still inhabit that dream world where the Yankees v Boston is the NBC Game of the Week, with Joe Garigiola and Curt Gowdy, and Pete Rose doing Aqua Velva commercials. It's nice to know that they still measure their insignificance by beating their chests about the Yankees. Stay hateful, old chums!
Honestly, I whiffed on linking the Soto snub to:
1. Al-Assad's collapse in Syria.
2. Cries among Yank fans for a salary cap.
It will be a long, cold winter of discontent. But count me in on all these conspiracies. I view myself a Yankee fan agent of chaos.
Agree. But for Soto, now comes the hard part. He's viewed as the ultimate hired gun. He better produce. Next year, he will be operating under unfathomable pressure, without the benefit of Aaron Judge, and though he mentally might be up to the challenge, I wonder if his hamstrings are?
Meanwhile, the Death Barge successfully undercut another day of mass fury by signing Max Fried. The current rotation:
Gerrit Cole
Max Fried
Carlos Rodon
Clarke Schmidt
Luis Gil
Nestor Cortes
Marcus Stroman
assorted Scrantonians
Seven arms for five slots. Unfortunately, that means one thing:
Brian Cashman will make trades. Considering all that has happened over the last three days, the notion that our future is in Cashman's hands, via trades, is the most distressing of all.
Instead of dealing for some 2018 all-star, I say the Yankees should sign another pitcher, and continue to grow the staff. Why not a six-man? Considering that none of the above pitchers lasted all of 2024 without a stint on the IL, shouldn't the Yankees try something new?
There are rumors of a trade with Houston for Kyle Tucker, who - dear God - will be a free agent next winter. A Soto II.
Honestly, will we have learned nothing? Sign more pitchers, Mr. Steinbrenner. Buy yourself some relevancy. You'll need it next summer.
I completely forgot about Nestor. He's still pretty young.
ReplyDeleteIf we get Burnes, or even if we don't, we should trade Stroman and maybe Rodon or Nestor. Where are we on our bullpen guys? Lasagna? Hill? Etc?
Nobody would want Rodan’s contract. We might be able to move Stroman.
DeleteAnd a short reminder that we are, after all, talking about Cashman:
ReplyDelete"Veteran right-hander Chris Martin, who is at the winter meetings, has so far met with the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers, a source tells ESPN. Martin, 38, recorded a 3.45 ERA in 45 games for the Boston Red Sox last season after posting a 1.05 ERA in 55 appearances for the club in 2023."
Oh, yeah. Just what we need. An old man who peaked two seasons ago.
MLB Trade Rumors | Leo Morgenstein:
ReplyDeleteA happy trails to one-time star Yankees prospect Estevan Florial, who inked a deal with the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO. He turned out to be more of a “Quad-A” sort of player and only appeared in 48 games for the Yankees over parts of four seasons before getting dealt to Cleveland last December. Best of luck in Korea, Estevan.
Rocky Colavito, 91. RIP. I remember the game he won as a pitcher in 1968. Rizzuto cracked up.
ReplyDeleteIt was the first time I ever saw a position player pitch in a real game. I was in awe.
Deletethat was a lot of fun. Rizzuto was great at making a big deal about the unusual things that happen in baseball.
DeleteEven if NYYs keep 7 starters (for depth) and each is as good as someone might fantasize . . . isn't there a need for a bullpen? Yeah, one guy (who blew saves, or just blew) has been subtracted. But someone has to save a lot of games, as modern-day starters are not expected to even get into the 7th inning.
ReplyDeleteCole and 6 terrible starters is not a rotation. [Points at first base.]
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty funny, Warbler. And yeah, Joe FOB, Cashman NEVER gets the whole, "built-in redudancy." Like a child, he operates in a world where all the guys he wants will always have career years, and no other players will be necessary.
ReplyDeleteI would get Burnes and Scott, then see where we are. Stroman can probably be dealt to some greater fool, and maybe we can stick Nestor in the pen.
Keep in mind Cortes is an UFA after this season. He would have a lot of mid-level appeal in a trade. Nobody wants Rodon. Gil is high end as a trade asset.
DeleteOf course, if HAL were anything like his father, he would now go after Roki Sasaki with a vengeance. "Hey, why play second fiddle to Ohtani in LA, when you can be the big gun back east? You can strike him out in the World Series." But, alas, that will never happen.
ReplyDeleteAnd JM, I remember reading hearing about that game at the time! Yanks swept a doubleheader, en route to taking 4 of 5 against the mighty Tigers. First time I had ever followed a Yankees team:
ReplyDelete—That finished with a winning record.
—That finished in the first division (5th of 10 teams).
That was livin' large, back in 1968!
Colavito, like Yastrzemski, another guy the Yanks spotted first, but Rocky didn't like their attitude. Of course, in those days it didn't much matter because the Yankees used to hang on to generational superstars.
JM, happy trails to Florial, indeed. Another guy the Yanks just screwed over. Once they determined he couldn't make it in the show, they should have traded him. Instead. they put him through the patented, Kei Igawa Scranton torture.
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ReplyDeleteUntil the ine[t Yankees fix the lineup. Make the playoffs lose and sell that to the fans.
ReplyDelete