And, of course, he will. Someday.
Don't they all?
Around 2040 (assuming that 3I/ATLAS comet now heading our way isn't an alien probe), when Skenes is 37, bald, crag-toothed and gout-toed, he surely will wind up in the Yankee rotation next to Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the cast of Yellowstone.
But now? Nope. Notta gonna happen. For shits and giggles, let's imagine the package Brian Cashman would have to cobble together to land his ultimate Great White Whale - the reigning NL Cy Young. Here goes...
1. Cam Schlittler. (The Pirates would demand him, full stop.)
2. The Martian, Jasson Dominguez. (After all the hype, gone.)
3. Spencer Jones, the tall CF (and maybe, the next Joey Gallo.)
4. George Lombard Jr., the SS. (Our best position prospect.)
5. Ben Rice. (At least one young and cheap, game-ready regular.)
6. A top below-radar prospect. (Pitcher Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz?)
7. Gobs of cash. (They are, after all, the Pirates.)
A painful package, right? Well, here's the kicker: It would be beaten, easily and instantly, by the Dodgers, Mets, Redsocks, Phils, Jays, Tigers and half the contenders in baseball. The reason? They have explosive and successful international scouting systems, while the Yankees farm has percolated dregs for 20 years.
Which brings me to yesterday's firing.
First, a disclaimer. I dunno shit about scouting. Neither do you. We sit on our pink brocade toilet seats in places currently under a foot of snow, and we study ERAs and Ks, and none of us could tell a Schlitter from a Benito Schlossolini.
Nevertheless, you don't need to be a cow to know the milk is sour.
Yesterday, the Yankees canned their chief international scout, Danny Rowland, after 23 years. Rowland, 62, had overseen an ever-flushing urinal of a farm system, with a breathtaking array of failures. The list goes from Alexander Vargas ($2.5 million bonus), Brando Mayea ($4.3 million), Roderick Arias ($4 million), Mani Cedeno ($2.5 million), Hans Montero ($1.7 million) and the infamous class of 2014, when the Yankees strategically shot their wad ($12 million, far more than any other franchise) on seven teens, the most successful turning out to be Dermis Garcia, who eventually would hit .207 over 40 games with the 2022 Oakland A's.
I don't know if Rowland was a good scout in a bad system, or vice versa. His contract ran out, and the Yankees made a change. So be it. In this world, nobody aged 62 can ever know that crazy thing called "job security." (Wait, I take it back: There's Cashman and Boone, and everybody else.)
What I do know is that if Paul Skenes goes anywhere this winter, it will probably be to Los Angeles or Boston - some team destined to crush us in October. Who knows? Maybe we'll get lucky. Maybe that ATLAS thingy will end civilization, in which case, we needn't worry about the rotation. For now, though, the Yankees are still the farm system of Dermis Garcia.
Isn't that the galaxy we now inhabit?
Wonderful, wonderful post - every entertaining sentence of it.
ReplyDeleteAnd isn’t 3I/ATLAS a lovely mystery, gassed on now by nearly everyone.
It’s is raining so hard here ….that the drops are denting the asphalt.
Better make some (extra) tasty
Coffee to have on hand once the power goes out.
The team can sack all the coaches and scouts that they want BUTT so long as Seedy and Cash are still actively employed there will be no joy in Dumbville.
OH and Happy Thursday the 13th !
DeleteYou talking about Lee Harvey Rowland? The patsy? The latest "throw under the bus" victim for El Cashola, Architect of Doom? Because that's all this is, bus fodder. OF ALL THE MASSIVE STRUCTURAL CHANGES that the Yankees need to make, this is like tightening the license plate screws on your car after you crash it into a tree. It's meaningless, it's not even a good GESTURE. We ALL KNOW it's bullshit. It will take a lot for the Yankees to get my attention at this point, to move the needle, to register on my radar. They are full of shit. They are the very definition of insanity. Over and over and over again. I just don't care.
ReplyDeleteHow does Duque know about the pink brocade toilet seats? And how many of you guys have one besides me?
ReplyDeleteWhy...why...splutter...it's an outrage!
I think the next head of international scouting should be Tonto's horse.
23 years. Been there a while, with zero results.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they should fire the guy that:
- originally hired him
- let him NOT produce for 23 f-ing years.
Carry on...
WORD, RUFUS!!!
DeletePower is still on
ReplyDeleteThe coffee is made and VERY tasty
The Yankees are still what they are and not what they use to be
– – –
One seed makes you larger
And one seed makes you small
And the ones that Cashman gives you
Don't do anything today
Go ask 3I/ATLAS
When it's one thousand miles away
I ask you: where can you get this kind of entertainment in the midst of perennial mediocrity?
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeletePaul Skenes Trade: Yes other teams have better players and farm systems but... if the man wants to be a Yankee and his Olympic athlete gal pal really want to be in NYC and makes that super clear to potential suitors then perhaps they will try to accommodate that desire.
FYI:
"Paul Skenes has a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates worth $9.2 million, which he signed as the No. 1 pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. He is currently under team control until 2029."
Uh... control until 2029!
In a perfect world I'd Send Cole back to the Pirates whence he came!!!! Pay the rest of it to them in CASH!
Here's a more realistic trade:
Rodon, plus ALL THE MONEY remaining on his contract.
Warren
Rice (Boo! But guys like Rice can be gotten elsewhere just for more $$$$) The Martian (I still believe but what are you going to do?)
Jones
and Volpe (Hah) I'm just trying to get rid of Volpe!
Imagine this starting five
Skenes
Schlitter
Fried (as a 3)
Cole (as a 4)
Gil
With Skenes, Schlitter, and Gil at close to minimum wage!
Way too much for 3 years. And he's projected to get a 13 year contract at about 40 million per. That's double Russian Roulette for a starting pitcher, especially a hard thrower. That could be many years with a dead arm and a dead contract.
DeleteDuque, that's one hell of a package Skenes, and not worth the price. However, if the Pirates include Olivia Dunne in the transaction ( she can replace Meredith Marakovitz), and dress her in tight outfits, i say make the deal!
ReplyDeleteRufus - 23 years. "Been there a while, with zero results." Not zero. Close but some wins.
ReplyDeleteSeverino,
Andujar - Miggy 2 bags was good until he got hurt. Had a good year last year as well. Just not for us.
But yeah not like the old days when someone signed Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, and Robinson Cano. The scout that did that was much much better.
Good point Doug.
DeleteGiven his resources though, I'd still put his grade at D-/F+.
Even D-Day got expelled with grades like that ,and he didn't even attend Faber College !
Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!
DeleteI hate to say this, but it is a crapshoot to a certain extent. But everyone’s usefulness comes to an end sooner or later, and unless you’re friends with the boss….
ReplyDeleteIf past performance is indicative of future results, we won't get any big name pitcher, Volpe will still be here on opening day and Wells will be catching. We might get Bellinger back.
ReplyDeleteAnything Cashman does will still leave a gaping hole or two somewhere. That's what he does.
All about the đ˛đ˛đ˛JM…always was, always will be, 2nd place without end, Amen.
DeleteNot to worry! Rowland will be replaced by an AI bot. The actual signing will be done by Randy Levine, who will say insulting things about prospect families and threaten to have them deported if they show up in the box seats or have them blown out of the water if they take to the sea in a fishing boat.
ReplyDelete"He knows people in high places."
J
ReplyDeleteU
D
G
E
Y
MVP! Numbers beat narrative.
DeleteThird one. Actually he should of had four. Didn't Altuve steal one from him?
ReplyDelete"LET THE RIVER RUN!
ReplyDeleteLET ALL THE DREAMERS FACE THE NATION!..."
Genuinely astonished—in a good way, for a change. And you are correct, Doug: he SHOULD have four MVPS.
ReplyDeleteThree-time Yankees MVPS:
ReplyDelete—Joe DiMaggio
—Yogi Berra
—Mickey Mantle
—Aaron Judge
All right, all right, an honor (slightly) mitigated by the fact that, dues to various circumstances, the likes of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig should be in that group. But still.