Friday, February 19, 2016

This will be Rob Refsnyder's year, and here's why

The whole world - even starving orphans in Ethiopia - are appalled by the Yankees' scandalous abuse of Rob Refsnyder and, for that matter, young people, since the dawn of civilization. The abridged version goes this way: We pissed away 2015 waiting for Stephen "Dizzy" Drew to hit, while Refsnyder toiled in Scranton. We yoyo-ed him up to the mother ship, where hit a home run to beat Boston and then disappeared, like a character in an HBO mini-series. He returned to start at 2B in the Wild Card Game, and then was seemingly exiled forever to the coal mine, after the Yankees traded for Starlin "Viva Fidel!" Castro.

It's possible that Refsnyder will end up with a fat wife and a coal truck, and spend his future Sundays drawing finger pictures into pretzel dust on some laminated Elks Club bar top in Moosic, a place that is as close to Syracuse as it is to New York City... But I say no.

This is going to be Refsnyder's year.

Of course, much depends on Dustin Ackley, the ex-prospect we sluiced from Seattle at last season's trade deadline. Ackley looks like the 23rd man on the 2016 Yankee roster. He can play 1B, 2B and OF, bats left, and if he hits, he could bury Refsnyder in Scranton for yet another year - at age 24.

When Mark Teixeira or Castro need a day off, Ack will handle it. But if someone gets hurt - let me rephrase that - WHEN someone gets hurt - it will dictate a Rube Goldberg chain of events, culminating with Refsnyder's ascension. Here are some scenarios.

1. Tex goes out for a month.  First, why would we not expect this? He's old and fragile. I was surprised when the Yankees didn't chase Ike Davis harder, because right now, they have no pro 1B at Scranton. Ackley is a stopgap 1B, not a six-week replacement. But... there is someone who can play first base.

It's Chase Headley. He moves to first. and Castro moves to third. (Girardi has said he wants Castro to learn the position.) That would mean the Yankees bring up Refsnyder, who could platoon with Ackley. Or maybe it's just Refsnyder at 2B.

2. Headley gets hurt, misses a month. Headley was a workhorse last year, one of the few to not miss much time. But hey, shit happens. We have no backup 3B at Scranton. So... Castro moves to third, and - yep - Refsnyder gets the call.

3. Gregorious gets hurt, misses a month. This is unlikely but... you know. Once again, Castro becomes the lynch pin; he moves to his old slot with the Cubs, and Refsnyder plays 2B.

4. Castro gets hurt, misses a month. Need I say it?

5. Refsnyder works in the OF. It's his natural position. Right now, the Yankees don't need another fly-chaser in Scranton. They already have four. But if Refsnyder makes the big club, playing the OF occasionally would be a big advantage.

OK, if everybody stays healthy all season long, Refsnyder does a Jimmy Hoffa. But that's not gonna happen. This is going to be his year. And if he makes himself into a major league 2B, he could become an important homegrown Yankee or - at the least - a future trade chip.

Let's hope. You can get pissed at the way the Yankees do business. But you can't root against guys like Refsnyder. They are the reason we come back.

6 comments:

JM said...

The Times has an article on the Yankees being basically also-rans and the Mets having achieved Series-bound status. In it, Kepler says that the bullpen has been 'improved' with the addition of Arnoldis Chapstick, descendant of Suzy, while in reality it has been decimated by trading away Warren and Wilson.

Adam Warren, who was the Yankees best starter before he was demoted to the bullpen BECAUSE THE BULLPEN SUCKED THAT BAD, and Justin Wilson, the most reliable mid-innings guy we had during the entire year.

So now we have three guys who can cover three innings on a pretty regular basis, and if a starter gets into trouble in the early or middle innings (looking at you, Nova) we have bupkus. Zip. Nada. Bodies who serve gopher balls. We could save a lot of time and trouble by just forfeiting whenever the starter fails to last less than 7 innings. The old guys could use the rest, and John and Suzyn can catch the second act of 'Hamilton.' Girardi can go back to Jersey or whatever rock-headed suburb he belongs in, and we can all see what else is on.

Ty Kepler is no Ty Clippard, I'll tell you that.

Anonymous said...

IT'S FUNNY, WE COULD HAVE SIMPLY JUST MADE THE DEALS FOR HICKS, AND CHAPMAN, PLAYED REFSNYDER AT 2ND, AND HELD ON TO WARREN AND WILSON......WE WOULD HAVE BEEN A STRONGER TEAM, AND SAVED MONEY......,BUT, THE GENIUS, BRIAN CASHMAN, HAD TO OVERDO IT....I READ WHERE CASHMAN "WENT TO THE VIDEOTAPE" WATCHING STARLIN CASTRO PLAYING 2ND BASE FOR THE CUBS BEFORE THE TRADE........SINCE WHEN DID BRIAN CASHMAN BECOME A "SCOUT"???....SINCE WHEN DID BRIAN CASHMAN EVER PLAY PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL???? .....AND THIS, MY FRIENDS, IS ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS WHY OUR TEAM IS STUMBLING AND BUMBLING THE LAST 5 YEARS................. BRIAN CASHMAN NEVER PLAYED PRO-BALL!...HE IS NOT A MAJOR LEAGUE SCOUT!......I BELIEVE HE IS MAKING EVERY BASEBALL DECISION FOR THE YANKEES RIGHT NOW!....... HE IS ALSO THE ONE WHO SPEARHEADED AND DELIVERED THE FABULOUS STEPHEN DREW SIGNING (FOR ONLY $5 MILLION) LAST YEAR........ HOW WELL DID THAT GO??? ............

Anonymous said...

EL DUQUE, I LIKE THIS POST ON THE HOPES OF REFSNYDER GETTING THE BIG BREAK....BUT HE HAD THAT BIG BREAK LAST YEAR....AND HE PERFORMED!......AND WE STILL KICKED HIM TO THE CURB.............. I BELIEVE THERE ARE 2 HUGE OBSTACLES THAT WILL STOP REFSNYDER. BRIAN CASHMAN, AND JOE GIRARDI.......IT'S OBVIOUS, NEITHER ONE LIKE HIM.... THE REAL KILLER IS GIRARDI..... IF GIRARDI LIKED HIM, I BELIEVE HE WOULD STRONGLY OVERRULE CASHMAN AND SAY, "HEY, I WANT THIS GUY IN THE LINEUP.".....BUT FROM THE STRANGE QUOTES I HAVE HEARD FROM GIRARDI, IT JUST WON'T HAPPEN......SICKENING.

el duque said...

Caps,

Now and then, you or an alter-ego make the point that we have gotten too pessimistic, and the bad part is... you are right.

It's almost spring, and we haven't lost a game yet (even if we lost Greg Bird.) We cannot collapse within out own pessimism. Yogi wouldn't have wanted that.

Anonymous said...

YOU'RE RIGHT EL DUQUE.....BUT WHAT REALLY HAS PUSHED ME OFF THE EDGE THE LAST YEAR IS LOSING NEW YORK TO THE METS...... I KNOW IT CAN HAPPEN, BUT A KEY SIGNING BY US OVER THE LAST 2 YEARS COULD HAVE PREVENTED THAT..... I'M HAVING A ROUGH TIME ADJUSTING, AND REALIZING THAT HAL STEINBRENNER IS IGNORING HIS FATHERS WISHES.

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