Monday, February 13, 2017

Did the Chris Carter signing force the trade of Brett Gardner?

Damn. A week later, it still makes no sense. I should drop it. What's done is done. Why scream at the mountain? It doesn't listen. It's been here a million years. It'll be here a million more. The mountain doesn't care.

Last week, we learned the truth about the Yankees: They'll sign anybody, if he's cheap. It doesn't matter if they need him. If he's cheap, he's ours. So we should consider 2017 a gap year. Instead of going to college, Hal Steinbrenner plans to take the year off, tour Europe, climb mountains, read poetry, find himself and maybe get laid. Come 2018, he'll return with tattoos and a plan. In the meantime, we should be patient and supportive.

For now, we have an outfield mess. And it might mean we trade Brett Gardner, who has done more for the Yankees than Hal ever will. But why scream? It does no good.

Early this winter, Brian Cashman shopped Gardy, to no avail. Now, he must try harder.

And why? It's because of Chris Carter, the second coming of King Kong Kingman. Carter "plays" OF and 1B, though by all accounts, he's a disaster with a glove, a blight upon humanity. Also, for every HR, he will strike out five times and hit into a bunch of DPs. But... he was cheap.

So here is our current outfield situation.

LH: Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury, Mason Williams.

RH: Aaron Judge, Matt Holliday, Chris Carter, Rob Refsnyder, Tyler Austin.

SH: Aaron Hicks.

Right now, our lineup likely would be Gardy in left, Ellsbury in center and Judge in right, with Holliday as DH. That leaves Hicks and Carter as backups. The ballyhooed "competition" for the final roster spot has been canceled. Thus:

1. The career confinement and torture of Rob Refsnyder will finally end, with a verdict pronounced based on opportunities he never received. Scouts said Ref couldn't play 2B, and we went a whole year with Stephen Drew. Now, they say he can't hit for power, and - well - that is that. He'll either get traded for next to nothing, or - gulp - he'll be sent to Scranton for a fourth year. I really can't see that happening. Maybe he'll just disappear, like in a Twilight Zone episode, and nobody will recall him ever existing, you know, like Paul Manafort.

2. Mason Williams and Tyler Austin both will return to Scranton, clogging the arteries of the entire farm system. Austin could platoon at 1B with Greg Bird, but why kid ourselves? He has minor league options, and Carter doesn't. As usual, the size of the contract is key. So Carter will get the playing time. We won't escape those 200 strikeouts, folks.

3. The Yankees can bundle Refsnyder, Williams, Austin and/or somebody else in a trade for some craggy veteran innings-eater. They won't get a young stud pitcher - but somebody pushing 33 and fading. No rising team - the kind that would take a chance on Ref or Williams - will give up a young arm. So we'll trade youth for old age. Sound familiar?

4. Cashman goes back on the market with Gardy. He waits waits waits for some key OF on a contending team to tweak a gonad. He packages Gardy with a low-level prospect for one of those 27-year-old arms - the next Nathan Eovaldi - that Cashman knows from wet dreams. We would replace the best fielding left-fielder in baseball with Holliday's achy knees and Chris Carter's concrete glove. Prepare for a shock.

It's a quagmire, a Rube Goldberg machine. But why torture ourselves? What's done is done. Let it go. If everything works, maybe we win that wild card. But here's the reality: We are an expensive team run by a cheap owner, and 2017 could be the year everything collapses. But it won't matter to the mountain. It never does.

6 comments:

JM said...

These are the times that fry men's soles. I have no idea what that means, but it popped into my head. Cashman approaches the roster in much the same way.

Anonymous said...

El Cheapo will continue to enjoy having cASSman's head up his "place where the sun don't shine". Although El Cheapo won't spend the bucks, I thought Wieters might have been a better choice than Carter if you're making additions to the roster. I'm hoping that the slight change in Sanchez's offense at the end of the season wasn't due to the league making adjustments in their approach to pitching to him. Sophomore jinx? -m

Anonymous said...

John M: Sounds as though it means men are standing on the hot pavement too long - - perhaps they need to move indoors....but you did give me a flash-back to Charlie on the MTA - - thanks - - I like the Kingston Trio.

Perhaps El Cheapo would like to own the Tigers, instead - - they have a pretty loyal fan-base - - I oughta' know: I hafta' look at all those navy hats with the Olde English "D" on them, day after day....and, hey!! They've got Miggy!! and Ziggy!! and Miss Piggy!! (sorry - - momentary brain-fart). C'mon Food-Stamps - - ever heard of starting pitching?? ....and I don't mean, "CHEAP" starting pitching.... ) LB (No J)

Anonymous said...

LIKE YOU, EL DUQUE, I LIKE BRETT GARDNER..... BUT, THE REALITY OF THE GARDNER/ELLSBURY TOP OF THE ORDER "BASE STEALING AND SCORING MACHINES" DREAM, IS THAT IT NEVER MATERIALIZED....AND IT LOOKS LIKE IT NEVER WILL NOW THAT BOTH ARE GETTING OLDER..... HENCE, LETS MOVE ON......THERE IS NO WAY CHRIS CARTER CAN PUT ON AN OUTFIELD GLOVE THIS YEAR, (UNLESS IT'S AN 18 INNING GAME AND WE'RE OUT OF PLAYERS)... WE NEED TO CLEAR SPACE (AND SOON), FOR CLINT FRAZIER.....SURE, IT WOULD BE GREAT IF BRIAN CASHMAN COULD PACKAGE GARDNER FOR SOMEONE VALUABLE, BUT WE ALL KNOW, THAT AIN'T HAPPENING..... I AM EVEN ALREADY STARTING TO BOIL OVER THE "PIECES" WE PICKED UP FOR BRIAN MCCANN..... 20 HOMER HITTING LEFTY CATCHERS THAT CAN PLAY GOOD DEFENSE, SHOULD BE CAPABLE OF LANDING A "SURE-FIRE" PROSPECT.... I HOPE I AM WRONG, BUT I AM STARTING TO THINK WE MAY HAVE 2 NOTHING BURGERS FOR MCCANN.....KIND OF REMINDS ME OF THE GARY SHEFFIELD TRADE LONG AGO, AFTER COMING OFF A 103 RBI SEASON, CASHMAN GOT 3 MINOR LEAGUE NOTHING BURGERS........ LETTING GARDY GO COULD BE THE "DOOR OPENING" TO OUR FUTURE...... OUR OVERALL SUCCESS WOULD BE ON THE FAST TRACK IF CASHMAN COULD EVER MAKE A "MEANINGFUL" DEAL FOR GARDNER, BUT LIKE I SAID, AIN'T HAPPENING.

Anonymous said...

Puh-leeze, don't let Carter near a glove (not a baseball one, anyway)!! Part of what you say, A-C, is right on, but I, like El Duque, will be really, really steamed if Gardy gets traded for nothing & nobodies: Gardy gives his all, every time he plays - - someone just needs to tell him that he CAN still steal bases....and it's not his fault that they gave that ultra-stultifying contract to Jake....plus, K-Law & others seem to think Frazier's still a year or so away from the Big Show - - but never fear: leave it to Cash-Puss to do exactly the wrong thing - - as per usual - - after all, he LOVES him some cheap arms, with "potential"; problem is, he doesn't seem to realize that potential needs to be fulfilled, and there is at least as much chance of failure as success, with those cheap arms: usually, others have looked at them, and decided to ditch them for one reason or another - - Cash-Puss is no genius - - he's overrated and un-watchable (oops, sorry, that was the teams from the past seven years). LB (No J)

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