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Sunday, July 30, 2017

Brace yourselves, because that touted Yankee farm system is about to get raided, and we are returning to our old ways

Over this last week, raging against the Fates, I've felt like Reince Priebus - (now, Reince Previous) - in that no matter what I said, it wasn't going to matter. Prince Hal (Trump) was moving in another direction - Sonny Gray (or the Mooch) - and our vaunted Yankee "Baby Bombers" rebuilding plan, launched last spring with great fanfare, was about to be scrapped, like plans of the past. 

Today, from all accounts, the youth movement officially dies. Today, if the stories are accurate, the Yankees will return to old Steinbrennerian ways: Trading prospects for vets and ramping up pressure to win now now NOW. 

Let the record show that the youth program lasted one calendar year, before the front office pulled the plug and returned to the ways that have produced, thus far, the worst decade in Yankee history. During that one year period, the Yankees rose from fourth to first in the AL East. But today, we scrap the plan and return to trading prospects and assuring ourselves - along with the casual, not-all-that-involved fan base - that we gave up nothing, and that basically, the other teams are just stupid. From today on, we will avert our eyes to what those traded players do throughout their careers, while we try to remember or forget the name Sonny Gray, like so many others who arrived to save the day... Ken Phelps, Lance Berkman, Sidney Ponson - that's enough - I cannot go on.

Listen, there are good deals and bad ones, and the difference can hinge on a microscopic elbow in Pulaski. It will likely take years to discern what we've traded away. What we do know is this: When we trade youngsters for a veteran, that guy - and this team - must deliver now, right now!, and that adds pressure to the player and the entire franchise, and there is already plenty of it. If a hole develops over the next few weeks, you better believe Brian Cashman will fill it through a waiver deal. He has no choice. Once you go down that path, like Lady MacBeth in her killing ways, there is no turning back. One bloodletting begets another... and another... We actually started on this course two weeks ago, when we traded for Mr. .207, Todd Frazier.

Yesterday, Caleb Smith went three innings and took the hook. Certainly, Sonny Gray (or Jamie Garcia, of the Twins, a new rumor) could have done better. But presumably, Caleb Smith learned something yesterday. Maybe he'll become a better pitcher, as a result. We'll probably never know. Soon, the Yankees will turn to players whose ceilings are well defined. As for the young players we trade, well, the A's and/or Twins won't give away pitchers for nothing. 

It's been fun this season, watching the turmoil within the Redsock '17 Hall of Fame Superteam of Destiny (TM) - in part because of the "win-or-else" pressure the franchise placed upon itself. Soon, we will be that team. Let the record show that, when the plug was pulled, we were in first. 

12 comments:

ranger_lp said...

Calm down...we're only giving up Zack Littell...jeez...it's not someone with the last name of Frazier or Torres. So if the last name is not connected to a former boxer, we're ok. So drink some chamomile tea...you'll feel better.

JM said...

ESPN says the Garcia trade negotiations are on the 1-yard line.

Oakland wanted Glyber and Clint, and Cash said, "no way."

However, I have to believe that something stupid this way comes. And even if we win the division, are we going to get past Houston? If we do, are we going to get past the Dodgers or the Nats?

This is foolish. We're not ready. Maybe next year or the year after.

Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb.

Parson Tom said...

somebody should focus on getting Judge straightened out. ever since All Star break -- HR derby -- he's been bailing out, swinging for moon shots, instead of driving through the ball. looks kind of bad, except for occasional dinger.

ranger_lp said...

It's official...

"The Yankees will send minor league pitchers Zack Littell and Dietrich Enns to the Twins as part of the swap and will also receive cash considerations from Minnesota."

Anonymous said...

CASHMAN DID IT AGAIN!!!

CLASSIC CASHMAN!!!

MASTER OF THE GOOFY, "NO BIG DEAL", DEAL!!!

HE JUST CAN'T HELP HIMSELF.

HE HAS BEEN BURNED A THOUSAND TIMES BEFORE BY NATIONAL LEAGUE PITCHERS.

YET HE GOES FOR THEM EVERY SINGLE TIME!!! AMAZING!

FOR THE LAST TIME! ....IT'S SIMPLE TO UNDERSTAND!

MOST N.L. PITCHERS WHO COME OVER TO THE A.L. WILL HAVE A 1 1/2 TO 2 FULL POINT JUMP IN HIS ERA.

CAREER ERA 3.65 (BUT RISING THIS YEAR)- NEARLY 10 YEARS IN THE N.L.

HE WILL PITCH TO A 4.60 TO A 5.50 CLIP IF HE GETS A BUNCH OF STARTS.

MARK MY WORDS.

HOPE I'M WRONG, BUT I WON'T BE.... I WANT TO BE WRONG!

WE NEED A DIFFERENCE MAKER IN OUR ROTATION..

THIS IS NOT IT.

COULDN'T WE PACKAGE LITELL AND ENNS INTO A BIGGER DEAL FOR A BETTER PITCHER?

FLORIAL, LITTELL, ENNS, AND MATEO FOR DARVISH OR GRAY?

CASHMAN ALWAYS MISSES THE MARK WITH HIS DEALS.....ALWAYS.

HoraceClarke66 said...

All-Caps is right on.

Earlier, someone mentioned that Blake Rutherford "would've been just what the A's were looking for."

Why couldn't the Sonny Gray deal have been Littell, Enns, Rutherford, and Polo, say, for the greatest pitcher since Lefty Grove? Especially since it seems that no one is seriously bidding against us?

Instead, we get a mediocre rental who is on the serious downslide. I guess Javvy Vazquez refused to come out of retirement.

Parson Tom said...

Head Casely: I apologize. For some of it.

Rockin' Ronnie!!

Parson Tom said...

I was going to write an essay for Jordan Montgomery, but that fell apart in the 3rd.

Question: when you're trying to get out of a tough inning early -- the 3rd today -- is it against the rules to use one of your late inning guys and then bring in the long reliever when the game is stabilized. I think they used to do it that way, but Girardi went with Cessa. I hope it works today.

Parson Tom said...

this time The Book got it right. Cessa struck him out with some wicked pitches. if that guy gets it under control ...

Parson Tom said...

baseball is an exercise in frustration, especially when the tying run sits on third two innings in a row and nothing gets in. Looks like Tampa intends to use 32 pitchers today.

Parson Tom said...

tough game today. Judge and Holliday are struggling. Monty was trying to be too perfect. But still a big series win, an excellent winning streak, and Boston is falling apart. this team has already been more fun this year than it's been in a long while. I'm in.

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