Monday, March 19, 2018

The Trade For Stanton Has "Doom" Written All Over It

I never liked the trade.

I am one of the few, I know.

The "why" of my position is now beginning to emerge:

1.  The idea that Judge will now take turns with Stanton between right field and DH is horrifying.

2.  Judge is an excellent defender and a player who should have a full time position.  DH will ruin his rhythm as a hitter, and demoralize him as a player.  The Cshman plague has already impacted him as he talks up Machado at third, rather than Andujar.  He has swallowed the " cool aid" that superstars belong at every position, and you buy them on the street.

3.  Stanton has shown himself to be an absolute liability in the outfield.  And, as we all know,
 the " ball will find you" when you really can't play.  I think Stanton made one " clean" play in the outfield in spring training, and bungled about six fly balls ( all outs which he turned into doubles by taking poor angles and not being able to outrun the fat lady sitting in row six near third base).

4. Judge will, inevitably, feel that some of the " responsibility " for getting the big hit is now off his shoulders.  Watch the strikeout rate soar.

5.  Stanton is not much of a hitter for average.  Watch the strike out rate soar.

6.  Strikeouts, for those not paying attention, are prime rally killers.  When Stanton strikes out with a runner on third and one out, all of a sudden the other team can get out of the inning with no damage.

7.  The Stanton deal created the " second base " problem.  What is that, you ask?  Follow the bouncing ball;
  -  Castro worked really well with Didi on defense
  - Castro was a clutch hitter with power for a second baseman. And he was young.
  - We now have no second baseman.  The Torres " promise" was a flop.
  -  The Yankees do not trust Tyler Wade.  He may open the season at second, but that is just a stop      gap until the veteran ( former Met ..... a fine winning tradition... ) Neil Walker is " ready."  He is not in condition because no one wanted him.
   -  Tyler will then revert to what he was last season; an anxious, talented defender with speed, who gets one at bat per week and fails.  He may also cause us to lose Torreyes.
  _  the prospect of the Yankees starting two rookies threw Cashman into apoplexy, so he traded more talent ( our farm system is endlessly deep, right?) for another cast-off veteran ( Dreary Drury, I call him ).
   - so now the team will start two highly mediocre veterans at second and third, somehow multiplying the damage of the original " second base " problem he created by trading for Stanton.
   -  We also gave up two highly rated pitching prospects to get Stanton.  Our pitching depth is compromised.  Accordingly, Andujar, the " Red Thunder" and, likely, others will go for a 32 year old starter, at some point this season.
    -  last season, with Castro at second base, we nearly won it all.  Why does that not have significance?

8.  This team is now a veteran team " expected " to win the World Series."  It is no longer an exciting, unpredictable, emerging team with eager young talent surprising us every day.  It is the " number one seed" in our division,  and they better do what is expected of them ( no University of Virginia here, right? ).  No " spitting the bit."  No "choking."  Everyone must hit home runs, every time up.  There will be no bunting; no advancing runners; no stealing; no excitement.

 There are no longer a bunch of future stars peppering our line-up.  I am shocked that Adam Lind isn't still with us.  The reason for fan interest went, in my book, from 100 to about 40.  Unless you like watching strikeout/solo homer ratios.

Seriously, this trade for Stanton is the Devil and will cause the team to fail, not to thrive.  I have been troubled by this trade from the outset.  It showed, at the core, the Cashman we really all knew and hated was still alive and well.  The Cashman who pretended he gave a rat's ass about young talent and the farm system.  Who pretended we would " grow from within."  The Cashman who gave us 10 years of lousy baseball.

We are going to have more years of lousy baseball now, and the veteran parade shall continue.  Just close your brain to any hope for a young star to emerge and play for us.  Don't get your hopes up about anyone you here good things about.  Cashman is back .  He never changed.

5 comments:

Parson Tom said...

I prefer not to wallow too long in the depths of despair and pessimism where Alphonso lives. But my rose-colored glasses do not prevent me from seeing the truth of what he says. This is some serious reversion to assholery on the Yankees' part, who now seem to believe that we need a Hall of Famer at every position. And how happy was Derek Jeter to offload the biggest albatross contract since Alex Rodriguez? And what did we get out of the deal: Lots of injuries, more strikeouts than ever before and some home runs.

The prediction here is that Stanton and Judge will alternate injuries for the next four or five years. By that time, Stanton will be a .210 hitter who strikes out 40 percent of the time and hits moonshot home runs often enough to get free drinks in Manhattan. Judge? Who knows. Did he just have his best season ever? Can he repeat or come close to his 2017 numbers? Kinda doubtful, but I hope so. Alphonso is correct: Judge is a very good all-around player, but it's not hard to imagine that last summer's six-week slump could be repeated a few times during his career. And the injuries will be inevitable.

There's nothing for us to do but enjoy whatever ride Stanton and Judge are able to deliver. I hope it's fun and full of lots of exciting wins. But the strikeouts are going to get tedious, and the expectations will be impossible to exceed.

Urban Farmer formally known aan Dutchfan said...

Gloomy.
Hate to agree with Alphonso.
Completely.

Luckily the NYTimes writes about soccer only. Some distraction.

Rufus T. Firefly said...

What bar is she pouring drinks at tonight?

I'll be there.

Anonymous said...

WOW....

CLASSIC ALPHONSO....

PAINFUL TO HEAR, BUT BRUTALLY HONEST, AND SO SCARILY, POTENTIALLY TRUE.

I FEEL STANTON WILL BE A REALLY GOOD HITTER FOR US BUT FORGET ABOUT HIS FIELDING.

WHAT WE BASICALLY DID WAS PAY $20-$25 MILLION FOR AN EVERYDAY DH FOR THE NEXT 10 YEARS.

WHEN HE DOES PLAY THE FIELD, HE WILL MOST LIKELY HURT US.

AT SUCH AN ENORMOUS COST, DIDN'T COOP SEND SCOUTS OUT TO WATCH STANTON PLAY THE OUTFIELD?

DIDN'T THEY SEE HOW SHITTY HE WAS IN THE OUTFIELD?...HOW COULD THEY NOT?....DIDN'T THEY REALIZE WITH JUDGE BEING A SOLID DEFENDER IN RIGHT FIELD, STANTON WOULD HAVE TO MOVE OUT OF POSITION AND PLAY SOME LEFT FIELD?.....SEEMS LIKE THE ANSWER IS NO, OR IF IT ISN'T NO, THEN CASHMAN JUST GOT IN HIS HEAD THIS WIDE-EYED OPIE FUCKING CUNNINGHAM IDEA OF PUTTING THESE 2 BEHEMOTHS BACK TO BACK IN THE LINEUP, AND KEPT JERKING OFF TO IT, UNTIL IT CAME TO FRUITION.

....AND I CAN'T BELIEVE COOP (AND HAL) HAVE PASSED UP THE POSSIBILITY OF SAVING $350 MILLION DOLLARS BY JUST GIVING MIGUEL ANDUJAR A CHANCE AT 3RD BASE. (WE ALL KNOW THE $350 MILLION IS EARMARKED FOR MANNY MACHADO NEXT SEASON).

I FEEL LIKE CASHMAN IS SO CLOSE TO DISMANTLING AND RUINING OUR FARM SYSTEM, EVEN THOUGH IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE "LOADED".

WITH THE REALIZATION THAT RED THUNDER AND ANDUJAR WILL BOTH BE GONE SOONER OR LATER, FOR SOME BULLSHIT GERRIT COLE DOLL, JESUS, WHAT WILL WE HAVE LEFT?

ALPHONSO IS RIGHT, CASHMAN AND HIS BULLSHIT HAVE NEVER LEFT.






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