As our Peerless Leader has pointed out, we are facing a dire threat of being too healthy.
I think that, thank JuJu, our kids have performed too well for even Coops to deal them, which makes the basic outline of this Yankees team clear.
El Matador and El Conquistador stay. Austin returns and retains his stewardship of first base for the day that Aragorn, I mean Greg Bird, returns. Then he backs up the position and the corner outfield spots.
This means that Neil the White Walker and, yes, Jacoby, have to go, one way or the other—assuming that by now Jacoby has not drowned in the whirlpool bath and simply been overlooked by the clubhouse attendants down in Tampa.
I really like Tyler Too, and would hate to see him gone. But let's face it: .129 with no power in 101 plate appearances? I know a certain, cranky individual will tell me that's not nearly enough reps, and I'm sure he's right. But rookies who go that long before the back-up engine kicks in crash, and burn.
As of now, of course, Wade has zero trade value, so keep him around until he looks better in Scranton. But then...
Also, Ma Boone and Coops are going to have to consider a way to get by with a mere 48 percent of the roster devoted to pitching. Tough it out, guys. I know you can do it.
BUT...that still leaves us with the dilemma of what to do should Red Thunder and/or Billy McKinney get back to Dunder Mifflin Land and start raking, a consummation that is devoutly to be wished.
What then?
Well, this is something that nobody wants to hear, including me. But there's another guy on our roster who turns 35 in August and right now has 1 homer and 2 stolen bases, and 6 ribbies in 120 plate appearances.
A guy who is batting .208 with a .604 OPS. Whose entire history is one of breaking down in the second half. Who can be a free agent after this year anyway.
I know, I know. Brett Gardner is such a likable guy, such a valuable piece as a number four outfielder, that I hate the thought of trading him, too. And chances are, we won't have to...mostly because he'll probably land on the DL again before we try.
But it may be time to consider that HIS time...is up. No, we don't need to rush into any decisions on this. But...
Monday, April 30, 2018
The 195-pound gorilla in the room...
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Gardner doesn't really fit anymore, that is true. He never did catch on with the fans. It is very rare to even see a fan wearing a Gardner T-Shirt. (That is not trivial.)
But what would John M do with all the Twilight Zone alien images he's used over the years? So many searches on Google Image now worthless!
No. No. No. Not Gritty Gutty Brett Gardner. His value is greater than his stat line. One of my favorite things about watching the Yankees this year is how they get the starter up to 60 pitches by the third inning. Gardner is a large part of that. Even if he doesn't get on he makes them work! I love it.
Plus let him go out as a Yankee. If he breaks down then he breaks down. That's what Red Thunder is for (I don't really like that nickname by the way - am I alone in this?) But trade GGBG? No.
Doug K.
Gardner has always been no better than a fourth outfielder -- Jack Reed with more AB's. He's been elevated because the Yankees have been weak in the outfield during most of his years with them. Now, we don't need him (or his twin, Els). I say trade Gardner if we can.
I think we have to see him perform, over much of a season, before an appropriate nickname appears.
Nevertheless, this is an appropriate moment for me to repeat a lament I have felt since day 1;
I don't think we are going to see him play as a Yankee.
I think he will be in a package for a starting ( cast-off ) pitcher, before he gets much of a chance.
I have always seen him as the next Jay Buhner. He'll be great for someone else, and torment the Yankees until he retires.
I hope I am wrong.
Running into that wall may keep him here. I don't know.
McKinney may be out longer than "Red." Billy either broke or dislocated a shoulder, or tore a rotator cuff, on his collision with the wall. Either of those take forever to heal, and sometimes never really do.
Again, I hope I am wrong.
He was starting to look like a ballplayer.
I got a feeling
A feeling deep inside
Oh yeah!
Sometimes when I read the entries on this blog, I ask myself if this is a pro-Yankees blog or a random gathering of men with (well some of them) above average writing skills. The mean denominator being a vague liking of things pinstriped.
Then I wonder if I just don’t get all the Juju involved. The triple and quadruple reverse double Juju that makes everything slide into the twilight zone of meaning and perception. Only for Gods to interpret and thus pushing the Yankees into….. Well either the coveted 1 game lottery play-off casino event, or the abyss.
And then there is the TERRIFYING, HORRIFYING, COOPFYING, DEATH-VALLEY of trades. Please get over it.
These men who are willing, every single season at least 3 times, to kick Gardy, the player with the longest tenure on today’s team, the guy that has earned the right to die in left field. These men who cry crocodile tears when there might be a remote chance that someone acquired in a mid season deal with the Cubbies will be dealt away for some pitching. As if something homegrown goes to waste. As if we trade out heart and soul. As if we have a heart, let alone a soul.
These men who have been plotting for three years now how to buy someone like Trout or Machado as a free agent, knowing it will deplete the rest of the existing talent pool.
There is no economic reason to hang on to Miggy - and Drury is probably about the same level, so who the f*ck cares if he is traded. Again, it is not as if we raised, fed and nurtured him.
Everything should be negotiable for some decent pitching, so Sacha Grey or whatever is name is, can go swallow defeats in Miami.
Let us just enjoy one title and then we start the whole process over again and do it again in ten years.
Only one condition: IIHIIF should become the official website of the aforementioned Yankees.
Cold as Christmas in the middle of the year.
LOL on Sacha Grey.
Doug K.
LOL on the guy that has earned the right to die in left field...
Gardner is a good man and a real Yankee. I have always liked him. As with any other loyal Yankee, though, the time has come to introduce him to the bottom of the bus. Toss him. Toss Tyler. Swallow as much of Jacoby's contract as is necessary and send him west of the Mississippi to some team where he can really mean something. HOARD THE REST OF OUR KIDS like they are precious gems and just be on the lookout for one more good starting arm. That's the only thing that's guaranteed we will need within 6 weeks time.
Were you one of the other 29 GMs, what would you trade right now for Brett Gardner? Hitting 2hundrednothing, good fielder, makes the pitcher work.....what the heck is THAT worth?
If you think the NYYs can get something for him, fine.
I but to get him, I wouldn't give up anything. That second-half consistency (miserable, miserable, and miserable) -- plus the big drop-off in the power numbers -- is screaming DO NOT TRADE FOR THIS GUY.
Of course, were he on another team, Cashmoney would ignore this. But some of the other guys in his slot might not be so effing stoopid.
I have to agree with 13bit here.
Urban Farmer, I am impressed with your heartfelt plea, especially as it is made in what is likely your second (or third, or fourth—I know you Europeans!) language.
But I want to raise with you the specter of Hank Bauer.
Hank Bauer was an amazing Yankee.
He didn't like platooning with Gene Woodling and others for much of his career, but he did it. A good hitter—.785 OPS, which for the 1950s was not nothing—with solid power, and a fine arm in right field. Made 3 All-Star teams, got MVP votes in five different years.
And...apparently a stand-up guy, in the best sense of the phrase. It was thought to be Bauer, not Billy Martin, who actually clocked the infamous heckler spewing racist garbage at Sammy Davis, Jr., that night at the Copa. From a poor immigrant family, he won two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts, storming Guam and Okinawa as a Marine sergeant.
Got a hole blown in his leg so big at Okinawa that he told a buddy, "There goes my baseball career."
But it didn't. He played his whole career with shrapnel still in his body. Jim Murray famously wrote that he had "a face like a clenched first."
In the World Series, he got better and better, enjoying a 17-game hitting streak at one point—still a Series record—and hit 4 home runs in the 1958 Series, tying the old record.
Came 1959, age 36, Bauer had a wretched season. That winter, the Yanks bundled him into a trade for Roger Maris.
Bad move?
Fans never really appreciated straight out of Compton Roy White either.
Good solid player, but not flashy either in the field or in the postgame interview.
It's time for Gardner to be "Bernied"..... Throw em overboard We can bring him back in 2 yrs to celebrate old timers day and bump up ticket prices ...even if he's not even officially retired
- Agent Orange Levine
Dear Holland ( formal name of Urban Dutch Farmer ),
I know it is difficult to comprehend the nuances of Ju-Ju. The reverses; the double negatives; the impassioned; the deceptive; and the combined, triple whammy.
But they are all for one purpose; to make the Ju-Ju gods treat the Yankees with fairness and favoritism.
At the core, is a willingness to throw ourselves on the pyre of self-humiliation, in order to achieve a desired outcome.
I am a master class Ju-Ju instructor, and have arrived at that status only through a lifetime of work ( It is the " black belt " of Ju-Ju).
I have been at it longer than most because I am older than most, and began hiding under the couch at age 4, while watching the yankees.
Ju-Ju has replaced organized religion as the great equalizer, as far as Yankee fans are concerned.
All I can recommend is; a fine white wine and 18 Dutch oysters.
Let the Ju-Ju take its course. But always fear the mid year trade deadline.
Do you remember Emil " Dutch" Leonard? A knuckleball pitcher.
Speaking of trades... I just saw that Seeger is out for the year for the Dodgers. He needs Tommy John. Maybe they would like Drury for a pitcher.
Doug K.
How about one of those "All Sonny Gray needs is a change of scenery" trades?
Anyone who says we should trade Gardner is an asshole.
Well, I’m definitely an asshole, but I’d be happy if we just let him go. We don’t need to trade him. You really want to help the team? Just retire, bucko.
#MeTooasshole...logjam in the outfield. Gardy got a hit tonight, but I don't see him doing this longterm. Should have traded him in spring while his value was still high.
This is Gardner's final year as a Yankee. We know it. He knows it. Earlier someone said Bernie him. If I recall Bernie finished his year and wasn't re-signed. That's what's going to happen. Hopefully Frazier returns and Gardy becomes the 4th outfielder with Stanton as DH.
Walker is close to his final game as a Yankee. The problem going forward long term is who plays center. Hicks is not as good as people think. Couple of good months in a very disappointing career.
Doug K.
I'M GETTING THAT SINKING FEELING ABOUT HICKS.
I'M AFRAID DOUG K. (AND MY INSTINCTS) ARE RIGHT.
THIS GAME PISSED ME OFF TONIGHT.
I WANT AN AUTOMATED UMPIRE SIGNALING BALLS AND STRIKES.
I'VE HAD IT WITH THESE CLOWN UMPIRES...(ALL OF THEM).
WITH THE SPEED MOST OF THESE PITCHERS POSSESS NOW, A BATTER HAS LESS THAN A SECOND TO COMMIT.
IN THE 9TH INNING, GILES IS THROWING 99 MPH.
WITH 2 STRIKES ON HIM, SANCHEZ SEES THE PITCH OUTSIDE AND DOESN'T COMMIT.
THE BALL IS OUTSIDE, BUT THE UMP CALLS STRIKE 3.
NOTHING CAN BE DONE. (THIS WENT ON ALL GAME).
END THIS SHIT.
GO WITH AUTOMATION.
SAME ZONE FOR EVERYBODY.
NO MORE WORRYING ABOUT WHAT MOOD, AND WHERE THIS DAYS UMP FEELS LIKE THE ZONE IS.
Well what do you know, Sasha turned all Sunny on us and if it weren't for that kinda stellar number 5 pitcher of the Astros a W might have been his reward. Rumor has it he also shallows those.
Anyway, seems like I am getting the hang of this Juju thing (yellow belt?) And it cannot be a coincidence that I actually had those oysters yesterday Alphonso talked about. Only half a dozen I admit which in the end accounts for the loss. Or maybe it was the Grüner Veltliner because what can you expect from Austrian wines when it comes to baseball.
Which reminds me, is the only baseball fan in Vienna still with us?
I once looked up Dutch Leonard. Only to find out he is from Belgian descent. Obviously once one of our culture rich provinces, now just a non impredsive country that cannot even pick its language.
Hank Bauer. Great history. Now I have to look up this Maris character.
Solar prestige a gammon
I, too, will admit to the asshole charge, Beauregard, and I was glad to see Gardy get a hit tonight.
And ALL-CAPS, who knows with Hicks?
But as Connie Mack used to say, better to trade a player a year too soon than a year too late. I think Gardner is about done, which is a shame. But there it is.
Tough loss tonight, but very pleased to see a much better outing from Sonny Gray, Boy Pitcher.
Note to Ma Boone: It is nice to give the Judge a night off so he doesn't get ground down, and he had been slumping a bit. But maybe the night to do that is NOT the same night that we have to play Sonny's personal catcher? Just saying.
I told you guys Sunny would shine. the only reason we lost is that some asshole offended the juju gods by insulting Saint Alfonso's writing. and I called it. All of it! if that's not a cause for banishment (or the silent treatment at the very least), I do not know what is.
I've been a Doubting Aaron about Hicks for a long time now. He's not what Cashboy thinks he is. He's a perennial potential player, who never gets to it. Until he turns over the photo negatives he has, however, Cash will keep him.
But Sonny Gray...he might actually be good. That wasn't a bad show last night. I'm skeptical, but want to believe.
ALL CAPS, the YES announcers made it a point near the end of the game to say that the strike zone was consistent for both teams, and for the entire game. Those outside pitches were routinely called as strikes, which, as the YES men pointed out, helped Gray, too.
And KD, I have to correct you. Those pictures were from "The Outer Limits," not "The Twilight Zone." Although I get your point. I still like Gardy, even with his terrible start. I also continue to believe his head makes a good argument for always wearing a batting helmet, at bat or not.
It was great to see Sonny break out. And if they were calling them on both teams, good.
But what drives me as nuts as it does ALL-CAPS is the very concept that every umpire has "his own strike zone."
Why???
In football, does every ref or linesman have his own definition of a first down?
"Well, you know we're going to have some offense today, Brian! Bill Wilson out there is a eight-yard man, that's all you'll have to gain for a new set of downs..."
when you think about it, sensors and a.i. will negate the need for any umpires at all. I guess you'd still need a few, just to break up brawls and other enforcement type activities. Watson, we need you.
John M, whenever Gardner excelled, you were right there with your support. something about the guy yells True Yankee to me. I'll miss the steady glove, hustle, and dedication of "The Hit Man" but all things must pass.
What a fantastic achievement KD to offhandedly use both song titles in your closing sentence.
"The hit man" obviously a tribute to Gardner by Queen and "All things must pass" by the late (nudge nudge) George Harrison who was famous in his home town of Henley on Thames as a....... gardener.WOW.
Madman across the wstrr
Alphonso has no idea what he's talking about concerning McKinney's shoulder injury. He broke nothing and did not tear a rotator cuff. Where does he come up with this stuff? Does he imagine having read things after his second quart of Jack Daniels? There are no published reports or even published rumors of any of the foregoing injuries. Here's exactly the type of injury he has, which is quite treatable:
http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/sport-injuries/shoulder-pain/ac-joint-sprain
Urban Farmer gets it.. ;)
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