Looks bleak for Phil Hughes, cut loose at age 31 by Minnesota.
In another Yankiverse - Kevin Long, long ago and Steve Farr, far away - Phil is still anchoring the rotation, along with Joba and Ian Kennedy... and Edwar Ramirez as closer.
Those were fun days, imagining how great the Big Three were going to be. And then... well...
Just can't let it happen without a mention. So long, Hughesie, see you at Old-Timers Day.
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Phil Franchise is looking for one
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In 2005 or 2006 I was having having an email argument with an ardent Red Sox fan. I went out on a limb and said "Mark my words, Phil Hughes will be an All-Star and an anchor of the Yankees' rotation for years to come." He replied with something like. "Bullshit. He hasn't proven anything to anyone yet."
You know the rest of the story. I've never forgiven the pasty, snot-nosed little bastard.
And I'm not talking about the Red Sox fan.
Still not as bad a Manny Bañuelos.
Were we so desperate to see a quality pitcher come out of our minor league system that we were blinded to the fact that PH was/is a big dumb worthless lummox? Who's been paid more than $67 million!?
He should have remained in the bullpen as a middle reliever or mop up man. Gave up way too many homers.
Perhaps we should turn our attention from a washed-up 31-year-old pitcher to a washed-up 34-year-old pitcher; the former has been DFA'ed, but the latter, predictably, is rumored to be the latest object of Brian Cashman's affections. I speak, of course, of Cole Hamels. Hamels is clearly losing it--and losing it fast, as in going over a cliff. His 2017 FIP (fielding-independent pitching stat) was 4.62. His 2018 FIP is 4.81. For those new to the concept, FIP attempts to quantify a pitcher's performance by eliminating all non-pitching-related variables: team defense, park factors, the luck issues presented by BABIP, etc. It is framed so that the number yielded is on a scale comparable to ERA--a good/or bad number in ERA will be the same kind of number in FIP, although they obviously incorporate quite different variables.
OK--primer over. Now--according to Fangraphs (https://www.fangraphs.com/library/pitching/fip/), Hamels' 2017-2018 FIP ranks as "poor." So kamikaze Cashman is getting an itchy finger over a pitcher on a sharp decline, the kind of guy who is only a season or half-season away from the kind of abyss in which poor Phil Hughes finds himself. And for this latest round of pitching garbage collection--call it the "Sonny Gray" syndrome--Cashman is no doubt drawing up yet another list of one or two or three more jewels of the Yankee farm system. Somewhere there must be some Lenape blood in Cashman's ancestry--that's the tribe that surrendered Manhattan for twenty-four dollars in beads.
Hal should begin to institute IQ screening before he offers another GM contract--but that would presuppose an IQ test for the inbred ownership cabal. And who is going to impose that? Rob Manfred? Now there's a thought. . . .
Re: The Lenape
.... as it later turned out, the tribe who sold the land at such a deep discount were taking payment for lands which didn’t even belong to them.
FroM: https://knowledgenuts.com/2013/10/20/native-americans-didnt-sell-manhattan-for-24-of-beads/
Thus commenced a tradition that lingered into my childhood -- when we regularly sold the Brooklyn Bridge to visiting Lon Gislanders!
Joe/Brooklyn--
I'm not sure how reliable your source is. Here's the documentary evidence:
https://www.thirteen.org/dutchny/interactives/manhattan-island/
While you ferret out the details of the story, the main points remains the same: Cashman is the Lenape of MLB GMs.
Anonymous, a few weeks ago I sarcastically mentioned Hamels would be on the Yankees by July. Deep down I knew it to be true then and it sickens me now to see articles connecting him to the Yanks. Damn Giants need to lose 40 in a row so they'll be willing to trade Bumgarner...assuming he can still throw after the shoulder injury last year and broken hand this year.
Anyways, anyone find it funny that the Mets, both fans and the organization, are celebrating the anniversary of trading for Piazza? What a loser move to celebrate trading for a guy. Forget the fact that he won nothing (although he did get their fans hopes up when he flew out to Bernie) and was dead weight in the latter half of his tenure there. Who celebrates the acquisition of a player?
And to continue the grassy knoll. I find it hard to believe that angel of a woman, Suzyn Waldman, would be involved. John may have meant "we" as in people more in the know in baseball. Like Joe Torre. And Adam Warren strikes me more of a pawn of the whole conspiracy. It's too obvious for him to be connected and too low level. We'll find out more tonight hopefully.
Joe, you are dead on. It's not clear that whatever branch of the Lenape "sold" the rights to Manhattan really controlled it, and in any case the Lenape didn't think in terms of anybody—particularly not weird, weak, scarred white guys who showed up one day—as owning their land.
The early interactions of Europeans and Native Americans was fascinating and tragic. Somebody I read—I think it was Charles C. Mann in "1491"—described it as, strange little aliens show up and offer you the coolest tech and bling you've ever seen, in exchange for your used underwear (furs).
"Cool!" you say...not realizing that there are untold, well-armed, disease-carrying hordes of them right behind...
Hughes was a weird case. I never thought he seemed that good, but everybody kvelled.
It was always up and down. He was threatening to pitch that no-hitter in his first or second start...then he was hurt. Then he went a whole season without winning. Then he was a valuable set-up man. Then an okay no. 3 starter. Then an awful starter...
Who knows? It's a tough, tough game.
But I agree with Rufus, I think it was: in that alternative universe, we need Banuelos and Brackman filling out the starting rotation, and Betances doing...pretty much what he does now.
The biggest mistake Coops made was letting Hughes and Joba walk off the team with nothing, not even lottery tickets. They were the future of the rotation, you have to get bodies, at least.
That wasn't Coops fault. In 2013 he knew who they were and weren't going to retain and wanted to trade them away to get the farm system resembling anything other than a wasteland. Hal wouldn't let him trade anyone, notably Joggie. He felt they were still close enough to getting into the playoffs that they shouldn't sell. Then they missed the playoffs and let everyone walk. Then they all sat down in December and Coops laid out how dreadful their farm system was and you can't build around the Vernon Wells' of free agency. So Hal begrudgingly (I assume) agreed to put money into player development and scouting There was an article about this somewhere, don't ask me to link it as I read it around late 2016.
This one is a loss. There's seriously nobody else but Domingo German?
Joe, for the record, I never once bought the Brooklyn bridge, although I believe I did sublet it for a few months when I was in school.
Should not catchers, ya know, catch the balls thrown to them?
I seem to recall something about that. Not sure. Just looking for verification.
Interesting, Leinstery. In my imagination, the Yankees put money into player development because Scroogebrenner saw it as a savings over continuing to pay the high luxury tax. But I have to admit that's just my imagination.
That would make sense Mustang, but it probably happened after sleepless nights of sweating over the thought of short term financial losses.
Anyways this game is our worst nightmare. Hammels looks like Lefty Gomez against the best lineup in the league. Texas is probably already clearing space for Frazier, Sheffield, and two other guys. This is the reverse of the Rays sweeping them before the 2016 deadline.
Yes, Hamels' showing is disturbing. As is German's.
As is Gary Sanchez getting hurt, especially.
That's baseball. All it takes is one game to turn around your whole direction.
I knew Tyler Austin was a real Yankee the moment he punched a Red Sock in the face. If he can just tie the game now...
Nvm, send him to Scranton.
Any news on how long Sanchez will be out?
By the way, Caleb Smith with an excellent game against the Mets tonight.
I know it's the Mets. But still. Was it really necessary to throw him in to close the Garrett Cooper-Mike King deal?
Duque,
What's going on in the far, far north?
https://www.syracuse.com/crime/index.ssf/2018/05/judge_praises_adult_sons_legal_research_boots_him_from_parents_house_anyway.html
The Big News in the Cuse...
Something in the water, I guess.
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