Saturday, November 16, 2019

In a week when nothing seemed to happen, a whole lotta shakin' goin' on

The GM meetings came and went, and nobody - not even Dopey Dildox - was traded. Soon, Brian "Cooperstown" Cashman must finalize the Yankee 40-man roster, and perhaps jettison a few repeat Scrantonians to protect high ceiling 20-year-olds in the December Rule 5 draft. He does this annually, and I thought he might pull the trigger on one last week. Chance Adams, maybe? Nestor Octavio-Cortes Jr?  

Meanwhile, the Gammonites sputter and churn. Here are some of the most cogent musings of late.

NJ.com offers a compendium of Cashman nothing quotes about several on-the-griddle Yankees: Clint Frazier, Greg Bird, Miguel Andujar, Domingo German, Gary Sanchez, and Gio Urshela. Not much here, information-wise. Just Cashman lap-dancing. The man sure can filibuster. The most interesting tidbit comes when he mentions that Adujar, if he doesn't learn other positions, still has options. Thus, he could end up in Scranton. Wow. Is that a warning shot or what?

Jim Callis provides an overview of the Yankee farm system, with two revelations: 1) the continued meteoric ascension of Jasson Dominguez as a marquee prospect (he ranks No. 2) and 2) the Yankee Top 30 includes 15 pitchers, the most of any MLB team. Even if we lose half to TJ surgery - as we should expect - that's still seven quality arms. 

A report that the Yankees are still considering signing Didi Gregorius. I hate these write-ups. Of course they are "considering" this. It's fun to consider stuff. I'm considering hiring ambassador Gordon Sondland for this blog. Look, I suppose there's an honest chance that Didi sifts through his suitors - does he want to play in Cincinnati? - and then gives the Yankees, say, a one-year offer. And they will consider it. But, seriously, I doubt they'll get into a bidding war. It's all up to Didi. In a way, he is "considering" us. 

The ghost of Zim? A story that Yankee third base coach Phil Nevin almost went ballistic on his Astros counterpart, due to his certainty that Houston was cheating in the playoffs. These allegations look awful for the Astros. Players have gone on-the-record with accusations. I can't help but wonder: Was El Chapo's fateful gopher ball to Li'l Jose Altuve flagged in advance? We'll probably never know, but - hell - from now on, I'm going with it. MLB should throw the book at Houston. But mark these words: The brass will assign an intern to it, and let the story go cold. Corporations are corporations, and MLB doesn't want to undermine one of its happy feeling "Cinderella" teams. They would crucify the Yankees, if we faced such charges. The Astros should merely expose a wrist for the looming slap.

One last thought - from me. The totality of these reports don't offer much hope for Clint Frazier. Wherever you look, writers seem to have soured on Red Thunder. I blame the hype machine itself: They put a guy on a pedestal, then push him off. But the one thing that might keep him a Yankee is the fact that no other team seems willing to give up much in return. 

I still think Frazier will have a few solid years - 30 HRs with a decent BA. And all this talk about the Yankee outfield logjam is based on the ridiculous theory that because Giancarlo Stanton missed last year, he'll be healthy this year. I think the guy is a walking bucket of tweaks - maybe another Ellsbury. Why would we think Stanton will play 100 games in LF? With Hicks gone for half the season, show me again how the Yankees have too many outfielders. 

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

CLINT NEEDS TO STAY.

GARDY (SADLY) NEEDS TO BE LET GO.

I LIKE THE SOUND OF A MIKE TAUCHMAN/CLINT FRAZIER LEFT FIELD PLATOON.

IT WOULD ALSO HELP IF FRAZIER WAS TOLD BEFORE THE SEASON STARTS, "YOU ARE OUR LEFT FIELDER NO MATTER WHAT. RELAX."

...BUT WE WON'T DO THAT.

ANY DAY NOW, GARDY WILL RESIGN WITH US, AND THE MEDIA WILL SAY HOW SMART WE ARE FOR SIGNING HIM FOR A "BARGAIN PRICE" OF ONLY $9.5 MILLION DOLLARS.

CASHMAN IS SUCH AN ASSHOLE, IT'S AMAZING.

JM said...

If Stanton can stay healthy for more than 25 games, he'll DH or play left.

Or should I say, "play" left. In quotes. Because he can't actually play in the field, but he sure can "play."

Anonymous said...

I agree with the first post above. Gardner was a good Yankee, but it's high time to move on. We should have moved on 3 or 4 years ago. Are we going to keep Gardner until he plays with a cane? It's not so much lack of production from Gardie, it's just that we have younger, more talented options. Clint Frazier certainly should get a half season in left to show what he can do. I'm willing to go with Frazier even though he's another right handed bat, because I feel he's worth taking the chance on. Besides, we have Tauchman also, who is left handed. We're very thin in the outfield, but we might as well go with those two, instead of re-signing Gardner for another year. If Gardner would sign for peanuts, that's one thing, but it probably takes a pay raise to sign him. So the hell with that. Do we want to keep Gardner or use that money on pitching? Cashman needs to think pitching, pitching, more pitching.

The Hammer of God

Medisavvy said...

Yankees may not be done with Frazier yet. With Hicks down for most of the year, Maybin gone to FA - and assuming Gardner re-signs - Frazier is 5th on the outfield depth chart - Judge, Stanton, Gardner, Tauchman, Frazier.

Frazier may yet get a chance to redeem himself. And the way the Yankees break their ballplayers, they might not want to trade Frazier so quickly.

Anonymous said...

Cashman will talk to the agents for a few high end free agents but
will not make any legitimate offers any will accept. Instead, he will
make an offer to a name pitcher coming off a bad year or recovering from TJ surgery.
Cashman will also hold on to duds like .125 hitting Greg Bird and expose young pitchers to the rule 5 draft.

Anonymous said...

I LIKE WHERE YOUR HEAD IS AT HAMMER OF GOD....

IN REFERENCE TO GREG BIRD....

EVERYONE ON THIS GREAT BLOG KNOWS I WAS THE BIGGEST GREG BIRD FAN THERE EVER WAS....

....BUT I HAVE SEEN ENOUGH.

HE IS NOT THE SAME GUY FROM 2015, WHEN HIS "EASY SWING" WAS POWERFUL.... EVERY CONNECTION WAS EXCITING.

FOR 3 YEARS SINCE, HIS BAT IS HORRIFICALLY SLOW, HE STRIKES OUT LIKE CRAZY, DOESN'T MAKE ENOUGH CONTACT, AND TO ME, THE DEATH KNELL OF HIS CAREER IS HOW SLOW HE IS.

HE JUST CLOGS UP THE BASES, HORRIBLY, EVEN IN THE RARE OCCASIONS WHEN HE DOES GET ON BASE.

WE NEED TO RELEASE HIM,

EVEN I AM NOT WORRIED ABOUT HIM COMING BACK TO HAUNT US.

THAT'S WHEN YOU KNOW WHEN WE ARE SAFE.

WHEN EVEN I AM NOT WORRIED.

CLINT FRAZIER HORRIFIES ME IF WE EVER GET RID OF HIM.

HE WILL DESTROY US.

GUARANTEED.

Anonymous said...

the continued meteoric ascension of Jasson Dominguez as a marquee prospect (he ranks No. 2)

But is he rising because of what he is doing on the field or just rising in comparison to who the Yankess have in the farm as in VERY MLB ready non pitchers?

Doug K.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, should read VERY FEW

Doug K.

Carl J. Weitz said...

Obviously, the biggest part of Bird's problem is his health. Particularly his feet and ankles.
Part of the reason his swing has drastically slowed down is that he never seems comfortable shifting his weight between the legs or balancing that weight properly. Also, don't forget that he missed the entire year right after his great rookie season due to shoulder problems. All this has made him one of the worst hitters against the fastball in all of MLB. The question is will he be physically sound and is he worth the wait?

TheWinWarblist said...

What type of bird is this of which you speak??

13bit said...

Bird = fried chicken, roast duck, cooked goose, stewed hen, pigeon pie. Bird is done. Yankee management also treats players with contempt, in general. Yankees need pitching, end of story.

HoraceClarke66 said...

Guys like Bird, they spend so much time out of action, THEY don't even have a feel for themselves anymore.

I joined ALL-CAPS in his hopes for this guy, but he's right: this Bird has flown. Time to move on.

HoraceClarke66 said...

Duque is completely right in that, if the Yanks were caught in a scandal like the Astros are now, there would actually be formal hearings, and talk of forfeiting the World Series. That's more annoying than even the Astros doing it.

The outfield IS empty, and it's ridiculous that these guys expect Stanton to be back and in rude good health. Yes, they should let Gardner go—and even re-sign Maybin for insurance.

But they won't.

Anonymous said...

If the Yanks had cheated to win a WS, Congress would be holding hearings and subpoenaing people left and right. I just thank God that Washington beat the Houston cheaters in this WS. Seeing Altuve strike out in the 9th inning of Game 7 was the next best thing to the Yankees winning. A small consolation, but hey, a hell of a lot better than seeing the cheaters win.

Anonymous said...

Sondland ... could be a steal.

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