Monday, January 18, 2021

Clint and/or Miggy: The Yankiverse steels itself for The Big One

At one point Sunday, the ever-churning MLB rumor mill claimed the Yankees had traded Clint Frazier and Miguel Andujar to Cinncinati for 28-year-old RH pitcher Luis Castillo. Today, it's fake news. Tomorrow, who knows?

Buckle-up for safety, everyone. Prepare for impact... 

The real rumor here is that Brian "Cooperstown" Cashman is back on the open waters, howling sea shanties, guzzling rum and chasing another White Whale. In this case, it's Castillo, who went 4-6 last year with a 3.21 ERA, and whose contract would make Admiral Hal Steinbrenner pee himself with glee. Castillo is under team-control for three years. In pitching terms, that's a lifetime. Thus, the key to the deal is... Castillo's deal. 

Could it happen? Fukiff I know. The Reds have shown a willingness to trade with the Yankees. Once upon a time, they sent us Aroldis Chapman for Eric Jagielo, Caleb Cotham, Rookie Davis and Tony Renda. Yikes. None saw an MLB pitch in 2020. (But remember: El Chapo's value was damaged by a little garage-shooting thingy. Also, I think we received several Robert Mapplethorpe photos.) Three years ago, they took Sonny Gray off our hands for Shed Long and a sandwich pick. (I thought long and hard about just saying "Shed Long and a sandwich," but as a truth-teller, I take no such shortcuts.) In Cincy, Gray turned out to be - well - Cashman's lost White Whale. 

That's the rub on our boy. Year after year, he chases the stud starter whom he believes will fly the Yankees to Xanadu - then gets stuck at the Duluth Airport Ramada. It's Michael Pineda, Carl Pava- nooooo, I cannot do the list, it's too painful. We get pitchers who peaked in other towns... like Cincinnati. 

That said, Castillo did not overwork his money maker last year. The Covid season limited him to 70 innings. And let's face it: The Yankees do need another starter. For years now, the lack of a rotation has tanked our bullpen and crushed us in October. 

Still... Frazier AND Andujar? Calgon Bath Oil Beads, take me away! Who here does not see Frazier as a budding NYC personality, the future of Kelly Ripa? And before his injuries, Miggy was a doubles machine, worthy of Joltin' Joe. The Yankees supposedly have a glut of outfielders. Yeah, right. Come July, our Bermuda Triangle - Aaron Hicks, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton - will disappear, cratering the offense. 

Frazier AND Andujar? Channeling George C. Scott in Hardcore here: TURN IT OFF, TURN IT OFFFFFFF...  

Jeeze, I just dunno, anymore. For 12 years now, our big-slugging lineups have been undressed in the playoffs, while we hope for miracles. Last October, our rotation consisted of Gerrit Cole, Masahiro Tanaka and Netflix. (And Tanaka is probably gone.) We resorted to Jordan Montgomery and the Deivi Garcia trickery. It didn't work. Again. 

Steel yourself, Yankiverse. Cashman is sailing the open seas. Iceberg, dead ahead. And we're preparing to harpoon it.

11 comments:

ranger_lp said...

When the Mets traded for Lindor, they didn't have to give up a whole lot...

The Yanks will probably part with Andujar or Frazier, two pitchers (Garcia or Schmidt and a prospect) and maybe Florial. I think that would do it.

13bit said...

When you're a crackhead and need a fix, just one more power arm or fading "slugger," you'll sell anything...anything...anything...for the immediate gratification. You don't think about tomorrow. You don't think about the pain you'll cause, the hearts you'll break, your family, friends or neighbors. You'll just do WHATEVER THE FUCK IT TAKES TO GET THAT NEXT FIX.

Of course, if you don't think you have a problem and, au fucking contraire, you think you're a four-dimensional chess master who is slicker than everybody else in the room, it's far worse.

There are no consequences to Crackhead Cash's bad decisions. Just a mild talking-to from Hal, a fine pat on the spiderman rump, and a friendly exhortation to "keep up the good work" as Cash trots back to his office, festooned with awards from a team that he did not build...

JM said...

Cashman is obviously not a Fleetwood Mac fan, since he never seems to think about tomorrow. Even worse, he probably doesn't even know who Peter Green was, let alone Mick Green.

I've taken a few days off from IIH so I'm late getting to the news of the world. But I did see this:

"New York also reached deals with catcher Gary Sanchez ($6.35 million), first baseman Luke Voit ($4.7 million), third baseman Gio Urshela ($4.65 million), shortstop Gleyber Torres ($4 million), right-hander reliever Chad Green ($2.15 million), left-hander Jordan Montgomery ($2.13 million) and outfielder Clint Frazier ($2.1 million)."

Now, regardless of who might get traded, Sanchez gets 6.35 mil and Gio gets 4.65? Voit gets 4.7? Clint gets a cheesy 2.1? Sanchez should be getting less than any of those guys. To put it plainly, he stinks. Those other guys don't. How does he rate a 50% or more salary than guys who actually help win games? As opposed to helping lose them.

So if we don't resign Tanaka, I'm going to be thinking about Gary's 6.35 million and wondering how it could've been better spent. On Tanaka, say, or any other competent major league player.

Jesus, this burns me up. (Nothing to do with the Daryl Hall and Robert Fripp song, "You Burn Me Up, I'm a Cigarette." Nice little rave up there.)

Carl J. Weitz said...

Look, the Yankee starting pitching is okay. Cole, Kluber and Montgomery make a decent top 3. The consensus here has always been "Give the kids a chance. Don't block their development by an aging hitter or an overvalued power arm. Now is the chance to see what Garcia can do. Give Schmidt or another kid 3 months to show what they can do. Remember, Luis Severino will be back by the end of June. He should be playoff ready by the end of September. That's an excellent front 4.Perhaps German, Schmidt or another youngster will provide reliable relief to make a solid pitching staff. I am actually very optimistic about our pitching staff, for once. But please, don't come north with Luis Cessa!!!

As far as the outfield is concerned, we can't sign Gardner. We should keep Frazier because he has proven to be a decent left fielder. Why Cashman decided to stick the team with Hicks for another six in center is mind-boggling. If healthy, Aaron Judge is in right. After 2022 my belief is that they will let Judge walk if they haven't jettisoned Carlos Stanton's salary. Don't forget, Jassen Dominguez, the next Mike Trout/Mickey Mantle and the # 1 Yankee prospect will likely make the team in 2023, if not the end of 2022. Tauchman slots in fine as a spare outfielder. perhaps Florial , too.

That leaves Andujar as a spare piece and if they don't utilize him they can feature him in a trade to bring back someone they need. it would be a shame because if he played regularly, he could be a triple crown contender.

The extra

TheWinWarblist said...

Please, please, please, dear sweet Flying Spaghetti Monster in puttanesca sauce, please don't ever review the pitchers again! How can you put yourself through that!? How can you put us through that!?





Die Cashman! Die, die, die already!

Anonymous said...


Unfortunately, Frazier snapped today and posted a profane clip about his not leaving and while it’s not exactly the kind of thing that sends you to Arkham it might be the kind of thing that sends to to Cincinnati. That would, of course suck.

Doug K.

Alphonso said...

But we still have Giancarlo Stanton for seven years, right?

He won't get traded, right?

We are ok then.

Kevin said...

Giving the young pitchers a chance sounds so nice. Except that these are the Yankees who haven't developed a real starter since, Wong? In over twenty years, one pitcher???!!!! We don't even ineptly trade budding starters away. Some thoughts from,........The Twilight Zone.

HoraceClarke66 said...

Bitty, that was just about perfect.

JM, you have a great idea. The Yanks would have been better off literally just releasing Sancho and signing Romine, if they couldn't get anyone else.

Carl Weitz, I think Kluber is worth the risk. But right now he's throwing like a fair-to-middling high school pitcher. And we have no idea if Severino will come back anything like his old self.

The Martian will escape the Yanks' continuing, "Everybody Gets Hurt, Nobody Gets Better" curse...if he really is a Martian. And this is probably the last moment to move Judge.

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