Maybe it is time to start thinking about next year...
Maybe the fate of the '21 Yankees should be left to future singer-songwriters. Maybe Billie Eilish can sing the eulogy, describing her pain and loneliness. Can Portishead make a comeback? This is no job for Matchbox Twenty.
It's time to plan a tanking. Currently, the Yankees are the 17th schlubbiest team in baseball. We can do better worse.
Pondering a Yankee tank? Already? Before the solstice? What brings us to this point of Stygian blackness and Sartrean despair?
Well, how 'bout two (2) excruciating losses - both at the hands of our fabled closer, El Chapo - on a day when our best shot at hope limped off a minor league mound and back into rehab. In case you missed it, Luis Severino tweaked his somethingorother last night and was whisked off the field like a popped balloon. Remember how Sevy was going to be back by July 4? Well, make it August 4. Or maybe 2022. Or maybe... gulp... nevermore.
He and Aaron Hicks are the astral twins of Injury List Juju. Literally, since the day we signed them to long-term contracts, they have been one tweak after another. I doubt Cooperstown Cashman will ever again slot Hicks into CF. And after Setback Sevy's latest tribulation, how can anyone expect a comeback?
It's time to start the doomsday prep. The Yankee front office should hereby cease and desist all activities related to patching the gaping holes in this vessel, and think exclusively about 2023. This means a critical assessment of all active players over 30 - a list that includes Zack Britton (33), Aroldis Chapman (33), Gerrit Cole (30), Chad Green (30), Lucas Luetge (34), Kyle Higashioka (31), DJ LeMahieu (32), Brett Gardner (37) and Giancarlo Stanton (31).
Obviously, Cole and LeMahieu deserve better fates than the Yankees have offered. Trading them is probably not realistic. That said, either would fetch high quality prospects, especially if dangled in front of an ambitious GM. The signs always say BREAK GLASS IN CASE OF FIRE. Well, maybe it's time to break glass.
The team should similarly shop around its reigning disappointments, such as Gary Sanchez, Clint Frazier and Jamison Tailon - but trading players at their low points is seldom good business. After Cory Kluber returns, if he returns, Kluber might bring some young talent. If this sounds heartless, consider that the Yankees would be doing him a favor, sending him to a contender for what might be his final season.
Am I overstating this current malaise? Maybe. That is what we do. This team could still get hot. And the Wild Card makes everyone a contender, right?
Still, how can anyone can look at this team, as it is currently comprised, and see it winning in October? And if Cashman thinks he can save the season with deadline trades, it will almost surely make things worse for the long range.
Somehow, the Yankees became a haunted ghost ship. Man the lifeboats, everybody. She's going down.
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18 comments:
Some thoughts...
1)This was said in the comments yesterday but El Chapo needs a clean inning because he never goes 1-2-3 and starting with a guy on second is pretty much a lock that they will score.
Also, I mentioned it once and it was mentioned yesterday as well - it is entirely possible that his lights out secondary pitches have a little help. The "help" is now gone and he will revert to fastballs as his only "reliable" pitch. So...
Segue to today's post...
2) TRADE HIM. TRADE HIM NOW! Before the rest of league figures out what we already know.
3) Taillion doesn't have it. He should agree to go down to Triple A to figure it out. If he doesn't want to then he needs to be traded or DFA'd. He can't put us in these kinds of hole anymore. Plus, he creates dread when he's scheduled to pitch. If there was a AYG-HOTM (are you glad he's on the mound) his would be <1.
4) I keep reading about how many potentially great players we have in AA and A ball so maybe it is time, as Duque suggests, to cut bait and hold a fire sale. Get some more prospects and wait for 2023. They're going to lose a ton of games anyway. They might as well be productive losses.
His list of trades is a good one. I'm hanging on to AnDujar, Gleyber, Judge, Urshalla, Johhny Lasagna, and Cole. We're stuck with Stanton. I'm ok with DJ. Everyone else can and should go.
5) Here's a new thought never before expressed here. FIRE BRAIN!
6) FIRE BOONE and get a developmental manager. We actually don't need Buck (He's only if we're trying to win this year - which I was in favor of but now I'm not)
Get a guy who can teach the new crop to be winners. Who is our AAA guy? Or did he leave because we didn't promote him? Find the best AAA manager in all of baseball and steal him. Fundamentals!!!!
Doug K.
I have to agree with you on almost everything, Doug, but I don't think hiring Buck would be a move only if we want to win this year. He's a builder. So he could assess, mark for trading, and build a team from what we keep. I think Buck can be a development manager, and he's shown that in the past.
Aside from that, not a lot to say. Chapman sure hit the skids fast. Nice to see Britton pitch an effective inning, though. He's still OK, at least for this year.
If Cashman is making the trades, then who cares. He basically received Torres for arguably 2 of top 5 relievers in baseball at that time. So what do think he’d get for Cole & DJ. Maybe Ben Heller 2.0 or Clint Frazier 2.0. This franchise is a joke right now and it starts at the top.
Really want to get sick?
Compare the Yankees future to the Devil Rays
According to Spotrac in 2024 the Yanks will be paying the following;
Cole (33)-36M
Stanton (32)- 32M
D.J. (35)- 15M
Hicks(34)-9.785M
Rays
B. Lowe(29)-5.25M.
You would think someone beside us would have noticed by now.
TTF
Trade Tank Fire
The Archangel for Change
@Doug K. I'd even be up for trading Cole, Judge, Urshela, Torres, DJ. It'd depend on what you can get for them. Multiple high level prospects for each? It's a no-brainer. Trade away. We'll be real contenders again in 2 years.
I'd keep only Andujar and Loiasiga. Stanton only if we can't find a taker.
The Hammer of God
I agree with what Celerino Sanchez said about Brian Cashman; we can tank, we can get a new manager, we could follow all of these suggestions but it will be futile. Not only is Cashman poor at putting a roster together (and that is being generous!) we must never forget that the #1 mandate around here is to keep Hal under the Major League Baseball luxury tax cap. The leadership doesn't even pretend to claim that winning is the end all and be all anymore.
So many good ideas today. These tanking plans would take a certain imagination that no one in the Yankees Corporate Offices is capable of.
If Buck were available, he would likely be his own man, which would fly in the face of the current regime. Buck has proven himself capable of development (which he did with both the Yankees and Arizona), and is a tougher motivator than the current marshmallow. If Buck were hired, it would necessitate getting rid of The Brain. The two could not peacefully coexist anymore than Girardi did.
I believe Harold is committed to maintaining the illusion that the Yankees are competitive, but not necessarily interested in a "hunk of metal." So, having some bloated salaries - which we here see as a waste of good money but Harold sees as an investment - is the window dressing that proves he wants to win. Yet, the modern baseball world is passing them by as other teams prove more successful, like the Rays, A's Chisox, and even the RedSux.
My only suggestion to all the moves suggested thus far would be to bring Florial and Peraza up, stick Florial in CF, Peraza at SS, move Gleyber back to 2B and DJ to first. That would be a solid infield and we'd get to see if those two kids have any value at all. Being 7.5 back of the Rays, we couldn't possibly do any worse.
"Stinky" Odor is batting 3rd today.
What Lyle Overbay isn't available?
Need anyone say more?
The Archangel, left to ponder the meaning of life
From Jack Curry...
Judge isn’t in the starting lineup. Boone said he’s been dealing with some back spasms...
We need to get younger. Only Hal can make the decision to tank the team. Problem...he makes tons of money with the roster presently. Tampa Bay doesn't have that issue...nobody goes to the games there...
Florial has a 30% k rate IN THE MINORS, how bad would that play out against major league pitching? As for Peraza he just got to aa, there’s no way he’s ready. So yeah they can possibly do worse, still lose the games while rushing two kids who clearly aren’t ready
@Dantes Gotta disagree with you on the Florial point. I really don't care what his K rate in the minors is. We'd bring him up for two reasons. One, because everyone up here sucks anyway and we need some new blood. Two, because we should just throw him in CF and it'll be learning on the job. We'd be hoping that he develops, in other words.
Keep him down in the minors, and you're basically wasting his best years down there. By the time he finally comes up, he'll be 28 or 29 years old. No matter how bad he sucks when he comes up here, it's quite possible that he develops within a year or two. And then with other moves, we could be contenders again in two years. Actually, I think they should have brought up Florial two years ago. Then we'd already know if he's a major leaguer worth keeping.
The Hammer of God
I still say bring up Jasson Dominguez now. He's already the best outfielder in the organization if he's as advertised. If he knows how to hit, what does he need to learn in the minors? Let him follow in the footsteps of Al Kaline, Catfish Hunter, Dave Winfield, Harmon Killebrew, Sandy Koufax and others. Sure, some played college ball but so what? Even Mickey Mantle played only briefly in the minors. All of the above did just fine. They're all in the HOF. He certainly can't hit any worse than the bottom 4 or 5 in the batting order.
For fucks sake, these geniuses in the Yankee organization, including Kevin Reese won't even advance him from extended spring training to at least Low A MiLB even though they say he will "rocket through their minor league system". Something really doesn't add up here for the next purported Mickey Mantle/Mike Trout.
Both Florial and Peraza are superior gloves up the middle. Better then what we have now.
Oh, and while you're busy dissing his K rate, you might notice that he's hitting 286 across two levels with a 356 OBP.
And I can almost guarantee you - if either or both were in the Tampa organization, they'd already be getting big league at-bats.
Jessica Dominguez will never play for the Yankees.
Just a sense I have.
As soon as he sees real pitching, he will be erased as a prospect.
Jackson Melian was better.
Where's Tanaka???????????????
DickAllen et al. are on the money about bringing up Florial--at least Florial, maybe Peraza too. The Yankee roster is clogged with Cashman's JUNK acquisitions and signings: Take, for example, Odor and Gardner. They are regular starters, but the overwhelming evidence is that they are FINISHED as MLB players and on the downward slide. Yet they keep appearing in the starting lineup when they shouldn't even be on the 40-man roster. Meanwhile, the organization has done its best to destroy the confidence of Clint Frazier, who still has great potential (based on his performance on both sides of the ball last year) if they would stop jerking him in and out of the starting lineup--which they've been doing since opening day--and stop yanking him for pinch hitters and defensive replacements. He, along with Tyler Wade and Florial and others, are languishing into Cashman's netherworld because of the organization's instinctive mistrust of young players and its addiction to "names," even when the names are aging and nosediving and wouldn't be on any other MLB roster. It's magical thinking of the most primitive sort--so please spare me the talk of Cashman's overreliance on analytics--teams like the Rays rely on analytics. Cashman and Boone rely on whatever panicked fantasy of the moment they pull out of their asses.
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