Ten days later - as we were still digesting the sparks-filled appearance together of Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet at the Academy Awards - the Yankees signed the emerging centerfielder, Aaron Hicks, to a seven-year, $70 million extension.
Ten days in Yankee/celebrity history.
We celebrated these future marriages, even as we knew that you can't predict baseball, Suzyn.
And 2022 will define their careers in Gotham.
You can't hate a guy for getting hurt, Suzyn. But some people were not put on Earth to be Yankees. Jacoby Ellsbury comes to mind. Ji-Man Choi. Stephen Drew. The list grows every year, and it might someday include Hicks and Severino.
For now, though, let's table the Hicks discussion. Let's do Sevy.
In 2019, he looked like a future Monument Parker, if not a Cooperstowner. Then came the setbacks. He hurt his shoulder. Then his elbow. Then his shoulder. Then his groin. Today, Severino faces the final year of his contract, a season that will restore prominence or end his time in pinstripes.
Considering his history, it's hard to imagine "Setback Sevy" pitching 150 innings.
And unless he delivers, it's hard to imagine the Yankees picking up his $15 million club option next fall. One more injury - or spate of ineffectiveness - and they'll pay him the $2.75 million buyout, making him another Corey Kluber. How will we feel if Houston, or Boston, or - gulp - Tampa signs him next winter? Steel yourselves.
So here's a thought, which I'm sure somebody inside the Yankees is contemplating:
What if - instead of trying to drain 200 innings from Sevy's fragile metabolism, and to pitch him until he drops - what if they give him the eighth inning? He's done it before - his rookie year. Aroldis Chapman is no longer a sure thing. The Yankees might need a closer. In the past, they've shelled out for bullpen stoppers - Zack Britton comes to mind. If Severino becomes "Solid Sevy," he could make a difference... and maybe save that plaque in centerfield.
Joe and Sophie are still together. Jason and Lisa? Kaputsville. Maybe the Yankees can still save this marriage. Maybe it's time to abandon this fantasy of Severino as a warhorse, as a staff ace. Could he be a closer? Sometimes, to make a union work, you have to change.
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5 comments:
Having Sevy pitch the 8th makes sense...
Considering that his injuries have moved south from shoulders, I predict his next injury will be in his leg...hamstring comes to mind...
Ranger, I think he's due for a case of hammer toe.
That’s a June move, maybe. Let’s se what he does for the first couple of months
I think it is the kind of idea a smart, new GM or manager might have.
However, once the Yankees pencil you in to a role, and write the big contract consistent with that role, that is the ballgame.
It is like the way Eric Flowers played left tackle for the Giants, and failed regularly at that position until they cut him. Whereupon he became a fine guard for the former Redskins team.
Giants and Yankee managements operate the same way. You are what they think you are. There is no imagination. There is no testing or trying out new things, They cannot admit failure. You can fail. But not them.
So Luis will only wind up in the bullpen if all else collapses to a mega-degree. Luis is more likely to blow out another shoulder before he is given the ball for the 8th inning and told," you might be our next closer."
Nice try, Duque. But you are talking to Cashman and Boone.
Or even, "Seventh-inning Sevvy."
Quite agree, Duque. Despite the delusions of many gentlemen of the press, the Yanks' pen is now nearly as denuded as the starting rotation. Sevvy has Potential Dave Righetti written all over him (which, really, takes up most of his body surface).
But yes, I would definitely start him out as a one-inning guy.
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