Though it doesn't matter, the Death Barge last night clobbered their old chums, the Orioles, 7-1. Some of the most relevant irrelevancies...
Some meanderings...
1. Increasingly, Aaron Judge looks like an anti-vaxxer. Last night, he continued to hem and haw around the issue, though he went out of his way to praise Kylie Irving for sitting out the home NBA season rather than get a jab - a move that tanked the Nets. NYC's vaccine mandate will be lifted this week, so it won't crush the Yankees and Mets. But it might still keep Judge from playing in Toronto.
I'm not here to debate vaccines. But Covid will always be a flashbulb mutation away from returning, and if a player would refuse one, it's worth noting before you sign him for life. We love Judge, but maybe - just maybe - NYC isn't the place for him. If Hal Steinbrenner is now the King of Prospect Huggers, perhaps he should look to acquire more...
2. The Yankees are clucking over Deivi Garcia's success last night - two scoreless innings! - after abandoning the changes that our brain trust foisted on him last year. As 2021's biggest wipeout - his ERA at Scranton was just shy of 7.00 - Deivi fell so fast and so hard that, even now, I wonder if he wasn't always just a concoction of Yankee/YES propaganda.
It sure would be great if he could pick up from 2020 - just delete last season from memory - and slot into the Yankee rotation. He'll turn 23 in May.
But to think that his woes may have stemmed from coaching... wow.
3. Last night's lineup - probably foreshadowing the regular season - had Joey Gallo batting third, between Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. He went 2 for 3 with a double and a strikeout.
A friend in Texas, who has followed Gallo from the gitgo, says the Rangers promoted him for years as the Second Coming of Juan Gonzalez. But last August, they'd seen enough. They couldn't wait to jettison him. With the Yankees, in 228 plate appearances, he hit .160 and fanned 88 times (four out of every 10.) He's 28 and facing a career crossroads.
Used to be, your biggest bat hit third. The stat-crunchers changed that. But make no mistake: Gallo will be the most important presence in the Yankee lineup. If he can't hit between Judge and Giancarlo, he's toast. And so are we.
And batting third - no matter how you crunch your numbers - that's a lot to hang on a lifetime .206 hitter.
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I think that each cop, firefighter, medical worker and EMT in NYC should get their jobs back immediately and each receive a bonus for NYC's COVID Relief slush fund of $203,703., which represents one day of pay from Judge (104,930 out of a minimum 17mil) and Rizzo (98,765 out of 16mill.)
They should also donate each day of payment they would receive for games which they are unable to play in Toronto in the event that Canada keeps it mandate in effect.
Boys, tell me again how much you love the Yankees when you refuse to take steps necessary to play against a rival.
It gets hard and harder to root for these smucks every day.,
"Harold, go get me the pool chair closest to the bar and have that bleacher creature move farther away."
I don’t care who he thinks he is. I would put him on the trading block and sell him to the highest bidder. Let him go play in Boston for all I care.
The Yankees finished (barely) in third place in the east with him having a terrific year, will likely finish fourth with or without him, and the Yankees can wallow along as an also-ran mediocrity with even the baseball equivalent of Fredo Corleone in right field. Hell, we already have a Fredo in left.
In his walk year, he might not bring much of a return, so I propose signing him long term and then trading his ass. With a contract that could take him to his 38th birthday, he’ll make a great DH, hopefully in the NL. He’d play well in San Diego.
"Forbes' annual analysis of estimated MLB franchise values shows the New York Yankees again topping the list and hitting the $6 billion plateau, joining the Dallas Cowboys (an estimated $6.5 billion) as the most valuable global franchises." A thought for all of us to consider today as we await the next flashbulb mutations of summer . . . .
And don't forget that YES Network has been valued even higher than the Yankees.
Agreed. Even before this, I thought the Yankees should have seriously considered trading Judge, much as I love him. This, to me, is a tipping point.
That Forbes article included the MLB teams other ventures such as soccer teams and ancillary revenue streams. It did not include regional sports networks that several teams own such as YES, SNY and Liberty Media (Braves) or real estate. But it did include TV deals the teams had under contract such as the Dodgers and SportsNet, LA (8.35 Billion over 25 years). That's an AAV of $334 million per year.
However, YES is not worth more than the Yankees. As of 1/21, "Forbes states that the Yankees (Yankee Global Enterprises -including Yankees, Legends, YES Network, NYC FC, and the Scranton/Wilkes-Bare RailRiders) are worth a combined $6.39 BILLION dollars."
In 8/2019, ESPN reported " The deal announced Thursday values YES at $3.47 billion, nearly $500 million less than when 21st Century Fox acquired a majority stake in 2014. Disney was required to sell off Fox's regional sports networks as part of its $71 billion deal to acquire Fox's entertainment assets, which triggered Yankee Global Enterprises' right-of-first-refusal to buy back YES Network shares. That deal closed in March."
Ricky Ricardo says John will broadcast seven spring training games, including this Saturday. I’m forgiving MLB the second I hear his voice…
It is no longer about baseball. Only money matters.
Love Judge, but you can recall that I have been wanting to trade him for a while. He's not all that and a bag of chips. His value will not be any higher than it is now - and it's lower than it might have been a few years ago.
We could do better than him. The ONLY problem is that the guy who'd be finding his replacement is a complete nincompoop.
We are doomed.
Nincompoop is a great word. However, I feel it is much too generous in this case.
Poop may be the best distillation outta NINCOMpoop to arrive upon given that we are living in the year twenty number †wo †wo. PoopPoop PoopPoopPoop!
The Cashman Conundrum, Bitty!
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