Saturday, January 14, 2023

Thoughts on a Rainy Saturday – The Actual Issue Is Third Base

 

https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article271070812.html

Historical Note: (Hoss-torical note?)

Nobody mentioned to the 1849ers that in addition to there being gold just lying around, every once in a while, the Sacramento Valley turns into an inland sea.

Speaking of floods and a need to prepare for disaster… 

The Yankees have a construction issue.

The mastermind(s) that once forgot to have left handed hitters on the team have, despite having the aforementioned "seven corpses for five coffins", (Nice BTW) still don't have an infield that works for an entire season.

The Problem Is Actually 3B

Was it Bill Parcells who said, "If you have two or three quarterbacks you don't have any."?

Well, despite having THREE third basemen we don’t have any.

Here's why.

Donaldson

Donaldson has to go. I won’t waste our time with why? We all know he sucks. Also, he’s a schmuck. A black hole in the line-up. A trouble magnet with a bad haircut. A distraction. A strikeout machine. A late- inning choker. A TWENTY-FIVE million dollar anchor on our ability to get a better left fielder, a club house cancer, a…

Sorry.

We should trade him. But…

No other team will take him. Possibly because he sucks. Also, he’s a schmuck. A black hole in the line-up. A trouble magnet with a bad haircut. A distraction. A strikeout machine. A late- inning choker. A TWENTY-FIVE million dollar anchor on our ability to get a better left fielder, a club house cancer, a…

Sorry.

DJ LeMahieu

In a perfect world DJ is our starting third baseman. 

Better bat. Solid Glove.

Besides, as El Duque wrote, “DJ LeMahieu - said to be healed".

Sadly, we need to add, "of his most recent malady".

Really like DJ. Wanted him re-signed. That said, he wears down and never seems to answer the bell in October.

If we do the logical thing and make him the primary 3rd baseman with Cabera as the new INFIELD utility guy then who backs up Rizzo? 

Rizzo, another guy who I’m glad we re-signed, has lengthy and reoccurring back issues.  

If/when they both go down at the same time we get a Chris Gittens type player. Not good.  

So, DJ can’t be our starting third baseman. He needs to float around. Maybe he should move to Sacramento. 

IKF

IKF plays third and was a Gold Glover but for some reason they don’t let him. 

Quick Question: Does anybody know why? Seriously.

Last year we were sticking people at third who never played the position. What’s up with that? IKF won a Gold Glove there. It makes no sense. I’ve never seen an explanation.

---

The rest of the infield is set. 

Peraza will/should/better fucking win the SS job out of Spring Training. Volpe won’t be up until the later part of the year. Partly because of holding him back for service time issues, partly because he needs a little more time in AAA (having just arrived there) and, partly because our team is run by dumb asses.

Once Volpe arrives Peraza goes over to second. With any luck this is our double play combination for the next five years.  Cabera backs them both up. We’re good.

Rizzo/DJ at first. (With DJ also backing up third.) We’re good.

Solution?

Everyone, including me thinks that Gleyber should be part of a package for a left fielder but actually we might be better served using him as part of a package to try to get a solid third baseman. 

Added bonus – we can release Donaldson because… he sucks. Also, he’s a schmuck. A black hole in the line-up. A trouble magnet with a bad haircut. A distraction. A strikeout machine. A late- inning choker. A TWENTY-FIVE million dollar anchor on our ability to get a better left fielder, a club house cancer, a…

Sorry. 

If all else fails...  Manny Machado has an opt out at the end of the year. If we can’t  make a trade… how about we rectify that pass?


7 comments:

The Hammer of God said...

No question about it, Donaldson should be designated for assignment.

Peraza can play SS. According to Cabrera, Peraza is not just a good SS, he is an "elite" level SS.

Torres should be traded. Cabrera can play 2B. DJL can play 3B with IKF backing him up.

If they bring up Volpe at some point, they can try Volpe at SS and move Peraza to 3B.

It all works out beautifully without Donaldson and Torres.

Joe Formerlyof Brooklyn said...


Pretend for a second that you are one of the GMs of the other 29 teams.

You know the Yankees could use a LF. You suspect they'd want a LH hitter, too, even a crummy one.

You also remember they traded Monty last year in what appeared to be one of the stupidest moves since humankind left the caves.

Would you really settle for freaking Gleyber Torres in a trade? Or would you ask for a lot more -- Sevvy, maybe. Or even more....? Nestor?

BTR999 said...

I’d love to see Donaldson gone, but we know that ain’t happenin’
Best case scenario, he hits the IL around the time Volpe is ready, and stays there!

Carl J. Weitz said...

Doug, you overlooked the most obvious reason why IKF is not playing third: Cashman.
I'm sure Cashman insists on the old notion that the third base position must be a power/HR hitter.
Rather than just releasing Donaldson, why not eat 17-18 million of his contract and add a decent prospect with Josh as an incentive in a trade between the Yankees and some team willing to take a flier on the cheap slot him in at third for one season. Or DH.

The Archangel said...

Nobody is going to help the Yanks by taking on Donaldson.
Any trade that includes prospects is going to sting.
Eating money on his contract won't hurt me, cuz I don't attend games anymore, so exorbitant prices at the Stadium are, personally, no big deal..

The Hammer of God said...

Why should we throw in a prospect just to get rid of Donaldson? Even if we eat his entire contract, it's better just to toss him out the window. If someone wants him before spring training, of course, trade him. But I don't think anyone will offer a bag of balls for him. This is addition by subtraction. Any of the kids would play better than him, so why hang on to him? Without him, they have a chance to make the playoffs. With him at 3B for the entire season, they probably go home at the end of the regular season.

HoraceClarke66 said...

I think we might at least get some magic beans if we do agree to eat most of Donaldson's salary for some other team. But of course that's against HAL's policy.