1. Scott Effross - a bullpen lug nut penciled in to chug 50 to 70 innings in 2024 - was revealed to have undergone back surgery in December. This follows his Tommy John cutup in 2022, weeks after Cooperstown Cashman obtained him in a trade for Hayden Wesneski, (currently competing for the Cubs rotation.) Effross could be back in June. Or never. He's 30. Just sayin.'
2. Then there is Jose Trevino - the all-star reserve catcher and feelgood story of '22 - who somehow, (taking out the garbage?), tweaked a calf last month and will miss the opening games of spring training. In a normal, meaningless February, this would barely be a blip upon the Death Barge firmament of meaninglessness. But recent springs have shown us something about setbacks: They breed like feral cats. So, I suppose we should wait and see.
In theory, we can spin Trevino's olden calf as a plus: It will push the Yankees to use their young catchers, most notably Austin Wells, with the A-team rotation. Obviously, we at IIHIIFIIc are "glass half full" creatures of positivity. Trouble is, it's Day One of the First Days, and already the calves are creaking.
For months, we begged Prince Hal to finish winter with a flourish, to sign Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery and enter 2024 as kings of the AL East. Well, those pleas went nowhere.
They also traded a 19-year-old lottery ticket pitching prospect to Milwaukee for 27-year-old lefty Clayton Andrews. He'd been DFAed by the Brewers, so it was one of those "gun-to-the-head" trades that Cashman loves.
Last year, his third season at Triple A, Andrews pitched to a 2.52 ERA. He was called up to Milwaukee for an audition, and he got absolutely bombed - 3 innings, 10 earned runs. So it goes. And now... space nukes? Call 007! Calgon Bath Oil Beads, take me away!
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Trevino had his career year, made the All-Star team, and will never be that good ever again. I wish he would gracefully depart and let Austin take over, for better or worse. Rortvedt, or however you spell it, is a waste of space, and all of this is why I regretted the loss of Higgy. Say what you will about him, he was always there and defensively dependable, with flashes of good offense.
Effross is simply a cursed Yankee. A bad trade, one of many.
We still need pitching and we need it pretty badly. And we still haven't got any more.
But how about that lineup, hey, guys?
The Yankees, according to Boooooone, have gone from a "championship-caliber" team to a "championship-LEVEL" team.
And all season long, Hal will sit back counting his money while his cur, The Intern, curls up in front of the fireplace chewing on a bone. That's only because he's too large to be a lap dog.
Booooone actually looked well rested yesterday. By the fourth of July, he'll look like his old, cadaverous self, fitting in nicely in the photo of Nixon and Elvis shaking hands, both men on death's doorstep.
Former Yankees, Reds World Series-winning pitcher Don Gullett dead at 73
1) "Trevino's olden calf "
That's some damn good punning right there.
A tweaked calf for a guy who squats professionally is a much, much worse injury than it sounds. He is done.
2) Don Gullett was the first time that I can recall seeing a Yankee big time free agent acquisition go south. I know he helped us in 1977 but overall my recollection was one of injury and disappointment.
It's almost as if a very young Brian Cashman wrote a letter to the GM in crayon and convinced him to make the deal.
I saw that, Doug. He had a great string of WS's in the 70s.
Nice article on Al Downing today on The Athletic. He's 82 now.
Al was the SP in the first game I ever attended. We won.
JM - I met Al Downing at a birthday party of a friend of mine in LA. He was like a godfather to her. Very nice man. Very short. He was only 5'11" to begin with and had, as we all do, shrunk with age.
Great pitcher. Even if his W-L pct was just OK. He had a 3.22 lifetime ERA. And again, he seemed like a very nice man.
Maybe Trevino should stop these kinds of drills
video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1757822344318390272/pu/vid/avc1/480x852/cZTS_FVpQyLdPHrw.mp4?tag=12
The Yanks must hold some kind of record for injuries sustained while not playing. Truly. Exactly what could Trevino have been doing where he will now have to "be out for weeks"?
I think we can all guess: overdoing it on the weight machines. Because, you know, there is no possible way that any Yankee can ever work out, with or without the guidance of a trainer, without injuring himself.
And as for Effross...yeah, out a year-and-a-half with a big arm injury, and somehow that back surgery had to go down just before you return to "play." O-kay. Another big effort coming in 2024, I'm sure.
Good point on Higgy, JM. And Der Kaiser, a couple posts ago: great idea to make Cashie GM in Charge of Dumpster Diving. Okay, we can dress up the title: Vice-President in Charge of Overlooked Value Assessment. How's that sound?
Al Downing was actually the pitcher in the first ever, AL, all-Black starting battery in a World Series—with Elston Howard, of course.
Downing was a hard-luck guy in many ways. In that 1963 Series, he pitched pretty well, but gave up 3 runs in 5 innings, and lost to Johnny Padres, our constant nemesis.
In 1964, he pitched brilliantly, and would have been leading, 3-0, after 6 innings in Game Four. But Bobby Richardson, who had an inexplicably awful Series in the field, threw away a tailor-made DP ball, and instead of Downing being out of the inning, Ken Boyer hit a grand slam. Yanks lost 4-3, and Series was tied, instead of us being up 3 games to 1.
We were really snake-bit in that WS. Whitey Ford got hurt in Game 1 and had to leave with a 3-run lead. A terrible call allowed St. Loo to tie up Game 5 late; we lose in extra innings. And then there were a bunch of Richardson miscues.
It was as if the karma was already starting to turn. And then to make it worse, we fired Yogi after the Series.
At least those Yankees didn't do something crazy, though, like make an idiot intern the GM...
Loved Don Gullett, during his brief tenure. We should have seen the injury coming; though he was just 26 in 1977, he'd been limited by injuries the previous two seasons in Cincinnati.
Still, he went 14-4, 3.58 in 1977, with 7 CG and a shutout. He pitched very well against the Dodgers in Game 1 of the Series, leaving with one out and two on in the 9th. But Sparky Lyle, in a rare blown save that year, gave up the tying hit before we came back to win it in the 12th.
Next year, Gullett got off to a good start, was 4-2—then the arm blew, and it was all over. Still, in those days we had plenty to replace him, and went and got more the next year.
Not so much today...
Loved how misrepresentative those back pages were of Boone's entire statement and demeanor at the press conference. He seemed barely able to stay awake. And, in the usual, genial, gentle Boone manner, essentially told the press corps that they were full of shit to expect some renewed dedication to contending this year.
"This is...professional baseball," he told us all mildly, making out that he and his players always conduct and prepare themselves in a professional manner.
Point taken. I'm sure that they do. But really, this is telling us to all fuck off, they'll do what they do. I know he can't say much more—"Frankly, guys, Brian Cashman has once again failed to give me a team I can win with, especially when it comes to the pitching. I know that he and Hal talk a lot of smack about closing windows, but this one slammed shut a while ago" would result in one of the most fun sporting explosions we've ever seen in these parts—but Boonie is not about to do that and jeopardize however many millions he can still milk out of the grand pooh-bahs who run our favorite team.
He will go on being the good company man right to the end—maybe next year, maybe even this summer, if the collapse is bad enough and a fall guy is needed in a hurry—take his hefty severance pay and go home to his lovely home and family in CT.
How dare we expect anything more?
Well worded wording, Hoss.
That’s why Brad is in the dugout and Joe is in the booth.
A mid-summer-swoon-safety net, pert.
Time will tell.
Bring on the pain . . .
Pert = Perhaps
(Dang AI)
Hoss, you gotta wonder...was Richardson throwing the series? Sure seemed like it.
Rondon will be on the DL by 3/21
I'm sure my 6-year-old self would've thought so if I'd seen it, JM. But at the time, I was just obsessed with the Civil War—not baseball (yet).
Richardson was a fine glove who had some terrific hitting World Series (He hit .406 in the 1964 Classic.). Had he ever learned how to take a walk, he would've been a premier player.
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