A Rebuttal

Apparently my esteemed colleague HorraceClark66 disagrees with my take on whether or not we should sign Soto at any cost and, to be fair, he makes some excellent points. The two most important being...

“… most Angels fans were at least glad to see those guys (Othani and Trout) in their prime. And with Soto, there is the chance of seeing greatness, every game, at Yankee Stadium.”

And something along the lines of… Brain Cashman cannot be trusted to build a table from Ikea much less a championship roster. 

Both points are undeniable.  Although some issue could be taken with his assertation that,

“Suddenly, all sorts of suggestions began to spring up from the laptops of our local Knights of the Press Box about how the Yanks didn't need Yamamoto at all! No, sir! They could use that money to build a much better staff!”

OK, we didn’t build a better staff, but we did make it to the World Series and, in the end, it was the usual suspects that did us in.  But, how could I not agree that Cashman didn’t do anything with the unspent money except give us Marcus Stroman? 

That said… Mr. Clark66, if that is indeed your real name, while you sit at your desk and crank out “books” that earn accolades from all across the baseball world for their accuracy, insight, and entertainment value, I have nothing better to do than actually watch the games and read the psychotic ramblings of the NY Post’s Yankee article’s comments section –

“Fire Boone! Honor the Founding Fathers true meaning of Thanksgiving by bringing back the Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins! FJB!”

So who understands the game better, you or me?

I can see how you might feel that there is incredible value to having a player who is a delight to watch. Maybe he's even the next Willie Mays…  If Willie was a marginal fielder whose salary would cripple the team for the next 15 years. 

BTW how many World Series did “The Say Hey Kid” win? 

To quote from the as yet unreleased Volume Two of “The New York Game”…  “One”.  

(NOTE: I may be using this quote out of context because I have not seen an advanced copy but I’m pretty sure the word “one” is in there somewhere.)

"Hammering" Hank Aaron?  “One”  Ibid.

Yes, every Soto at-bat is a thing of beauty, a titanic struggle of wills, but how many times did the Titanic make it from Southampton to New York City? 

Uh...“None”   Ibid.

As I mentioned in my comment that spurred this, Soto is truly great, but baseball teams don't require great necessarily. It's not like he's a point guard or a 7-foot center who can clog the paint and score. He's also not Mahomes.

He's not even a #1 ace or a shutdown closer. He gets 4-5 ABs and has to catch the ball a couple of times a game. Valuable for sure, but worth 50+ million dollars a year?

Look, like I said, he’s great. His AYGHAB is 9.2. If they sign him I will watch every at bat but we all know how this story goes. Hal will force Brian to dumpster dive to fill out the rest of the roster. 

We’re all sick of it.

So if possible get those  3-year contracts ready because as I wrote the other day…

LF Santander >>>> Verdugo. Kind of what Verdugo was supposed to be, Plus it puts Jasson in center where he will not be good but will have Judge on the right and Santander in Left to reduce the amount of area he has to cover. They did this for him in the minors.

Walker >>>>>> Then the too old and crippled Rizzo (Who I like). Do you think Walker doesn't make that play in the 5th? More power. Better fielder. Three years max.

Willy Adames >> Volpe  Also good with Leaving Volpe at short, moving Chaz back to second, and playing Adams at third because the Yankees MUST have at least one player playing out of position.

Volpe >>>> Gleyber. He's probably a very good second baseman. Added bonus No Gleyber!

Tanner Scott Closes with Weaver as set up >>>>>> Weaver with ?? as set up.

Distribute the money!

Incidentally, in making the case for signing Soto you left out one huge factor in favor of doing it…

Keefe (keefetothecity.com) threatened to never watch the Yankees again if they fail to do it.

That is a major loss right there.

I suppose, even if he doesn’t watch, he can just repost old ones as the Yankees keep making the same stupid mistakes anyway.