High upon a lonely ledge
A figure teeters near the edge
And jeering crowds collect below
To egg him on with, "Go, man, go!"
But who will ask what led him
To his private day of doom,
And who will answer...
Who. Will. Answer. Not me. But today's sleuths of the Yankiverse face a mystery unlike all others: The fate of Marcus Stroman, of his Instagram profile, and of the remaining $18 million on his contract, which Team Cashman seems determined to cast overboard. Go, man, go...
We've been here before, eh? Like... every fucking winter? Wasn't it last January when the Death Barge brain trust desperately shopped around Carlos Rodon, like a YA novel pitch from Diddy? As it had done previously with Sonny Gray, with Nathan Eovaldi, with Lance Lynn, with all the other disappeared?
Last October, Stroman was royally dissed, when the Yankees shelved him. Now, he's poster boy for 2025's Cashman Scapegoat Syndrome, as the franchise seeks someone to blame for its most recent failure. But the Yankees always need a scapegoat.
Yesterday, Stroman deleted his online presence. Who cares? Probably, the next team that gets him. Because he'll have something prove. He'll be the latest in a train of players who grew up loving the Yankees, and now push voodoo pins into them.
Stroman's 2024 season was disappointing. But here's the rub: It wasn't THAT bad.
He finished 3rd on the team in wins and innings pitched, 4th in strikeouts and games started. Yeah, at times, he fell apart. So did Cole. So did Gil. So did Schmidt. So did Rodon. No Yankee pitcher lasted the year without a meltdown. Stoman's coincided with October.
So, no Instagram? He's deleted his Yankee logo. WTF does it mean?
Well, it means he's gone, and he knows it. It means the Yankees have once again devalued a trade chip, just as they look for a deal. It means he'll have something to prove in 2025. It means the Yankees will open camp with five starters and Clayton Beeter. And it means the Yankees are still blaming bad contracts on the players, not the guy who writes them. Insert sigh here. And take it away, Ed...
By a fear it cannot name
If the mind is baffled when
The rules don't fit the game
Who will answer, who will answer
Who will answer
Posts
8 comments:
That’s my boy, Brian Cashman. You’ve done it again.
Just brilliant. Year after year after year. And the wonderful second basemen he seems to have in mind make Brian Roberts look like a stud.
“And it means the Yankees are still blaming bad contracts on the players, not the guy who writes them…”
If you don’t like the food, fire the chef.
Is Ed Whitson's tack tormentor still around? Cashman's driveway looks ripe.
The Yankees have several scapegoats. None are players.
They overpaid him in the first place but now they really don’t have a choice unless you want to move Gil or Schmidt to the pen. Stroman won’t take the demotion because of the Ming’s incentive
1) "Yesterday, Stroman deleted his online presence. Who cares? Probably, the next team that gets him. Because he'll have something prove."
Having something to prove and being able to do it are two different things.
Part of the Yankees problems stems from the lack of "winners" on the team. If we keep getting guys from organizations that don't play winning baseball and we have no one on to teach them how to win (Cough. Boone.) we get a team that can only go so far. Talented but lacking that 6th tool, "Knowing how to win".
As much as I don't like Bregman, and I'm not advocating for him, he knows how to win. Well, he cheats, but not always.
Innings incentive
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