2. I've got Anthony Volpe Derangement Syndrome. It's been three lousy years, and '25 was the worst. Volpe's .212 BA ranked 24th of 24 qualifying shortstops. Worst in baseball. In OPS, he ranked 21st of 24. They say he played hurt? That doesn't exonerate him. The Yankees finished one tie-breaker game behind Toronto, and a halfway decent SS could have made the difference. I keep reading that the Yankees will seek an OF, a RH catcher and pitching. Damn, we need a decent SS, which Volpe is not.
3. I wonder if Hal Steinbrenner is getting tired. Based on his recent interviews - whining about rent, luxury taxes and payrolls - has owning the Yankees become a drag? This is a world of impending trillionaires, and $300 million is chump change for those who will party in the solid gold ballroom. I wonder if Hal sees another year of the lost family heritage, hearing bombastic words from people like me, and secretly hopes that Elon Musk or Larry Ellison would buy this albatross. When you see Netflix buying Warner Brothers, like its a carton of cigs at a corner Mom & Pop, you have to wonder what's coming after the looming shutdown in 2027, Could there be worse owners out there than Hal?
4. Yes, I sound like a pathetic prospect hugger, but I hope the Yankees stick with both The Martian and Spencer Jones. Give them a shot in spring training. Play the one who performs best. The Yankees need pitching, pitching, pitching, and they can fill the ranks with free agents. The final four teams this year had one thing in common: They played youngsters. The Yankees need to see what their farm system can produce. Even if they fail, it will be fun to watch Dominguez and Jones. And who knows?
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I also want to keep the Martian and Jones. As for everything else, I'm beginning to believe in curses and think that everything Cashman touches will go south. He is the devil, Krampus at the very least.
Krampus. Definitely Krampus.
We're doomed.
No way in hell Dominguez or Jones gets to play next year. Well, they might get a 2-3 week "look", during which they must hit .850 with 60 homers and 140 RBI, or else they'll get sent down again. Which means that they'll surely get sent down again. Don't get your hopes up.
Notice that they only promote guys who suck or will suck and continue to play guys who suck or will suck.
See, I don't think this is just simple stupidity or bad luck or bad management. I think it's by design.
They simply hate developing effective players. They don't want guys to become really good. Even when they give a spot to a young player, they make sure that it's a guy who's not particularly good, and they don't provide any support either.
Take the examples of Volpe and Wells. They do have some talent. But everybody hits bumps in the road, plateaus in development. It's the coaching that must get them over the hump to continue improving to their potential. Here, young players who hit bumps are allowed to fester and wallow in their own crap, stymieing their development. And that's just the way management wants it.
Take the example of Aaron Judge. After he came up to the majors and had a pretty terrible time with a 50% strikeout rate at the end of 2016, Judge had to seek out his own personal hitting coach over the winter. No help from Yankee coaching at all.
Then, during Judge's free agency year, did you not get the feeling that Yankee management wanted Judge to FAIL? Did you not feel that they wanted him to have a piss poor year, so that they could save money on re-signing him?
I sure felt that. So that's one reason why they want their players to fail. They like it when they can keep them for peanuts.
Another reason could be that they simply prefer getting established veterans over playing rookies. Perhaps they feel that big names bring in fannies and that rookies don't have any financial value. Rightly or wrongly, they feel that big names are big wins in the p.r. department.
Yet another reason could be that they want "sunk" costs that they can accurately gauge over as long a future period as possible. This would fall under the goal of risk management. They prefer predictable costs over question marks.
Can you think of any other reasons?
Hey, please don't mention Krampus so close to Krampuslauf! I just took a helluva beating from old goat face.
I'm with you on Spencer and the Martian, Duque. And yes, the further needs of this team are manifold—and won't be met.
As to whether it can't get any worse, though...Always remember, Mad Old George nearly sold the Yanks to the Dolans, a-way back in '98.
Here in Loser City, it can always get worse.
Quick, who is the Yankees' outfield coach? No ex-MLBer, for sure. It's Luis Rojas, their third base coach! The Martian has always been a quick learner who played with guys 4-5 years older. Remember, he's only 22. He's still malleable, but needs an outfield coach who has had success at the top level, especially at Yankee Stadium. This is a no-brainer! Hire an extra coach devoted to one task. Bring in someone like Brett Gardner as a special assistant for both the spring and on retainer as needed during the year. Someone to teach and encourage who has played here.....and knows the diurnal and seasonal conditions. Let him work with Jones, too. It's an obvious plan for most organizations.
I can, Hammer. The Yankees organization, especially Cashman, exemplifies arrogance, stupidity, and frugality. They are an ineffective organization run by an aloof and distant owner. Their sense of success is profit, not winning.
But they won't do that. They never do stuff like that.
Teams that want to win will do it. Look at the NHL Islanders. Goaltender Ilya Sorokin was struggling for the last year or two. New GM Matthieu Darche brings in Sorokin's former coach to get him back on track. And it worked. Just common sense.
I have to think that Yankee management simply doesn't want their prospects to develop, for whatever sinister reasons of their own. (See my post above)
I think Dominguez is 23 now. Ain't none of us gettin' any younger. Already time ain't on his side.
Carl, yes, they've got a truly weird sense of frugality. They won't hesitate to throw money at guys like Stanton or Grisham. But then they'll quibble over nickels and dimes with others, particularly guys who've come up through their own system.
The crazy thing about this soup and bread line thing is that Aaron Judge gave Yankee ownership a huge break by signing for cheap. Judge easily could've commanded 450 mill at 45 mill/year/10 years. Instead, he signed a 360 mill contract at 40 mill/year/9 years.
Maybe Judge gave them a break because he thought they'd put the money they'd saved to good use and improve the roster and coaching. FAT CHANCE!!!
That's why I said Judge was an idiot to give HAL a break. Methinks Judge should've demanded a trillion dollar contract. Then HAL would've had to fill all the other positions with raw rookies. They would've been forced to develop some young players, for a change.
Instead, cheapskate HAL has simply pocketed the money he saved. And even with my ears plugged up with foam noise reduction plugs, I can still hear HAL moaning and whining about the payroll and "losing" millions of dollars a year. AWWWWWW, POHHRRRR BAY-BEEEEEEEE!!!!!
If only the Yankees organization were as concerned about the product on the field as they are about ensuring that they have the proper amount of boxes to hold their exorbitantly overpriced, salt-infused, cheapest oil sodden crop of 2017 popcorn that they hawk to their mawed suckers.
Those extra coaches cost money though and Hal is barely making ends meet as it is.
Certainly, we could have it even worse with some other owner. I've heard of the CBS days. That was before my time, but we all know how bad it got. King George bought the Yankees for 10 million, using only 800 thousand of his own money. I suppose the Yankees were fortunate to get rescued by K.G. His spending got them out of the doldrums, although his madness led to the 15 year madhouse, circus & drought that only broke in 1996.
But now, instead of madhouse circus, we have a drought caused by complacency and financial risk averseness. Don't seem like we're coming out of this drought any time soon. 16 years and counting now. Even worse than King George's circus.
The way it's trending, this franchise ain't going to win a championship for at least another 25-50 years.
Yep, and that's why, like Judge, the players have to spend their own money on private coaching. Crazy!!!
"2. I've got Anthony Volpe Derangement Syndrome. It's been three lousy years, and '25 was the worst. Volpe's .212 BA ranked 24th of 24 qualifying shortstops. Worst in baseball. In OPS, he ranked 21st of 24. They say he played hurt? That doesn't exonerate him. The Yankees finished one tie-breaker game behind Toronto, and a halfway decent SS could have made the difference. I keep reading that the Yankees will seek an OF, a RH catcher and pitching. Damn, we need a decent SS, which Volpe is not. "
This x .222
They should've signed Seager to play SS, when he was available. He was the perfect fit, lefty hitter with power & batting average. They could've filled in 2B with Volpe, or anyone else. It's easier to fill 2B than SS. They never even made a bid for Seager.
And it appears that they won't bid for Tatsuya Imai. Even Bellinger is too expensive for them. I heard they consider Kyle Tucker a "plan B" if they can't get Bellinger. Yeah, right! They can't even afford Bellinger. How they gonna get Tucker? What a load of horseshit and hogwash.
I'm tellin' ya, this is why they made the qualifying offer to Grisham. And then they were a hopin' and a prayin' that Grisham would accept the offer. Because if he turned it down, then they'd have to make a bigger offer to make Grisham sign. This way, they've only spent the 22 mill for one year. No big contract with Bellinger or Tucker to think about. This was their plan from the get-go.
Despite all of Volpe's struggles, no personal hitting coach, no personal infield coach, no personal shrink. Nothing, nada, nadie.
Do you know that the Islanders actually hired a team shrink this year? Yeah, they actually have a team psychologist to get them over the hump. "Now, repeat after moi. One with the universe, nothing matters. One with the universe, nothing matters. Now, visualize yourself shooting the puck. Now, visualize the puck going into the other team's goal. Now, go out and have fun! And we'll have the whores waiting for you guys, but only if you win the game!"
I’m not advocating it, but it wouldn’t bother me if the team traded JD, Jones or both in a good deal. They will never succeed in this organization.
However, this won’t happen for a few years. The hype train will keep on rolling and it’s a bumpy, unpleasant ride, last stop Willoughby. (Pronounced “Will it be”)
Do you know that the Islanders have an 18 yr old defenseman playing half the game? And he's their best player.
Think the Yankees would ever do anything like that? FAT CHANCE!!! Cashman likes his players "finished" before they come up the majors. Yeah, I always say, they'll be finished, all right. As in, their careers will be finished by the time he brings them up. Yankee prospects are fortunate to play their first major league game at the age of 29. And then it's that one game, then they get a gold watch and a plane ride home. See ya at Old Timer's Day in twenty years!
I feel so sorry for Jasson Dominguez. Unlike Volpe, who already has had three years to prove himself, Jasson had like two and a half months at maybe four games per week. Then was unceremoniously benched. Yankees never give prospects a shot, unless they suck, like Volpe. Then they get all the playing time they could ever ask for, even if they're injured.
The only way Dominguez & Jones will become major leaguers is by getting traded. I hope they get traded, for their sakes. Other teams have much better coaching. Won't let them stagnate.
Susan Waldman has said multiple times that Yankee management/coaching told Wells to stop practicing his hitting and only concentrate on improving his defense. Now, I wasn't there so I don't know what exactly they told him, or if they had him stop taking extra batting practice or any batting practice at all. But ... you can't make this stuff up. I couldn't believe it when she said it. Thought maybe I misheard. But she said the same thing many times on different days. And you wonder why this franchise never develops position players?
Wonder what they told Jasson Dominguez? No batting practice for you. Just shag fly balls in left field all day whilst others take b.p. After six months of this, you'll be a gold glove left fielder.
Could there be worse owners out there than Hal?
Sorry. Perdóneme. I not from you country. ¿Cómo se dice " James L. Dolan" en Ingles?
Hammer, you're right on about Seager. YES, they should've signed him, and Machado, too, for 3B. That's two potential trouble spots, done. They could've even kept Gleyber at 2B; who would've cared?...
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