In this desolate outpost, in the names of Babe & Mickey, of Thurm & Yogi, and of John & Suzyn, we remember what was once the world's greatest sports dynasty - hands down.
Now, though, halfway through the gloomiest winter in memory, the Yankees look like just another baseball team.
Somewhere within this burgeoning matrix of disappointment, there must be a plan - a strategy, a set of moves that will eventually make sense, like in the final acts of those Knives Out movies, where everything gets explained.
Somewhere in here, the Yankees must have a plan to lead us from this darkness.
It sure hasn't happened yet. While Boston adds pitchers, and the Mets shovel money on Kyle Tucker, the Yankees are struggling to reconstitute - gulp - last year's team.
Yesterday, they celebrated a farm-system-draining deal for a pitcher who hasn't thrown 100 innings in the last two years, while they continued to romance Cody Bellinger, a free agent outfielder who, frankly, hasn't strung together two solid seasons since 2019.
Somewhere, there must be a plan, right? Because from here, the Yankees are acting as if a) they won the 2025 World Series, b) Trent Grisham is a sure thing, and c) Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon and Clarke Schmidt will all return to former glories. Meanwhile, we're supposed to believe Iran will capitulate, Greenland will happily come aboard, and the city of Minneapolis will magically achieve peace with a brutal, occupying army.
This winter is starting to give a vibe of 2013, the year of Vernon Wells, Lyle Overbay and Pronk.
Darkest winter in memory.
I wonder if baseball is gonna save us. Do the Yankees have a plan?
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15 comments:
Their plan is muddle through 2026 without taking on big new financial commitments ahead of the looming labor war. That's it.
You are correct, Publius. That's a real winning attitude there. It's also oblivious to real baseball gravity, where you can't just assemble a great team at will on your own terms, no matter what Brian thinks. If they are trying to play 4D chess around the upcoming labor dispute, as it appears they are, they have a whole other thing coming to them. Actually, it'll just be more of the same. MY GOD, but Hal's cheapness is destroying us.
Hal's on the owners' "Labor Relations Group" or whatever it's called. The owners' war council. He knows what's coming, and is positioning himself accordingly.
As with our current administration in Washington, this season will be a tragedy that also has tons of dark comedy fodder. Aging stars like Judge, Cole, Rodent and Stanton will watch helplessly as their hopes for a ring during their Yankees careers evaporate. Next year, no ball. The year after...
And so, as it must for all men, death came for Charles Foster Kane. And the careers of a bunch of Yankee stars.
Hal isn’t cheap - he’s in business to make money. That’s the plan. Winning baseball be damned. He thrives on history, promises that his teams will be competitive, but he’s not in the business of winning championships.
We are fucked.
I hesitate to comment due to lack of knowledge and insight but this is how I see it
Starting pitching at start of season is ordinary and seems to rely on Cole and Carlos returning and instantly back to their best
Batting line up even if Bellinger comes back is only the same as last season it has not been improved
Bullpen still is a shambles and perhaps even weaker than last season
There has been no real attempt I can see to improve the team even if the excuse of a weak farm system for making trades is used there have been plenty free agents that would have just cost cash and draft picks but the way we draft I dont see how that matters
The owner is cheap
The GM seems to be bomb proof despite years of failure
Tactically I dont know enough but the good folks on here assure me the manager is an idiot
So I can see no real hopes of even equalling last seasons results
Well, I don't wanna sound like a cheerleader, but it's not quite so dire as everyone seems to think. It's just that they're depending on a lot of things going right. As of now, they're probably missing the playoffs. But that could change. The big key for the offense is Jasson Dominguez. If he gets the starting job in LF, and he starts to hit the way he is capable of, then they could definitely make the playoffs.
The big keys for the pitching are Cam Schlittler, Luis Gil & Will Warren. Schlittler has to continue his 2025 playoff dominance. And Gil & Warren have to develop further. Gil took a step back last year, retrogression. He needs to turn it up a couple of notches and get back to where he was before he got hurt. Warren has to be a much smoother, steadier #5 starter. Give the team a chance to win for most of his starts.
At the risk of redundancy, I feel compelled to state that I fully agree with all of the above posts, especially Publius’. The team will muddle through this season with the usual bullshit, selling nostalgia and whatever else they can make a buck on. Hell, they may even make the watered down playoffs, though even that low bar seems to be receding given the current state of inertia. You can mark it down that there will be a lockout in 2027. After that? This team will be a creaking collections of geriatrics. What then? “The Future is always in motion” said Yoda.
God bless us, everyone. (Except Yankee ownership and management)
🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯
@ Doctor T, Saw your comment on the previous thread about Ryan Weathers being a home run magnet. But those stats are career totals, right? He had a terrible time in San Diego, then he kind of righted himself in Miami.
Courtesy of pinstripealley: "Between 2021 and 2023, Weathers pitched to a 5.88 ERA (69 ERA+), 5.64 FIP, 8.1-percent K-BB%, .371 wOBA against, .310 BABIP and -0.3 fWAR in 156 innings. These improved to a 3.74 ERA (116 ERA+), 4.26 FIP, 15.2-percent K-BB%, .308 wOBA against, .276 BABIP and 1.3 fWAR in 125 innings over the last two seasons."
So we should be looking at his time in Miami as being more representative of what he is now. He has had injury trouble, so that's the biggest question with him. Can he stay healthy? But word is the scouts like him.
Pinstripeally article also said that getting Ryan Weathers could allow Yankees to trade away Luis Gil or Will Warren. Now that, I totally disagree with. They cannot afford to trade either Gil or Warren. The pitching is depleted with injuries, & they just got another injury prone starter in Weathers. So Weathers is yet another "if", another question mark. If you're going to have that many question marks, better hang on to all of them. You're going to need 'em all in the end, and then some.
Hell, they probably need another starter yet. If they're never going to give Spencer Jones a shot, they should trade him for another pitcher. Perhaps they can get someone with a bit more established major league experience and effectiveness than Ryan Weathers. What did the Dodgers have last season? Something like ten starting pitchers, with half of them on the injured list? Yankees should assume something like that will happen here, so keep stockpiling starting pitching. But make it effective starting pitching. Preferably young too. I think Weathers was a good pickup.
Also read somewhere (maybe pinstripealley), that the main guy we gave up for Weathers, an outfielder named Dillon Lewis, is supposedly an excellent defensive outfielder who trending up with a bullet offensively. So think something like a Trent Grisham, but a lot younger and a lot better if he reaches his potential in a few years. Now, I'm not crying about giving up Lewis to a good starting pitcher, but this is why Cashman never develops position players. He'd rather give the starting job to a guy like Grisham than give a chance to guys like Jasson Dominguez or, in a few years, Dillon Lewis. A guy like Lewis would've ZERO chance, ABSOLUTELY ZERO chance, of ever playing for the Yankees. That's what's wrong with this organization.
Agreed, Hammer
Somewhere in here, the Yankees must have a plan to lead us from this darkness.
El Duque, it looks to me like you are suffering a low-grade level of upset. If you were truly tied up in knots, you would have written "Somewhere in here, the Yankees must have a plan to lead us from this stygian darkness."
So, I guess that means there's hope.
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