Seriously. A hard, cold, seemingly endless RUNK. Nonstop 500-watt smirks from Redsock fans - who expect to whoosh past us well before Aug. 28, when they visit for four. Then, halfway into my wake-up crap, I learn that the Brain Trust - chasing a C, 3B and RP- has traded for, gulp, another 1B.
Another first baseman? How many do we need?
Nope, I told myself. Can't be right. I went to Luis Garcia Jr's Baseball Reference pig book page. Guy must play 3B, right? Or SS? Eh? Nope. This year, he's played 93 games at 1B, two as DH. Last year, he played 129 at 2B. He's never played 3B. Last game at SS came in 2022. So, 2B? Is Jazz gone? And, gulp, they're suggesting Garcia might play RF, with less experience than The Martian, all of which means that - gulp, gulp, gulp - Aaron Judge is not returning?
Last I looked, with Rice and Goldy (plus Bellinger in the cooler, if the sky falls) 1B was our best position. Now, with Garcia, we have a four-man 1B rotation, a bigger Circle of Trust than in the bullpen.
We should change this blog to, IT IS HIGH, IT IS FAR, IT IS... WTF?
The Dodgers have Skupal. The Redsocks have a rising tide of youth. We have the explosive diarrhea of overpaid veterans. We have a plane with three wings and one propeller. The Yankees have spent $300 million to paint themselves into a corner, and gaskets will surely blow between now and 6 p.m., when this trade deadline horror show mercifully closes.
I believe I speak for the Yankiverse in saying, God help us.
Since January, when the franchise bestowed $22 million on Trent Grisham, the front office has touted its "stand pat" stability, as if finishing second was the goal. Now, with everything collapsing, Cooperstown Cashman looks like a tanker captain heading through the Strait of Hormuz, and our future looks colder than next winter's lockout (for which we will still be blamed.)
I was tempted to do a "Fun Facts" thingy on Luis Garcia Jr., who is 26 and having a breakout season, (as Grisham did last year.) Why bother? The Yankees aren't done messing up the sheets. Today, Cashman will remake this roster, this team, this farm system, this infundibulum, and only God knows what we will look like Tuesday against St. Louis.
Boston keeps winning. The Dodgers keep adding. Giancarlo still can't open a bag of Chitos. Dear God, I shoulda stayed RUNK.
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17 comments:
I actually had tickets for next Sunday's loss to the Braves, but I've put them up for sale, in part because of the weather forecast and in part because why bother?
I wonder if trading for Garcia means we are hedging our bets between this season and next (as he is under team control for next year as well). But even if so, I would have a swarm of questions, including:
1) would a contract running through 2027 be extended automatically to 2028 in the case of a lockout or strike?
2) would the plan for 2027 (or whenever) be to truly push Rice (our best hitter this year) into an every day catcher position? I don't like that idea at all.
3) can giving up four quality pitching prospects align with any legitimate "don't forget about 2027 (or whenever next season will be)" mantra?
Probably no point in trying to make sense of any of these trades until after this afternoon's deadline. Except of course that the Dodgers will be infamous failures if they do not win the World Series this season and that they will bear the blame for the impending walkout either way.
Technically, it's three quality pitching prospects and Jake Bird. But I share your pain.
I would say yes: he's likely a Goldschmidt replacement for this year and certainly next (2028)? Goldy has not been doing well as of late, and the assumption may be that he's finished: https://www.statmuse.com/mlb/ask/paul-goldschmidt-last-20-games
The obvious problem is that he adds to the Jefferson Starship-esque redundancies that have abounded in the lineup for most of the 2020s. The plan is likely to play someone (or ones?) out of position. (Bird at 3B? I dunno.)
No matter what the Yankees do or fail to do, they can't plug all the holes they've created for themselves. It just doesn't matter. I just doesn't matter. It just, etc. ,etc.
Mr. R, No, contracts are not automatically extended. Instead they are tied to the contract year itself. So, GarcÃa would still be a FA in 2028. Conceivably, that could be a point of negotiation during the contract talks, but it’s never happened in the past.
I don’t think the team sees Rice as a future C. They still are holding with Wells. As El D pointed out, the roster is very lopsided, from a positional perspective.
It’s hard to make it all make sense,
2027? It’s just a black hole right now. Both sides are preparing to cancel the season. The saving grace? Television. They want their product and will do anything in their power to avoid a work stoppage.
1. No, never heard of such a thing. If the world ends, contracts do not continue in the afterlife.
2. I've heard that Rice is never catching again. Management does not want Rice to catch, or mayhap his wrist injury prevents it.
3. They gave up a lot of pitching to get this guy. If there is 2027 baseball, the Nationals should have a much deeper bullpen and no longer will be the worst bullpen in baseball. We will have Garcia, who may or may not be a one year wonder. At best, he turns out to the savior. At worst, he is another mediocrity clogging up DH/1B. We will be thinner in bullpen arms, but the Yankees supposedly still have many more quality arms in the minors.
This is what Genius Cashman does, earliet two left hand hitting catchers. Now, three first baseman. Garcia does not hit lefties. More lefties will pitch against the Yankees.
I wouldn't have included Ben Grable in this deal. He is the reliever with the supposedly unhittable fastball. I watched some youtube clips of him yesterday. His fastball does not seem to have much of a late hop, if any, but the batters do swing and miss. Must be because of high spin rate. The ball doesn't move where the batter anticipates. It doesn't go down as much as any other 4 seam fastball. So batters swing under it. Will his success translate to the majors? Probably, says I, for at least a few years.
It's too bad. I think he was major league ready. Should have been called up and had a half dozen appearances by now. You're going to see him pitch this year for the Nationals, I'm sure. They won't have the worst bullpen in the majors much longer.
Grable also has a very good slider, lots of late break, to go with that fastball. He is supposedly effective against both lefty and righty hitters with both pitches. The heater is mid-nineties and up. I didn't see any triple digits. Maybe he tops out at 97-98.
So I hear Garcia was basically treading water until he kind of exploded this year. 26 years old. At least he's not 29, like the usual Cashman pickup. If you assume that 2027 will be a wipeout, then this will be an audition for Garcia. If he puts up big numbers, Cashman might hang on to him for 2028, if there is a 2028. Then again, it could turn out like the Juan Soto rental. A whole bunch of pitchers for a player who walks away at the end of his contract. If he asks for the moon, the Yankees probably won't match it. So if somebody comes in and offers a lot more than the Yankees, he'll be gone.
But looking at the right now of it, Garcia is (was) the NL leader in slugging pct. So he's the "best" slugger in the NL, now in the AL. I take it he'll DH. So Rice has to play 1B. Goldschmidt will sit on the bench.
I would play him every day, since we got him. With Yankee management here, you never know what crazy shit they'll pull. They may platoon this guy with Goldschmidt. Which I think will be a mistake. Because it looks like Goldschmidt is playing worse and worse by the day. Goldschmidt is old and can't cut it anymore, IMO. If they think Goldschmidt will hit lefty pitching better than Garcia based on the numbers, I beg to differ. Heard Garcia is a .218 hitter against lefties. Well, that's probably about 20 or 30 points better than what Goldschmidt will do against lefties for the remainder of this year.
There could very well be two more moves coming today. Cashman might trade one of Jasson Dominguez or Spencer Jones. He is also itching to get rid of Will Warren, per rumors.
Rt...my thought exactly. He will be the replacement for Goldy.
The least wonderful time of the year. Apologies to Andy Williams.
Phillies have obtained Luis Arraez + a pitcher from the Giants for a couple of pitching prospects.
I think the one thing that seems obvious is that the Yanks should've dispatched Doval and Bird earlier—or never picked them up—in favor of keeping the kids.. Or, best of all, in favor of Holmes and Weaver, given up for nothing.
It's just maddening to think that, even with all the injuries, even with the whole, stupid way this team was constructed—and has been constructed for 25 years now—had they simply kept Holmes, Weaver, and Torrens, they would STILL be even money to win the World Series.
But that's not what Hal wants...
Rumor is that Cashman offered Will Warren for a San Diego Padre reliever, Adrian Morejon. I don't know if that was straight up. If it was, then it was a stupid overpay offer by Cashman that the Alter Boys should've accepted. Because a starter is more valuable than a reliever like this. Morejon is an above average lefty reliever, but hardly a great pitcher. Fortunately for us, Cashman was shown the door. Unfortunately for us, Cashman might end up offering Warren plus half the farm system for Morejon.
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