Gamey thread

 

If Yanks win tonight, they are .500 since the all-star break. If they play .500 the rest of the way...

Last night, the floundering Yankees lost... 

a) The 2024 Subway Series
b) Bragging rights to NYC
c) The chance to snicker at Sevy, Bader, Quintana, Ottavino, Torrens and all the other ex-Yankees, who will be beckoning Juan Soto to join them next winter.
d) Again
e) All of the above.

Of course, the true answer is f): Their minds, their souls, their purpose in life and their hopes for the next few years. 

I've long argued that the Yankees mirror the American condition: Awful during the 1960s (Vietnam and Watergate), the 1980s (banking crisis, Iraq war) and now (whatever this is.) If they continue to suck, democracy is at stake. So, nothing to worry about, eh?

Other takeaways from last night:

1. If the Death Barge wins tonight, it will be .500 since the break. If the Yanks can play .500 ball the rest of the way, they will finish with 85 wins, three more than last season. This might nudge them into the expanded postseason, as one of the participation trophy wild card slots. 

Livin' the dream, am I right?  

2. Suzyn Waldman has become the Despairing and Distressful Voice of Doom. It doesn't matter who is sharing the booth. Suzyn is fed up. Last night, she started bemoaning the lack of batter discipline, and then abruptly stopped herself, muttering that whatever she says doesn't matter. Honestly, it was a golden moment, an existential self-awareness akin to the final scene in The Truman Show.  Her bitter lamentation, "Oh boy," is the Wilhelm Scream of sports broadcasting.

3. Repeating the essence of yesterday's post, what metric in God's Creation justifies batting Juan Soto and Aaron Judge batting second and third? Why keep pretending this is a batting order? The Yankees have a two-man offense, nothing more, so get them to the plate as often as possible. 

Last night, Jah Jones batted leadoff. Jah Jones. Why? Jones is a bench piece, a banjo hitter in a lineup of harps. He has no power. (One HR). He has a lousy on base percentage. (.301). He doesn't run. (One SB.) He should bat ninth. Instead, he hit leadoff. Why?  

He was simply there to satisfy the adage that you always need a pesky guy to hit before the big guns. In the ninth, Trent Grisham - hitting .187 - pinch-hit for Jones. He made an out. It could have been Soto leading off that inning. Who knows if it could have turned out differently? Why keep pretending this is a batting order? 

4. The current Yankee infield may be the worst of this millennium. DJ LeMahieu can't hit and last night botched a bouncer. Gleyber Torres is simply not all there. First base is an ongoing audition. And Anthony Volpe still hasn't recovered from co-booting the worst loss of the year. Seriously: Has there been a worse Yankee infield in the last 24 years? 

I'm looking at the 2013 Yankees, who missed the playoffs. Lyle Overbay, Robby Cano, Eduardo Nunez and Jason Nix. A truly rotten infield, and this was back when Robbie was still learning how to jog. Still, they had Cano (who hit .314 with 27 HRs.) It's a tough call.

5. The Atlantic just proposed a set of trades that would land the Yankees a 3B, a starting pitcher and a bullpen lug nut. It would also decimate the farm system. (Spencer Jones, George Lombard Jr., Will Warren, Oswald Peraza, et al.)

Will next week's trade deadline neuter us for the next five years? Are we going to destroy the future so Brian Cashman can save face, maybe win a wild card slot?  

6. The Yankees should soon have back both Giancarlo Stanton and Jasson Dominguez. Stanton, any day now (Though I ask : If a guy can't run, how much can he help?) The Martian could start a minor league rehab next week. (It's worth wondering: Could the Yankees bring him up too soon and mess up his head?)  The arrival of Dominguez could effectively end the Alex Verdugo experiment. (Doogie went 1-2 yesterday with a walk; dare we be hopeful? His last big chance could come this weekend against Boston.) I guess what I'm saying here is that we need these guys back, but there is no easy path, no simple solution to the problems of this team.

7. Gerrit Cole tonight. Wow. It sure didn't take long for every one of Cole's starts to be critical, to come after a tough loss - and to be far more stressful than you'd want for a guy returning from an arm injury. It didn't take long for the rotation to become Cole and four dice rolls. 

8. The Mets last night unveiled to the world a perfect strategy: Walk Judge and take your chances with the Munchkins. I've got a funny feeling that we're going to see it again.  

Game Thrrrrrrrrrread

 

The Cashman Conundrum!!

 

One of the worst days of my young fandom was December 11, 1975. The Yankees followed a disappointing season by trading off Bobby Bonds to the Angels for Ed Figueroa, and Doc Medich to the Pirates for Dock Ellis, Ken Brett, and Willie Randolph.

I was devastated.

Trade Bobby Bonds???

He was one of the best outfielders I'd ever seen on the Yankees! From a whole new level of National 

League, speed-and-power guys. He'd just run up another 30-30 season—in an age when only Willie Mays did that—by playing hurt for a crippled Yankees team long after it had faded from contention.

And for what? I'd never heard of Ed Figueroa. Mickey Rivers seemed like a clown, a weak-armed centerfielder who stole a lot of bases, which was what guys on clown teams like the Angels did. 

Mick might've been Quick, but he had hit one, count 'em, 1 home run in 1975. And he was going to play centerfield for the New York Yankees?

The other trade seemed nearly as bad. Ken Brett I remembered as a failed Red Sock. Willie Randolph seemed intriguing—but for the Pirates, then a perennial contender, to deal him and keep their other young second sacker, Rennie Stennett—seemed like a bad sign. 

And trade our second-best pitcher, Doc Medich, for Dock Ellis, perpetual troublemaker, the guy who bragged about pitching a no-hitter while on acid?  

None of this seemed like a good idea to my seventeen-year-old self. And yet, of course, it built the foundation for five Yankees division championships, four pennants, and our first two World Series wins since 1962. What did I know...compared to Gabe Paul, the canny baseball lifer, who George Steinbrenner had brought in to run the Yankees?

So I hear the calls to strip our present team down to the gunwales (whatever they are), and rebuild. To ditch EVERYBODY—maybe even Judge, Cole, and Soto—and start from scratch. The only problem with that? The Yankees are no longer run by Gabe Paul, or Gene Michael, or Bob Watson, or Buck Showalter. 

That's right...once again we've come up against—

THE CASHMAN CONUNDRUM!

Every time we look in fresh disgust upon another Cashmanic flop (such as this team), the natural urge is to chuck it all and begin again. And that just might work save for the fact that...the guy who would be doing it is the same Laurel who got us into this fine mess to begin with. 

Quick show of hands: who here really trusts Brian Cashman to get full value for Aaron Judge? Or Gerrit Cole? How about Gleyber Torres? Trent Grisham?

Yeah, I thought so. 

Sorry, but I say forget all the strip-down trade ideas, in the distant hope that some day, Brian Cashman will decide to seek the eternal light, and trip away to a Himalayan monastery. 

In the meantime, I at least want guys like Judge and Soto, especially, around to give me some modicum of entertainment.

Speaking of which: did you know that Soto is one of exactly 2 players to hit at least 25 home runs and draw at least 80 walks in his first 100 games with a team?

The other two are Juicin' Mark McGwire...and The Babe. Ruth, that is. 

I want that guy around. I don't want whatever magic beans The Brain will get for him.
 

An Above Average Haiku Tuesday - Is that a plunger or are you just happy to see me ? - Edition

 

Should the Yankees abandon pretense and simply bat Soto and Judge, numbers one and two?

Yesterday, as his BA dipped its toes into Lake Mendoza, Benjamin Kimball Rice looked - as rice is known to be - rather cooked. He laid off a few tough pitches, battled to a 3-2 count, then watched Canseco-like as a fastball bisected the plate. He didn't protest. He just marched to the dugout, to solitude.  And somewhere in the sky, Rice's numbers clicked down to an even .200.

Frankly, it's been unfair to Rice, now with 95 MLB at bats, having him hit leadoff for a stumbling team mired in its personal misery dome.  

On June 17, Rice was still learning the lusty secrets of Scranton, where he'd hit 3 HRs in 11 ABs, mostly playing catcher. The Yankee brain trust noticed that he was hot, pushed a few buttons and brought him up to play 1B, a position he'd barely begun to learn. You could say they had no choice. DJ LeMahieu was floundering, and they had nobody else. Rice handled it well. He hit three HRs in one game and belted what should have been the game-winner HR against Baltimore, which - in an alternate reality - is a future Yankee Classic. Shoulda been, anyway. 

We knew he couldn't be Judgian forever, and now the slump is here. His next AB could put Rice below .200, a symbolic event that will haunt him on the Jumbotron in every turn through the order.

I wonder...  why are the Yankees even bothering with a traditional leadoff man, perched in front of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge? Right now, nobody else on the team shows a pulse. (Maybe Austin Wells, but he's no leadoff hitter.) Last week, Luis Severino made headlines by seeming to mock his old team, saying they only had two hitters in the lineup. Sevy wasn't ripping us. He was simply telling the truth. 

Right now, the bottom of the Yankee batting order is a shit show train wreck in a dumpster fire clown car. If anyone gets a hit, it only matters because it means the lineup is circling closer to Soto and Judge. Aaron Boone might as well bat them #1 and #2. Why lose a close game with a .200 hitter at the plate while Soto and Judge wait on deck?  

Of course, Giancarlo Stanton should return soon, maybe tonight, but I have to wonder: If the guy can't run, how much can he contribute? He's far more likely to hit a double play ball than a double. 

Yesterday, we scored nine runs. When the Yankees are hot, they certainly can pour it on. Not complaining - when the bullpen is as shaky as ours is - an eight-run lead might just be what it takes. 

But no matter what the line score says, Sevy put it quite succinctly: The Yankees have two hitters. They might as well get the most they can from Soto and Judge. They have nothing else. 

So much for the All-Star break re-energizing the Yankees...

Okay... look...

I got nothing.

If you expect me to wax hopefully on anything that relates to the '24 Yankees, I'm sorry. Dead in the water. They have ruptured my verbal spleen. They have squandered what shards of optimism remained following the Verdugo Belly-Flop Game, which replaced the Ten Stolen Bases Game, which replaced the Clay Holmes Meltdown Game, which - aww, stop this! Please, toss me back into the lake, invalidate my parking stub, cancel me, delete me, exile me, or just postpone me... but listen: I got nothing. 

Here's a stat from The Athletic: 

Over their last 31 games, the Yankees are 10-21, the second worst record in baseball, after the lowly White Sox. (And if we played Chicago, does anyone doubt they'd win 2-of-3?)

Here's a stat from MILB.com.

Spencer Jones, our best prospect, is hitting .238 at Double A. Six months ago, he was untouchable. Now, the Yankees are dangling him in trade talks - and he's at his lowest value. For years now, they've been trading prospects at the deadline, something a younger Brian Cashman long ago vowed never to do. Now, it's an open tap. (And if they do trade Jones, does anyone here doubt they'll get burned?) 

Here's a tidbit from Baseball Reference: 

Heading into the all-star break, DJ LeMahieu was 0-for-10. Coming out of it, he's 0-for-7. Dear God. He's 36, and the Yankees have two years left on his contract, at $15 million per. We can't trade him. Nobody will give us anything. (And here's the rub: If we release him, if he signs somewhere, does anyone here doubt that, at least in the short term, he'll find his stroke? I mean, how did the Yankees become such a toxic organization that decent players suddenly go into the tank?) 

Nope. I got nothing. Every glass I see is half-empty. No. Completely empty. No trades, no return of Gerrit Cole, not even Aaron Judge can save this sorry team. And if anybody thinks Giancarlo Stanton - the Creeper - will miraculously raise this Titanic from the ocean floor, well, have at it. I see a zombie franchise, oozing money from every pore, but refusing to do what every successful team in the modern era has done: Rebuild with youth. 

Last year, the Yankees went 82-and-80, 19-games behind Baltimore in the AL East. Nineteen games. It was their worst season since 1992. And the reaction? Denial, of course. They traded young prospects, draining the farm, expecting a quick fix.    

Well, I got nothing. And it's been a long, slow descent into nothingness. Twenty-five years ago, the Yankees represented the MLB gold standard. Now, their drought extends 15 years (16, counting this one.) They are a long dead empire and the second-best team in New York. They can close their eyes, pretend they're still relevant, sell Andy Pettitte Bobbleheads and chase one of those pitiful three wild card slots, which resemble T-Ball participation trophies. But if you want hope? Nope. I got none. It is mid-July, and the '24 Yankees look dead as dishrags. 

An Above Average Tasty Game Thread

 

For the Yankees, it's gotten really late, really early

 

All right, people, move along, MOVE ALONG! There's nothing to see, nothing to do here, no rubbernecking, just keep moving... DAMMIT, MOVE!

The season isn't over, and it won't end this weekend, no matter what happens. Ya hear me? The Yankees could blow their next five straight, and they'll still be contenders for that vaunted last AL Wild Card kewpie slot. They're in the wild card race., and they're gonna stay there, dammitall! - at least through, say, mid-August. 

Quit yer bellyachin! It's almost time for The Big Cashman Shakeup. Soon - like any minute now, the most successful Yankee GM in history, according to longevity, will obtain for us some Joey Gallo/Jose Abreu -type - a brawny star of 2019 - who has overstayed his welcome in some WWE hub, and who is waiting for a chance to flop in Gotham. To get him - or them - we'll trade a bunch of Single-A and Double-A nobodies, who, were yesterday's tomorrow, and who now never fitted into the Yankee strategic, long term picture.  

Put your ears to the railroad tracks, and you'll hear the rumble of Cashman's giant spackle machine, rolling our way, as the GM seeks to stem this ongoing collapse, now approaching its eighth week.

Don't worry. Cashman will find enough Band-Aids to keep us in the wild card race. Remember: As long as you finish over .500, you've got a shot at that expanded playoffs lottery ticket. All you need is a Gallo and a dream...

Listen, there's something about watching a full Yankee matinee wipeout - like yesterday - when the only question is whether the opposing pitcher will throw a no-hitter. (Technically, that couldn't happen, because our first man up hit a double, before everyone went to sleep.) It makes you wonder how a franchise that spends so much money can be so wimpy... and why a year from now, we'll be writing the same posts about the same situation... 

Nope. Move along. Seriously, today and tomorrow, what is there to see? 

Statistically, we cannot lose this season, this weekend. But psychically - ah, yes, with a few dollops of self-torture -  if we lose the next two to Tampa - crappy Tampa, who was out of the race two weeks ago - at home -  in front of the Yankiverse... well, is there anything left to see?

For Verdugo and LeMahieu, an existential crisis

It was a dark and dreary night for Alex Verdugo and DJ LeMahieu.  

In the 1st, Verdugo grounded out to 1B.

In the 2nd, LeMahieu grounded into a DP.

In the 3rd, with the bases loaded, Verdugo grounded out to SS. 

In the 4th, LeMahieu hit a pop fly to LF.

In the 5th, Verdugo grounded out to 2B.

In the 6th, LeMahieu grounded out to 2B, and Verdugo struck out swinging.

In the 8th, LeMahieu grounded out to 3B.

Eight plate appearances, no hits, one RBI (on a measly bouncer), a strikeout, no erections, six slow and fruitless runs to first, scattered booing, and multiple moments of existential dread.  

Off in the distance, you could hear the rhythmic pulsations of Brian Cashman's auto-dialer, phoning other GMs in search of a taker for this year's Yankee disappointments. We could add Gleyber Torres, but maybe - maybe - (oh, why are we doing this to ourselves?) - maybe he's starting to hit? 

This might be the last great opportunity either sees. 

If the Yankees punt on the slumping Verdugo, they will become his third team - after the Dodgers and Boston - to cut bait. He's only 28, and a lifetime .275 hitter, but that big contract he was expecting next winter will be as misplayed as that lame fly ball in Baltimore. Three strikes, and you're out. Already, Cashman might be looking for a RH platoon in LF, greatly diminishing Verdugo's chances to save his season. That blown pop fly from Cedrick Mullins might turn out to be Verdugo's most memorable Yankee moment. What a wart.

As for LeMahieu, who turned 36 last week, he's lucky to have scored his payday contract several years ago. No matter what he does, the Yankees have him for two more seasons at $15 million per. More and more, he's falling into Willie Calhoun/Franchy Cordero territory. He's hitting .182, without power, (three doubles on the season), and you can feel hope draining on every grounder off his bat. There is no dealing LeMahieu without adding millions in salary, and I'm not sure Food Stamps Hal would approve such an expenditure.

It looks as though the Yankees must sink or swim with the pair. When contracts always supersede performances, that's your only move. 

And that, my friends, is modern Yankee baseball. 

Yanks welcome back - um - J.D. Davis

 Highlight of the season.

The 2024 Cashman All-Stars! The Pitching Staff!

 

Pitching, I think you'll agree, has always been Brian Cashman's really, really vulnerable Achilles heel—as opposed to his other Achilles heels, of catchers, infielders, outfielders, managers, coaches, and trainers. 

All right, the guy has a lot of feet. But the mound is where he has really excelled, year after year, in overlooking, underpaying, giving away, and screwing up. To wit:

 Yoshinobu Yamamoto—Early this season, it looked like Cashie just might get lucky, as the admiral of the Western Sea looked scared stiff to be in the show.

But...he now appears to be every bit as good as advertised, off to a 6-2, 2.92 start, as the Dodgers carefully nursed him along (something your New York Yankees just don't do.) Looks now like the Bums have hold of a rotation mainstay for the next 10 years.

Of course, the Yankees’ big offer was just more Cashmanic gamesmanship, carefully calculated to finish a weak third in the bidding for the free agent. Would have been very embarrassing if Yamamoto had said, “Hell, yes, I live for Broadway shows!” and accepted…

Blake Snell—…almost as embarrassing as it must’ve been telling Blake Snell that the Yanks’ offer to him was no more than Monopoly money, after Snell's other suitors never materialized. Blake’s cruel spring has left him useless this year. Will he remain that way—or revert to the two-time, two-league Cy Young winner he was? Hard to say—he was never someone I was very high on—but I wouldn’t bet against him being better than Rodon or Stroman before all is said and done.

Shota Imanaga—What a delightful spirit! And with the nickname of, “The Throwing Philosopher”! Off to an 8-2, 2.97 start in Wrigley Field. This was the Poor Man’s Yamamoto—$22.5 mill for 2 years guaranteed, then another $30 mill in player options for the next two seasons. But, you know, Hal is SO poor these days, no could do.

Jordan Montgomery—No, no, no, no! No way a Cashman mistake can ever be admitted—particularly when it comes to the man who might have saved the 2022 season. Monty has certainly looked awful after missing his spring training—6-5, 6.44—but give him time. Meanwhile, his 2-0, 1.29 pitching against Houston in the ALCS last year got the Rangers into the World Series, when Monty won one more ring than any present member of your New York Yankees. But hey, we did get Harrison Bader...

Chris Sale—"Slowly I turn to you..." After outbidding the Yanks for Yoan Moncada, the BoSox turned him into Sale, who won a Series for Boston in 2018—and might well have done the same for us in 2017. Years lost to injuries followed...but now he's back, 13-3 with Atlanta, and an NL-leading 2.70 ERA.

Michael King—Now we get into more of the dubious deals. King has pitched well as a starter down in San Diego, going 7-6, 3.41 so far. But think of how much more valuable he could be anchoring our awful bullpen.

 

But hey, you gotta give up something to get Juan Soto. Right? Well, maybe not—or at least, maybe not the four pitchers the Yankees surrendered for him. (Another one was Drew Thorpe, now 3-1, 3.58 in Chicago, who the Padres bundled to get Dylan Cease.) Might someone such as, I dunno, Gleyber Torres sufficed instead, back in 2022? Which would have maybe got us over the top that year? 

 

Who can say? But giving up four young arms only made sense if the Bronx team was going to re-sign Soto. And sadly, they will not.

Josh Hader—I forget all the names Brian Cashman was saying he was going to sign when he was talking about “supercharging” the bullpen (I bet Brian has forgotten them, too.). But Hader was the one that stood out.

 

I know, it was a helluva risk by Houston, signing a 30-year-old reliever to a five-year deal for $95 mill. But somehow, the risks Brian Cashman refuses to take are always surpassed by the risks he then creates. Which is riskier? Paying too much for Hader? Or going without a bullpen? After an atrocious start, Hader now has 18 saves. Imagine what he could do for us down the stretch.  

 

Prediction: Hader will be in a World Series before the Yankees are.

Luis Severino—Hard to blame the Yanks for finally giving up on Setback Sevvy. But…wouldn’t he be a nice addition to our pen now? And to not give him some, minimal contract after all the time and money already invested…Also, yet again, another team’s (the Mets') coaches and trainers seem to have succeed where ours did not.

Sonny Gray—No, I didn’t like him, and no, I don’t miss him. 

But what was absolutely nuts was that Cashman compounded picking him over Justin Verlander in 2017...with getting absolutely nothing for him when he traded him on in 2019. Gray has been a serviceable, No. 3-level starter for three different teams since then. What a waste—and how typical.

Aroldis Chapman—No, I don't miss ol' Sweats. But I DO miss the 22-year-old, 105-mph "Cuban Missile," who ran up 546 strikeouts in 319 innings, a 2.17 ERA, and who saved 146 games for Cincinnati, before he turned into Machine Gun Kelly.

Food Stamps  Hal was beat out by a Reds team that offered $30.25 million for six years, plus a $10.25 mill bonus. All that lost us was perhaps another 3 rings, 2010-2012. 

The Altercockers Gallery—Sure, neither Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, nor Charlie Morton are exactly flourishing elsewhere, with arms that are all past 40—or getting there. But they’re doing all right, with some remaining potential to do something down the stretch.

The Yanks passed on numerous chances to pick up all of them…and instead watched them win  slew of division titles, a bunch of pennants, and a total of six rings for other teams. 

But hey, why worry about that now? I hear that Scott Effross might come bbackk!

MLB All-Happy Team

As the Yankeeverse faces the second half of the season with not a little bit of dread, I submit this list in an effort to bring a little joy into your dark hearts. Though I realize this site is the most entertaining when you all are spitting nails and farting brimstone, I do worry about your health.

1B   Pop Joy
2B   Bill Smiley
SS    Jurickson Prozac
3B   Chipper Jones

LF   Smead Jolley
CF   Happy Felsch
RF   Jim Gleeson

C    Joe Garrulous-giola

LHP   Happy Foreman, Drew Smyly, John Smiley, Aaron Laffey
RHP   Happy Townsend, Julian Merryweather, Dave Jolly, Buddy Lively

MGR    Jolly Cholly Grimm

So... where were we? Oh, yeah... recovering from the worst loss of the year.

There it is, folks. Step right up. Take a long, hard gander. That's us. The fabled New York Fuckin' Yankees... flat on our faces, sprawled out on the ground. That's how the symbolic first-half of 2024 concluded, with Belly-Flop Verdugo - our grand acquisition from the Redsocks - splayed out like a White Castle Breakfast Slider, with Baltimore laughing and Boston closing. 

We've gone five nights now with Verdugo, frozen in time, flatlined in left, with Clay Holmes praying that the AL all-stars don't call on him, and with Anthony Volpe flogging himself with his cat-o'-nine-tails.

So, here's where we stand: 

 1. We have the 3rd best record in the AL, despite a six-week collapse. It doesn't feel like we're winning. In fact, it feels like another lost season, yet here we are, just one game behind the O's...

2. Heading into the trade deadline, we have massive  needs and a depleted farm system. Here are the main Yankee sinkholes, according to Mike Axisa, (whose RAB Thoughts remains the greatest Yankee blog - after this one, of course.) 

1. Third base
2. Bat-missing reliever
3. Another bat-missing reliever
4. Platoon partner for Alex Verdugo
5. Starting pitcher
6. Help at first and second bases (and shortstop?)

Frankly, it would have been easier if he listed the areas we don't need to overhaul. That would be: 

1. Judge.
2. Soto.
3. Suzyn Waldman. 

That's pretty much it. Ben Rice remains a manic pixie dream boy, and Gerrit Cole needs a few more solid outings before we pronounce him whole. After that, maybe Michael Tonkin and Luke Weaver? though either might be nearing his sell-by date. After that, it's waiting for people to heal, which is like waiting for grass to grow.

3. The Wounded Yankee Restoration Society. 

Soon, we'll should get back Giancarlo. That will bring several Golden Sombreros and 115 mph drives off the wall, which he parlays into singles. As for the others - Anthony Rizzo, The Martian, Jose Trevino, (new!) Clarke Schmidt, and yes, Virginia, there is/was a J.D. Davis. God knows where they are in their rehabs. I gave up keeping track. 

4. The next four series - Rays, Mets, Redsocks, Phillies - will tell us what we need to know, as Cashman tries to fix this mess. Last year, he took a long, hard look, then walked away. We won 82 games. I can't  imagine him doing the same this time.

That is not a hopeful thought. 

5. At least, we have Aaron Judge. But maybe Yankee fans should worry: If Judge once again chases his single season HR record, the Yankees will dominate the back pages and sell mucho tickets. Surely, a light has flicked on in Owner Hal's head: 

If fans turn out to watch Judge, the Yankees don't need to win pennants. 

So... what now? 

Eleven days until the annual Cashman makeover, which could set the team's direction for years

For two years now, we've heard regular updates on Will Warren, Chase Hampton and Spencer Jones - three jewels of the Yankee mud lands. 

Whenever the Mother Ship faltered, we clung to the hope that a cavalry existed, that a new generation was thriving in Scranton and Somerset - that better days were coming. 

Now? Well, maybe we're not so sure, anymore. 

Right now, the Yankee farm system is being outgunned by Baltimore, Boston and Tampa. With Toronto set to retool, the franchise hits the symbolic 2024 midseason restart as an aging, faltering presence in the AL East. 

Okay, fan blogs are known for crazy talk. The sky is always falling, right? Still, it's not hyperbole to suggest that the next 11 days - games against the Rays, Mets, Redsocks and Phillies - could set the direction of this franchise for years. 

Be afraid. Be very afraid. 

As always, our worst fears stem from one man: Brian "Cooperstown" Cashman, who will probably seek to remake the team with trades. He will try to patch several gaping holes - bullpen, infield, catcher, yeesh, basically everywhere! - by trading prospects. 

The last three trade deadlines were disasters - from Joey Gallo (2021) to Harrison Bader (2022) to Frankie Montas (2022) to Kenyan Middleton (2023.) Despite the calamities, Cashman seems to enjoy absolute fealty from owner Hal Steinbrenner, a trust fund baby in pinstriped pajamas. But Cashman cannot ruin run the Yankees forever. He must be feeling pressure. He will surely make deals. 

Many Yank fans would welcome trading certain underachieving veterans. But they're either hapless (Alex Verdugo, Gleyber Torres), hopelessly outpriced (DJ LeMahieu, Carlos Rodon) or both. More likely, the Yankees will do what they always do - drain the farm and then dismiss the traded prospects as outliers who were never in the secret, strategic Yankee plans.  

One who almost surely won't be traded: Jasson Dominguez, who is recovering from a muscle strain. This is a lost season for The Martian, still the Great Yankee Hope. But fans worry about his emerging history of injuries, which suggests a young Giancarlo Stanton. 

Thus, if you're looking for trade chips, there are Warren, Hampton, Jones and several others who have stumbled recently. Once again, Cashman faces pressure to do something, anything, to save this season. For the Yankees, that's a bad place to be. 

Brace yourselves: Whatever is coming, the next 11 days will set the stage.

SEE YA! In the latest Awful Announcing rankings, the YES team will miss the playoffs

 The Awful Announcing website ranks the Yankee announcing team at Number 22. 

                                     ?           ?            ?

Draft analysis: The Yankees do not believe in recent past performances

You can start growing your beard again, Doogie.

I don't claim to be a draft whiz, one of those Mel Kiper Jr. clones who crawls out of his own butthole once a year to judge winners and losers. Nope. Yankee scouts know far more than I about the 2024 teen scene. (Do the kids still say everything is "groovy?") So, take my ponderings on the recent draft with a molecule of salt - Morton's Iodized, not the Himalayan high-priced.

In their top 10 picks, the Yankees chose eight pitchers and two position players. Apparently, the brain trust intends to stock our future pond with live arms and fill the lineup with free agents and trades, which is sorta how its done business the last 15 lousy years. So, status quo...? Check!

Still, I cannot ignore one surely meaningless characteristic of the top Yankee picks: 

Last year, they sorta sucked.

Okay, tell me I'm full of it. Tell me we have a secret Yankee/CIA facility, somewhere near Scranton, where the AI ghost of Billy Connors transforms Cody Poteets into Nolan Ryans. In recent years, the Yankees have had success with young pitchers, such as - um - Chase Hampton, Will Warren, Clayton Beeter, Odainer  Mosqueda, Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil. 

Look, let's just assume they know how to develop pitchers. Actually, I don't know why we'd assume this. I cannot lay out reasons. But, hell, let's assume. Because assuming is fun, at least, I assume it is. And I assume that you agree, right? Together, happily, onward... let's assume!  

That said, here are the ERAs of our top 5 picks last year.

Round 1: Ben Hess, Alabama (5.80)
Round 2: Bryce Cunningham, Vanderbilt  (5.62)
Round 3: Thatcher Hurd, LSU (5.68)
Round 4: Gage Ziehl, Miami (4.04)
Round 5: Grayson Carter, Vanderbilt (5.53)

Look, I realize you draft the person, not the stats. These kids are big and brawny, in a Dinty Moore sorta way. Surely, our brain trust can grow them into bullpen lug nuts. Still, is it too much to ask that, in your top five picks, you get at least one guy who excelled last year? 

Aww, whadda I know? Not much. The Yankees usually draft low because they regularly reach the postseason, chasing down those wild cards, in the expanded playoff system. Often, they pick players based on wild assumptions. Remember Andrew Brackman? Slade Heathcott? Cito Culver? Dante Bichette Jr? Et al? They ignore the Kipers, which is fine. And two years from now, maybe we'll have a lights-out young staff. If so, I'll eat this ether. 

One thing I think we all agree with: Draft eight pitchers, and maybe two will survive the surgeries and stresses. And that's a success. 

Still, could at least one of them have an ERA below 4.00? Just askin'... 

The 2024 Cashman All-Stars! The Outfield What Never Was!

 

Welcome back, to our All-Star break rundown of those ballplayers who Hal and The Brain scorned, traded away, released, sold, or otherwise spit the bit on, when it came time to deciding whether or not they should be on your New York Yankees.

Please remember our guarantee: nearly every one of these ballplayers, by his presence on the team alone, would have ensured that the Yankees won multiple pennants and World Series over the past eight seasons.

Outfield/First Base—Bryce Harper. Allegedly, yet another free agent (see Machado, Manny), who was willing to offer the Yankees a discount, when he became a free agent after the 2018 season.

Harper was just 26 then, and had already garnered a Rookie-of-the-Year, an MVP, a Silver Slugger, and 5 All-Star appearances. Yanks passed—and since then, Harper has only picked up another MVP, another Silver Slugger, two more All-Star games, and, most importantly, a pennant with the Philadelphia Phillies.

To be sure, injuries in recent years have left him confined to first base this year. Yeah, not like we needed any help there.

Centerfield—Cody Bellinger. After a phenomenal start—a Rookie-of-the-Year, MVP, 2 Silver Sluggers, 2 All-Star games, and a ring with the Dodgers—devastating injuries left Bellinger a shell of his former self for most of three seasons.

The Yankees could have gambled all of a one-year contract, at $12.5 mill, to see if he was back. They didn't, the Cubs did, and the lefty hit .307 with 26 homers, and 20 stolen bases last season, and ran 10th in the NL MVP race. Think those figures might have been even better with our short porch?

And afterwards...the Yankees still weren't interested. Hey Verdugo was on the market!

Cody has been less this year, just 9 homers and .269 so far. But he has yet to lose a game by falling on his face after spectacularly misjudging a flyball. Of course, it's not like we needed help in center. But hey, Cody would not have cost a couple of pitching prospects—only money.

Hmm, I'm beginning to sense a pattern here.

Outfield/DH—J.D. Martinez. Ah, a perennial Cashman all-star, the man he passed over for Giancarlo after the 2017 season, and that has made all the difference.

Martinez, of course, led Boston to title in 2018, hitting 43 homers, driving in an AL-leading 130, and batting .330. He's won two Silver Sluggers, and been in 5 All-Star games. Now he's over in Flushing, still going strong. 

Since that fateful off-season, Martinez has outhomered Giancarlo by 173-153. Above all, though, he's been able to stay on the field, playing almost 200 more games than Stanton (816-618). 

Centerfield—Harrison Bader.

Hey, I understand. Just how long was Brian Cashman supposed to hang on to this perpetually sunny, but perpetually injured outfielder he had acquired for a vital pitcher at the height of a pennant race? 

But he could've got, I dunno, maybe another player or two for Bader when he unloaded him last summer? Or even the usual Steinbrenner bag of gold?

No could do. Cashie didn't even get the cash, instead just waiving the Westchester native. Bader moved on to Queens where, miraculously, his game has revived and he's suddenly able to stay on the field. Hmm...

Outfield—Juan Soto.

This is going to be the most painful one of all. 

How can he go? Why should he stay? And will the Yankees even offer the most electric player they've added in years?

I tell you they will not.

AN ABOVE AVERAGE HAIKU TUESDAY - WHY DO THEY/WE EVEN BOTHER ? - EDITION

 

Yes, it WAS the worst loss of the season... thus far.

Few subjects delight Yank fans more than the vigorous debate that annually accompanies a new "Worst Loss Of The Year," or WLOTY.  

I mean, as Aaron Boonie is performing his YES deathbed video, every loss seems like the WLOTY. In their creative ways to mess up, the Yankees Sunday unveiled a new chasm, a new sinkhole into The Abyss, and fans rushed to their favorite internet water coolers to anoint the new WLOTY. It was like in The Lion King, where the monkey hoists the cub for the kingdom to celebrate. 

And that's no easy announcement, either. When you study the previous WLOTYs of 2024... Boston's 10 SB game, the Redsocks game-tying HR in the ninth, the Mets series, the Reds sweep, et al... we have enjoyed some truly magnificent humiliations by via a talented human convergence of disappointment. 

But I am here to proudly say that Sunday's loss was epic, eternal, infinite... a testimonial to the looming collapse of civilization, and a glimpse into the Yankee 2024 endgame. We don't know it yet, but the quest for a new low is over. We have our WLOTY. 

So, how can I say this? Ten reasons.

1. It instantly reversed what would have been the BLOTY - the Best Win Of The Year. Ben Rice's 9th inning HR saved us. The rookie had done it. This was a future YES Yankee Classic. And then... poof.

2. We have four days to ponder it: To mourn, to grief, to shake our fists... but not to heal. Nope. That won't happen. We will just bleed and bleed. 

3. We could have ended the symbolic half in first. Instead, we have begun our wild card chase.

4. A second-place Baltimore would feel enormous pressure to make a bad trade. Instead, despite their five straight losses, they can revel in the victory. No sense of urgency. (That's for the Yankees.)

5. The botches by Anthony Volpe and Alex Verdugo. More on each later. But the pair really needed a hopeful, four-day rest. Instead, they get to revisit their errors and maybe even wonder if they'll still be Yankees after Aug. 1.

6. Verdugo... damn. We've wanted him to break out, because of how it would hurt Redsock fans. Now, we wonder: Were they smart to cut bait on him?

7. As for Volpe, there's a piece by Joel Sherman in yesterday's Post that basically trashes the idea that he's some looming star. He looked great in May. Compared to a great wave of young shortstops, Volpe is starting to look like a future defensive replacement. I gotta believe that if Volpe had made that play to end the game, Sherman doesn't write that article. Now, it's out there...

8. Clay Holmes. Even before Sunday, I thought it a stretch to put him on the All-Star roster. Now, it's ridiculous. Look, we all like Holmes personally, but who can trust him to hold any lead? I hope he doesn't pitch tonight. I doubt he'll make it through an inning. 

9. The idea of veterans saving this team looks increasingly weak. DJ LeMahieu is hitting .188, and it's no longer a small sample size. Does he need a change of venue? Is the Yankee pressure cooker ruining careers prematurely? Does anyone really think Giancarlo Stanton can play if he cannot run. Because he can't. The guy can barely score from second on a double. As for Gleyber... yikes. How does a guy fall apart like this? And why?

10. If the Yankees had won, they'd be 5-5 this year against the O's with a chance to win the season series at home. The potential tie-breaker in the postseason. Now, at 4-6, they must sweep Baltimore. We've seen how that scenario turns out, because we just watched the WLOTY. 

The 2024 Cashman All-Stars! Catcher and Infield!

 

Want a breather, folks? 

Well, you're in luck, because it's time for the annual, Brian Cashman All-Star selections.

That is, the players Brian Cashman (and, to be fair, Hal Steinbrenner) traded away, got outbid for, or simply turned up their respective noses at. 

Guaranteed: almost every single one of these players could, simply by themselves, have won multiple pennants and World Series for the Yankees over the past eight seasons.

Catcher—J.T. Realmuto. A perennial selection to the All-Stars here—just as he is in real life!

Realmuto has not only been the best catcher in the major leagues for the past 8 years, he's also been practically the only catcher—at least, the only receiver who can both hit and field at a high level. 

Yanks might have got him back when Derek Jeter was being forced to dismantle the Miami Marlins, in 2018-2019. Or, maybe, once he was a free agent, after 2020.

But no, Cashman never showed the least interest. Hey, we had Gary Sanchez!

This year, there are two back-ups at the position: Luis Torrens, who was actually signed by the Yanks back in 2012. In true Brian fashion, he reacquired Torrens before the season, and in limited action this year, he has delivered some big clutch hits and won at least one game with his fielding...for the New York Mets. Yes, the Yanks sent him to Flushing—for a bag of money. Not like we needed a good fielding, back-up catcher or anything.

And then, incredibly enough, there's old friend Ben Biceptvedt, he of endless weight reps, injuries, and a .118 batting average for us. Brian sent him earlier this year to Tampa Bay, for whom he has been healthy enough to put in 200 plate appearance, hit .270, and play some decent D. 

You know, from that you'd almost think there was something wrong with our training and instruction methods.

But c'mon: how the hell else would we have acquired Jon Berti?

First Base—Freddie Freeman, the guy Cashman ignored when he became a free agent after 2021. All Freeman has done is hit a combined .320 since going to the Dodgers, while continuing to be a doubles, ribbie, and OBP machine. But hey, Cashie chose to bring back Anthony Rizzo, who is a lefty, as opposed to Freeman...a lefty. But look, Rizzo was born on August, 8, 1989...while Freeman was born on Sept. 12, 1989. Well, there is the DL—Freddie has missed...3 games since going to the Dodgers. Three. Total. In three years.

Middle Infield—Thairo Estrada, Ezequiel Duran, Ezequiel Duran.

Hey, I promise: it's NOT about all those pharaoh headdresses I still have in that Bronx warehouse! Thairo has had off-year this season, but put in two, very strong campaigns in 2022-2023, with OPS averages over .700 and some pop—while playing almost everywhere on the field.

But then, the Giants offered the Yanks the kind of player they just can't resist: cash.

Ezequiel Duran was that kind of player last season, playing a vital role in winning the Rangers a World Series. He's done a little less well this season, and has been sent down to AAA.

But not to worry, Yankees Rangers fans! Josh Smith, a player with great potential, has stepped into the breach, hitting .293 with 10 homers so far, while playing third, short, second, and DHing. 

How did Texas get these infinitely useful players? In a trade with the Yanks, of course! But don't despair, Bomber fans: we got an actual player for them both...Joey Gallo.

Shortstop—Corey Seager. There were any number of shortstops the Yankees could have signed as free agents...and almost all of them would have been better than Anthony Volpe who, let's admit it, is just not going to make it. Even Francisco Lindor would've been an improvement. 

But Seager—a left-handed power hitter and a good fielder who had already been Rookie of the Year and a World Series MVP by the time he was a free agent after 2021—seemed an obvious choice. Hey, all he's done since is win another Series MVP and finish second in the season-long MVP race.

Third Base—Manny Machado. The man who supposedly offered the Yankees a discount to sign with them, when he was a free agent. Since then, he's slugged 151 homers and counting in San Diego, as well as winning a Silver Slugger, making two All-Star games, and finished second in an MVP race.

But why worry? We are set at third!

Tomorrow: The Brian Cashman All-Star Outfield!

 

If you seek existential answers from the 2024 Yankees, you will only be disappointed.

 

Three years ago, July 11, 2021, the Yankees were on the verge of sweeping Houston - cheater Houston - in Houston. It was glorious, stupendous, magnificent... until it wasn't.

They led 7-2 heading into the 9th, with Domingo German on the mound and in control. Until he wasn't. He gave up a leadoff single, then a double, and was replaced by Mean Chad Green. Then came the cave in.

A few batters later, Green surrendered a three-run walk-off HR to Jose Aluve - the absolute worst, most horrendous, conceivable outcome for Yank fans, and the absolute worst ending of the first half for the Yankees themselves. A Category 5 fiasco. Defcon 4. The end of times. 

The Yankees that year finished second in the AL East and fell quickly in the wild card, losing to Boston. 

Today, is there any doubt of this team's October fate? 

Insert sigh here.

More than any other contact sport, baseball reflects the constant shifting of molecules, of movements so tiny that we - the bootless and unhorsed, lowly fans - cannot discern them. A pitcher's grip. A batter's swing. An infielder's footwork. A bat meeting the ball.

I suppose we at IT IS HIGH are guilty of seeking too many existential reasons behind these micro-movements of the universe. We seek answers for events that haunt or sustain us. We seek explanations, though none shall ever be given. 

But for all my ignorance and magical thinking, today I can assure you of one harsh truth: 

The 2024 Yankees are no championship team.  

Our year will not end on the Canyon of Heroes. The ends pre-exist in the means, and yesterday, in sunny Baltimore, we glimpsed the finale. 

Overall, we enjoyed a nice first-half. But what's coming in August and September will not be pretty. 

And come October, the catastrophic events that ruled yesterday will once again seal our fate. 

Bruised, beaten, bedraggled... and tied for first

After four months of hand-wringing, pearl-clutching, finger-pointing, head-shaking and nose-blowing, a win today - (game time: 11:35 a.m. - yikes!) - would send the Death Barge home this week atop the AL East.

Some observations on the first half:

1. No matter what happens today, the Yankees won't feel like a 1st place team. The recent six-week constipation squandered their best opening in history. A sweep of Baltimore could diminish the freefall. It cannot eliminate it. 

2. Several key players will either soar in the 2nd half or face career extinction. I'm talking about Alex Verdugo, DJ LeMahieu and Gleyber Torres. By now, they should have about 150 RBIs, collectively. They have about 90. The YES team has run out of excuses and hopeful signs.  

3. Deep into year two, we still don't have a read on Anthony Volpe. Is he a future great Yankee, or a stopgap, good field/no hit SS?

4. The more the Yankees struggle, the more critical it is that they keep Juan Soto next winter. And the less likely it becomes.

5. For the first two months, the Yankees deluded themselves about the ease of finding pitchers from the waiver wire. It was a false reality. The last month proved it.

6. Aaron Judge is the greatest player on the planet. He must be protected in the field and the lineup. If Judge gets hurt, all is lost.

7. No matter what happens, the Yankees won't fire Aaron Boone. If such a chance existed, he'd be gone by now. (And frankly, I've come to view him sympathetically, as he graciously eats the sins of loss after loss, without blaming his players.)

8. Cross your fingers, and Austin Wells might be the catcher we've been waiting for.

9. Internet blather about Yankee trade deadline targets must consider that our farm system looks drained. With Ben Rice in the Bronx, there are no rising stars at Scranton. 

10. After all is said and done, the Yankees will probably make the 2024 postseason. As Cooperstown Cashman says: From there, it's a crapshoot. Still... chasing another wild card? What a letdown.