Fat Wallets and Skinny Results: New York Yankees

 

 

October is here, but it might as well be midwinter for Yankees. They spent the summer in a battle with the Red Sox to stay out of the basement of the American League East, which is a mighty poor return for a $290 million payroll.

 

An old adage holds that the Yankees don’t rebuild, they reload. Too bad because they desperately need to rebuild. They are a team of plow horses that don’t get on base very often and when they do, it takes a triple to score someone from first. They simply must rethink their home runs or strikeouts lineup–which would involve eating some salaries–or 2024 won’t be much brighter.

 

The Yankees need to fire Aaron Boone, a push button manager devoted to fraudulent analytics. He’s little more than a cheerleader for mediocre players. Hensley Meulens would be a good replacement; he speaks Spanish and Japanese, the latter of which might convince Japanese star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto to ink a New York contract.

 

They should fire General Manager Brian Cashman as well, but word on the street is that Cashman will be back. They should show no such hesitancy in dumping the entire conditioning and training staff. There’s bad luck and there’s bad practice and New York has mastered the second.

 

Pruning the dead wood starts with Giancarlo Stanton who is 33, but plays like he’s my age. If they can trade him for prospects, do so, but be prepared to just dump him. Someone will claim him and make the Yankees pay his freight, but he is a roster clogger standing in the way of improvement. Others that need to go include:

 

·      Frankie Montas—a bad signing who bilked the team

·      Anthony Rizzo—nice guy, but he can’t stay healthy

·      Ben Rortvedt—part of the horrible trade with Minnesota

·      Ron Marinaccio—local guy who had his flukish moment

·      Jake Bauers—he too had his moment, now back to AAA

·      Domingo German—decent pitcher, toxic personality

·      Dump all the just-not-good enough players: Luke Weaver, Francy Cordero, Jimmy Cordero, Billy McKinney, etc.

 

The decision will be harder on several players. Estevan Florial should be kept. At the worst he’s fourth outfielder, but I think he’s finally coming into his own and they’ll regret it if they let him walk. I’d also consider resigning Luis Severino, which would be cheaper than taking on Yamamoto. Don’t let anyone fool you; pitchers do not come back from Tommy John surgery in 10 months; it takes two years. I’d also sign Keynan Middleton unless his demands are silly. He likes New York and he can eat middle innings. Stay-or-trade on Gleyber Torres? He’s good, but a streaky hitter who hasn’t flashed the leather as projected. If the return haul is good, I’d move him in the theory that right now he’s as good as he’ll ever be.

 

There are also guys who aren’t trustworthy in their current roles. If it’s me, Clay Holmes does not remain the closer and they sign someone more reliable. Which Carlos Rodon shows up next year? I’d have him on a short leash. If he’s slow out of the gate, move him even if it means taking on some of his salary. Tommy Kahnle should go. Maybe package him with Scott Effros for prospects.

 

Speaking of prospects, which ones are for real? I put them into the R (real), S (suspect), and P (as in it will take a Prayer) categories:

 

·      Jasson Dominquez: R Another victim of the Yankees horrible training staff. We won’t see him much next year because he needs Tommy John surgery in his non-throwing arm, but he’s the future.

·      Oswaldo Cabrera: R He’s not a star but he’s a useful snap-in part at third of the outfield.

·      Everson Pereira: R An outfielder that has hit everywhere in the system. One can only hope his early call-up didn’t hurt his confidence or the trainers his body.

·      Johny Brito: R He’s showed he can pitch under pressure and has earned his shot.

·      Ben Rice: R Some say he lacks the quickness to catch or the power to play first. Yeah, and all he has done is knock the cover off the ball at every level.

·      Anthony Volpe: S He’s fast, has occasional power, and is likable, but he’s also a .210 hitter, which isn’t good enough. The Yanks have drafted a lot of shortstops, which tells me they too have doubts.

·      Oswald Peraza: S He hasn’t hit well in the Majors, but he holds promise so the time to trade him or Volpe would be now.

·      Spencer Jones: S Too soon to tell. He’ll either be Aaron Judge Lite or a tall version of Joey Gallo.

·      Randy Vasquez: S He’s pitched well, and he’s pitched like he just got out of American Legion ball.

·      Drew Thorpe, Richard Fitts, Chase Hampton, Will Warren: S All are potentially useful arms, but scouts project all three as mid-rotation hurlers at best.

·      Nick Ramirez: S He looks okay but the sample is small

·      Matt Bowman: P Looks like a classic AAA guy.

·      Greg Weissart: P Just not worth holding on to.

·      Clayton Beeter: P Great arm, but it’s easy to see why the Dodgers dumped him. He’s a thrower, not a pitcher.

 

Looking for patterns? (1): Bad management and bad training must go. (2) Develop or trade for players who are younger, faster, more versatile, and can get on base. (3) Steer clear of older free agents. (4) Be patient with younger players, but take a hard-nosed approach to sort real talent from roster placeholders. (5) Pay attention to data that matters, like BA, OBP, RBIs, and pitcher Wins and ERA. When they fire Boone, make sure he takes his clip board with him.