The Yankees Really Do Suck!

 

In Fenway Park, the chant, “Yankees suck!” is as ubiquitous as bad sightlines and smelly concourses. Many “experts” picked the Yankees to go to the World Series, but this year Red Sox fans are right.

 

I am a longtime Yankees fan, but this comes as no surprise to me; I picked them to finish third, with a possible slip to fourth, which is where sit as of this writing. It’s no fluke; they’ve been a notch over.500 club for two years running, which is a systematic failure, not an aberration. The Yankees complicate ineptitude by being relentlessly boring. Way more so than the Bronx Bummers of the late ‘60s through 1975, when at least they had guys like Horace Clarke, Bobby Murcer, Joe Pepitone, Mel Stottlemyre, Tom Tresh, and Roy White who played their hearts out. If the current squad were a car, lemon laws would be in play.

 

Bad teams often “rebuild” by holding a fire sale. That’s flat-out dumb. Other teams cherry-pick what’s good and leave the dregs at the bottom of the cup. What’s to be done?  

 

First things:

 

·      General Manager Brian Cashman had a good run, but he’s worn out his welcome. His strong, tall guys approach to offense is old school. You cannot win with a team that only scores via homeruns and strikes out 25% of the time. Signing sore-armed Corey Kluber and trading for Jameson Taillon is on Cashman. Plus, you can’t rely on a lineup whose only lefthanded hitter is 37-year-old Brett Gardner, who should retire and become the new hitting coach.

·      Gardy would be an upgrade over current hitting coaches Marcus Thames and P.J. Pilittere. Gardner could teach bunting, situational hitting, and how to put the bloody ball in play.

·      Aaron Boone never made sense as a manager. Handing over a club with a $200 million payroll to a guy with zero managerial experience is the equivalent of building a Formula 1 race car and tossing the keys to a teenager. The Yanks need a seasoned baseball mind, not a freakin’ cheerleader.

·      Can the entire conditioning staff from A-ball on up. Injuries are part of the game, but the situation in New York is ridiculous. How about less weight training and more flexibility regiment?

·      More scouts and fewer Statheads.  Tampa and Oakland do well with analytics. They are outliers. Baseball is about winning games, not compiling numbers for fantasy geeks. Analytics are #1 on my list of why baseball has become boring. A few old-time stats matter–OBP, ERA, and (yes) batting average–but the rest is just crap dumb guys use to look smart.

 

 

Who is untouchable?

 

·      Aaron Judge is fragile, but also a slugger, a patient hitter, and a quiet leader. He strikes out too much, but he’s the big-ticket draw.

·       Gerrit Cole is a workhorse and one of the top half dozen best pitchers in baseball.

·      D J LeMahieu is having a down year, but he’s a rare contact hitter on a squad of whiffers and will be at or near .300 by year’s end. It would help if the bottom part of the order hit their weight so opposing pitchers can’tt force DJ to chase pitches out of the zone.

·      Gio Urshela is the guy who came from nowhere and is simply solid.

·      Domingo German has had off-the-field issues, but he’s a payroll bargain and arguably their second-best pitcher.

·      Young pitchers with potential: Mike King, Nestor Cortes, and numerous guys in Scranton deserve a serious look. This includes Luis Severino who is coming back from Tommy John surgery but has ace potential. He wouldn’t bring much in a trade because of his injuries, so keep him.

 

Who can be moved for the right deal?

 

·      Deivi Garcia is one young arm I would trade. I doubt his durability and suspect he’ll be hittable.

·      Gleyber Torres is the guy most of MLB wants. The Yankees need to hold out for a major haul if he’s traded.

·      Jordan Montgomery is a lefty who’s really a classic #4 or #5 starter, not the # 3 where the Yankees have slated him. I like Monty but he’s definite trade bait.

·      Miguel Andujar is a very good hitter who should be a DH except…

·      Giancarlo Stanton holds that role. His massive contract handcuffs the club, but if Cashman could trade him without paying most of his salary, I’ll back off the idea that he needs to move on.

·      Jonathan Loaisiga has come into his own, though Boone overuses him. Chad Green falls into this category as well, but I’d trade either for the right deal.

 

Movable players:

 

·      Aroldis Chapman has been a lights-out closer, but he’s also 33 which is about when closers begin to break down. Might be time to sell high.

·      Gary Sanchez is one of the most frustrating players I’ve ever seen. Terrible catcher, but somebody will want him for his big bat (when he manages to make contact).

·      Taillon should never throw another pitch in Pinstripes. NEVER sign a pitcher who has had two TJ surgeries. For that matter, never trade for anyone who plays for the Pirates.

·      The rest of the staff if not mentioned previously. Some are good, but they’re not good enough. Corey Kluber was a mistake, his no-hitter notwithstanding. Justin Wilson and Darren O’Day shouldn’t have been signed in the first place.

·      Clint Frazer is a needs-a-change-of-scenery guy. I thought he’d be a star, but that hasn’t happened. He’s 26 and someone will overpay for him.

·      Aaron Hicks is on the DL and would have to approve of a trade, but get him out of here. He’s another Cashman mistake.

·      Tyler Wade is fast, but he doesn’t hit enough to take up roster space.

·      Rougned Odor is an example of how bad things have gotten. Anybody want him?

·      If all else fails, bail on the season, promote young guys from the minors, and see if they can play. How good do they have to be to hit .200, which would be better than the bottom third of the order has produced?