The Yankees have said that he will be shut down for two weeks, then he will receive an injection to treat the injury, then progress from there. He will almost certainly begin the season on the IL.
Not good news, by any stretch. We have to consider ourselves, as Yankee fans, fortunate that it isn’t straight-up torn. I thought that everything being reported before the MRI results implied something much worse. Moreover, Severino reported the injury to the medical staff the moment he felt something wrong and did not throw another pitch.
It sounds like the best-case scenario for Sevy’s return is late mid-to-late April. There’s no reason to rush Severino back from a shoulder injury and risk further injury. I’d rather not have him until June or July, theoretically, than not have him for the playoff run or even mid-2020, and we’re supposed to have him by April or May, anyway.
There are a few things that need to be settled now that he is out. The less important but more fun one is the question of who will start on opening day.
The answer is almost certainly Paxton or Tanaka. This is a vanity thing anyway, so it doesn’t actually matter- Carl Pavano once started opening day for the Yankees, you might recall- but I guess I’d give Tanaka the nod, myself because he’s been here longer. Fair enough?
The other, more important, thing is who will fill in for Sevy in the rotation. Aaron Boone floated the idea that it would be Domingo German or Jonathan Loaisiga as the front-runners for the rotation spot. He kind of has to say that, even if they’re considering signing another pitcher, right?
For in-house candidates, I guess German would be my preferred option. I think Johnny Lasagna could benefit more from time in the minors, at this point, so we might as well roll with German, I’d say.
What about if Sevy is out longer, though?
I think they have to be truly considering outside options. The two big names available: Dallas Keuchel and Gio Gonzalez.
I think they should be and definitely were, considering them anyway before the Severino injury. The Yankees starting five is good, but the overall and MLB-ready depth is not anything to write home about, as far as potential for this season. It basically never happens that all five starters at the beginning of the year stay healthy, so it seemed like the plan was to bank on all five guys to stay healthy until either the trade deadline or until Jordan Montgomery returns and is back to being good. What were the odds that would have happened anyway?
Between Keuchel and Gonzalez, Keuchel is obviously the higher-ceiling guy. I don’t think either is a stud, but Keuchel could more easily regain his 2015 Cy Young form than Gonzalez would become a much better pitcher than he’s been over his career. Gonzalez has been a very solid pitcher, don’t get me wrong, and I like him, but Keuchel is more consistent at this point in his career, has the higher ceiling, and they are both lefties so there’s no preference for handedness there.
Gonzalez is the more obvious fit, though. Keuchel declined the qualifying offer so the Yankees would have to give up compensation picks and bonus money to the Astros if they opted for him. Gonzalez is also much more likely to accept a one-year deal and/or a bullpen role if the other five are all healthy, I believe. He also is not known for his facial hair so that would not be any sort of obstacle for a partnership between him and the Yankees.
I’d technically prefer Keuchel, but it’s not a huge difference to be between him and Gio, so I’d also be cool with signing Gonzalez if they go that route, which I would prefer to keeping it all in-house and opting for extra Domingo German starts.
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There is an eighth-year club option on the deal that is worth $12.5 million, so my quick math tells me the deal maxes out at 8-years, $82.5 million.
The year-by-year breakdown, according to Joel Sherman:
I have some scattered thoughts on this bad boy, so I’m just going to let ‘em rip below:
Anyway, I’m happy this happened today. It gives us all something to discuss that isn’t a spring training cliché or talking about the offseason being boring- even though the Yankees did a lot.
Talkin’ Yanks coverage during Spring Training is brought to you by AffordbleJerseys.com, where you can find Official Cool Base Yankees Player Jerseys with no name on the back for $99.99.
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The Yankees signed Luis Severino to an extension Friday morning, just in the nick of time to avoid the arbitration hearing that was scheduled for later in the day Friday.
The deal has a base of four years and $40 million, buying out his four arbitration seasons. There is a fifth-year club option on the contract, which would be his first free agent season. The deal can max out at $52.25 million over the next five years (thru 2023), according to Joel Sherman and Jeff Passan.
This is a great thing for the Yankees, who get to avoid an arbitration hearing for Severino and get him for a pretty fair price through his age-29 season. The arbitration process is an ugly one, and teams and players alike greatly prefer to avoid getting to that point. Dellin Betances is still (rightfully) upset over his arbitration hearing ahead of the 2017 season. It’s not fun, guys. Be happy they didn’t have to do it with Sevy.
For reference, the Philadelphia Phillies gave Aaron Nola, a debatably less proven starter (though I’d say they’re probably on about equal footing), a four-year contract worth $45 million, which is more than Severino’s base contract of $40M.
The year-by-year breakdown of Sevy’s salaries, according to Passan, is an interesting one:
Passan explains that the salaries in ’20 and ’21 are larger than you’d expect but lower in 2022 than you’d expect. That’s when the CBA will be renewed and there is no reason to believe that a work stoppage can be avoided at this point. The lower salary for Severino is a small protection in that instance. Fair enough, but I just have to say that I am terrified of the potential work stoppage. It’s a discussion for another day, but it seems inevitable and I’m genuinely scared for when it happens.
The Yankees have been averse to extensions like this in the past, although this is not a super lengthy extension (one year longer than he's currently slated to receive). The only guy they signed to a big extension before their first free agent years in my lifetime, I believe, was Robinson Cano. Their system hasn't produced a ton of guys over the years that have deserved it beyond Brett Gardner (who they signed) and David Robertson (who they let sign with the Chicago White Sox), but the point still stands.
Regardless, this is a good day for the Yankees and Severino alike, as they will never have to go to arbitration with one another and both receive some level of piece-of-mind about their contract situation moving forward. I hope they do the same thing with their other core pieces moving forward as they're hitting their arbitration years.
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The Yankees pulled a fast one, though, immediately sending Long to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for 21-year-old center fielder Josh Stowers, who was the No. 10 prospect in Seattle’s system, according to MLB.com.
This move was a surprise, but when you compare the prospects it makes a lot more sense. Stowers is two years younger (Long is 23) at a position with less organizational depth and he is not on the 40-man roster. Shed Long would have needed to be on the 40-man roster, and therefore the Yankees would have had to make another roster move to open up a spot for newly signed Adam Ottavino before that move can be officially official. They would have likely had to DFA/trade either Joe Harvey, Luis Cessa, or Ben Heller in order to open up the spot, and now they don’t have to do that.
Stowers has skills rated about average on the 20-80 scale, according to MLB.com, and he slashed .260/.380/.410 (126 wRC+) in low A last year after being taken with the 54th overall pick (11th pick of the second round) in the 2018 draft. This is what his face looks like:
From the scouting reports I read on Shed Long yesterday, he seems to definitely be a big league player who is close to MLB-ready, but that may not be as a starter long-term. Stowers seems to have the higher ceiling, but is further away and will require some development before being ready for the big leagues, which is an avenue in which the Yankees have excelled for a while now.
This seems to be a typical “Brian Cashman being several moves ahead of everyone else” kind of move, and it makes plenty of sense to me.
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The Yankees are now set to send Sonny Gray to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Cincinnati’s No. 7 prospect 2B Shed Long and a competitive balance draft pick (CBP). The hold up right now is that the Reds are trying to sign Sonny Gray to an extension beyond 2019 so they get more than one year of control for him. Rumor has it that if they agree to an extension, they’ll send one more low-level prospect to the Yanks. We’ll find out soon enough if that’s true.
Shed Long is a 23-year-old second baseman. He’s a lefty hitter and his skills are all rated to be about average for his position, according to MLB.com. In 522 plate appearances at Double-A in 2018, Long slashed .261/.353/.412 (120 wRC+) with 12 homers. Definitely a solid season. He is on the 40-man roster, and this is what his face looks like:
The Yankees had also asked for No.6 catcher Tyler Stephenson. The higher levels of the minor leagues are pretty thin at the catcher position, and right now the third catcher remains Kyle Higashioka. It makes sense to ask for him. They’re reportedly not getting Stephenson, though, and Long is the headliner in the package.
I have a feeling we don’t ever see Long play in pinstripes, but he seems to at least be a solid trade piece for a potential trade deadline deal later this year. Either way, I’m cool with it, but I genuinely do like everything I now know about Long, especially the fact that his first name is Shed.
As for the CBP, those are picks given to teams that are either in the bottom ten in revenue or the bottom ten in market size. Depending on a variety of factors, the pick a team is assigned is the either in between the first and second rounds or between the second and third rounds. I don’t know exactly what determines that and I have no clue where this pick specifically is, but it’s a reasonably high draft pick. It’s also the only kind of draft pick that MLB allows to be traded straight up as a literal draft pick.
At least on paper, this seems like a good return for Gray, who struggled for the vast majority of his tenure in the Bronx. I liked Sonny more than most, but it was time to move on from him. We should be wishing him the best.
Because Long is on the 40-man roster, moving on from Sonny actually does not open up a spot for Adam Ottavino, so be on the lookout for another move before that signing gets officially announced. I suspect Ben Heller will be DFA’d and re-signed as a non-40-man player, but maybe they’ll finally move Luis Cessa or it’ll be Joe Harvey. Those are the three most likely candidates.
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It sounds like there is growing momentum towards a Sonny Gray trade, so I imagine that will have something to do with the corresponding 40-man roster spot to make room for Ottavino.
Ottavino makes an already highly-regarded Yankees bullpen into the consensus best bullpen in baseball, even after losing David Robertson to the Philadelphia Phillies. Brian Cashman had said his plan this offseason was to bring in two relievers, and in the last few weeks the Yanks re-signed Zach Britton and have now brought Ottavino into the fold.
The Yankees bullpen now consists of the following:
Tommy Kahnle is out of minor-league options, so I would imagine- barring a deal- he would be the seventh guy and then the Yankees, who used an eight-man crew in 2018, would just have to figure out the long reliver. That guy would probably be Sonny Gray if today were opening day, but Luis Cessa, Chance Adams, Jonathan Loaisiga, and Domingo German remain as options beyond Gray for that role, among others. Stephen Tarpley will also figure to be an up-and-down arm for them.
Ottavino, 33-years-old and a New York native, is on a very team-friendly deal. It seems he took a lower average annual value ($9M) in order to secure the third year. Sounds good to me! Friend-of-the-program Katie Sharp has tweeted some exciting stats about Ottavino since the deal was announced. The one that caught my eye was that Ottavino had the fourth-lowest batting average with runners in scoring position last year. Presumably, he takes over D-Rob’s fireman role. Check out her Twitter page for more fun stuff that I’m sure she’ll continue to be posting.
There’s really nothing to dislike about this move, especially when you consider that Boston’s hands are now kind of tied in negotiations with closer Craig Kimbrel. They’re likely going to have to overpay him or Cody Allen if they’re going to make any additions to their bullpen that has already lost Joe Kelly and wasn’t good in 2018 anyway, despite winning the World Series.
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This is a long blog, so I'm putting the list up top here, and you can read the explanations below:
Starting Rotation:
Put them in basically whatever order you want, but these are the five guys that we should expect to be in that initial starting rotation for the Yanks. It’s important to note that it is highly likely that at least one of these guys gets hurt and misses a big portion of the season. It seems like every year, every team will lose at least one of their starters. It has become inevitable.
We also know that Jordan Montgomery will complete his rehab from Tommy John Surgery and be eligible to return sometime midseason. Will his return date be in June or will it not be until September? It’s impossible for us as fans to know right now, but sometime in June he will hit the one-year mark from his surgery date, and this procedure typically takes players as young as Monty a little over a year because the teams don’t want to rush young talent back from major procedures like this one. The Yankees are no different.
The Yankees also still have Sonny Gray on the roster. More on him and the rest of the starting depth soon.
Starting Lineup:
I don’t have to explain to you why Gary is the starting catcher on opening day, barring an injury. He’s good and will have a very long leash to prove it in 2019.
First Base- Luke Voit
The first base position has been in flux for several years now for the Yanks. Luke Voit hit like an MVP during his stint in the Bronx last season. He deserves to start the year as the starting guy over there to prove that that was real. His leash won’t be huge, though, with Greg Bird lurking (hopefully, healthily) in the wings (sorry for the bird pun) and the addition of DJ LeMahieu, who we’ve heard will play some amount of first base this year.
Second Base- DJ LeMahieu
I didn’t do a write-up on my thoughts on the DJ LeMahieu signing because I’m still not at all certain how I feel about it, but if the season started tomorrow, I would slot him in at second base, primarily. We know he’s been a gold glover at second and we know that he’s been reported to be viewed as the Ben Zobrist type for the Yanks, meaning they’ll move him around quite a bit.
A lot of people a skeptical of his ability to move around because he’s only been asked to play second base in Colorado for several years now, but he has a reasonable degree of Major League experience at third base, first base, and shortstop. People claim it isn’t enough, but with Nolan Arenado at third, a combination of Troy Tulowitzki and Trevor Story at short, and a different guy each year more-or-less claiming first, the Rockies have not needed to ask him to do much shifting around.
I am expecting him to do a lot of what Neil Walker did last year and play a decent amount at other positions. He’ll slot in at 2B more often than anywhere else, but I’d be confident in letting him move around. I’m sure he can play competently at first or third. He’s the early favorite to be the Miguel Andujar defensive replacement late in games at third. I think he could play shortstop, but with Gleyber Torres and Tulowitzki on the roster, we won’t see LeMahieu there. With his reputation for good defense and speed, I think there’s also some possibility that DJ plays a little bit of left field if the Yanks find themselves in a pinch. We haven’t heard anything about that possibility, but Neil Walker had never played Right Field before last year, and we saw a lot of that.
Shortstop- Gleyber Torres
Similar to LeMahieu, I expect Gleyber to do quite a bit of moving around between short and second. With Didi out and LeMahieu in the fold, I prefer to pencil Gleyber in at short and have LeMahieu in the lineup over Tulowitzki.
Third Base- Miguel Andujar
We’ve heard a lot of talk about Andujar’s defense this offseason, especially over the course of many conversations about potentially signing infielder Manny Machado. A Machado signing seems increasingly unlikely now (but he hasn’t signed anywhere yet!) so I think the game plan is to let Andujar stick it out at third for all of 2019.
If he’s still literally the worst defensive third baseman in baseball, then perhaps we will see the Yankees try him out at first base (which I don’t really like) or left field (which I think is more possible than a lot of people want to admit). Don’t think it needs to happen in 2019, though, unless they either: swoop in and sign Machado or Didi returns to the lineup and the Yanks find that they absolutely need to keep LeMahieu and/or Tulowitzki in the lineup every day. Andujar is penciled in right now to be the primary third baseman, with perhaps a couple of games as the DH every week to let Giancarlo Stanton play the outfield and let Aaron Judge or Brett Gardner rest, but more on that in literally one moment.
I don’t think this will stick all year, but if opening day were tomorrow, Brett Gardner would be the guy in left field. I love Gardy with all of my heart. I’m approaching a sick infatuation with him if I’m being honest. With that having been said, he proved last year that he isn’t an everyday outfielder anymore. Because of Gardner, I think there’s a strong chance of seeing a fair amount of Andujar at DH and Stanton in left to keep the best bats in the lineup.
Designated Hitter- Giancarlo Stanton
This isn’t where I wanted to talk about it because I’m clearly working my way around the diamond, but Giancarlo is going to be the DH more than anybody else this season. He’s a pretty solid defender, though, and I think we see him play both corner outfield spots a lot more this year than he did last year, because of the aforementioned Andujar defensive woes and Gardner’s decline. Moving on!
Center Field- Aaron Hicks
Hicks has earned it. He was the second-best center fielder in the American League last year and he’s improved each year since coming to the Yankees. He’s the guy as long as he’s healthy.
Right Field- Aaron Judge
Duh.
The Bench:
The Yankees roll with a three-man bench, eight-man bullpen these days. I expect that to remain the same in 2019. One of those spots is for the backup catcher, and the other two are for utility guys.
Romine is the backup catcher because last year he was probably the best backup catcher in baseball.
Troy Tulowitzki will almost certainly be a shortstop exclusively when he plays, so he’s technically not a utility guy, but with Gleyber and LeMaheu’s respective versatilities, they’ll move around for him.
The last spot is a big question mark. I’d bet against that spot going to Greg Bird because the Yankees don’t really have room for two guys (Bird and Voit) who only really play first base. Voit has technically faked it in right field for one inning, but they really only play first.
It’ll probably go to someone who can play the outfield since the only four outfielders on the roster, as presently constituted, are expected to be in the lineup most days. That could be Clint Frazier or Jacoby Ellsbury but both of them have to prove that they are healthy before I trust them enough to be on the MLB roster on Opening Day.
That kind of leaves Tyler Wade and Tim Locastro as the other options. The odds-on favorite for opening day has to be Wade, who plays every position over Locastro who is a big question mark and is probably the most likely guy to get hit with a DFA when the LeMahieu signing is officially official.
UPDATE: The Yankees announced that Locastro was, in fact, designated for assignment upon announicng LeMahieu's signing.
Bullpen:
The top five guys are guaranteed to have those bullpen spots if they are healthy. I believe that the sixth spot will go to Tommy Kahnle because he is now out of minor league options and should get the chance to prove that he is the guy that Brian Cashman acquired in 2017 at the onset of the season.
This leaves two spots open for the pen. One will likely be a traditional reliever and at least one will be a long reliever.
The traditional reliever may end up being Adam Ottavino, who is still a free agent. I’d like for the Yankees to sign him, but he’s not on the roster right now, so there’s no reason to assume he will be. The most likely guy to have that spot on opening day is Stephen Tarpley. It’ll likely be a revolving-door anyway, but Tarpley was good last year and the only two lefties in the bullpen are Chapman and Britton and neither is the “lefty reliever” that people think of when we’re talking about lefty relievers. Both of those guys are late-inning guys and will pitch in the seventh inning or later just about every time we see them this year. Tarpley as the middle-innings lefty seems like a good option and the one I’d roll with if tomorrow were opening day.
Because Sonny Gray is still technically on the roster, he is the guy who would be slotted in as the long reliever right now. He’s likely not going to be around, so it is worthwhile to take stock in the other options for the bullpen. Here are some guys that could slide into either of those bullpen slots:
The prospects like Acevedo would be unlikely for opening day, but the others are legitimate options, regardless of how well any of us like or dislike them. I have no interest in seeing Cessa start a game ever again, but if they want to try him as a one (or *gulp* two) inning reliever out of the bullpen, max, then it’s a worthwhile experiment. I believe Cessa is out of minor league options, so it’s time to make a final decision on him. Because he has no more options, he’s honestly pretty likely to be with the big club on opening day.
Brian Cashman confirmed that Domingo German has an extra option year, which is very good for the Yankees because it does not mean they absolutely have to trade at least one of German or Cessa. I don’t think German’s career as a starting pitcher is dead, but I think he could be genuinely filthy out of the bullpen in 2019 if the Yankees decide to go that direction.
Johnny Lasagna is similar to German. He could definitely still be a starter- and a good one- but he could be really nice out of the bullpen, without the concerns with how much he will be able to pitch with his injury history.
Chance Adams remains an option, but I would not put him on the opening day roster, either, if I had to decide today.
The roster still has many question marks, for sure, but this seems to be where we stand with the roster right now.
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Britton’s deal is slightly unorthodox, though not as weird as the one that Yusei Kikuchi and the Mariners agreed to earlier this week.
The base deal of the contract is more-or-less three years for $39 million, according to Ken Rosenthal. Jeff Passan is reporting that there is a fourth-year team option and an opt-out that Britton can exercise after the second year of the deal. The part where it gets particularly odd is that the Yankees have to decide on what happens with that after year two.
To reiterate, one of the following things must happen after the 2020 season, and it has to be decided in this order:
If the contract goes to its full terms, the full contract would reportedly be four years and $53 million, and if he opts out after two years then Britton will have earned $26 million, according to Mark Feinsand.
Britton is a ground ball machine and left-handed, two things that partner well with Yankee Stadium. He was very good during his stint with the Yankees, especially once he became fully acclimated after those first few weeks.
Right now the Yankees bullpen is guaranteed to have the following guys in it:
The Yankees seem to remain connected to Adam Ottavino, who becomes the best non-Craig Kimbrel reliever on the free agent market with Britton now off of it. The Yankees very well could fill in internally with options like Tommy Kahnle, Stephen Tarpley, Domingo German, Chance Adams, Jonathan Loaisiga, *gulp* Luis Cessa, and others remaining in-house.
I’d personally sign Ottavino, but now that Britton is back in the fold I’d be willing to see what they have in the fold and trade for someone mid-season if need be. It seems like every team that is trying to win will acquire a reliever mid-season anyway, these days.
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I’ll miss D-Rob. A lot. As the offseason went on, it seemed like this was inevitable, though. Particularly when you look at the terms for which he signed coupled with how quickly the Yankees wrapped things up with Brett Gardner and CC Sabathia (and JA Happ, if you consider that quick), the fact that D-Rob hadn’t signed yet and ultimately didn’t sign a megadeal with Philly indicates that at least one side of the Yankees or Robertson didn’t want him back in pinstripes. I suppose the postseason shares story is a bigger deal than I thought if that’s the primary reason for the separation. If he’s not a Yankee, I’m just happy he didn’t sign with the Red Sox or, to a much much lesser extent, the Mets.
So that’s the D-Rob part of the story, but what do the Yankees do now?
After re-signing CC, Brian Cashman had said to friend-of-the-program Jack Curry, among other reporters, that he had the following things on his checklist for the Yankees’ offseason:
He got two more starting pitchers by trading for James Paxton and re-signing Happ. He’s theoretically “done” with that task.
He’s found a replacement for Didi by signing Troy Tulowitzki, but it seems increasingly likely that Manny Machado could also sign with the Yankees any second now and he would also technically be a Didi replacement even though third base is largely considered where he’ll be long-term.
Now Cash’s primary focus will shift to the bullpen- though he obviously can do multiple things at one time- where the Yankees haven’t made any additions this offseason. Despite several bigger-name relievers signing and being traded already (Edwin Diaz, Andrew Miller, D-Rob, Jeurys Familia, etc.), there is still a pretty vibrant free agent reliever market that the Yanks can choose from, the biggest names left being Zach Britton, Craig Kimbrel, and Adam Ottavino.
Kimbrel seems very unlikely for the Bronx, but Britton and Ottavino have been connected to the Bombers all offseason. I’d like to sign both of them, but I wouldn’t rule out the Yankees signing one and perhaps letting Adam Warren re-return. I haven’t really seen reports of them connected to Warren, specifically, but would you really be surprised if they did that?
Another option that I haven’t seen mentioned: I think they very very well could only sign one guy and go into the season with just that. Britton will theoretically get a big payout, so would the Yankees not want to sign him and Ottavino- who I imagine will get somewhere in the 3 years/$30 million range that seems to be the going rate for solid relievers lately- with their luxury-tax-sensitive mindset? I think it’s possible!
The team you start the season with is never what you end the season with, so I feel like they could easily just sign one guy and add another bullpen arm at the deadline if they think they need another.
Another reason I think they might go this way is that of one guy that’s already in-house: Tommy Kahnle. 2018 was a lost season for Kahnle, obviously. He was a combination of bad or hurt in all but, like, two appearances this year and that’s being kind of generous. With that said, let’s not forget how good he was for the Yankees down the stretch of 2017! If Cashman and the Yankees think that they’ll get 2017 Kahnle back this year on the cheap, maybe they’ll give Britton the big contract and then Kahnle would count as that second reliever acquisition. If they did that, and Kahnle is good, then the bullpen is just as formidable as it was with D-Rob and Britton this year. Here’s who they’d have:
That’s a fantastic top 6 in the bullpen. Just as good as 2018’s pen, if you ask me. If I were making the calls I would sign Britton and Ottavino and make it a strong top 7 in the pen and be an improvement on 2018, but I think they very well might roll with this due to cost and other factors. I don’t know what the mindset of the Yankees brass is in regards to Kahnle. I don’t trust him again yet but I have exactly zero access to what’s going on with him and they have about 100 percent access to him. If they think he’s good, then I get it if they think he can kind of count as the second acquisition.
Pretty much all of this is to say that D-Rob is gone and I wish he weren’t, but it’s not surprising and the Yankees bullpen should still be among the best even if they don’t bring in two more guys since we shouldn’t forget about Tommy Kahnle’s bounce-back potential.
Tulowitzki, 34, had been released by the Toronto Blue Jays last month. He did not play one game in 2018 and the Blue Jays decided to just eat the remainder of his contract and grant him free agency, a move that surprised a lot of people coming from a franchise in somewhat of a rebuild.
2010 Big Baby Dave is pretty stoked about this move. 2019 Big Baby Dave is shrugging and is cool with it. Tulo has battled injury problems for the last couple of years, only playing in 66 games since the start of the 2017 season.
Tulo hasn’t been particularly good in several years, so it is hard for me to get excited about this, but he actually was an All-Star as recently as 2015, which I would not have guessed.
There was speculation when he was released that he may be willing to try out some new positions, if need be, with a new team, which makes sense since he would become more of a utility man when Didi Gregorius comes back from Tommy John surgery, or if they sign Manny Machado to play shortstop in Didi’s absence.
Speaking of Machado, this move has no impact on Brian Cashman’s pursuit of the superstar. You don’t turn your nose up to an MVP candidate who is entering their prime because you signed an injury-riddled 34-year-old, you know? Machado is expected to make a decision any day now, so we’ll hopefully have the conclusion to that saga soon.
One person this move will likely impact that immediately comes to mind is Gleyber Torres. The Yankees seemed to feel comfortable with the idea of sliding him over to shortstop full time while Didi is out, but this move says to me that they have decided to commit to him at second base, and I’ll admit that I don’t hate the idea of letting him just worry about second base and get as much work in there as possible without moving around, even though that might be a bit of an old-timey baseball adage.
Another thing this move signifies to me is the end of the Disco Neil Walker era in the Bronx. I’d have liked to bring him back (I think I’d have preferred him to Tulo, honestly) but I think signing Tulowitzki- and perhaps Machado as well- signifies that there is not any room for Walker on the roster, particularly when Didi comes back. I suppose I’ve been wrong about such things before, but I think this is the end. Disco Neil shirts are still for sale, though!
It’s definitely an interesting move by Brian Cashman, and at the league minimum, it’s really a no-risk scenario.
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The third year will likely vest as long as Happ maintains a fairly clean bill of health, so in all it will come out to 3 years for $51 million, a little more than the Rich Hill contract from a couple years ago, as far as total dollars (Hill’s contract is back-loaded, we are not sure how Happ’s deal is structured), which seems about fair for what Happ did last year and over the last few years. He was one of the most reliable starters in baseball and was the Yankees’ best and most reliable starter during his stint with the Bombers in 2018.
Some will complain that the move is not enough, and that may be fair, but I would say Happ is the safest signing, even if it is the least flashy. The Yankees’ starting five in the rotation now looks like this, on paper:
Lest we forget that Jordan Montgomery will be back sometime mid-season (June?), and pitched to a very solid 3.88 ERA (116 ERA+) in 155.1 MLB-innings as a 24-year-old rookie in 2017.
Some say that bringing back four of the same five starters is hardly an upgrade, but keep in mind we get a full season of Happ this time around and Paxton is as true of an ace as you’ll find when he’s remained healthy. I still think they’ll grab one more guy to serve in a swingman-type role and as insurance beyond Monty for if someone gets injured. It sounds like they were interested in a Lance Lynn reunion before he received an inexplicable 3 year, $30 million contract from the Texas Rangers, so someone like that (would they keep Sonny for that role? *ducks*).
A full year of Happ and adding Paxton is a big upgrade over 2018’s rotation, whether you want to admit it or not. They aren’t done adding to the rotation and they still very well could trade for an ace (Kluber, Bauer, Syndergaard, Bumgarner, idk) either before the season or by the trade deadline. The team you enter the season with is seldom the team you have in the postseason. Now that they technically have five starters, I also think this gives them leverage, to some extent, in negotiations for those aces, since they now don’t “need” them, which could be cool, if that’s how it shakes out.
Moreover, with the signings that we’ve had so far, which one sounds the best to you?
I suppose we don’t yet know what Dallas Keuchel’s deal will be, but I am going to go out on a limb and guess that we won’t like the way that one looks either. Happ’s is clearly the least risky, given length of the contract, age, and health. The Yankees, theoretically, will be able to trade Happ in the final year of that contract at age-38, if need be, I reckon. We’ll see. If they win a World Series in these first two years I don’t care about the third. This is a good signing, albeit perhaps not great.
To open up a spot for Happ on the 40-man roster, the Yankees designated RHP Parker Bridwell for assignment. If you claim you actually care about that, stop lying. It’s clear, now, that Bridwell was a conduit for moving on from Ronald Torreyes now without the fervor that would have come from bringing him into Spring Training then releasing him before the season. It was necessary. If Toe is essentially the cost of Happ, that’s fine.
The next order of business is turning to the bullpen and middle infield positions and deciding how they will replace David Robertson, Zach Britton, and about half a year of Didi Gregorius.
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There's been kind of a flurry of conflicting reports on this thing. We heard that Happ and the Yankees are close and it's inevitable and we've also heard that Happ has several offers and whoever caves on offering him the third year of a deal will earn his services.
It's been a really weird day with this story. I don't know what to believe. Joel Sherman seemed to indicate that Happ is expected to be back in some shape or form, so I guess I'll take his word for it.
I don't love going over two years for Happ, but I think I'll live with it, depending on the dollar figure or the distribution of salaries (front-loaded or back-loaded). If it's what we expect in the Rich Hill range (3 years, $48 million), I think that's fine. Above that is a bit too much, but if it's 3 years and $45ish million then that's probably fine.
$15 million per year for a proven, consistent starter in Happ is reasonable by me. The dud he threw in Game 1 doesn't concern me too much.
If he is back, the rotation is back to having five pitchers, so it's technically complete and looks something like this:
Plus Jordan Montgomery will be back in like June or July so that's a factor.
Bringing back Happ in no way means they're out on acquiring an ace like Kluber (or Syndergaard or Bauer or Bumgarner). We've seen too many reports saying they would be interested in getting one of those guys PLUS Happ for me to believe that. I think, if anything, it gives them more leverage on those moves since they now don't technically need one of those starters.
All this speculation is, of course, contingent on actually signing Happ. We'll see if that happens soon.
]]>The Yankees, long assumed to be the favorites to land the 29-year-old southpaw, reportedly would not extend their offer beyond five years, with Jon Heyman reporting that the Yanks’ official offer was five years and $100 million. For an extra year and $40 million more, I can’t blame Corbin for picking the Nats and not taking a massive discount. I think the Yankees would have been willing to increase the dollar figure, but it sounds like the sixth year was the deal breaker.
I’m not as upset as I thought I would be. I really like Corbin. He was far and away the top starter on the open market, but it’s not like he’s actually one of the five best pitchers in baseball. It is annoying when every indication was that he and his family greatly preferred the Yankees, but it’s alright.
I’m happy that Cashman and Co. held firm and refused to give in on the sixth year. I don’t love committing to any pitchers for more than four years or so, but I would have been cool with the fifth year on Corbin. He’s good!
Now there is a question of: where do the Yankees go from here? The next man on the free agency totem pole is probably JA Happ. He’s my top choice now. Other free agent options include old friend Nathan Eovaldi and old enemy Dallas Keuchel. I’m not too keen on either of those (particularly Keuchel), but they’re the next guys after Happ, right?
Happ is my top choice since he’s the most sure-thing of these three moving forward. Nobody truly knows what the deal with Eovaldi’s health is, and Keuchel seems to have taken big steps back this year, becoming essentially a league-average pitcher. He was awesome in 2015 and 2017, but bad in 2016 and very middling in 2018. I just don’t trust that volatility.
There is also Japanese lefty Yusei Kikuchi. Reports have indicated that the Yankees are at least kicking the tires on him. They were very interested in him coming out of high school but weren’t seen as frontrunners when he was posted early this week. Are they more open to him now that they don’t have Corbin?
JA Happ was dynamite down the stretch for us a year ago and he’s the type of guy that isn’t going to deteriorate altogether at this point in his career. He doesn’t have the kind of stuff that just goes away.
I wouldn’t commit to any of these guys for longer than two years, but I’d sign up for 2 years and $30ish million for Happ right now. That is if the Yankees plan to go through free agency to round out the rotation.
The Yankees very well could pull off a trade. The Indians may be open to moving any of Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, or Trevor Bauer. There are also rumors that they would be willing to attach Jason Kipnis in a deal, which could help fill the Didi Gregorius gap as Gleyber Torres slides over to shortstop. Can they pry Madison Bumgarner from San Francisco? I doubt it.
Any of these trades are going to hurt, likely costing them Miguel Andujar and more, which would then make a Manny Machado signing mandatory. It would surely be an upgrade, but if you can keep Andujar and have the option of choosing between Machado and Bryce Harper, that would be a more fun decision. I think if there is a way to acquire any one of those guys (Kluber is my favorite) without giving up anyone presently on the MLB roster (aka not Andujar or Torres), then they should probably pull that trigger on such a move.
The offseason just got a lot more interesting. I trust Cashman with all of my heart. Let’s see what he does next.
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The Yankees have talked for a while about the plan to get under the luxury tax and spend big in this offseason with Bryce Harper and Manny Machado on the market as 26-year-old free agents. They got under the luxury tax threshold in 2018 and it’s time to start spending again. Media pundits are declaring it unlikely that the Yankees make a play for Harper (though I certainly wouldn’t rule it out) and they also seem to be claiming that the Yanks are closer to lukewarm on Manny Machado than hot. The Harper discussion is one for another time, but let me talk about a small theory I’ve conjured up about the Machado discussion.
I’ve written before about how Machado would be a clear upgrade for the Yankees, despite being a jerk.
Machado is an elite hitter (wRC+ over 130 in three of the last four years), a capable defensive shortstop (an elite defender at third base), and he doesn’t cost his teams any runs on the bases.
Despite him being a top 5ish player in all of baseball (can we say that anyone besides Mike Trout is definitively better than him?), Yankee fans- it seems to be about a 50/50 split on this- are sour on the idea of Machado in pinstripes, citing the hustling issue as the primary reason to not want him here.
Nobody within baseball circles really cares about the hustling thing, especially when we’re talking about players as good as Machado. We know that the Yankees, specifically, don’t care about it. They didn’t care when it was Robinson Cano and I promise you that they don’t care about it with Machado. The only thing that would inhibit the Yankees from signing Machado is the contract. Whether it’s the years or the dollar figure, the contract is the only thing that would actually stop Brian Cashman and the rest of the front office from pursuing Machado. It’s not the hustling thing.
That’s why it has been so peculiar that the front office is leaning into the hustle thing. Hal Steinbrenner had his interview with Meredith Marakovits on YES last week and said that Machado’s Johnny Hustle comments were “troubling” and that that attitude “wouldn’t play [in New York].” Steinbrenner said that he would have to sit down with Machado and discuss those comments and figure out what he fully meant by that. Machado has begun the public relations tour of backing away from those initial comments that he made to Ken Rosenthal. It makes sense.
Here’s the thing: I don’t believe Steinbrenner when he says he is concerned about the hustling. I think he’s much more concerned with the dirty plays in Machado’s history, such as kicking Jesus Aguilar this postseason and throwing his bat at the A's.
The Yankees should be more concerned with those things because those are the things Machado has done that are actually offensive. It makes sense. As much as I’m in favor of a Machado signing, I hate those things. They make me feel icky.
So I think the Yankees also have this aversion. A much larger one than any time he jogs to first on a routine ground ball to the second baseman. I believe the Yankees are more concerned with the decidedly dirty plays than the hustling. They’re using the hustling as a cover.
For whatever reason, everyone on Twitter and talk radio is talking about the hustling thing and not the fact that Machado has been a legitimately dirty player in the past.
The Yankees, I think, are leaning into that and also claiming outrage at the hustling because if they do decide to sign him, it’s much easier to justify that than if the story were about Machado’s history of trying to injure other players.
The front office claims that they are going to be talking to Machado about his “troubling” hustle history, but I think it is clear that the truth is they want to talk about his “troubling” history of dirty play. They need to make sure that doesn’t carry over if he comes to The Bronx because that is what won’t play here.
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The Yankees made their first major move of the offseason on Monday night by trading for Seattle Mariners lefty James Paxton in exchange for a three-player package, according to multiple reports.
The headliner in the return trade is top prospect LHP Justus Sheffield. The Yankees also gave up RHP Erik Swanson and outfield prospect Dom-Thompson-Williams, a person that I had never heard of before this trade.
Losing Sheffield is unfortunate, but this is a no-brainer move by the Yankees brass. Sheffield, although he still has plenty of potential, was not impressive in his very brief stint in pinstripes last year. It sounds like many feel that his long-term fit would be as a number 3 starter, and Paxton is more than that right now.
Control seems to be an issue with Sheffield and the Yankees couldn’t afford to trust him in the rotation for 2019. I think Sheffield has done all he can in the minors and now needs to be in the big leagues in order to improve. The now-rebuilding Mariners can let him work it out in the big leagues. It seems that Sheffield and the Yanks were on divergent paths, whether we like it or not. C'est la vie.
For what it is worth, Swanson was a fringe-40-man-roster guy who the Yankees had to make a decision on by Tuesday’s deadline, before they risk losing him in the Rule 5 draft. The Yankees essentially open up another 40-man spot in the trade.
Paxton is 30 years old and has two years of arbitration left before reaching free agency, and he is a big-time pitcher.
In 2018, Paxton tossed 160.1 innings of 3.76 ERA baseball, which I suppose doesn’t look as good as he was a year ago. In 2017 he was even better, albeit in fewer innings.
Health has been the major concern with Paxton, as his 160.1 IP in 2018 were a career-high. Here is the list of his injuries that I am stealing directly from River Ave. Blues:
It’s not nearly as bad as his reputation would have you believe. It’s a lot of issues that I would not expect to be lingering problems. Paxton does have the forearm injury from 2017, which is often seen as a precursor to Tommy John surgery, but the Yankees must feel confident in it now.
Overall, there’s not anything to really dislike about this trade, unless Justus Sheffield was your favorite prospect of all time, for some reason. The Yankees can’t afford to prospect-hug and Paxton is legit. The Yankees are likely still going to acquire one more front-end arm to solidify the rotation, which now looks something like this:
Jordan Montgomery will also be returning from Tommy John sometime in the middle of the season, lest we forget!
I imagine Plan A for that rotation vacancy remains to be Patrick Corbin. Plan B is likely JA Happ. Signing both of them feels unlikely.
I suppose there is still a chance that they make a trade for Corey Kluber or Carlos Carrasco in Cleveland, but I would guess that that became a much more unlikely match now. I assume the asking price is, rightfully, far too high after the Yankees already made this trade. Free agency seems to be the path here.
I’m excited about this move. Let me know what you think by tweeting at me.
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Gold Glove Award
No Yankees were named Gold Glove Award winners. They had three finalists, though! Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge, and Masahiro Tanaka were among the three finalists in left field, right field, and the pitcher spots, respectively. Tanaka was the only one that I think had a real chance. I think he actually should have won. Judge was never going to beat out Mookie Betts. It was Betts’ year. Gardner maybe could have won in left, but the writers ultimately went with Alex Gordon for the sixth time. I wasn’t mad about that one.
Tanaka, though, probably should have won. He’s been outstanding at defending his position since he came to the Yanks. He made his first non-pickoff-attempt error this season, which I think is what gave his defense national attention. Kind of weird that what might have made everyone more aware of his error defense was an error. Oh well. It would have been nice for him to get a little recognition for that.
Silver Slugger Award
The Yankees didn’t have any Silver Slugger Award winners and they didn’t really have anyone that deserved it over who won. Maybe full seasons of Didi Gregorius and Aaron Judge would have allowed them to receive more consideration? I doubt they would have won over Francisco Lindor or Mookie Betts, regardless. Maybe Giancarlo Stanton could have been in consideration for DH? JD Martinez also had an unreal season (he won TWO silver sluggers), so I doubt that could have happened either. Next year!
Rookie of the Year
This was the award that has drawn the most ire from Yankee fans because it was the one where a Yankee had a legitimate chance to win. Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres were both finalists for the award, and many- myself included- believed Andujar should have won. If you consider Rookie of the Year to be the MVP among rookies, like I do, then you believe Andujar should have won. That’s not the way it’s ever really been voted on, though, so I was not surprised for one second that they gave the award to Shohei Ohtani. I also don’t think he was at all far behind Andujar if you’re voting for it like an MVP award anyway. I completely understand Ohtani winning it, even though I would have personally given it to Miggy.
Feel free to snag a “Rookies of the Year” t-shirt or sweatshirt to commemorate Andujar and Gleyber’s awesome seasons.
Manager of the Year
Nobody thinks Aaron Boone should have won this award. Oakland A’s manager Bob Melvin ultimately came away with the hardware here, but any of the three finalists (Melvin, Alex Cora, Kevin Cash) would have been understandable recipients. I think my vote would have gone to Cash, but I have a feeling the BBWAA really hates the bullpenning thing, so I didn’t expect Cash to win it.
Boone did receive a pair of third-place votes. I don’t think Boone was as bad as Twitter says, but he certainly wouldn’t have been in my top three if I were voting. I don’t get to vote, though, so I guess that doesn’t matter. Ultimately, Boone won 100 games in his first year as a manager, so getting a couple of down-ballot votes isn’t all that unreasonable. I expect him to be better in year two.
Cy Young Award
The Yankees had no major Cy Young candidates. If Aroldis Chapman hadn’t missed any time, perhaps he could have gotten a few throw-in votes, but they’re always hesitant to vote for relievers, which I understand.
Luis Severino, though, did get one fifth-place vote (from Bill Madden, who is a New York guy), to earn a ninth-place finish overall. He was the front-runner for the award on July 6, but from July 7 through the rest of the season, he was probably the worst starting pitcher in baseball. I think if he had been somewhere about halfway between the best and the worst pitcher in baseball in the second half, he might have been a finalist again. I hope to see him put together a full season in 2019 and end up right back near the top of the list.
MVP
The Yankees did not have any true MVP candidates. Had Judge not missed two months with the broken wrist, I am sure he would have been right up there with Betts, Mike Trout, and the others. Four Yankees received votes for the first time since 2012 (Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter, Rafael Soriano, Raul Ibanez (?!?!?)), though! Judge, Stanton, Gregorius, and Aaron Hicks all received MVP votes.
Judge finished the highest of his teammates after receiving a pair of seventh and tenth place votes (12th overall). He would have gotten serious consideration if not for the missed time.
Stanton was next, receiving an eighth and a tenth place vote. I expect him to finish higher next year.
Didi got a ninth and a tenth place vote. Brendan Kuty gave him the tenth place vote and some guy from Tampa named Martin Fennelly gave him the ninth place one. Hm. Gregorius missed a bit too much time and did nothing for the month of May to get more consideration than that.
Hicks got a tenth place vote. It came from Marc Carig of The Athletic. I like that guy and it is cool that Hicks got a little recognition. Hicks was the only Yankee that Carig voted for if that means anything to you.
The overall results can be found here and each individual ballot is here.
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The injured shoulder reportedly had been bothering Sanchez since 2017, and it started flaring up again this offseason so the Yanks decided to pull the trigger on just getting the surgery.
The expected recovery time for this procedure is supposed to be three months, putting Gary in line to return to baseball around early-mid February, although Cashman played it safe and just said (I’m paraphrasing) that he’ll almost certainly be ready for opening day. Kinda has to play it safe after the “Aaron Judge will return in three weeks after breaking his wrist” thing that never seemed realistic. Fair enough.
I really hope that this serves as the explanation for why Gary forgot how to hit this year. I’m hesitant to say it because the front shoulder is the “power” shoulder, and his power numbers were not far off from where they should have been. His batting average was the real issue. I’ll blame it on this anyway and if he’s good again in 2019 then I look smart. Sound good?
Aaron Judge had shoulder surgery last offseason and didn’t miss a beat this past year. Judge had arthroscopic surgery and Sanchez had debridement surgery, which are different procedures. I wish I had more information than that, but I’m definitely not a doctor and I’m not going to pretend I actually know the difference. For what it’s worth, I’m reasonably certain that an arthroscopic procedure (Judge’s surgery) is a “cleaning out” kind of thing, while debridement surgery (Sanchez’s surgery) is removing some sort of loose body but is somehow different than arthroscopic surgery. Gary’s thing is probably considered more serious in the medical community.
The Yanks were in the market for at least one or two depth/Quadruple-A catchers anyway. After Sanchez and Austin Romine, there’s a pretty sizable gap before you get to Kyle Higashioka and then a massive gap before whoever is next. 2018 first and second round picks (and catchers) Anthony Seigler and Josh Breaux are not even close to being considered options. The absolute highest they could end up this year is Double-A if they tear the cover off the ball for the entire year, and even then, probably not.
The Yankees already brought in one guy for this role in Ryan Lavarnway, former highly-regarded Red Sox prospect. He’s a Quadruple-A guy who can hit in the minors but not in the majors and is bad at defense at every level. I’m fine with the signing though. They need the depth. Catching depth in the organization SUCKS despite Gary and Romine being good major league options.
I think the Yankees very well could sign another guy in the Kratz/Higgy/Lavarnway mold. I would expect them to do it. A dark-horse candidate would be a Brian McCann return, who could start if Gary isn’t good to go and transition to a backup role when he comes back. I’d love a McCann reunion, but why wouldn’t he just go to Atlanta who he has more of an attachment to and has more of a need for a lefty-hitting catcher to be part of a platoon? They’ll be able to promise more money and playing time, so I don’t see him coming back. I’d like it though!
It really stinks that Gary is hurt and is going to essentially lose his offseason, but if this can solve his 2018 hitting woes and he won’t be missing any regular-season action, then that would be fantastic. Get well soon, Gary!
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The deal is reportedly worth $8 million for his final season and will contain no incentives. It sounds like CC learned his lesson with incentives after the “that’s for you, bitch!” game.
The big fella was adamant about wanting to return to the Yanks, where he is among the longest-tenured players with Brett Gardner. He is one of the biggest leaders in any clubhouse in baseball, and he has my unconditional love forever.
As many as three non-Yankees teams reportedly reached out to Sabathia. Ken Rosenthal reported that one of them was the Houston Astros, who are in the market for starting pitchers since Dallas Keuchel and Charlie Morton are in free agency and they lose Lance McCullers Jr. to Tommy John surgery. I would have hated if CC had gone there!
Brian Cashman indicated mutual interest in a return in the last few days. It always seemed like a matter of when and not if, to me.
CC has gotten better and better in the late stage of his career. I hope he keeps going in this final season in 2019. From 2016-18 he has thrown about 150-160 innings (179.2 in 2016, roughly 150 in 2017-18, each) of sub-4.00 ERA baseball. As our fifth starter, sign me up for that!
He is four wins away from 250 wins (250 is kind of the new 300-wins, no?) and 14 strikeouts away from 3000 career strikeouts. He’s started thinking about those milestones and the Hall of Fame more in the last year or two, he admitted on R2C2. He’ll be in the Hall of Fame before too long, I’m sure. He’s a legend.
The Yankees are not done. Cashman knows he needs to get multiple starters this offseason. I think they will bring in two more, and I’d be pretty shocked if at least one of them is not JA Happ or Patrick Corbin. Otherwise, maybe they pulled off a trade for one of the Cleveland guys (Kluber and Carrasco).
Not sure how anyone would have a problem with bringing CC back, but I’ve already gotten a couple of tweets about it, so feel free to let me know if I’m dumb for being happy.
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Oct. 31 was the deadline to decide what to do about the team option on Gardy’s contract. The Yankees had two options:
The Yankees opted for the latter but immediately re-signed Gardner to the aforementioned $7.5 million deal. As I understand it, the move saves the Yankees $3 million real-life dollars, but $5 million for luxury-tax purposes in 2019. The $2 million buyout is spread across the rest of Gardner’s previous contract, 2015-18.
I don’t care about saving the Steinbrenners and literal dollars, but creating more room under the luxury tax threshold will likely prove important moving forward.
Gardner proved this year that he can’t really be trusted to be a full-time starter over the course of a full season anymore. He hit .236/.322/.368 (90 wRC+) on the season, overall, but his second half was torturous, dropping from a 106 wRC+ in the first half to a much less acceptable 66 wRC+ in the second half. He also, unfortunately, proved that he really shouldn’t get at-bats against left-handed pitching anymore.
He is still absolutely a leader in the clubhouse and I love him. I’m glad to have him back as the fourth outfielder on this team. Does this stop them from going out and signing a better option like Bryce Harper? Absolutely not. Gardner is a great fourth outfielder/pinch-running /defensive substitution option, but the Yankees know the game plan cannot be him as the everyday outfielder next season.
I’d love to be able to platoon him with Clint Frazier or for Clint Frazier to be given the job outright with Gardy as the extra guy, assuming they don’t sign an other-worldly talent like Harper, but that cannot be the game plan entering spring training. Unfortunately, with Frazier’s health issues last year- the last two years, really- I don’t see how you can trust him to stay healthy enough for him to be Plan A in 2019.
Could Andrew McCutchen come back to the Bronx? I doubt it, personally. It always seemed like an either-or situation between him and Gardner this offseason. Cutch could probably go get a bigger contract with a bigger role than the Yankees would be willing to give him. Winning is important to him, but how important is winning to him this year? This might be the last year he can earn a fairly high annual value on a contract. He played well enough to earn such a thing over the course of a full season. The Yankees won’t give him that, though. I think McCutchen is gone.
This was the first major decision that the Yanks had to make this offseason. I’m happy with how it turned out, but feel free to tweet at me and tell me why I’m a moron for liking Brett Gardner.
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It’s also not a unique position to be in. Just about every team in Major League Baseball will spend this offseason trying to bring in reinforcements for their starting rotation, even as we are entering the bullpenning age.
The Yankees have two guys who are guaranteed to be in the rotation for next season right now: Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka. That’s it.
Sonny Gray is all but gone. Cashman also said that at the presser.
CC Sabathia and JA Happ are free agents. I’m reasonably confident that CC will be back, but it’s not necessarily a guarantee at this point. Happ very well could be back too. Despite his clunker in ALDS Game 1, he’s cool in my book and I’d definitely take him back for the right price. He was the best pitcher down the stretch of the regular season.
With a bunch of young question marks in Justus Sheffield, Chance Adams, and the recovering-from-Tommy-John Jordan Montgomery (do we include Domingo German on this list?) headlining the rest of the in-house options, The Yankees still have a clear spot to add another guy to the rotation even if both CC and JA are back. Adding a front-end starter to this rotation is incredibly valuable and important.
Twitter’s number one choice to fill that void: Patrick Corbin. He’s also the best pitcher that is likely to pursue a new home this offseason. So it makes sense.
Corbin has to be the number one target, right? He’s coming off his best season since his injuries and he’s still just 29 years old. The other relatively elite free agent starters seem beyond their primes in that they’re older than you’d probably like and they’re not coming off their best seasons.
Clayton Kershaw is literally the best free agent pitcher, but he’s 31 now and is very unlikely to actually consider leaving the Dodgers.
Dallas Keuchel is still a nice pitcher, but he’s also 31 and seems to have taken a big step back.
Charlie Morton is 35 and I’m not confident that he’d keep up 2018’s pace if he left Houston and whatever voodoo magic they’re doing down there (they’re cheating somehow, right?).
Yeah, Corbin is number one. The only other guy coming off a great year at a reasonable age is Nathan Eovaldi and I don’t trust him to maintain any of it.
So what about Corbin? His 2018 stats: 11-7, 3.15 ERA, 2.47 FIP, 11.07 K/9, 2.16 BB/9 in 200.0 IP. Take pretty much any stat you want from 2018, they’re all good.
He seems basically back to what he was in 2013 before the injury troubles that caused him to miss all of 2014 and make just 16 starts in 2015. In 2013, at the age of 23, he spun 208.1 innings of 3.41 ERA baseball, with other strong stats.
He stayed fairly consistent throughout the year after his unreal April. His ERA and other stats by month, according to Baseball Reference:
Split | ERA | G | IP | SO9 |
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April/March | 2.25 | 6 | 40.0 | 12.4 |
May | 3.82 | 6 | 35.1 | 11.0 |
June | 3.52 | 5 | 30.2 | 10.6 |
July | 3.68 | 5 | 29.1 | 9.8 |
August | 2.70 | 5 | 33.1 | 11.1 |
Sept/Oct | 3.16 | 6 | 31.1 | 11.2 |
He technically had a lull in the middle of the year with an ERA just over 3.50 from May-July, but he bounced back for undeniably strong performances in August and September.
It’s easy to see why everyone wants him. I’d be happy if they got him, in a vacuum. Corbin does seem to be a little fly-ball heavy, though, which would be a big concern as he would be moving from a pitcher’s park in Arizona to Yankee Stadium.
Between the long ball threat and the injury history, I would be hesitant to give him some sort of massive contract. I’m hesitant to give any pitcher a lengthy deal, really. I’d definitely be wary of giving him a deal in excess of 4 years in length.
Because Corbin is pretty clearly the best pitcher on the market at the most favorable age of the free agent class, he’ll probably be able to get a pretty substantial deal. I don’t think the Yankees would be able to get away with offering a 4-year deal. I think someone is going to be willing to give Corbin 5+ years of a high salary since he is the best pitcher that can be had with just money. I don’t care about the salary, because I don’t root for the Steinbrenner wallets, but I care about the number of years that you’d have to commit to a guy like Corbin.
Corbin, raised in the Syracuse area, also reportedly grew up a Yankees fan and his whole family still loves the Yankees. He had a lot of nice things to say about the organization earlier this year. Does that mean he’d be willing to take a worse offer from the Yankees? I doubt it. When has that ever really happened? Carlos Beltran wanted to take less to come to the Yanks in the 2000s, but he ended up going to the Mets instead when the Yankees wouldn’t even meet those demands.
Overall, I really like Corbin and I’d be A-OK with bringing him in if it’s not too exorbitant of a contract. But this is the best chance that Patrick Corbin will get to cash in on an exorbitant deal- is he going to give the Yankees a team-friendly contract? I doubt that.
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First, there was the hustle thing. Manny didn’t run out a routine ground ball earlier in the NLCS and baseball purists noticed and immediately clutched their pearls. I can’t emphasize enough how little I care about this. Sure, I would prefer to have guys who bust it down the line each and every at-bat, but it’s not realistic. I had no problem when we went through this with Robinson Cano and I wouldn’t have a problem with it if Machado were to be doing it in pinstripes.
In Major League Baseball, guys aren’t going to make errors just because the batter was hustling down the line. It doesn’t happen. If it’s a play that may be close, I would hope at that point guys like Machado would run their hardest to first, but on routine grounders? Miss me with that. Doooooooon’t care!
The worse part of that story is what happened in his interview with Ken Rosenthal when Machado doubled down and essentially said that hustling isn’t his thing and he’s not going to change that now.
Obviously, this isn’t what you want to hear, but, again, I don’t really care if he keeps hitting and fielding the way he always has.
The next thing with Machado was the slide at second base when he tried to break up a double play. He extended his arms to try to throw off Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia turning a double play. The Utley rule was called and it became a double play. Once again, it wasn’t something I really care about. I could probably argue that it contradicts his comments on the hustling thing, actually.
I can see why people don’t like this- I don’t like this- but it wasn’t something that was out of the ordinary. He was trying to help keep the inning going for his team in the playoffs and I can’t blame him for this. These plays aren’t really dirty, especially when there’s clearly no intent to injure the opposing player, like in this case with Arcia.
Machado was fined by Major League Baseball for the play.
The most recent play is the worst thing that Machado’s done. Machado kicked Brewers first baseman Jesus Aguilar in the heel/ankle area while running out a grounder. Take a look:
VIDEO: @Dodgers SS Manny Machado executes one of the biggest bush league plays in baseball by pretending to trip over @Brewers 1B Jesus Aguilar's foot on a routine ground out. #NLCS pic.twitter.com/SCROQGnzdx
— Billy Krumb (@ClubhouseCancer) October 17, 2018
Christian Yelich on Manny Machado’s incident at first base with Jesus Aguilar:
— BASEBALL VAULT™ (@BSBVAULT) October 17, 2018
“It’s a dirty play by a dirty player.” pic.twitter.com/O08imKDpQE
This play was dirty. It was a really disgusting play that, at the minimum, was a poor attempt to bother Aguilar and, at worst, was an attempt to injure Aguilar.
It was a disgusting play. What do you want me to say? Manny’s always been a pretty huge asshole. I don’t have to explain more why that was a bad look for Manny, but it doesn't affect his free agent stock at all.
Manny Machado has been one of the best overall hitters in baseball for some time now, and he’s still only 26 years old. His combination of power and contact with the level of defense he plays (particularly at third base) and the positions at which he plays defense makes him a no-brainer elite player each and every year.
I shouldn’t have to explain this to people, but Twitter has proven me wrong yet again: Manny Machado would help the Yankees next year.
The Yankees got under the luxury tax threshold this year and they did it for a reason. That reason is so that they can go back to the Yankee way of doing things and flex their wallets. I, personally, don’t root for the Steinbrenners’ bank accounts, so I wouldn’t have minded if they never ever reset their luxury tax hit and kept spending. The Steinbrenners do care about such things now, though, so if they felt like they needed to reset the tax rate in order to start spending again, then cool. They’re going to spend.
Machado still fancies himself to be a shortstop. I still don’t really like him there, but that’s neither here nor there. He can play shortstop or third base, and the Yankees are in a unique position where they need to add someone who can do those things.
It’s no secret that Miguel Andujar is a bad defensive third baseman. He doesn’t pass the eye test and the sabermetrics don’t favor him. It’s a tough watch. That doesn’t mean I’ve given up on his potential to play third, but it does mean that if they have the opportunity to get someone like Machado to play third, then I’m more than comfortable allowing Andujar to try out some other positions, whether that be first base, DH, or, my personal choice for Miggy, left field.
I’m more than happy to let Andujar keep trying to develop at third if they don’t land someone like Machado, but you don’t let Andujar be the reason for not signing Machado. Andujar’s bat is legit, so don’t give up on him, but if you can get Machado you get Machado.
Didi Gregorius underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this week. At the absolute earliest, he’ll be back in late May or early June. It’s more likely that his return timeline has him slated somewhere around the All-Star break or even August. There’s a hole at shortstop that could be filled by Machado.
The Gregorius injury allows the Yanks to let Machado keep thinking he’s a shortstop for about half a season or so, and it lets them see another half of a year of Andujar’s development at third before deciding for sure what they want to do defensively with him.
It’s important to remember, though, that you should sign a guy as elite as Manny Machado regardless of the respective Miguel Andujar and Didi Gregorius situations. When one of the best players of the generation becomes available as they’re entering their prime, that is going to potentially a $300 or even $400 million investment. The Yankees don’t decide to do that just because Didi is now hurt and they decide that completely independently of how they feel about Miguel Andujar.
I’ll live with it if the Yanks don’t sign Machado. I like a lot of the pieces that are already in place. They obviously have more pressing needs. There’s nothing wrong with making your strengths stronger, though, and I find the idea that a large swath of the fan base would be upset with signing Manny Machado to be absurd. Machado would be a tremendous help to the Yanks in 2019 and moving forward. He’s one of the best players in a long time to play this game.
The Yankees are in win-now mode. It's fun! Signing Machado is the move that would most help a team to win right now.
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My grandma reads some of these posts so I’m going to warn her that I’m about to use some inappropriate language, in case this is one of the posts that she does read:
Ummm. Fuck.
This news was kind of a kick in the genitals, huh?
These end-of-the-year press conferences always have announcements like this where one or two guys are going to have a surgery we might not have expected. Usually, it’s something like “Reliever X is going to have a minor ankle procedure” or something like that. I fully expected an announcement that Didi was going to have surgery on that wrist he injured on the Aaron Hicks walk-off to clinch a playoff spot. I thought maybe CC would be having something done, which they also announced. However, I didn’t expect to hear TOMMY JOHN surgery for Didi Gregorius. That sucks.
So it sounds like Didi came over from the Diamondbacks with a partial tear of the UCL that everyone in the front office just kind of forgot about entirely after a while? Cashman and Co. say that Didi officially “hurt” the elbow on one of the plays at Fenway where he went into the outfield. He powered through it and played the rest of the series.
Now, he will have the surgery sometime next week. The Yankees expect him to be a significant contributor for the team in 2019. What that means, exactly? I don’t know. If he’s back by roughly the all-star break, then I would consider ourselves pretty lucky. As a shortstop who also hits left-handed, injuring his throwing and leading elbow is not good. He’s not a pitcher, though, so he shouldn’t be out for the whole season like a pitcher might, with how precisely they need to be able to throw the ball.
So now the attention shifts to how the Yankees will go about replacing Didi. They likely need to prepare as if he’s out for the whole year. I’m, again, not sure what that means, exactly.
Everyone immediately goes to the Manny Machado situation. I’ll give that its own post at some point, but it’s important to touch on it now, so here’s what I think about Machado.
I don’t think Machado should be a shortstop. He’s not good at it. If the Yanks were to sign him, I want him to play third, and, with a player like Machado, you sign that guy and figure out what to do with Miguel Andujar later. Machado has been an elite defensive third baseman. Shortstop? Not so much.
For what it’s worth, I am on board with signing Machado for third and moving Andujar to a new position. Miggy’s bat is legitimately elite, but his glove is legitimately bad. I think he can become acceptable defensively, but that may be easier at a different position. People keep throwing out first base, but I’m, personally, more in favor of moving him to left field, depending on how the rest of the roster seems to take shape. Andujar has an elite throwing arm and most of his issues defensively seem to be footwork/reaction time-based. Moving him away from the batter (and not to the position that is involved in the most plays at first) would help him, I think.
Anyway, the Didi injury gives them time to let Machado play shortstop for half a season- if he’s going to be a baby about it, and see what improvements they get from Andujar at third before deciding if they need some sort of LF-DH-RF rotation between Andujar, Giancarlo Stanton, and Aaron Judge. They can shift Manny to third when Didi returns and, with his offense, I can stomach Machado’s defensive ineptitude at shortstop for half a season.
The other obvious option, that doesn’t involve spending approximately $400M, would be to move Gleyber Torres, a natural shortstop, over to short from second and bringing in someone to play second base. Gleyber slid over to short a decent amount in 2018, and they are clearly comfortable with him at shortstop.
I don’t know the complete second base landscape, but the most obvious fits are bringing back Disco Neil Walker or signing Daniel Murphy. Murphy proved to be next to unplayable on defense this year, and Walker is far from elite with the glove at this point in his career, but Neil has familiarity with the organization and Murphy can still hit a bit. I think I’d prefer bringing back Neil of these two, but, again, I haven’t looked at the full landscape.
The Yanks will also be looking to bring in left-handed hitting. That’s no secret. They’re a very righty-heavy team that plays its own games in a stadium that is more advantageous to lefties, so I expect a lefty bat to be added to the squad, especially after losing Didi.
I’ve already seen rumblings on Twitter of interest in Michael Brantley and Marwin Gonzalez. I suppose Gonzalez just became a much more viable option since he can play every position in the field. I’m not against such a pursuit if it becomes a real possibility.
This will be far from the last time we explore how to fill in for Didi. We’ll be all over the situation this offseason here at Talkin’ Yanks.
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I have a lot of thoughts on what’s happened here. Some of them will become their own, in-depth posts as the offseason gets going. Let’s just get right into it:
I don’t like to play the “Fire (insert coach here)” game. I think people are too quick to blame coaches in every league for their team’s deficiencies, but it’s especially true in the case of baseball managers. I think that Boone did a mostly fine job for most of the year and gets more hate than he deserves.
*Stephen A. Smith Voice* HOWEVA
Boone has made some awful decisions throughout this season. I think a lot of those decisions may have been coming from Cashman and Co., but the point is that whoever’s in charge really needs to have a change in philosophy because it clearly didn’t work and was frustrating to watch all season.
The completely laid back spring training and the punt games need to be a thing of the past. Every game counts and they can’t be just throwing the game away and let Luis Cessa spin a few frames just because they go down 3-0 in the early going. That dude sucks.
I’m not saying the guys should be tense all the time, but going to the complete opposite of Joe Girardi at manager may have been an overcorrection to something that was only debatably an issue. I don’t necessarily think that a change at the helm was the worst idea ever, but I was a huge Joe Girardi guy and I can’t shake the feeling that if he were still in charge, then we’d still be playing baseball and we very well might have had home field advantage throughout the postseason.
I’m not saying Boone was completely useless. As I said, I think he gets more hate than he's deserved. He managed the Wild Card game beautifully, aside from the choice to have Severino start the fifth inning. His management of moving on from the starting pitcher and going to the bullpen was consistently his biggest mistake as manager this year. For the most part, I think his bullpen decisions (ignoring the AJ Cole fetish in the regular season) were fine. Particularly in the playoffs, actually. His biggest mistake in regard to bullpen choice was probably going to Lance Lynn before Chad Green in Game 3.
The Andujar decision is a weird one. I am not against the plan they had to not start him with CC Sabathia, a ground ball machine, in Game 4. They had started Neil Walker there in 5 of his last 6 starts and they started Not Miguel Andujar and third a lot throughout the season when CC was on the hill. Miggy isn’t trustworthy at third. Maybe he gets there in a year or two. That’d be pretty neat! We’ll see.
Not getting Andujar an at-bat at all in this game was the real head-scratcher. I thought they’d sub him in for Neil Walker once CC was out and that lineup spot came around again. I think they abandoned that when Neil had the only hit for a while. I wasn’t entirely against leaving Neil in, but they had to get Andujar at least one at-bat. He was the most consistent contact hitter all season. I think pinch hitting him for Gardner instead of McCutchen in the eighth would have been the right call since they didn’t sub him in for Walker earlier. Andujar has a really good chance to be the Rookie of the Year, and he didn’t touch grass in the game that the Yankees were eliminated.
Ultimately, we can’t blame this all on Boone/the front office if they put the right lineup out there and then the lineup did nothing for two straight games at home. They did next to nothing with the bats in Games 3 and 4 until the ninth inning in Game 4. It suuuuuuuuuuuuuuucked to watch.
On the season as a whole, it feels like nobody on the team really over-performed this year besides Miguel Andujar (with the bat), Aaron Hicks, and the second version of Luke Voit. That kind of goes for the pitching staff, too. The Red Sox, conversely, had at least two guys (Betts, Martinez) have the best seasons they will ever have. I know I'm often overly optimistic, but maybe that’s reassuring for the future?
Andujar was impressive with the bat, but his defense was so bad that it almost counteracts any over-performing he did with the stick.
Hicks had an awesome year and he didn’t have too many injuries, so that was cool. He was still a fairly frustrating watch, though, because his ideal at-bat contains exactly zero swings.
Luke Voit 2.0 was awesome. I hope that guy is here to stay if that actually is the real Luke Voit.
Aaron Judge missed two months. He was a top-5 player in baseball when he played, but he missed two (2) months and looked like it until he got to the postseason.
Giancarlo Stanton had a good, not great, first year in pinstripes that included basically two separate months of nothing at the plate and then he underwhelmed in most big spots in the playoffs. He’s going to get more hate for his postseason performance from other people, so I’ll lay off for now, but he seemed to be the guy that the other teams wanted to face!
Didi Gregorius battled injuries down the stretch of the season and had a season about on par of what we expected from him, looking at his numbers on the whole. He also had a month where he forgot how to hit a baseball.
Gleyber Torres had a good year overall and showed everyone why he was a top prospect. I need to see another year of him in the field at second base and I’d like for him to be less streaky moving forward. A full year in 2019 will be telling.
Greg Bird had maybe the worst season I’ve ever seen someone have. I love Bird, but I think the injuries have caught up with him and it looks like the dude can’t hit fastballs anymore.
Gary Sanchez had a horrible year. He got hit with the groin injuries and literally never got into a groove in the regular season besides the month of May (.856 OPS). Next year is a big year for him.
Brett Gardner proved that he’s no longer an MLB starter. If he wants to be back, it’s going to be as the fourth outfielder.
Even Austin Romine, who had a good year, faded down the stretch again. His non-power numbers ended up right about where we expected.
The bullpen guys performed about as expected and everyone in the rotation had big red flags. Severino couldn’t pitch down the stretch. Tanaka had a bad start to the year and did not fix the home run problem.
There are a lot of questions heading into the offseason. Each of these topics will get their own posts, but it’s time for us to start wondering about all of these:
There’s going to be so many more topics to look into as the offseason begins to unfold. We’re going to try to hit on everything over here on Talkin’ Yanks.
Overall, I mostly feel a persistent sadness about the end of baseball season. I love the NBA season, of course, but the Yankees are my favorite thing. This was my first year full-on covering the team, between my internship this summer and joining Talkin’ Yanks in August. I’m going to miss having baseball to watch every night.
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Okay, not literally...
I'm a world-class blog boy - I can always conjure up a pretty decent blog. Even when I'm disgusted and frustrated by the events I am covering.
And last night definitely falls under that category.
Holy shit.
What the FUCK was that game last night???
I don't even know where to begin.
I was in the Bronx yesterday, watching the game from Stan's. For those who aren't familar, Stan's is a bar across the street from Yankee Stadium, known for being the greatest Yankee bar in the world. Anyone who disagrees...you are wrong.
The place gets ROWDY. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to get happy-rowdy about last night, so I will digress...
Being a recent college grad, while making ends meet at a 9 to 5, I didn't want to plunk down the almost 200 that it would have cost me to see the game live.
So, I thought the next best thing would be to make the journey up from Manhattan and watch the game at the best bar around.
And all of us fans were presented with an absolute shit show of a game.
God damnit.
We lost 16-1. 16 TO FUCKING 1.
IN THE PLAYOFFS.
I'm not going to get into all the conspiracy theories that have stared popping up today, about Sevy and Gary potentially not knowing the start time of the game.
My fellow TY writer, Bob, took care of that in a recent blog post. You should check it out.
The only thing I will say is that Sevy "appeared" to be unaware that the game was starting at 7:40. BECAUSE, he didn't start throwing in the bullpen until very, very, very, very, very (have I said "very" enough) close to game time.
"...first pitch is at 7:40?"
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) October 9, 2018
Head nod.
Look at the clock. "It's 7:30"
He didnt do long toss. we were wondering were he was at the time. This whole situation stinks. pic.twitter.com/bo09Jt88Ds
I mean, seriously, look at that.
Regardless, Sevy was off. No getting around it. But, the damage wasn't horrible...
He gave up a RBI single in the 2nd, as well as a sac fly and fielder's choice in the 3rd. Not too bad, in all honesty.
Too bad our offense wasn't doing shit, but I'll get to that later. 3 runs should have been no problem for our team.
And after that third inning, it was pretty apparent to everyone that Sevy's day should have been done. Turn the game over to the bullpen and let's attempt the comeback.
HOWEVER (nope, not the Stephen A. voice today - I'm too pissed. But if you still imagine his voice, that's your call...), Boone decided to throw Sevy out there for the 4th inning...
Boone, what the fuck were you thinking? This was such a dumb call. All of our praise for Boone, after the way he called the Wild Card game, evaporated immediately.
Sevy immediately gave up 2 singles and a walk, before Boone decided to finally take him out of the game. But the damage was done...well, not literally, yet. But the writing was on the wall, so to speak.
And, in other bizarre move, clueless Aaron decides to throw Lance Lynn out to the wolves.
Boone decided to call upon Lynn, not a strikeout pitcher, while Chad Green was waiting in the wings. Our boy Chaddy, in addition to being MUCH more of a strikeout pitcher than Lynn, is also very experienced at coming in with inherited runners.
However, for some incredibly stupid reason, Boone went with Lynn. And, of course, it screwed us over...
Lynn proceeded to immediately walk in Betts, before giving up a 3 run, bases clearing, double to Benitendi. 7-0 Boston. In Yankee Stadium.
And now, with the game seemingly out of reach, Boone decided to flash back into reality and say "Aw, gosh dangit. I guess I should have put Chad in there after Sevy. I'll just throw him out there now! Because I'm a smart manager! Hehe"
No you aren't, Aaron. No you are not...
Chad ended up giving up 1 earned run, the others being credited to Lynn.
The Sox had scored 7 runs in that fucking 4th inning.
Oh, and Sevy's stat line finished as so:
3 IP, 7 hits, 6 ER, 2 walks, 2 Ks
In the moment, I was still holding onto hope of a comeback - but, I'm writing this the next day. With a much clearer mind, I realize that the air was already taken out of us.
The bats were dead in the water.
Okay, I'm throwing in way too many random phrases. I'll chill with those.
As for the rest of the pitchers, Holder also gave up an earned run, Tarpley gave up 3, and Romine gave up 2 - wait, what?
Yes, you read that correctly.
They threw the best backup catcher in baseball onto the mound to, seemingly, preserve the bullpen for Game 4. Romine gave up a 2 run homer but, again...who cares?
(As a baseball writer, I feel the need to casually mention the fact that Brock Holt hit for the cycle. But I shall just gloss over it...)
Our lone came way back in the 4th, thanks to a Didi fielder's choice.
16-1.
Obviously, 16 runs is basically an insurmountable comeback. But our bats need to do more. That was a joke last night. After a great offensive display on Saturday, they didn't do shit at home...
That is how we decided to perform in our first Yankees-Red Sox playoff game in the new Yankee Stadium.
Well, I'm trying to not sound more depressed and dejected than I already am.
But tonight - this is it. *Prepare for a couple for clichés*
Win or Go Home. Do or Die.
If we win, we force Game 5 back in Boston. If we lose, this rollercoaster of a season is done-so.
And we're calling upon our longest tenured pitcher, as well as one of our leaders, to save us.
Good old, Carsten Charles.
Let's get this win, boys, and force the final game. Anything can happen back at Fenway.
LET'S GET IT
LET'S GO YANKS
Follow me on Twitter @JohnFerraro
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By now, you’ve probably heard Luis Severino did not start warming up in the bullpen until 8 minutes before the start of the game. That is VERY unusual. As John Flaherty pointed out in the YES postgame, pitchers begin their warmups about 30 minutes prior to games.
So what happened? I’ll tell you…
Luis Severino and Gary Sanchez thought the game started at 8. Many are hypothesizing this, but no one seems to have made a connection I uncovered. Here it is:
After the game 2 win in Boston, there was a day off. Sunday night, a peculiar thing occurred on the set of the Fox Sports postgame. Gary Sanchez FaceTimed Alex Rodriguez. At 12:10 am, technically game day, @MLBONFOX tweeted a video of what transpired. Here is the text:
12:10 am - @MLBONFOX tweets a video of Alex Rodriguez receiving a FaceTime call from Gary Sanchez.
Tweet: “In the middle of tonight’s show, @Yankees’ Gary Sanchez decided to FaceTime @AROD.
He was trying to find out what time New York plays tomorrow”
Burkhardt: If you’re on set with the guys I’m on set with, three of the greatest sluggers of all time, you never know what’s gonna happen, so Alex decides to FaceTime Gary Sanchez, who hit a ball to the moon in Boston yesterday. Gary, that ball’s still going. He’s on the phone right now.
Rodriguez: And Kevin, he’s trying to find out what time the game is tomorrow. So we’ll give you the starting time, Papi [Sanchez]. [Rodriguez assumedly already provided him with a time]
Ortiz: Don’t be late!
Rodriguez: You just keep hitting home runs, because I’m gonna bet against this guy [Ortiz].
Ortiz: A big bet. Ok, be late!
Rodriguez: We’ll talk to you later, Papi [Sanchez].
Even here, the context is a bit shaky. The tweet says Sanchez called AROD, but Burkhardt says the opposite. No way AROD is going to call someone in the middle of a broadcast (it is AROD, but still). I’ve got to think Burkhardt misspoke and Sanchez was the one calling. That’s why it was such a funny thing. I retweeted it because it was silly.
One thing was clear though, Gary Sanchez did not know what time the game was. This is where things get strange. I’m sure occasionally a player forgets what time the game is, but why do you have to call a former teammate about it. Shouldn’t Gary have just texted a current player or Boone?
My first instinct, because I am not the biggest Boone fan, was Boone is much less approachable than we thought. Remember, Cashman heralded him as a tremendous communicator. I thought this could be insight into what life is really like in the locker room.
Then I thought, even if that’s the case, why didn’t he just text Judge, Gardner, etc.? The most logical conclusion is that Gary called Rodriguez to talk hitting, and also asked when the game was. Not as exciting, I know. We will never know what Rodriguez told him, but it is very possible Gary was given incorrect information and then relayed that to Severino on game day since they have to be in the bullpen together. This is plausible because, as I mentioned before, Flaherty said pitchers start warming up 30 minutes prior to a game. When did Severino enter the bullpen? Right around 30 minutes prior to 8 o’clock.
You might ask, why wasn’t Gary late then? Well, as a hitter, you have set batting practice and stretching times, so he would need to be out there anyways. Starting pitchers, on the other hand, have their own routines.
After the game, the media went wild with this storyline. Rothschild, Severino, and Boone were all asked about it. Here are the transcripts from those conversations:
– Severino interview
TBS – Did you warmup later than usual?
Severino – I mean, if my pitching coach said that to you, you can believe it. But he’s not always in my bullpen, so how does he know what’s going on? I came out 20 minutes before the game like I usually do. I don’t know why he was saying that. I don’t know who that guy is either.
TBS – So there was no confusion as to what time this game started?
Severino – No. For a game like this, you have to remember what time it is.
TBS – There’s video of you getting to the bullpen 8 minutes before the game started.
Severino – I always go to the bullpen 10 or 8 minutes before the game.
– Rothschild statement
He does a lot inside then comes out a little bit later than most starters. But he left the bullpen, he had faced two hitters with signs. He had done his complete long toss. And before that, went into the bullpen and did the routine that he normally does and actually warmed up pretty well. And he didn’t rush to get in or any of that stuff. He was able to sit down for three or four minutes and go out.
– Boone statement
I’m not saying, I’m saying he had his, he had plenty of warmup. He had what he intended to go down there and get done. And Larry said he was able to get through his, his normal routine where he faces a couple hitters and everything, so it wasn’t an issue.
This is the biggest crock of bull I’ve heard in a while. NO WAY he got everything done. I'd like to point out Boone stumbled over his words quite a bit for a guy without a stutter. Also, it is clear he and Larry had a conversation about this.
Our very own Jomboy was at the game and attested to the fact Severino never long-tossed. In fact, Jomboy said in the postgame podcast he and Joez McFly were questioning where Severino was.
Sevy is lying when he says he goes to the bullpen 8-10 minutes prior to every game. ESPECIALLY when you’re the home team! He probably goes 20-30 minutes before the game. When Rothschild reminds him it is a 7:40 start, Sevy begins to throw 2 minutes later. This indicates he now has a real sense of urgency. I truly believe Sevy thought it was an 8pm start time until Rothschild told him otherwise.
Some may accurately point out his velocity wasn’t bad. However, velocity doesn’t diminish if you’re not warm. The first few pitches in the bullpen should be almost the same as in-game pitches. Warming up is more helpful in creating stamina and making your pitches sharp. Sevy was not sharp and looked gassed much sooner than usual.
Regardless of who told Gary and/or Sevy what, this is a failure on the organization to not have its players ready for a playoff game. Absolutely unacceptable.
]]>OKAY!
Now that is what I call a dub!
Coming off that super frustrating loss on Friday night, our squad rebounded in a big way. Instead of wallowing in sadness and alcohol (which I might have done, but I'm not admitting to anything), how did they respond?
By KICKING the shit out of Boston on Saturday night!
It all started off, right away, when Mr. Aaron Judge decided to launch a goddamn moonshot into the stratosphere.
#ALLRISE - Aaron Judge with a titanic blast to give the #Yankees a quick 1-0 lead!
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) October 7, 2018
📷: @TBSNetwork pic.twitter.com/kJTXNTKtUP
WHAT A GUY, WHAT A GUY
Three playoff games for the Yankees? Three Aaron Judge dingers.
Any questions is right. Thanks, David S. Pumpkins!
(If I wasn't me, I would congratulate the usage of a perfect Halloween gif in October. But, I posted this gif myself...so, complimenting myself would be a little arrogant, no? Okay, just checking. Carry on)
HAHAHA and it was against David Price!
DAVID PRICE SUCKS.
I really cannot believe that Alex Cora decided to trot this scrub out against us. Hey Alex, you know we destroy him, right?
Bad, bad move. But, it benefited us..so..thanks!
UNLEASH THE KRAKEN! Sanchez makes it 2-0 #Yankees in #ALDS Game 2! pic.twitter.com/c3eEPXN5NA
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) October 7, 2018
In the 2nd, Teddy Bear Gar decided to join his good buddy Aaron with a nice solo shot!
LET'S GO GARY!
Oh, and here are some fun-filled David Price stats
Gary Sanchez has 7 hits vs David Price. 6 of the 7 are Home Runs.
— Katie Sharp (@ktsharp) October 7, 2018
David Price vs Yankees This Season:
— Katie Sharp (@ktsharp) October 7, 2018
17.1 IP
23 Runs
24 Hits
11 HR
11 BB
David Price Career as Starter in Postseason:
— Katie Sharp (@ktsharp) October 7, 2018
10 starts
59.2 IP
6.03 ERA
13 HR
0 wins https://t.co/zxibza3E1u
What a scrub.
For good measure, Cutch added a RBI single at the tail end of the 2nd, knocking Price out of the game. That's a shame.
So wrong.
While all this was going on, it was #TanakaSaturday in Boston, because Masahiro was pitching a gem of a game. His lone run came off a Xander Boegarts solo shot - but, other than that, he was pretty damn good:
5 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 1 walk, 4 Ks.
The argument could be made that he was pulled a tad early, but I understand Boone's thought process...I think. You really never know with Boonie.
But we have such a dominant bullpen - might as well use it.
Dellin came in for the 6th and 7th innings, only surrendering a RBI double to Ian Kinsler (the final run of the night for Boston).
Britton and Chappie finished things off in the 8th and 9th, respectively.
BUT, let's get back to GARY!
When the score was still 3-1, our good old teddy bear of a catcher strutted to the plate with Judge and Stanton on base.
And what'd he do?
This.
Buy me some peanuts and Kraken Jacks, they won't be able to throw this one back...it's a daily double for El Gary! #ALDS pic.twitter.com/kJt2djuQ4a
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) October 7, 2018
GARY SANCHEZ LET'S GOOOO.
Gary responded with a resounding "FUCK YOU" to all the haters, mashing two homers in a must-win game in Fenway. Toss the regular season stats out of the window. This is the playoffs. Who cares what Gary did before?
THE TIME IS NOW.
That sounds corny as fuck, but it's so true. You know it is.
If Gary keeps mashing like this, his extremely shitty regular season will almost be forgotten. Except for the Twitter trolls. They never forget...
Nevertheless, talk about a return to form for #24. What a game.
6-2 final and now we shift back to the Bronx, baby.
Fun fact: This is the first Yankees-Red Sox playoff game in the new Yankee Stadium. Let's start tonight off with a DUB.
Sevy is back on the mound for Game 3, with CC getting the Game 4 nod.
LET'S GET THIS WIN TONIGHT!
LET'S GO YANKS
Follow me on Twitter @JohnFerraro
]]>RIVALRY. RENEWED.
For the first time since that series in 2004 that I have since erased from my brain (I wish...), we are facing off against the fucking Red Sox in the playoffs. Albeit, this is the ALDS, not the Championship Series.
Regardless, this is no laughing matter. This is no time for my dependable and quality jokes that you readers have come to expect from me...no time....
Just kidding. There is always time for a well placed joke. It just depends on the context. And the situation. And the timing. John F. Kennedy said that. Or it might have been Bill Murray. Or, there's a good chance I just made it up...
ANYWAYS,
Yankees-Red Sox. That is what I was talking about...
Game 1:
Game 1 was a tough one, to say the least. Mr. Dependable and Consistent JA Happ, otherwise known as Peanut Butter, was anything but on Friday night.
It's slightly alarming that on the biggest stage, he shrunk. Shrunk big time.
Giving up a 3 run blast to JD Martinez in the first, he was promptly pulled in the 3rd inning after giving up 2 base hits - not even recording an out in the 3rd. Those two baserunners came around to score, obviously being credited to Happ's statline:
2 IP, 4 hits, 5 ER, 1 walk, 3 Ks.
Starting off the ALDS, in Boston, being down 5-0. I'll take "Things That Aren't Ideal" for 500, Alex.
Thankfully, it has been rumored in numerous baseball circles that we have a pretty damn good bullpen.
Word on the street is that this guy drafted our entire 'pen right after his Matsui pick
So yes, our bullpen was able to shut the Red Sox bats DOWN. Because they are amazing and the Red Sox are garbage.
(Don't you appreciate my totally unbiased and expert baseball opinion?!)
Chad Green, Lance Lynn, Zach Britton, and David Robertson all went out there and pitched shutout ball. And yes, I usually throw strictly nicknames into this blog, but it's the playoffs! I figured that I'd owe these guys the proper recognition...at least once.
For real though, shut out to Lance "The Tank/Gamer" Lynn. AKA the righty David Wells. This man went out there and balled the fuck out. He really provided stability and smooth-sailing during those middle innings.
Hey, Lance pic.twitter.com/g076zrTXLq
— Johnny Pinstripes (@JohnFerraro_) October 6, 2018
That was exactly what we needed during our attempted comeback...
So...down by 5 runs. Time for the Comeback Kids to come alive. After flirting with a few baserunners in the earlier innings, we finally pushed through with some runs in the 5th.
The casual flirting turned into the guy finally mustering up the courage to kiss the girl. Props to you, guy. Props to you.
With runners on first and second, #MYFirstBaseman knocked Gardy home with a RBI single. Luke Voit, you are the man. Sir Didi followed with a RBI groundout and it was 5-2, bad guys.
We were, ultimately, able to load the bases for Gleyber. Such a great opportunity to really break open this game.
Alas, our problem all year long has been squandering opportunities with runners in scoring position. So it should be no damn surprise that Gleyber struck out and the inning was over. FUCK.
And look at me, using that fancy Shakespeare word "alas" again. When my mind wanders, I shift into proper english...weird.
In the 7th, we fought to rally again - Cutch single, Judge single, Gardy walk (oh yeah, Hicks was forced to leave the game after re-aggravating his hamstring injury)
BASES LOADED. Just like we had two innings ago...Would we finally do something big? Ehh, not quite.
Giancarlo struck out, Luke grounded into a fielder's choice (scoring a run), and then Didi grounded out to end the rally attempt. A golden opportunity to really get back into this game, and we were only able to score one measly run. 5-3/
You guys already know how this game ended. But, I'll be honest with you, I had a pit in my stomach at this point. And no, I did not swallow a peach's pit by accident.
All these failed rally attempts just showed that it wasn't going to our night. We were destined to come up just short.
Sure enough, after doing nothing in the 8th, a Judge solo shot put us within one. One fucking run.
After getting all pumped up and hyped thanks to the blast by "What a Guy, What a Guy," we were graciously rewarded with three swift gut punches. Have you ever been punched in the gut before? Guess what? It is not fun.
Gardy, G, and Luke struck out back-to back- to back and that was that.
5-4 Loss. Holding their 5 runs after the 2nd inning in place and coming up just short. That fucking sucks.
FORTUNATELY, we had a lot more to be excited about on Saturday night...
*SPOILER ALERT*
Stay tuned for my Game 2 ALDS Recap, coming up real quick.
Follow me on Twitter @JohnFerraro
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That is how we fucking do it!
WOOOO.
I've had a full day to gather my thoughts after Wednesday's victory...
But, trust me, I was riding high after that victory. I was so prepared to finally bodycheck that stupid DJ. But this would have been a happy bodychecking. If we lost, I still could have bodychecked that very same DJ...
HOWEVER (yes, Stephen A. voice), that check would have been filled with anger, frustration, and rage. But I digress...
I'm going to be honest with all you guys. Leading up to that game was easily one of my most nervous experiences before a Yankees game.
I was a mess. If you follow me on Twitter, you definitely saw my constant and repetitive tweets about being nervous - it was not an act.
I know I joke a lot, but I was nervous AS HELL.
So many factors had my brain short-circuiting like a Westworld host.
I was going to say that was a classic Rovell/Greeny analogy, but I think that one might have been a little too astute, even for those two men of wit.
Anyways, I was freaking out for this game. FREAKING THE FUCK OUT.
Flashing back to last year's WC game, and Sevy's abysmal first inning, had me worried. Winning 100 games and having to play a 1 game playoff had me worried. The pesky A's had me worried. Boone and his questionable managerial decisions had me worried...
So many damn things had me worried and freaking out.
I locked myself in my apartment like I was in solitary confinement. Some of my friends asked me to go watch the game at a bar but I said, "HELL, NO!"
There was no way I could have handled watching that game at a bar...well, when we started scoring runs I definitely could have handled it.
But I truthfully was anticipating a nail-biter of a game. If it was close all the way through, I wouldn't have been able to function at a bar.
Instead, I sat in my apartment with a plate of chicken wings and lots and lots of beer. And I watched.
And, oh baby, WHAT A GAME.
Seeing Sevy pitch a 1-2-3 first inning was the biggest "sigh of relief" possible. After getting knocked out of a 3-0 game, while only getting one out, a year ago, Sevy was DIALED IN.
Hallelujah.
As we headed into our half of the first, my nervousness subsided slightly. And then, thankfully, it subsided BIG TIME.
Walk to Cutch.
And then?
Our Captain.
Opener vs. Opening Statement. #AllRise pic.twitter.com/34nblKbCfJ
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) October 4, 2018
Holy shit.
AARON JUDGE HITS A 2 RUN HOMER IN THE FIRST INNING OF THE WILD CARD GAME!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
Absolutely Unreal.
Battling back from his injury, to do this in his first at-bat of the playoffs? What a guy, what a guy.
For real though. That's our fucking leader.
I cannot believe that happened. Our Captain. Our Leader. Aaron Judge. The man, the myth, the LEGEND. What a start. Holy shit. I'm still in shock
— Johnny Pinstripes (@JohnFerraro_) October 4, 2018
Aaron Judge is a leader and a hero and i love him
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) October 4, 2018
While I know it was only the first inning, after seeing that ball soar into the left field seats, I was feeling VERY confident.
My previous "nervous-wreck" state evaporated thanks to a single moonshot by #99. All fucking Rise, indeed.
The 2nd and 3rd innings came and went without any craziness. From both sides.
That changed in the 4th - it wouldn't be a Yankee Wild Card Game without a little Sevy Drama, now would it?
Thanks to a throwing error by Gold Glove candidate Miggy (lol psych), and two walks by Sevy, we were now dealing with the bases fully loaded with Athletics.
I would have preferred some loaded nachos, not loaded A's, but ya get what ya get sometimes.
Thankfully, we were not dealing with 2017 WC Sevy. This is 2018 WC Sevy. And he is MEAN. And gooood.
Sevy gets out of the bases loaded jam reaction pic.twitter.com/0ixFhwEpC7
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) October 4, 2018
THATTA BOY SEVY!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/3Ojk6dJ3cy
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) October 4, 2018
SEVY GETS OUT OF THE JAM!
Phew.
In the 5th, Sevy gave up a couple singles and was promptly pulled. It was all good though, because Boonie made the bold choice of going with Dellin in the 5th.
Spoiler Alert: It paid off! Because Good Dellin is back and he was DEALING, shutting down Oakland 1-2-3.
All in all, very solid start for our buddy, Luis Severino. It honestly wasn't expected for him to go deep into the game, especially with all the arms we had waiting for an opportunity.
4 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 4 walks, 7 Ks.
I will take that! And yes, you read that correctly. He was pitching a no-no until those 2 singles in the 5th. Great start, Cy Young Sevy. I am declaring you #back (I hope).
After Dellin shut down the A's in the 5th, we were still incapable of tacking on any runs. It's like our offense decided to take the rest of the night off! What the hell?
It's almost as if, once our bats saw Judge's blast, they decided to kick their feet up, take out some tanning oil, lay back, and relax.
I don't know why I chose a tanning analogy for a night game, but just go with it.
It's like they decided to kick back for the rest of the game and watch some Netflix.
Is that better?
(Spoiler Alert Again: This offensive inability did not last)
At least we still had Good Dellin dominating in the 6th, another 1-2-3 performance from our guy.
FINALLY, in the bottom of the 6th, we got tired of our tanning and Netflix watching, and decide to distance ourselves from this damn team.
Who started off the rally? Oh, Our Future Captain, of course.
Judge walloped a leadoff double. Ooh, I like the word "wallop." I'm going to start using that more...
Hicksy/Hicksie/'Whatever Your Name Is' immediately knocked him home with a double of his own. Attaboy, Hicksy! 3-0
After a walk to G, Oakland decided to go with one of the "supposed" best closers in the league, Blake Treinen - it appears that Blake hasn't officially met #MYFirstBaseman...
As Luke came up to the plate, I made a bold statement on Twitter. And I almost had to pay the piper.
No, not that Pied Piper...
Nevermind.
Right after I tweeted this, Luke decides to mash a ball to right field, and it juuuust misses the right field fence.If Luke hits a 3 run homer right now, ill run outside like a crazy person. its the streets of New York, its okay
— Johnny Pinstripes (@JohnFerraro_) October 4, 2018
Sheeeesh. So fucking close.
Luke thought it was gone too. I mean, look at this.
Live reaction to the Voit triple on periscope pic.twitter.com/uforUrdzDq
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) October 4, 2018
But, still a 2 RUN TRIPLE. LUUUUUUKE.
Monster.
Didi hit him home thanks to an [underrated] sac fly and we now led 6-0.
D-Rob came in for the 7th and followed in the path of Good Dellin. 1-2-3 inning, let's gooo!
Zach Britton was called upon for the 8th inning and gave up a measly 2 run homer - but really, who the fuck cares?
Shh. To be honest? I did. Granted, it was a 6-2 game. BUT, part of me started to hyperventilate that we might, somehow, fuck this game up.
Not gonna happen on this night, though.
We held strong.
And we added a nice little pièce de résistance
That's a little French, in case you guys weren't sure... And, of course, I am talking about Giancarlo's absolute MOONSHOT.
443 FUCKING FEET. I thought it was going to be foul. Boy, I was wrong
.@Giancarlo818 to the MOON. 😳😱 pic.twitter.com/FWbIXdPpPH
— MLB (@MLB) October 4, 2018
And that, was pretty much it...
We took a 7-2 lead into the 9th inning and brought in Mr. Flamethrower himself, Chappie! In Classic Chappie fashion, he surrendered a leadoff single before slaming the door on Oakland's hopes and dreams with 3 straight outs.
BOOM. That's all she wrote.
Billy Beane and his dumb Moneyball tactics have fallen, once again.
And we are headed to play our hated rivals in the ALDS. It's not the Championship Series, but I'll take it.
OH, and I almost forgot to mention Hechavarria's AMAZING catch at 3rd! Props, again, to Boone, for making the right call and taking out Miggy.
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) October 4, 2018
What a fucking catch.
By the way...
The Stadium was BUMPING. Chants of "We Want Boston" began to echo through the hallowed halls of our beautiful ballpark in the Bronx. Before the game was even over!
I was, partially, very pissed that I was not in attendance. However, being a recently graudated/new to the workforce 24 year old, throwing down a SHIT TON of money on playoff tickets is not really in my best interest. Financially speaking.
We're moving on, everyone.
LET'S FUCKING GO.
In about 5 hours, we will do battle in Boston. JA Happ vs. Chris Sale.
Let's demolish these 108-win assholes.
LET'S GO YANKS
Follow me on Twitter @JohnFerraro
P.S. Enjoy these pictures and short video clips from the WC celebration!
Sevy just trying to let people know they're ready for Boston. Let the man talk! pic.twitter.com/4anNPBgxQV
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) October 4, 2018
we're just getting started boys YEAH pic.twitter.com/wt6y4zK9Hf
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) October 4, 2018
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I was going crazy last night during the game. Churning out as much content as I could for fear it would be the last time I would be able to.
In case you missed it, and because things get lost very easily on twitter, I am going to put all the best vids and gifs right here. Easier to find for everyone.
Thanks to everyone that follows along. I truly love doing this. I love making content that people enjoy. Last night was a blast.
We recapped the game. Gave all our thoughts and opinions and everything we could possibly say. Go check that out and relive the game one more time before we move on to Boston.
You can listen on iTunes, Spotify, or whatever podcast app you use.
As always you can find all of the gifs I make here. These are my top 5 from the night.
I am Luis. Hear me roar.
And I am Louis! Hear me roar!
So that's what he meant when he said he feels bad for the baseball.
Hech! What a grab by Hech. What a grab by Cash. What a move by Boone.
We gonna have some fun this October big guy?
Live reaction of the Judge home run.
Live reaction of Sevy getting out of that jam. Bases loaded. Homer gives them a two-run lead. Single ties it. Scary as shit.
Live reaction of the Voit triple.
Yankees win + slowmo + JCole.
Lil Wayne - Let it Fly
So there ya have it. If you enjoy this stuff and want to support to help me continue to do it then grab yourself a shirt! use discount code OCTOBER for a buy one get one half off deal.
]]>The Yankees are making a run. Get yourself some shirts to celebrate. Buy one get one 50 percent off if you use code OCTOBERhttps://t.co/IHaYW66EtS pic.twitter.com/Mt3LjBmpIm
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) October 4, 2018
*Insert Yawn gif too*
^Yes, I put that direction in on purpose
We lost the last game of the regular season by a score of 10-2...
Who fucking cares?
This game LITERALLY meant nothing. We already locked up home field for the Wild Card Game. We already reached 100 wins. And, even though it isn't important to the playoff run, we already broke all the records we were trying to break.
This game was all about making sure none of our superstars got some terrible injury that could jeopardize our playoff push and send all of us Yankee fans into a crippling pit of darkness and sadness.
Because, that would NOT be fun...
And seeing as how Didi, Gleyber, and Hicks were all kinda hurt last week, we didn't want to take any chances.
I honestly would have supported Boone wrapping all the guys in bubble wrap. For maximum protection.
Ah, well.
Cessa pitched and looked shitty. Again, who cares? He gave up 4 runs that really do not mean shit. We know who Luis Cessa is at this point.
HE WAS WHO WE THOUGHT HE WAS.
I'll just run through all our pitchers real fucking quick. After Cessa, we saw DRob, Johnny Lasagna, Sheffield, Tarpley, Cole, and Chance Adams.
Lasagna and Justus gave up 3 runs each, bringing our grand total of runs surrendered to that 10-burger.
Our lone runs? A 2 run blast from the greatest fuckin first baseman in the history of the universe!
Voit is adroit yet again pic.twitter.com/kjJYi4Ry10
— David Mendelsohn (@BigBabyDavid_) September 30, 2018
Not really, but the man is a monster. #MYFirstBaseman.
10-2 Loss.
OKAY.
Tonight is the night. It all comes down to this.
Follow me on Twitter
@JohnFerraro if you haven't yet.
Because I am going to a be mess of emotions. The Whole Talkin' Yanks team will be of this mindset.
I'm going to drank a large quantity of beers during this game. Hopefully it will end in happy drinking.
Sevy is on the bump.
1 game Wild Card Play-off.
Vs Oakland. At home.
LET'S FUCKING GO YANKS!!!!
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