"Curt Schilling has lost more votes from writers who previously picked him than any other candidate on the ballot. According to Thibodaux’s calculations, 18 writers switched their votes away from Schilling. The next-most votes lost: the seven lost by both Trevor Hoffman and Fred McGriff.
Jerry Crasnick wrote about the Schilling phenomenon earlier this month, addressing the question: Is it possible to tweet your way out of Cooperstown?
In my opinion, this is a really bad look for the baseball writers, because it’s a loose affirmation of a stereotype that is almost always wrong: Writers pick candidates based on whether they like them. Since last year’s balloting, Schilling hasn’t thrown a single pitch; nothing he has written or said changes anything about what he did as a major league player over 20 years."
"A loose affirmation of a stereotype that is almost always wrong: Writers pick candidates based on whether they like them."
"I love voting for the Hall of Fame. I relish the rigor of it, along with the inevitable criticism that follows. If anything, the ethical dilemmas make the experience more worthwhile. As judgments become more nuanced and complex, I'm honored to be part of an organization that wields profound influence on the way baseball history is remembered in Cooperstown."
I suppose I can't blame you for sounding so consumed with your self-absorbed importance ... the baseball Hall of Fame has a way of doing that to people.
"First, I'll state my position on performance-enhancing drugs: I draw a sharp line at the 2005 season, when Major League Baseball began suspending players for PED use. To me, Rafael Palmeiro (no longer on the ballot), Manny Ramirez (eligible for the first time), Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun have disqualified themselves from consideration.
There is substantial evidence that Bonds and Clemens used PEDs. Steroid suspicion has followed Bagwell and Rodriguez. But rather than surmise who used -- because an educated guess is all we have in some cases -- it's most reasonable to vote for the players who truly excelled in a flawed era. Bonds, Clemens, Bagwell and Ivan Rodriguez did that."
I must say, that's auite nuanced, just like you said.
"Sammy Sosa, by contrast, ranked ninth among position players on this year's ballot with an OPS+ of 128, just ahead of J.D. Drew and Magglio Ordoñez. Yes, Sosa hit 609 home runs. But he did so during a PED-tainted era, in which the skill of hitting home runs became less historically significant.
Rodriguez won 13 Gold Glove Awards at catcher. Bagwell won one. Sosa? Zero. And Bagwell's OPS+ (149) was much higher than Sosa's."
I actually can't wait for Ivan Rodriguez to get in.
This is the first of an avalanche of ridiculous justifications.
"I draw a sharp line at the 2005 season" because that makes no sense whatsoever, but that way I can justify voting for Ivan Rodriguez, who won 13 gold gloves as a catcher and stuff.
By the way, reviewing the people you voted for?:
Jeff Bagwell, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Vladimir Guerrero, Trevor Hoffman, Edgar Martinez, Mike Mussina, Tim Raines, Ivan Rodriguez, Curt Schilling
I'll bet they all took steroids. Not sure about Mussina, Schilling, or Hoffman ... it's not as easy to tell with pitchers, is it? Quite sure about all the others ... and if Raines is not guilty of taking steroids, he's guilty of worse.
I don't really think it's a bad list at all. You'd probably be better off leaving your nuanced reasoning out of it and just letting the list speak for itself.
Because the 2005 criteria doesn't make much sense.
"So this is the way it's apparently supposed to work: If Bud Selig gets into the Hall of Fame then Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are supposed to get in right behind him, as if it's some sort of referendum on equivalency. Only it's not."
Oh boy, this oughtta be good.
"If Selig is responsible for the use of performance-enhancing drugs by some of the most prominent names in baseball history, then so are a lot of us in the media, and not just the baseball media."
Yes. You are totally guilty. This obvious verdict is not even up for discussion.
"If you want to throw the book, and that means the record book, at Selig for not acting sooner, then ask yourself something: Why didn't the same people still prosecuting Selig for baseball's drug past tell us what was going on in the 1990s? What was stopping them?"
Not sure.
Maybe what was stopping them was a lack of complete awareness, hampered by incompetent and holier-than-thou baseball journalists who don't care about researching and disseminating useful information, but instead focus on personal grudges and empty gossip.
Maybe they never pondered Selig's HOF candidacy because it seems so absurd and perverse. Even now, after it's happened. It seems surreal, actually. 2016 has been a very strange year, hasn't it?
It's difficult, however, to answer your rhetorical question because you haven't specifically identified "the people" in question.
"Could Selig have stated his concerns about PEDs earlier than he did? He could have, could have applied common sense before he had actual evidence or proof, taken the high ground from the intractable union leadership of Donald Fehr and Gene Orza. He could have said that if it were up to him -- and this is in the mid-'90s -- he would unilaterally impose drug testing on the spot, even though he knew that was impossible under the sport's Collective Bargaining Agreement. Selig could have said he was doing it in the name of the record book, and clean players."
If the writers truly cared about steroid use (they don't), then they would not even consider Selig.
See, we're complaining about you. We're not really complaining about Selig. You're the hypocrites for voting this guy in. Do you not understand this?
Your defenses of Selig are completely missing the point.
"He could have done better. We all could have done better. I wrote a book about 1998, and the magic of it for my sons. Bob Costas, who started hitting the subject hard around 2000, on his various platforms, says now, 'I wish I'd addressed the issue sooner.'"
"We all could have done better." Speak for yourself.
"Of course, Bud Selig doesn't get a hall pass on the steroids era just because he's in the Hall of Fame now, where he absolutely belongs. No one is suggesting that he should. But Bonds and Clemens don't get to follow him through the doors like Selig's running interference for them, either. It doesn't work that way."
You are suggesting Selig gets a hall pass. In the column which I'm reading right now.
I think I know how it works, by the way. Check it out:
Incompetent and lazy sportswriters refuse to research and disseminate useful baseball information. Instead, they use their columns for empty gossip and personal grudges. So if Selig had refused to return phone calls or if he had worn bespoke suits instead of all of his ridiculous Regular Guy affectations, then the writers would not have liked him and they would not have let him into the HOF.
"Now this is supposed to be all Selig's fault. Only it's not all anybody's fault. There is plenty enough blame to go around. Selig looked the other way, we are now told, because home runs were so good for business ..."
Stop right there. That's exactly what happened. If you deny that, then you haven't learned anything.
Of course Selig profited, and so did you.
It's not all Selig's fault, but he was the Commissioner.
If you want to put the Steroid Commissioner in the HOF, then put in the Steroid Third Basemen and Steroid Left Fielders.
Please get off your high horse once and for all. It will feel good and feel just.
"I’m happy that Aroldis Chapman is happy to be back with the Yankees, but
he needs to shut it on Joe Maddon now, whether Maddon should have gotten
him out of Game 6 earlier or not."
No.
He doesn't.
"Cubs won and so did Chapman, at the end of a season that began with him
suspended because of something that happened between him and his
girlfriend on Halloween weekend in 2015.
He won, and now he gets paid.
Move on."
"Move on." It only happened, like, 2 months ago. It's the first press conference since the World Series.
It's interesting to me that Girardi's superior bullpen management may have been a factor in Chapman's decision.
"The largest reliever contract in baseball history is one the New York Yankees will regret. It is too long, for too much money, for the wrong guy and, in the long run, a mistake."
Shaddup.
"Signing Chapman for five years and $86 million is an 'all-in' move. The Yankees, however, are an in-between team."
Is it?
Is that your idea of an "all-in" move?
Wait until you see what the Yankees offer to Bryce Harper.
"The David Ortiz farewell tour was filled with many memorable moments. Most of those happened during games, as the retiring superstar nearly slugged his way into the MVP award.
His final season was also filled with just as many awkward moments. Most of those actually came before games when teams presented him with going-away gifts.
Perhaps the most awkward ceremony took place in Baltimore. Prior to his final game at Camden Yards, on Sept. 21, the Orioles rolled out the red carpet, showed highlights of Ortiz mashing home runs against the mutual rival New York Yankees, and then presented him with the actual visitor’s dugout phone he once destroyed during an in-game meltdown."
Yeah, if you're going to celebrate a player, then at least do it properly.
But, of course, there's an even easier solution that would nip this awkwardness in the bud.
"Now the World Series team with the better record will host Games 1, 2, 6 and 7, a common-sense solution that ends the charade of tying the outcome of an exhibition to the sport’s signature event. If the teams have identical records, the first tiebreaker would be head-to-head record; the second, divisional record."
That's a good change.
Not much else going on. Tim Tebow hit .194 and did not commit to returning to the Mets. So there's that.
He may have been on the 1996 postseason roster, but he did not play in the entire postseason.
Also, Bernie was better:
"MLB Network's Brian Kenny presents a case for Posada using OPS+, a
metric which adjusts for era and park effects. From 1998 through 2009,
Posada's 125 OPS+ ranked second only to Piazza's 132 OPS+, ahead of Victor Martinez (121 OPS+) and Ivan Rodriguez (113 OPS+).
What's more, over Posada's 10-year career peak from 2000-09, his 129
OPS+ is comparable to the peaks of Hall of Famers Johnny Bench (132
OPS+, 1970-79) and Berra (130 OPS+, 1950-59), while edging those of Gary
Carter (128 OPS+, 1977-86) and Carlton Fisk (125 OPS+, 1972-81)."
Who knew it was all OPS+?
He walked a lot and hit a lot of HRs, particularly for a catcher.
"Though Posada was never a Gold Glove defender, his value to the Yankees
was immense after moving from his original position of second base,
helping him get to the Majors and develop into a power-hitting threat
from both sides of the plate. Rivera said that Posada's impact on those
championship clubs may even have been underestimated."
"Never a Gold Glove defender" is a nice way of putting it. It's an important point when most of his values are his offensive contributions "as a catcher."
I find the Posada-for-HOF conversation so weird. He went from underrated to overrated as soon as his career ended.
Here's a guy who got a handful of MVP votes in his career ... 3rd place one year and 6th place one year ... and now he's the second coming of Yogi Berra?
Montero, 33, slashed .216/.327/.357 in 242 at-bats in the regular season, but watched as Willson Contreras handled most of the catching duties in the three postseason series. Also, David Ross appeared in eight games and had more at-bats (16) than Montero.
Montero was happy, however, to be behind the plate for the final two innings of Game 7.
"Catching the last two [innings] of the World Series made it sweet," Montero said. "Otherwise, it would have been nice because I'm part of it but maybe I didn't help as much as I wanted to help. To be more involved ... I would have felt bad to go home with the trophy and not even catch one inning in the World Series. That would be the tough part."
"Heyward hit .104 with one RBI in 16 postseason games, yet his words in that weight room during the brief delay served as a turning point for the Cubs, who went on to score two runs in the 10th before holding on in the bottom of the inning to win their first World Series in 108 years."
"In addition to rescuing the Cubs’ season on Sunday night, Aroldis Chapman probably raised the bidding on his impending free agency with his first-ever eight-out save.
And if you’re a Yankee fan hoping Chapman winds up back in the Bronx this winter, you should probably root for the Cubs to pull off this comeback and win the World Series.
Because if they lose, they’ll be under enormous pressure to pay whatever it takes to keep the Cuban star in Chicago to continue pursuing that elusive championship."
I don't know why he would come back to the Yankees. Well, there's money, of course. So maybe the Yankees will lure him with a lot of money.
In any case, there's a lot of presumptions here with two games to go. What if Chapman blows Game Seven and is suddenly a weird combination of Steve Bartman and Blair Walsh? What if he's carried off the field as World Series MVP ... that scenario would increase his chances of returning to the Yankees?
"I can vouch for such a sentiment because as I was getting back to my hotel in the early morning hours after Game 5, I got a text from Marc Malusis, who was hosting the overnight show on WFAN, and as a lifelong Yankee fan, he was as fired up as those on the calls he was taking.
'Tell you what,' he texted. 'If I’ve gotta watch Chapman and Miller dominate the World Series, then Gleyber Torres better be the next Derek Jeter and Clint Frazier better at least be Bernie Williams.' "
That's not how it works.
Maybe things will click sooner than expected, but the Yankees are a long way from the World Series.
Yankee fans are going to have to get over the 2016 World Series matchup ... and the weird attachment to Chapman, who was in pinstripes for a whole 31 games.
" 'I’m just saying he better be right about those kids he got because one of these teams is going to have Cashman to thank for winning a championship.'
I couldn’t argue with that. The Cubs’ win in Game 5 on Sunday night not only saved them from elimination but also evened the score a bit between the dueling ex-Yankee relievers, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman."
"The battle between ex-Yankee relievers."
Have you ever seen such a myopic statement?
The Yankees were Miller's fifth team and, after serving his suspension, Chapman was in the Bronx for about three months.
I mean, sure: Cashman had better be right about some of these young players or the Yankees are headed for many years of mediocrity.
Same prognosis for the Yankees if the 2016 World Series happened to be Los Angeles vs. Toronto.
A lot of teams are better than the Yankees right now. A lot of those teams happen to be in the AL East. It is going to get worse before it gets better.
As Cashman is quick to point out, it's not bad to see your ex-players perform well. It helps with your future credibility when you're at the bargaining table.
"Even the golden goodies — the old standards — no longer apply, lost
to modern standards, which means low standards or none at all.
Remember, 'Winners never quit and quitters never win'?
But quitters now win, so much the 2016 National League batting title
was won by sitting out the season’s last 4 ²/₃ games. Yet, that barely
made a sound from a media who have lost their ability to identify cheap
and cheesy while surrendering their tacit responsibility and public
trust to distinguish right from far less."
The media was not paying attention to the Rockies or the batting title.
"To think he could’ve told them he chose to risk losing the title by
trying to win it rather than to win it by quitting. To think his legacy
might have been as a man who wouldn’t exploit circumstances to win
rather than one who did."
He really doesn't have a legacy.
"On Sept. 28, 1941, Boston’s Ted Williams, just 23 — five years
younger than Reyes and LeMahieu when they won their titles — was batting
.3996, which rounded to .400, before the last two games of the season —
a doubleheader, Red Sox at the Philadelphia A’s. He was given the option to sit them out and finish at .400 — the
first since Bill Terry hit .401 in 1930.
It wasn’t as if the Red Sox, 17
games behind the Yankees, were in a race.
But Williams insisted on playing both games, with, 'If I can’t hit .400 all the way, I don’t deserve it.'
Williams went 6-for-8 to finish at .4057 — rounded to the now
unapproachable, known-by-heart-head .406. No one since has come close."
The go-to Ted Williams story, huh? God Bless America.
Technically speaking, Brett came close in 1980 (.390). Gwynn came close in 1994 (.394). Carew came close in 1977 (.388).
Manly McManly would have probably hit .400 back in the Good Ol' Days, but he strained his back Fixing America during the off season.
Look, it would be easier to pick an Alex Rodriguez/Mark Teixeira
tandem, since they went from carrying the offense last year to burdening
it in 2016. But they were baseball geezers at the end."
Look, it would be easy to be accurate.
"Ellsbury is not the worst player in the AL or even on the Yankees. But
is there anyone more invisible for the money (well, maybe Joe Mauer)"
Yes.
I can think of several on the Yankees.
"Brought to New York to be a catalyst, Ellsbury on Thursday registered his second steal since June 19. How is that possible?"
I also don't understand why Gardner and Ellsbury stopped stealing bases.
"Did anyone notice a lot of veterans who might have been in play for this
award vanished, never to return: A-Rod, Prince Fielder, Omar Infante,
Desmond Jennings and Jimmy Rollins?"
Yes, I noticed. But ... vanishing means they're adding even less value than Ellsbury.
Whatever. It's not something to get too hung up about (the LVP isn't even a thing).
The problem is, taking the totality of the 2016 season, Ellsbury is not worse than any of the other Yankee non-pitchers. Which isn't saying much. Sanchez didn't do it long enough, Beltran is gone, Castro leads the team with an astonishingly low 70 RBIs.
Ellsbury was paid too much, of course, but not compared to ARod, Teixeira, Headley, McCann ... if you're taking salary into account when you figure out your LVP.
It's not a defense of Ellsbury. The signing is no longer defensible. The Yankees paid a premium for an ordinary player. But what gives with the sportswriters who fixate on Ellsbury's deficiencies and then get all teary-eyed when Teixeira finally takes a hike?
But the so-called Yankee MVP in this un-scientific poll has batted .222 in September (down the stretch!).
It's actually insulting to the Yankee players who grinded it out all year.
No offense to Sanchez and best wishes for 2017 and beyond. He had a great debut. He was insanely productive, even in the month of September.
The lack of appreciation for Betances ... who has been Mariano-esque for three years, if not better ... while being asked to pitch 250 innings ... it's just a shame that he's underappreciated and overshadowed by the New Kid in Town.
Sports writers offer no value to understanding baseball. They simply use their column to hand out merits and demerits depending on how much they like the player:
"Stand up and cheer.
That is what Yankees fans should do over the next three nights when Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz walks to the plate during his final appearance in the Bronx. Ortiz deserves this respect as arguably the most important figure in the game's greatest rivalry since George Herman Ruth."
You forgot about Roger Clemens and arguably some others, but, whatever. The key here is that HE PLAYS FOR THE RED SOX.
"So if Yankees fans want to jeer Ortiz until the bitter end, it's their
prerogative. But it's not right. To boo Big Papi based on his alleged
involvement with performance-enhancing drugs, for one, would be heaping
with hypocrisy. Some Yankees fans will point to the New York Times
report that Ortiz failed a PED test during what was supposed to be an
anonymous phase of Major League Baseball's drug program. Given Ortiz’s
lack of an explanation, and the arc of his career from castoff to
superstar, it is easy to understand how a reasonable person might label
Ortiz guilty.
Still, it shouldn't prevent fans from honoring what Ortiz has definitively done -- not what he might have done."
That's a straw man.
Yankee fans are not anti-steroid activists. They are pro-Yankee activists.
Again, HE PLAYS FOR THE RED SOX.
"Did you cheer Andy Pettitte upon his return, post-Mitchell Report? Did you applaud Alex Rodriguez
in 2015 when he hit 33 homers? If you answered 'yes' to either of those
questions, how can Ortiz’s supposed use prevent you from acknowledging
him during his final at-bats in the Bronx?"
Difference being ... THEY WEREN'T PLAYING FOR THE RED SOX.
"On the other hand, Ortiz has never failed a test that wasn’t
anonymous. He has never been caught up in a BALCO or a Biogenesis
scandal. That doesn't make him innocent, of course, but it doesn't make
him guilty, either. The PED issue remains relentlessly complicated when
it comes to honoring players from the last quarter century."
That's it? He might be guilty and he might not be guilty?
Of course, Marchand wouldn't know if it's "relentlessly complicated" because he hasn't relentlessly pursued the truth.
Maybe so, maybe not, I dunno. Journalism!
"His infectious smile, his ability to build friendships with seemingly
anyone and everyone in the game, and his exploits at the plate in clutch
moments will be a part of rivalry lore forever."
Infectious smile? This is embarrassing, yet revealing.
Nobody as ESPN is going to proclaim that we can't believe in Ortiz because he couldn't believe in himself? No?
"The other day, one of my teammates comes over to me in the clubhouse and says, 'Hey, you see what they’re gonna do to you in New York?'
I don’t know what he’s talking about.
I’m like, 'What’s up? They gonna give me a pizza or something?'
He says, 'Nah. Your last game, the fans are gonna pull their pants down.'
I’m like, 'Nah, bro. Come on. Be serious.'
Then he shows me an article on his phone about some guy who’s trying to get everybody in Yankee Stadium to moon me.
This dude even made a whole website: moonbigpapi.com.
Bro.
Bro.
Come on."
OK, I think we're finished here ... bro.
"Playing against the Yankees was just different. It was war.
You gotta understand what it meant to me, Pedro and Manny — three guys from the Dominican Republic. In our country, the Yankees are huge. Back in the day, they were pretty much the only big league club on TV. When you walked around Santo Domingo in the ’90s, you would see so many Yankees caps."
XXL Yankee caps for these three ... their heads are swollen for some reason.
"First things first: If Yankee fans want to give David Ortiz ovations this week at the Stadium in appreciation of his remarkable career, then great, I’m all for showing that type of respect to an opponent.
I just don’t think the Yankees should be forcing that notion upon the fans with a going-away ceremony on the field that feels like a politically correct response to what the Red Sox did for Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter."
No one has ever satisfactorily explained to me why the Sox (or any team) would officially honor Jeter and Rivera.
Fans know what's up. They can stand up and cheer for 15 seconds when his name is announced, a tip of the cap. That's about the extent of it.
"Ortiz, after all, has played the role of hated villain in the famed rivalry with the Yankees, and willingly so with his bat flips and leisurely strolls that passed for home-run trots over the years.
In short, he’s not Jeter, he’s not Rivera, the two most universally admired players of their era. Ortiz may be well-liked by his peers, but it wasn’t long ago that David Price, before he signed with the Sox, essentially called out Big Papi for thinking he was bigger than the game, in part because of his home-run celebrations.
No, Ortiz doesn’t mind agitating the opposition, and so in regard to The Rivalry he’s a lot more like Alex Rodriguez than Jeter or Rivera."
I think we can just make this easier on everybody and eliminate the practice entirely.
"As beloved as Joe Torre was as manager, in fact, it drove fans crazy that he wouldn’t insist that his pitchers at least try and intimidate Ortiz — and the same for Joe Girardi.
Finally, when the outcry reached such a level that CC Sabathia felt compelled to plunk Ortiz with a fastball one night, the Red Sox DH further annoyed Yankee fans by complaining publicly about it.
As for the steroids? Ortiz has tried to shoot down the issue by denying he ever took PEDs, even though his name was leaked to the New York Times in 2009 as being one of the 104 on the list who failed drug tests in 2003, the year the Players Association did survey testing as a prelude to MLB’s mandatory testing program.
Those names were supposed to remain anonymous, but a few were leaked. When A-Rod was outed in February of 2009, he admitted to using PEDs; but months later Ortiz denied his usage, and while he promised at the time that he would find out which substance caused his positive test, he later insisted he was unable to obtain that information."
"The bullpen is still quite strong, though weakened relatively since the trade deadline. This relative
weakness could negatively affect their .690 winning percentage (20-9)
in one-run games ... a few devastating blown saves in crunch time vs.
one of the four teams ahead of them in the wild card race."
"It's kind of a reworking of an age-old question -- who quit first, the New York Yankees
on Joe Girardi, or Joe Girardi on the New York Yankees? -- but unlike
the classic chicken-and-egg conundrum, the answer to this one came
directly from the manager's mouth."
The Yankees quit (or burned out).
Girardi does not quit.
"Asked why he had gone to Blake Parker in the seventh inning of a game his team absolutely, positively, had to win Friday night against the Toronto Blue Jays,
Girardi replied: 'He has the most experience and has probably been
pitching the best in a situation where you’re down 3-0. If it’s closer, I
probably go to Adam [Warren],
but knowing that we’re going to need these guys a lot if we’re going to
make a run, you’re hoping he can get through the seventh, you get a
couple runs then maybe go to Adam, but it just didn’t work.'
Let that sink in for a moment. "If it's closer ...?''
Which
led to what seemed like a natural follow-up: 'Joe, do I understand that
you’re saying 3-0 is no longer considered a close game?' "
No, you don't understand what he's saying. "Closer" is different than "close." Right? It's a normal use of the English language.
It's not because you're dumb, it's because you are trying to get a rise out of Girardi. It worked! Now you have a column and are briefly the center of attention! Congratulations to you.
Besides, what does Wallace Matthews have against Blake Parker in the first place? Are you just judging players after the game? That's very easy to do.
"Here's exactly what he said: 'No, Wally. But I’ve been throwing Adam
multiple innings. Parker has been throwing pretty good for us. He didn’t
tonight. I could have went to Adam and then maybe I don't have him
tomorrow. We have some issues, in a sense. We don’t have a starter
Monday. I’m just trying to piece it all together.'
Then he said, 'I'm done, I'm done. That's it,'' and left the room.
What
exactly he was saving his bullpen for was never made clear, because as
everyone knows, there is no tomorrow for the Yankees. Not if they lost
today."
He was saying he never quits.
He's saying you play to win the game. That's the great thing about sports. Hello?
Girardi is constantly lying to the press. Torre did the same thing and was better at it. It seems to go against Girardi's nature.
Girardi wanted to say all year: ARod stinks and is a cheater; Teixeira is a decrepit joke; my bullpen management doesn't help much when the team scores zero runs; Pineda is gutless; if you want Gardner and Ellsbury to be benched or moved down in the lineup, please name a suitable replacement; the GM gave up on me, I didn't give up on the GM.
" 'Things are kind of slipping away at this point,' said Brett Gardner,
always a rational voice in the Yankees' clubhouse. 'We're not out of
it, but definitely not in a good position. It’s frustrating.' ''
Sure, he's rational. He's allowed to be. Girardi is not allowed to be.
"But unlike his manager, Gardner was not willing to give up. 'I think
until you’re six back with [five] to play, or whatever it is, you’ve
still got a chance. Crazier things have happened. We’ve just got to
win.' "
Go screw yourself, Wally. You just called Girardi a quitter and you're a disgrace for saying it.
By the way, if Gardner hasn't actually given up, he sure plays like he has.
This is not the first time the team has tired down the stretch. Maybe Girardi has worn out his team. They don't seem to go to the wall for him.
The problem then is not that he quits ... the problem might be that he's too intense.
"After that, he was sure to be asked about starting Billy Butler at first base, a decision that cost his team two unearned runs -- and
essentially the game -- in the first inning when Butler bobbled a
routine grounder. And about how the Yankees had Francisco Liriano
on the ropes in the top of the first, loading the bases but failing to
score. And about how he had suddenly decided to abandon the use of the
young kids on his roster, who temporarily at least had injected a dose
of energy and enthusiasm into his clubhouse and created the impression
that the Yankees were, in fact, playoff contenders."
Easy:
1) Teixeira stinks.
2) Have you seen this team with RISP this year? What team have you been watching?
3) Because they stink, too, other than Sanchez.
Any more stupid questions?
"As soon as Girardi admitted going to Parker -- who allowed the Blue
Jays to bust it open with four runs in one-third of an inning -- because
he wanted to save his effective bullpen guns (Warren, Tyler Clippard and Betances) for another day, he was telling you he considered this game a lost cause.
And
it is hard to reconcile a team with the proud history of the New York
Yankees -- the Bronx Bombers, for George's sake -- conceding defeat when
trailing by a measly three runs."
Be a man.
Walk up to Parker in the locker room, look him in the eye, and tell him that his appearance in a Yankee game is conclusive proof that the Yankees have given up on the game and given up on the season.
Parker's ERA when he entered that game was 2.93.
If you think George would have a problem with his manager, I wonder what George would say about his GM giving up on the season? Ownership giving up on the season?
"The third inning was even worse, when the Yankees got the first two runners on base -- Gardner via an error and Jacoby Ellsburyon a single, the Yankees' only non-Sanchez hit -- but went nowhere when Sanchez flied out, Butler struck out and Didi Gregoriuspopped out. The Yankees managed two more baserunners all night -- a Sanchez single leading off the sixth and a walk to Aaron Hicks in the seventh -- but could do absolutely nothing with them."
Wally Matthews with his first in-game analysis of the season!
Hey, Wally, why did they get rid of ARod? Don't you think ARod could have had a productive at-bat in that situation? Wally?
I mean, what is this? The Yankees have been horrible with situational hitting all year. From day one. Not all year, actually. Probably the past 10 years.
We have a beat writer who slogged around locker rooms for five months who finally noticed that the Yankees can't hit.
The Yankees have scored 644 runs this year, and the year is almost over.
Here are the collective clutch stats, genius:
RISP: .229.
2 outs RISP: .222
You knew this already, though, right? Since you watch all the games and stuff?
I mean, you're suddenly all overwrought about the Yankees being the Yankees.
"It was still only 3-0 to that point, but as far as the manager was concerned, it could have been 300-0.
'I
know that we lost another day, it seems like most of the teams [the
Yankees are chasing] are winning or won,' Girardi said before his
curtain line. 'We’re going to have to win a lot of games.'
But there aren't a lot of games left, and it no longer seems even the manager believes the Yankees are capable of winning them."
The manager was right, by the way. The Yankees were not going to score 4 runs. Because they stink is the overarching reason.
Not sure why the beat writer wants to fixate on the manager's attitude when the team is in the midst of three consecutive shutouts.
Mike Lupica likes the Mets, the Red Sox, the Jets, Jimmy Connors, Dancing with the Stars, and David Ortiz. Not all of them are steroid cheats, but some of them are steroid cheats:
"The last man standing in Terry Collins’ starting rotation, at least the one he started with, is 43 years old. So much then, at least for now, for all those big young arms that were going to steamroll their way with big stuff through the National League for years to come. For the last time: You want to make the baseball gods laugh? Tell them about all your plans for young starting pitchers."
You use those words "last time" quite often. I don't think you know what those words mean.
"So Collins’ starting rotation, led by Bartolo Colon, now has Robert Gsellman in it, Seth Lugo, Gabriel Ynoa. Who had them in their fantasy leagues before the start of the season? I keep waiting for Tim Tebow to get a start."
I'm waiting for Tim Conway to get a start. Dorf on Pitching.
"Lucas Duda is back playing first base for the Mets, which means that Collins is working with half the infield that he took north from Port St. Lucie. An indispensable part of that infield is suddenly T.J. Rivera, a 27-year old out of Lehman High, Bronx, N.Y."
The only good player the Mets lost to injury was deGrom. Neil Walker, too, I suppose.
All the other injuries were blessings in disguise. Collins didn't have to deal with the drama of benching Wright or moving the Dark Knight to the bullpen.
The Mets' patchwork rotation is not much different than every other team's. The Mets used 12 starting pitchers while the Yankees used 9, the Nationals used 10, and the Red Sox used 10.
"You know he might not make it and the Mets might not make it. But it was just the other day that they were 60-62 and now here they are, with no Matt Harvey and no Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz with a sore left shoulder and even Noah Syndergaard with strep throat at the worst possible time. And, oh by the way, if you can name all of the relief pitchers that Collins keeps running out there, you have a chance to win some valuable prizes."
If you can identify one player in the Phillies starting lineup, I'll give you $1 million.
So that's the problem with the Collins praise, and the Mets' undying underdog narrative (oddly endorsed by Dan Rather, of all people): Outside of the Nationals, the NL East is abysmal. Cespedes probably gets paid more than the entire Phillies' roster and could probably win 85 games in this division single-handedly.
"You know how many Mets fans are always looking to jump Collins first chance they get, who want him gone. You know there is a loud, angry chorus who will never forgive him for not bringing in Jeurys Familia to pitch the top of the 9th in Game 5 against the Royals. So Mets fans like that are probably thrilled at the suggestion that somehow Collins is supposed to be fighting to keep his job.
Only that’s not the story here, or the headline, or a fair take on this particular Mets season. No. The story is the job Collins has done to keep his team fighting. If you can’t see that, you’ve been watching the wrong movie."
That's talk radio nonsense following a sweep by the Braves. Collins isn't going to get fired, but guess what? The Mets underachieved this year.
The hypocrisy of Lupica is revealed when he praises Colon and Ortiz:
"I have thought for so much of the second half of the season that his teammate, Mookie Betts, was the MVP of the American League.
I believe it is Ortiz now, hitting the way he did in the postseason the last time the Red Sox won it all, three years ago. So the Stadium says goodbye now. Or maybe good riddance."
Good riddance, cheater. Don't let a 95-MPH fastball hit you in the butt on the way out.
As for the farewell tour nonsense, I'm not understanding it at all. Maybe if he'd played for the Yankees for 10 years or something like that.
As for this particular observation, this is standard. "Game of the Year" was proclaimed by many sources:
"That game the Mets played against the Phillies the other night, tied by Jose Reyes with a 2-run shot in the bottom of the 9th and then won with a 3-run shot by Bat Flip Cabrera, was one of the great regular season wins the Mets have ever had.
Once again, the problem here is the part about "against the Phillies."
It was a crazy comeback while the Mets are in a playoff race in September ... but the opponent was the Phillies' AAA roster.
The team may be worn out and uninspired as they struggle to score runs, but Girardi never quits. If a reporter questioned Girardi's commitment and professionalism, then that reporter is way out of line. Girardi probably takes this stuff too seriously and it may wear on his players.
Clippard and Warren have been quite good replacing Miller and Chapman ... until they weren't.
If your strategy is to intentionally walk every Red Sox batter who's a Yankee Killer, there's nobody left to pitch to.
A better idea is to get Hanley Ramirez out once in a while.
I applaud Girardi for sticking with the plan. One can only hope that Refsnyder is learning something in his 200 at-bats ... his power numbers in 2016 are disappointing to say the least.
This is what Yankee fans pleaded for as the team squandered around .500 through the first four months. Give the young players some experience in the challenging environment of Fenway.
Do you want to play for the Yankees? Do you have plans to win the AL East in 2018? If so, you're going to have to beat Boston. Maybe Cessa and Mitchell and Severino got some experience they would not have gotten if the Yankees were still chasing a playoff pipe dream.
"Halfway to a very different kind of Boston Massacre, we have clarity on several issues swirling around the Yankees: They’re not nearly as good as the Red Sox and their rotation beyond Masahiro Tanaka is suspect enough to loom as the potential undoing of their wild-card hopes."
The Yankees have scored 200 fewer runs that the Red Sox. The Yankees have been outscored this season by about 20 runs. The Yankees have not been higher than 4th place since May. The Yankees could win all of their remaining 15 games and still miss the playoffs.
Wild-card hopes are still theoretically alive, but that's just because Selig and his cronies ruined the regular season by allowing 1/3rd of the teams into the playoffs.
Imagine the legendary 2016 AL East race if only one team could make the playoffs? Sigh.
But enough about the Yankees' ever-dwindling playoff hopes that never had much to dwindle in the first place.
I want to give an extended shout out to Tanaka. Mention him beyond one sentence.
Why no NY hype about his Cy Young chances? A right-handed pitcher whose home games are at Short Porch Yankee Stadium who leads the league in ERA.
Yes, it has happened before. Three times. Allie Reynolds in 1952 and Spud Chandler in 1943 and Wilcy Moore in 1927. Black-and-white replays before you were born.
I suspect there's no hype or recognition because he is proving everybody wrong and people don't like to be proven wrong.
"How have the Yankees been able to play like this without Alex Rodriguez around to mentor the young guys?"
I think ARod could have added some value mentoring the young guys, especially with the roster expansion. Most of the young players have been struggling.
As for how the Yankees are playing, ARod's final game was a scintillating victory over the Rays on a rainy Friday night in front of a packed house at Yankee Stadium. Following that victory on August 12th, the Yankees' record was 59-56.
Since then (i.e., since the departure of ARod), the Yankees are 10-9.
So "play like this" means what to a stupid baseball columnist? Your guess is as good as mine.
"You know that as soon as the 2016 baseball season is over the Yankees will be declared the favorites for 2017 . . . even without starting pitching!"
No.
You're wrong again.
The Yankees haven't been declared favorites for a long time.
You should get that whole stupid thing checked out when you get a chance.
If you want to read about it in the Daily News, here are a lot of words about it:
"The Orioles were shifted on Mark Teixeira, so third baseman Manny Machado had moved closer to second base, leaving third open. Third-base coach Joe Espada waved Sanchez around second, but Machado darted back toward the bag, snared the throw from right fielder Steve Pearce and tagged Sanchez about eight feet from the base.
'They gave me a green light,' Sanchez said through a translator. 'We thought we had a chance there to get to third. Unfortunately not.'
'When I made the turn, I tried to run as fast as I could. Couldn't see the throw because I was focused on getting to the base.
Girardi had no issue with the play, he said, and called it a read by Sanchez, though it's worth noting that a rookie would probably be looking to the third base coach for cues.
'I always say that mind has to be made up by the baserunner,' Girardi said. 'It's not Joe's. I think he was reading the third baseman and he took a gamble that he wasn't going to get back there. It took a really good throw and a really good play by Machado. I don't have a problem.
It's an aggressive play. We've been playing aggressive. That time it caught up to us. But I think the thought process was pretty good, because of the shift and what it took to get him.'
Whatever the case, it was just another moment in the spotlight for a guy who must be getting used to it."
... this is the Yankees' starting rotation right now.
Tanaka
Pineda
Sabathia
Green (Chad?)
Cessa (Luis?)
The bullpen is still quite strong, though weakened relatively since the trade deadline. This relative weakness could negatively affect their .690 winning percentage (20-9) in one-run games ... a few devastating blown saves in crunch time vs. one of the four teams ahead of them in the wild card race.
There is no reason to give up ... it's illogical. May as well try hard and see what happens.
But if Gary Sanchez really is Babe Ruth, then the Yankees could probably use his pitching more than his hitting.
"So the trade deadline came, ownership and management pulled off their
version of a purge, and Alex Rodriguez went soon after. But instead of a
halt, the Yankees have caught fire. Lo and behold, they are even in a
playoff race."
See what I mean?
The Yankees managed to get to 4 games over .500 with ARod on the team.
Now they're 5 games over .500 and another month has fallen off the calendar.
"Sanchez’s numbers are so Hobbsian — .403/.459/.883 with a 1.342 OPS
and 20 RBIs in 77 at-bats — that the commissioner maybe should demand a
check of the specifications of the catcher’s bat. Or is it the catcher
himself who is Wonderboy? And was it A-Rod who played the role of Bump
Bailey in this movie?
It isn’t and wasn’t just Sanchez. Cessa was fine in winning his
second straight start. Ben Heller, who came from Cleveland as part of
the package for Miller, pitched a scoreless inning in his major league
debut. Aaron Judge smacked a double and threw out a runner at second.
They’re the Baby Bombers and they’re in a race. Next thing you know,
Girardi will be telling Sanchez to knock the cover off the ball.
And he will."
Yeah, but the rest of the young players have stunk (despite Ben Heller's entire scoreless inning).
Severino is back in the minors and Judge strikes out half the time.
ARod's replacement, Tyler Austin, is the only person on the entire planet whose OPS is actually lower than ARod's.
Look, the Yankees found a surprise gem in Sanchez. They will ride it as long as they can. They could have promoted Sanchez and benched McCann with or without ARod on the roster (and with Beltran, Miller, and Chapman).
Sanchez is going to hit the skids, the Yankees are going to finish in fourth place in their own division, and ARod will be "advising" from afar for $27 million per year.
It was time to take off the training wheels and prepare for the future. I have no particular use for the dead weight, including the dead weight that remains on the roster.
But if these Baby Bombers are going to pay off, we won't know until 2018.
It would be all too easy to
invoke the names of other Yankee rookies whose careers began like
skyrockets only to fizzle to earth. Kevin Maas, Shane Spencer, Shelley
Duncan, anyone? The other two big league rookies to hit as many as 10
home runs in their first 22 games -- Colorado's Trevor Story
this year and Boston's George Scott back in 1966 -- provide a little
more in the way of evidence as to where this start might lead Sanchez,
but it is hardly conclusive. Scott, of course, was a solid big league
player for 14 seasons, a .268 hitter who averaged 20 home runs a year.
Story is among the favorites for NL Rookie of the Year."
Ronald Torreyes is batting over .400 for the month.
Enjoy it while it lasts.
"If it is not fair to blame all the Yankees' early-season woes on the likes of Mark Teixeira and Carlos Beltran and of course, Alex Rodriguez,
neither is it realistic to fail to notice the difference now that two
of them are gone and the third, Teixeira, has had his playing time
reduced in his final weeks as a major league player."
Beltran? Beltran still leads the Yankees in HRs and RBIs. Nobody was blaming Beltran.
"Sanchez's at-bats have replaced A-Rod's as must-see events for Yankees fans and even for some of his teammates."
When is the last time an ARod at-bat was a must-see event? 2009?
Why is it impossible to discuss the Yankees without bringing up Alex Freaking Rodriguez?
" 'I think that these young kids have done a really good job; they’ve
contributed in a big way,' Girardi said. 'Guys are excited around here,
and we believe.'
When's the last time you heard that out of the Yankees clubhouse?"
When is the last time I heard a trite, optimistic answer from the Yankees clubhouse? Every single day.
I hope Sanchez keeps it up, the Yankees somehow make the playoffs, ride the wave all the way the the World Series ... ARod would get another ring, by the way ... and all these young players grow into MLB superstars.
My suspicion, however, is that a lot of the elevation of Sanchez (and excitement over a whoop-dee-doo 12-8 record over 20 games) and exaggeration of Yankees' playoff chances boils down to the endless, tiresome mockery of ARod.
Tyler Austin is batting .148. Aaron Hicks is batting .215 after a recent surge. Aaron Judge is batting .222. September callups are 5 days away.
You can't imagine a scenario where an aging ARod could have fulfilled a pinch-hitting role as the team tilts at September Surge windmills?
So the real idea is that ARod's clubhouse presence was damaging to team chemistry and dragging the whole team down ... and Sanchez's hot streak is somehow proving the hypothesis.
"The Seattle Mariners did not intentionally walk New York Yankees rookie sensation Gary Sanchez once Wednesday to face Mark Teixeira -- they did it twice. And even Teixeira knew the Mariners had no choice.
'Shoot, if Babe Ruth is hitting behind him, you intentionally walk him,' Teixeira said of Sanchez after the Yankees' 5-0 victory over the Mariners. 'I mean, he is as hot as any player I have played with in my entire career. You just don't see guys doing what he is doing. I don't care how old he is.' "
All of this is wrong.
"But here is why Sanchez matters the way he does these days, whatever he eventually becomes in baseball: He has made the Yankees interesting again. Sanchez has become somebody for Yankee fans to want to watch and to care about. And, boy, do they ever care about this kid. You get the idea that as you've been reading this, Sanchez might have found a way to go deep on his way to get coffee."
Ha ha ha. Coffee.
I don't get it.
"This isn't about whether the Yankees can make an improbable run at the second Wild Card in the American League, because it will take a small miracle for them to do that, or a few teams ahead of them simply deciding to go home. No. This is about the Yankees' farm system producing the first young hitter people really want to watch since Robinson Cano was a rookie. In 2005."
This revisionist history is untrue. I don't feel like listing all the names. Fans were excited when lots of bigshot minor leaguers came up. Only in retrospect has Sanchez buzzed past them.
I can list three Yankee catchers: Cervelli, Montero, and Romine.
The buzz died down because their play didn't live up to the hype. But a year ago, Romine was a bigger deal than Sanchez.
"We know the Yankees don't develop lasting, frontline talent in starting
pitching any longer. The last homegrown kid who became a star in their
rotation was Andy Pettitte."
I will just say Chien-Ming Wang again because I feel like I have to ... and if the Yankee homegrown superstar pitchers all end up in a dominant bullpen rather than the starting rotatino, that isn't so bad.
"If you don't believe that history doesn't sell quite the way it used to
at the new Yankee Stadium, turn on a Yankee home game and take a look at
those expensive blue seats down closest to the field. It sometimes
seems to be as wide an expanse of blue as you would see standing on the
beach and looking at the Atlantic Ocean."
Right.
Except for ARod's bizarre last game.
Guess what? Sanchez ain't filling those seats any time soon.
"But now here comes this kid to hit home runs in bunches. He really has
taken the stage as one of the Yanks' famous Jurassic Park All-Stars,
Alex Rodriguez, is sent home to Miami."
... and the rest of the article is about ARod.
Which is the last time Lupica will write about ARod. I promise.
As for the next big thing, Mike Conforto is back down in the minors while Travis d'OntThrow tries to pick up the Next Big Thing slack left by Josh Thole ... and those two represent just one position on one team.
I mean, who knows? All great players and HOFers started off as young phenoms.
But when you say something like this:
"Austin, who sat out Monday's game after 3-for-8 in his first two, looks like he might be a nice player for the future, too, but Judge has the potential to be a star, maybe a guy who will bash 40-to-45 homers season after season in his prime."
"Aaron Judge hit another home run on Sunday. Two innings later, Gary Sanchez did the same. In the past two weeks, the Yankees have reloaded their lineup with young sluggers from the farm system, and the early returns could be hardly any better.
But there is a danger in assuming too much, too soon.
For a cautionary tale, look to the mound.
Luis Severino no longer looks like the future ace from a year ago. His command is erratic, his breaking ball is inconsistent and his changeup is nowhere to be found. The latest Yankees home runs meant nothing because Severino was knocked around in a 12-3 blowout loss to the Rays. Severino was optioned to Triple-A immediately after the game."
I hope it works. I hope the Yankees win the World Series as soon as possible.
If early returns meant anything, there would be a Kevin Maas wing in the Hall of Fame.
But I surely don't have to go back that far. David Adams and Andy Phillips would be manning the corners on the 2016 World Champs ... and the battery every night would be full of All Stars: Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy, Ivan Nova, Luis Severino, or Vida Nuno pitching to Jesus Montero.
As for the idea that this team is funagain, well, we'll find out if Buster Olney is anywhere to be found if the Yankees only manage to win 74 games next season.
I know everyone is preoccupied with a part-time DH hitting a fly ball to right field, but if you check the standings, the World-Series-or-Bust Mets have the same record as the Trade-Everyone Yankees.
I think Torre's evasiveness was charming to the press, but Girardi's evasiveness is irritating.
As Seattle wins 5 in a row and gets back into the wild card race, I truly think the Yankees might have done the same thing if they had kept their team together. Will it pay off in the long run? I guess we'll see.
But, c'mon. You can't have it both ways. You can't say you think you have a chance to make the playoffs while you throw AAA players out there every day.
"Yet Teixeira is also a symbol of something else. Always ready to play,
play hard, and with the old-world nobility that still appeals to the
masses. And someone whom even the most ardent Yankees hater couldn’t
quite get himself to hate."
I don't consider him particularly hard-nosed or noble.
But I like the fact that you're referring to him in the past tense.
"Maybe Teixeira came too late to be a minted member of the Core Four, but he surely played with their collective spirit."
Whatever that means, I think you're imagining it.
"When people parse the Yankees, and all the bad they allegedly represent,
you never hear the name Teixeira as a symbol of all their sins. Simply,
it’s just impossible to dislike someone who was as good, humble, and
charitable as Teixeira."
I feel honored to have achieved the impossible.
"In spite of all the home runs, Gold Gloves, and All-Star games, Teixeira
maintained the blue-collar ethic that defines the Big Apple."
Teixeira's exaggerated howls of pain when he dove out of the way of a low pitch do did not seem blue-collar to me.
"Despite all the money and marble of Madison Avenue, the swollen
billboards and media dysfunction, New York City was built by blue collar
people who still lug their lunches to work, don’t mind getting dirty,
and don’t own a single pair of skinny jeans.
So despite his nine-figure contract, Teixeira kept his old-school
sensibilities. Some players get to Gotham, sign for biblical money, and
forget who they are and what got them here."
Sooooo ... you're saying he's white?
Teixeira seemed to forget what got him here, by the way. What got him here was playing good baseball.
"Not Teixeira, whose handle, Tex, evokes the notion of a simple man with a
simple plan. No matter the big numbers on the field and absurd numbers
in his savings account, he never floated above the team, was never too
big to dive for a baseball, or too important to get his pinstripes
muddy."
I truly don't follow.
Other than Cano, every player dives for baseball.
Teixeira never struck me as a particularly humble guy, not that it really matters.
Or is all this just an indirect dig at ARod?
"Teixeira’s teams may have seen more success, but you’ll never get
Teixeira to say he was better than Mattingly, or anyone. It’s not the
way he played, the way he lived, or the way he won."
I mean ...
"Teixeira was one of the rare players who came to New York needing little
more than a tour of the locker room. He was never bothered by the
lights, shaken by the media fishbowl, or intimidated by the fans."
So what happened?
Check out his clutch stats.
Maybe he wasn't intimidated by fans or media, just by the pitchers in Major League Baseball.
"Sabathia, A-Rod, and Teixeira are the last legends left from the last
legendary team. So while Tex may not be the same player he was back
then, he’s still the same man. So rather than notice what he means to
this year’s team, perhaps we should remember what he meant to the
Yankees, and what it meant to be a Yankee."
"For the good of everyone, the New York Yankeesmust make a decision on Alex Rodriguez, then announce it and move on.
They can cut him or keep him. They just need to decide. Right now."
So far, they have kept him, which is the status quo.
So they're already decided.
"They can release him today, eat his $27 million and let him find out if
anyone else wants a 41-year-old DH with a .609 OPS, or they can let him
ride the pine the rest of the year and let him give it another crack
next spring to see if he has anything left."
I think they have decided the latter.
"What they should stop doing is trying to figure out what they think.
Because they already have announced that A-Rod is not going to play
much, if at all, the rest of the way, then the baseball operations
people must tell Hal Steinbrenner if they think Rodriguez has anything
left. If they don't, thank him for his work and let him and the
franchise move on."
You seem to be imagining some internal decision-making angst which doesn't exist.
"If they think Rodriguez might be able to regain some magic next year,
then announce he will be on the team the rest of the season and they
will give it another go then."
"There were still so many times, even after the last Yankee dynasty ended
in 2001 -- Game 7 against the Diamondbacks, bottom of the 9th, Luis
Gonzalez dunking one over Derek Jeter's head -- when the Yankees would
automatically be declared the champions of the offseason every time they
signed another free agent or spent more money. They were the Yankees
and there was this idea that they were smarter than everybody else
because they had more money. And because, well, they were the Yankees."
The 2001 World Series?
"The funny thing is, it was losing that World Series to the D-backs --
and nearly winning it despite scoring just 14 runs -- that really made
them start spending like sheikhs. Bidding against themselves that
offseason, they spent nearly $120 million to go get Jason Giambi. But
Giambi didn't put them back on top, so they didn't blink in early 2004
when they absorbed Alex Rodriguez's contract via a trade from the Texas
Rangers. Now the left side of the infield alone, Jeter and Rodriguez,
had contracts whose total value was nearly $450 million, though the
Rangers were willing to pay $112 million to get out from under the rest
of A-Rod's contract.
It would be five years before the Yankees won a World Series with
A-Rod playing baseball for them, the only one they have won since 2000.
And all they had to do that year was spend another $450 million or so on
CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett."
Winning the World Series isn't easy.
"So even though the Yankees were still selling a World-Series-or-bust
model to their fans every single year, and even though they never had a
losing season, they were now far more likely to miss the playoffs
entirely with another $200-million-plus payroll, or not make it past the
first round, as they were to get near the last week of October."
True.
It isn't easy to win the World Series.
"The Yankees have kept this thing going for an amazingly long time in the
Bronx, and sold a lot of tickets at the new Yankee Stadium. Even when
the 2013 and 2014 Yankees missed the postseason, they gave themselves a
chance. But there has been nothing special, or remarkable, about them
for a while. You know what their biggest attractions have been lately?
Farewell tours for Jeter and the great Mariano Rivera. Legendary Yankees
at the back ends of their contracts. You know what they might be
selling now, now that Beltran is gone and the full-time DH job opens up
wide? The 41-year old Rodriguez trying to get to 700 home runs, as if
that number matters to anybody else except him."
I find it astonishing that Lupica thinks the 2016 Yankees are going to market ARod's chase for 700 HRs when (1) no one cares about the chase for 700 HRs, and (2) most observers think ARod is about to get cut.
I'm not even saying a closer is particularly difficult to replace. The Yankees never missed a beat with Rafael Soriano, David Robertson, Andrew Miller, and Aroldis Chapman.
What I dispute is the notion that this fixes everything and Yankee players should start measuring their ring fingers.
"Closer to their next title" doesn't really say much, does it? If you climb a step ladder, you're closer to the sun.
Every team in baseball and every fan in every sport would tank the 2016 season for a Championship in 2018.
We don't know yet, but the Yankees might have tanked 2016 for 77 wins in 2018 ... and these future all stars may put too much of a strain on their starters and setup men.
The psychological relief Yankee fans feel (and, universally, all Yankee columnists) is the acknowledgement that they were right about this team. But Cashman isn't stupid. Only the PR people were hyping this team. Cashman knew the whole time this team is mediocre.
As for the horror of rooting for a mediocre team with an outside chance of making the wild card, I'd advise Yankee fans to get used to it.
The damage has already been done ... look at your team's starting lineup .... and there's no easy way out ... nor should there be.
Refsnyder is my man, but he's hitting .250 with 0 HRs. I'll gladly wait through the growing pains, but it shouldn't be a shock if the Yankees just acquired 8 players who never grow into anything at all.
I suppose the Yankees got more for Chapman than I anticipated and less for Miller. I heard one commentator compare AA star Frazier to Mike Trout. So you'll forgive my skepticism. If Frazier's as good as the best player in baseball, then, yeah, it's a good trade regardless of the Yankees' record and regardless of who the Yankees traded.
Moral Crusader in Chief Mike Lupica finally takes down Mike Piazza:
"Has it gotten complicated since he retired, because of the rumors and
whispers about steroids? Sure it has. You know it has. It is an
inescapable sign of the times in baseball, in Piazza's time, and surely
is why it took him as long to make it to Cooperstown as it did. Piazza
was being asked about baseball drugs as recently as a conference call
just the other day. In the end, those rumors and those whispers couldn't
keep him out of the Hall of Fame the way baseball pitchers certainly
could not."
I think Piazza's 427 career HRs were the most career HRs by any 62nd round draft pick. I also think he set the record by 427.
If you care about PEDs, then his career is a fraud.
If you don't care about PEDs, then put ARod and Bonds in the HOF.
The rhetorical cover you provide for yourself is pathetic.
"If you’re looking for a reason to believe in the Yankees, the past three
days have been a good start. But let’s all take a deep breath. It
doesn’t mean anything. At least not yet."
Don't get all existential on us.
"If they can build on it with two more wins over the Orioles, I’ll start
to consider the Yankees to be true contenders. If not, then not much has
changed."
The next two games are very monumental in Yankee history.
They will determine whether or not Anthony McCarron will start to consider the Yankees to be true contenders.
If that doesn't motivate the whole team, nothing else will.
"So while there are plenty of encouraging signs from the past couple
days, how many times are we going to fall for the same trick? Fool me
once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Who gets shamed when it
happens three, four or five times?"
I think your entire way of experiencing life is different than mine.
Try living in the present more often.
"If the Yankees only manage a split of the next two games, they’ll still
be 6½ games out of first and have a deficit close to that large in the
wild card race. Anything short of a sweep should leave the Yankees as
eventual sellers. That’s what happens when you’re a .500 team after
almost 100 games."
I just don't think that's true.
The Yankees are one nice winning streak away from legitimately contending for a wild card.
"Suzyn (Ma Pinstripe) Waldman waited until the seventh inning Saturday, as the Yankees were going down to Boston, to inquire.
'Wonder how many questions will go by before someone asks Joe Girardi
if it’s time to sell?' She asked her radio partner John (Pa Pinstripe)
Sterling.
'Suzyn, you’ve got to admit if it keeps going like this (for the Yankees), it’s going to be time to sell,' Pa said.
Say what?
It’s telling these two voices, known for their optimism and sunnyside
stylings, appear to be resigned to Yankees brass ultimately pulling the
plug on the season. The ramifications of the Yankees becoming sellers
have been over-dissected and re-regurgitated."
So Al Yanzeera agents Ma and Pa Pinstripe might not be as unbiased as you think.
"Will newspapers and websites still invest what it takes to cover every
alleged game? Outside of providing scores, do Valley of the Stupid
Gasbags bother talking Yankees? Face it, those Bombers ticket giveaways
on FAN will take on new meaning. How many 'loyalists' will actually want
free tickets to exhibition tilts disguised as real games?"
Does the New York Daily News current invest resources to cover the Mets and the Yankees? That's news to me. I'm on your website right now and I don't see it.
"If Hal Steinbrenner throws in the towel, the Mets voices won’t be the
only ones enjoying the Bombers’ irrelevance. Much harder to predict is
how Ma and Pa will handle it. Accustomed to — at least — contending from
wire to wire, this will be uncharted territory for them. And while they
may have visions of white flags on the horizon, their retreat has not
started."
The Yankees are not that bad. Sorry, but it's true. The reason people will still pay attention is because they are baseball fans. The media who can't do their jobs should find another job. The animus predicted by Raissman is standard for the Daily News and Raissman.
For the 1,000th article in a row, Lupica attacks ARod:
"Alex Rodriguez doesn’t care about what’s best for the Yankees.
He just cares about getting to 700 home runs, then maybe even getting to 715 and passing Babe Ruth.
And, of course, getting paid.
Now he’s going to be a first baseman.
Right.
Then an astronaut."
1) ARod is a dead horse. Beating him relentlessly is not just bad form, it's redundant and boring.
2) Did you see the nice scoop by Foul Territory on Headley's throw in yesterday's game? The sweet RISP GIDP? When you fixate on one problem (ARod) at the exclusion of all others (the first baseman who is the worst player in baseball), you present an invalid picture of the state of the Yankees.
In other words, you're not doing your job.
3) So who cares, anyway? It's just a baseball player, right?
He's overpaid, he's a cheater, he's ... he's selfish ... he's the pro athlete who's selfish ... I was googling that over and over the past few days trying to figure it out.
Lupica is not a sports columnist, he's a gossip columnist. He uses his newspaper articles to dole out rewards and punishments. Big Papi tested positive, but we love Big Papi. The Mets who cheat or beat their wives get a rudimentary finger-wagging, but Lupica's heart is not in it. Not compared to the Evil ARod who has the audacity to take ground balls at first base in an attempt to get more playing time so he can catch Babe Ruth's HR total.
It's stupid, it's bad journalism, it presents a skewed view of the NY sports world.
Here is where the hypocrisy gets downright offensive:
"And by the way? After Goodell thought he had the right to ask for Brady’s
cell phone, at least in America, Brady should have done just one thing
differently before stomping it flat: He should have told Goodell to take
it and shove it."
I agree totally.
The NFL has no subpoena authority.
But neither does MLB.
If a cell phone is private information which is protected by the Constitution ... then surely the blood coursing through one's body is also protected by the Constitution.
Lupica doesn't care about the Fourth Amendment when it comes to baseball players.
Specifically, baseball players who took steroids.
More specifically, baseball players who took steroids and hit lots of HRs.
More specifically than that, baseball players who took steroids and hit lots of HRs and whom Lupica simply doesn't like.
God Bless America.
There is a victim. The victim is Lupica's credibility ... and what is a man without credibility?
Let's say the Yankees win their next ten games in a row.
Let's say the Yankees can trade Carlos Beltran for a future superstar.
What do you do?
You trade Beltran:
"The stakes are simple this week as the Yankees open the second half at home against the Red Sox, Orioles and Giants.
Get back in the race or get taken apart."
They'll never get in the race, they'll never be out of the race. That's the modern-day Selig horror show.
"The deficits are hardly insurmountable. After all, the Yankees themselves held a seven-game lead in the division on July 28 last season before watching the Blue Jays storm back to win the AL East by six games.
But for a team that hasn’t been able to gain any traction through the first 88 games, they’ll have to play much better to put a scare into any of the three teams ahead of them in the division."
I am not optimistic, but I think this assessment is somewhat inaccurate.
With Chapman, they've played around .550 ball for 2 months. Keep it up and it's 83 - 84 wins. Not enough for a wild card, but not too far off. So it's keep it up and go on one nice streak.
The most likely outcome?
They tread water for the rest of the season and trade a couple of veterans for useless draft picks.
But the long-term strategy should not waver based on the outcome of the next ten games. In the unlikely event you can get significant value for some of these guys, go for it. In the likely event that you can't get significant value, your only way out is to build a time machine, travel back in time, and then refuse to sign them.
The White Sox are one game ahead of the Yankees in the standings: "On July 11, Carlos Beltran is the Yankees MVP. By August 1, the 39-year-old could be wearing a different uniform."
I don't think any intelligent observer believes Beltran is the Yankees MVP so far this season. It may not be an important opinion, but it level-sets for the rest of the article.
"With the Yankees entering the All-Star break at a perfectly mediocre 44-44, the next few weeks will likely signal to general manager Brian Cashman (and ownership) whether to buy, sell or stand pat at the trade deadline. If New York does decide to sell off parts, Beltran will garner interest across the sport."
Across the whole sport ... besides one half of the sport known as the National League.
"A potential sleeper for the switch-hitting October legend? The
Chicago White Sox—if their current reclamation project falls through.
Chicago signed former MVP Justin Morneau with an eye on second-half
production. With a rehab assignment almost complete, the former Twins
star could be in the White Sox lineup when the second half opens. If he
produces, Chicago's abysmal DH production issues could be solved. If
not, cue the Beltran rumors, per George King of the New York Post:"
Jeez, the Ledger referencing the Post. I should have just gone to the Post.
"Heading into the break, the White Sox designated hitters own a .703 OPS.
That's good for 12th in the AL and well below the .771 league average.
The White Sox hit the All-Star break at 45-43, one game better than the
Yankees."
It might be hard to replace the Matt Harvey Hype, but it's not hard to replace the on-field production:
"So this is how the season ends for Matt Harvey and maybe the best of it
for him ends, with surgery for a shoulder condition that most of us
didn’t even know existed until this week. This is how it ends for the
guy who looked like the new Seaver when he came along, who became the
biggest pitching star for the Mets since Dwight Gooden."
Harvey didn't live up to the hype which I helped perpetuate.
"Harvey was a star, the ace of his staff and the ace of his city, and was
the most exciting starting pitcher, for either New York baseball team,
since Doc. Then he got hurt the first time. He came back, but then Jacob
deGrom, who is not the same pitcher he was last season, was the ace of
the staff. Then Syndergaard. Now Harvey is gone again. He says he will
be as good as new when he gets back. We’ll all see about that."
An oddly-structured (were we talking about Jacob deGrom?) and long-winded way to say he's the second coming of Joba Chamberlain.
"Mets fans, of course, remember the Generation K pitchers of 20 years
ago, Paul Wilson and Bill Pulsipher and Jason Isringhausen, and how they
were going to be the young arms and young guns that pitched the Mets
into the World Series the way Harvey and deGrom and Syndergaard and Matz
did last season"
Generation K?
"Only Isringhausen really lasted, ultimately having his greatest success
as a relief pitcher. The best season Wilson ever had in the big leagues
was with the Cincinnati Reds in 2004. He was 11-6."
Thank you, baseball-reference.com.
"As good as Gooden and Darling and Fernandez were in the 80s, this group
of pitchers is the best the Mets have had in nearly 50 years. It has
been big fun watching them. Now we’ll see how long the fun lasts."
I don't blame you for believing the hype. The problem is, you also generated the hype.
I don't know why (I have some idea) nobody cared about Chien-Ming Wang or paid attention when Ivan Nova won 15 in a row ... I guess he didn't strike out enough players or cultivated a suitable online presence/Batman-related nickname.
(By the way, Harvey would have to go 23-10 ... win the Cy Young Award, basically ... to match Nova's career record.)
The Yankees bore you. The Yankees are old news. You hate the Yankees.
The rest of the article just proves the point ... anti-ARod, anti-Gardner, anti-Hicks, pro-Reyes, pro-Flores. A lengthy takedown of ARod, which isn't beating a dead horse so much as beating a boring horse.
Wilmer Flores is the most popular Met of his generation. Uh huh. Even more popular than Mike Baxter? Even more popular than Josh Satin?
You're not really writing about sports, are you? You're just writing fictional biographies of the players.
But the attendance numbers so far show the Mets' success is not hurting the Yankees:
"It appears as if more and more New Yorkers are taking the 7 train as opposed to the 4, B or D train on game day.
After last year's surprising run to the NL pennant, Mets fans are
showing up at Citi Field at the second highest rate in all of baseball
and the highest in the National League."
Mets are 9th in attendance per game and the Yankees are 6th.
The Mets have increased their attendance (compared to 2015) at the second highest rate, but the fans are not showing up at the second highest rate.
"For the struggling Bronx Bombers, the attendance numbers are slightly down when compared to last year.
At this point last season the Yankees had seen 1,633,165 fans come
through the turnstiles. That number has dipped to 1,562,688 this season
(through 41 home games), a 70,477 decrease. It's an average of 1,719
fewer fans per game at the Stadium."
Slightly down is correct, and there is no reason to think that these people are going to Citi Field.
Funny that the click bait headline says Yankees see "big decline."
"A Fourth of July firecracker lit in California was heard in The Bronx
on Saturday night and signified the latest dagger to the Yankees’
season.
Not only did Melvin Upton Jr.’s towering home run to left leading off
the ninth inning carry the lowly Padres to a 2-1 win over the Yankees
in front of 42,315 at Petco Park, he hit it off of Andrew Miller’s first
pitch of the inning and 20th of the game.
It was the fifth homer allowed by Miller in what has been a
sensational season for the lefty reliever, who is a target of the Cubs,
Rangers and Nationals as the Aug. 1 trade deadline approaches. All three
teams had scouts watching Saturday evening."
What is the purpose of scouts? Anybody can watch the replays on televison. Or the Internet. In fact, it's a challenge to avoid the replay of Upton's HR. "The scouts on hand also saw Dellin Betances not pitch at his best. With
the Yankees ahead 1-0 in the sixth, Betances inherited baserunner Wil
Myers from Ivan Nova. Taking advantage of Betances not using a slide
step and having a high leg kick, Myers stole second easily. Matt Kemp
followed by dumping a check-swing double into right that scored Myers."
For one thing, you're not getting Betances.
For another, was anyone's opinion of Betances diminished? He is coming off back-to-back Mariano-esque seasons and he allowed an inherited baserunner to score on a check-swing double.
He also allowed a stolen base.
He has 72 strikeouts in 40 innings ... this player who isn't even on the market ... and you don't want him anymore because he gave up a whole run?
"Pomeranz and Nova pitched very well. Pomeranz gave up a run and five
hits in seven frames. Nova, who had pitched poorly in his previous seven
outings, went 5 ¹/₃ innings in which he gave up a run and four hits.
Of course, every run counts no matter when it is scored. However, the
one Upton delivered was a lot louder than the first Padres run and was
heard 3,000 miles away."
Yeah.
Using King's non-logic, maybe the scouts were impressed with Ivan Nova.
