Gleyber Torres turns a double play in the ninth inning.

Chisolm is not a big name.

I mean, when I heard the first name with the last name, I was able to identify who he was. "That guy." 

But when I first heard the Yankees got "Chisolm," I wasn't sure who they were talking about.

 

It's kind of the inevitable result of the trade deadline deals every year.

"Once again" going after a big name, he says. Because the Yankees are constantly landing superstars at the trade deadline. Because Benintendi is also a big name, or something?

I mean, it's been a while. Cone in 1995, Justice in 2000 ... anybody else in the past 24 years who is worth mentioning?

Glenallen Hill? That's like a Chisolm-level "big name." A guy whose jersey is ranked in the top 200 at MLB.com.

I'm probably missing somebody. I know a lot of relievers come and go. Armando Benitez that one time and maybe a few others I don't remember.

But the trade deadline overall is a bunch of hype with minimal impact.

Some people lack self-awareness.

Thirteen errors and a defensive WAR of -0.1 ... which seems like a generous defensive WAR to my eyes.

Sure. Why not? He is probably better than Holmes.

I'll admit this guy was under my radar. 

Just be wary of a player who has a dominating half a season; A guy who walks five players per nine innings.

I know Yankee fans are envisioning a five-K bailout performance in Fenway last night, but you might get a walk, walk, HBP, wild pitch Dellin Betances Special. Throw in a Volpe error and a Gleyber botched double play you've got my vision of a Yankee playoff game.

Also, it's quite a hilarious situation when an average old bullpen guy finds a dominant stretch for 40 innings and millions of sports radio callers around the nation assume he's going to join their team and save their team:

"According to Jon Heyman, several teams are in pursuit of Scott: The New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, and the Mariners." 

You know what?

I'm not even being cynical.

Go ahead and get this guy and make him the new closer.

If Holmes is really a horrible pitcher, then the Yankees will still be vulnerable in the 7th and 8th innings.

There simply is no formula for success in the playoffs. If the Marlins want our entire starting infield for a reliever rental, I'd make that trade today.

But why would the Marlins want to buy anything the Yankees are selling?

It's noticeable at the plate and in the field.

Volpe is cut a lot of slack because he's young and likable.

His career stats:

• RISP: .198.
• Two outs RISP: .153.

If he's not a choker, he'll do until the choker gets here.

Because he's young, there is a lot of room for improvement and it's likely he will improve.

But if you look around this touted infield, it's total garbage. The Yankees would probably be better off with some of their castoffs. IKF, Refsnyder, Voit, and Urshela come to mind.

It's only shocking if you don't know how baseball works.

The wild card kind of ruins everything, if you ask me.

If you made me choose right now, I'd pick the Guardians and the Dodgers in the World Series.

These analyses don't even mean anything: "Can the Mets beat the Phillies in a short series?"

Of course they can. The Rockies beat the Red Sox by 13 runs last night. The A's could beat the Phillies in a short series.

The Mets will probably make the playoffs. That's all you need. The Padres might knock off the Phillies and the Mets won't need to.

Put it this way, and this should be obvious: It's easier to win the World Series than it is to catch the Phillies. 

I'd be impressed if they caught the Phillies.

MLB should get rid of the wild card and force the Mets to get serious and make some aggressive moves.

It has gone on long enough, that is true.

I would never say anything has hit "rock bottom," because you probably haven't seen it yet.

It was the two-out, two-strike game-tying home run by Masataka Yoshida.

Then it was the back-to-back errors with two outs in the ninth in Baltimore with first place on the line. Ridiculous. I've watched a lot of baseball, and I'm not sure if I've ever seen a more embarrassing display.

Now it's the embarrassing finale vs. the Mets.

Crosstown rivals? I really don't care about that part. Neither team is going anywhere in the playoffs in my opinion. Either could prove me wrong in October. Both could prove me wrong in October. Next thing you know, it's Cole vs. Manaea in Game One of the World Series with Benny Agbayani leading off for the Mets.

The whole thing about outlooks and "on pace to win" and "if they go .500 from this point forward" is that you just don't know when a team is going to go on a streak or a slump.

One of the most overlooked aspects of the Yankees' slump is that the Big Bad Orioles haven't been much better.

I guess the narrative isn't really "Big Bad Orioles."

It's more "Up and Coming Orioles."

"Fresh Faced Orioles."

A cool drink of water in a division dominated by the Yankees for decades (though the division has not actually been dominated by the Yankees for decades).

I'm also not dismissing 30 bad games. A .700 team has fallen to .600. If they really keep up the .333 winning percentage, they'll fall completely out of the playoff picture. 

This probably won't happen.

They're the 90-win team we always thought they were. They just have a roller coaster way of getting to 90 wins.

So what are we really talking about? 

What are we really concerned about? 

It's the attitude. The entertainment value. The team that rests on its laurels and reputation and sleepwalks its way through the regular season.

It's not even the final score of last night's game. It's the fact that when the Yankees fell behind by three runs in the fifth inning, you knew the game was over. You knew that Volpe was not going to come through with bases loaded. You knew that Gleyber was going to strike out with runners on base. Watching the Yankees is just changing the channel and checking in every forty minutes to see if it's time for Soto and Judge to get up again.

The Yankees have a better overall record. That's how you know.

The first seventy games count as much as the next seventy.

 

Are you saying which team is better tonight? The Mets for sure.

Are you saying which team is going to be better in the remaining sixty games? Probably the Mets. It's not easy to say.

Players and teams go through streaks and slumps. We see it every year and yet we always act oh-so surprised.

 

The argument for the Yankees being a better team is simple enough:

1. They have a better overall record.
2. They did it with Cole on the DL most of the season.
3. They expect to get Stanton and Schmidt back.

So then the way you decide is that each team plays 162 and you add up the wins. 

 

Also: Who really cares?

The Subway Series has no juice, both teams are mediocre, and mediocre may be less entertaining than truly awful.

 

Odds are both teams will make the playoffs as a wild card. 

I don't expect the Yankees to get far in the playoffs, but you never know. Maybe they'll get hot again at just the right time. Same goes for the Mets, I suppose. So if that's your criteria, then wait until then to decide who's "better."

I will say for sure that, similar to most Yankee teams of the past decade or so, this team seems to have no guts, no ability to perform in the clutch, and no ability to win big games.

 

 

 

Everyone agrees with Severino.

It's very mild trash talk anyway. A bit of a shame he isn't pitching in the series. On the other hand, he has had a very successful season with the Mets.

"Costly error."

He should get that phrase on the back of his jersey.

It is more than the number of errors. He makes a lot of misplays that don't count as errors.

But it's also his lack of athleticism. The ball hits off the heel of his glove and he can't adjust and pick it up. This is a 27-year-old, supposedly at the peak of his athletic performance.

Team All or Nothing.

"Brandon Lowe homered in the sixth for the Rays, who went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position. Tampa Bay is 1 for 41 with runners in scoring position in its last four games."

Someone has to point out that the Orioles' closer if Craig Kimbrel.

"Clay Holmes heard some blame and criticism for his role in Sunday’s ninth-inning disaster, allowing two walks to set up two crippling defensive blunders by Anthony Volpe and Alex Verdugo in an eventual walk-off win for the Orioles."

In the top of the ninth inning, Kimbrel walked the #8 batter, then walked the #9 batter, then allowed a go-ahead three-run home run to the leadoff batter.

Kimbrel has two blown saves in his last two save opportunities vs. the Yankees.

“I can’t look at Clay Holmes and say ‘He is the lockdown closer that wins a championship for this team,’” Evan said.

Why not?

Who would you rather have as a closer on your team? Who is a lockdown closer that wins a championship for your team?

I'd prefer Hader and Clase for sure, off the top of my head. It wouldn't shock me if Clase is a difference-maker in the playoffs who propels the Guardians to the World Series. Same goes for Hader and the Astros, who first have to worry about getting into the playoffs in the first place.

Some guy named Helsley leads the majors in saves and it turns out he's pretty darn good.

Helsley is sort of a low strikeout guy, similar to Holmes. Clase is a low strikeout guy as well, for what it's worth.

Maybe the professional baseball players on the Cardinals and the Guardians know how to field baseballs that are hit directly at them, thereby assisting their closers in their attempts to get the final outs of baseball games.

The Dodgers just blew a five-run lead in the ninth inning.

They should give up on the season and trade Ohtani for prospects.

It's World Series or bust for the Mets.

Because I'm a reasonably intelligent person, at no point during the 2024 season did I think the Mets were out of the playoff race.

By the way, the Wild Card Mets, with their recent surge to a .516 winning percentage, have the highest payroll in baseball.

I guess $306 million just doesn't buy what it used to.

The best way to beat the Yankees' bullpen is to stand at home plate and not swing the bat.

Is this a thing?

To me, it's a thing.

Not hitting batters in the head, but just hitting batters. The Yankees hit a lot of batters. Also, at inopportune times.

The Mets should buy. The Yankees should give up.

The Mets are two games over .500. 

Because they started off so poorly (written off by many fans and WFAN hosts), they have "momentum."

Imagine the narrative if the Yankees had started 6-17 before surging to 17 games over .500 and a .600 winning percentage.

Would the pundits suggest giving up on the season?

If you take the emotion out of it, you realize the Yankees have a good team.

Like every other good team (including the Orioles, if you have been paying attention), they've hit a slump.

I'm quite sure Sal Licata said the same thing about the Mets three weeks ago. The magical fairytale players that are abundantly available to any GM willing to give up on the season in the pursuit of future benefits:

“They’re not gonna do it, but they’d be better off doing it…this team has failed year after year. It’s the same thing. The smarter move to me would be to sell Juan Soto. That’s the piece, because there’s really nothing else.”

"Sell Juan Soto," he says.

Many have questioned the wisdom of "renting" Soto for one year. How much do you expect the Yankees to get back for Soto? From a team who's renting him for half a season?

Unless you know for sure that the Yankees will  sign Soto in the off season, what's the point?

The best thing to do is make the playoffs and then get hot at the right time.

Even if the Yankees lose Soto after the 2024 season, you've got to be some sort of demented Higashioka-phile to think the Soto trade was a bad trade for the Yankees.

The better strategy would be to sell off the over-hyped AA players while they're potentially still worth something.

But the best strategy is to stick with this team. More or less. If you can trade Rizzo and Gleyber for a few fungo bats, be my guest. If you can add a starter who can get into the sixth inning, let's do it. 

If you take the emotion out of it ... if you forget the "Home of Champions" branding and ignore the endless comparisons to the Yankee dynasties ... you'd see the Yankees are one of the best teams in baseball in 2024.

That does not mean 125 wins and a World Series sweep. It means 90 wins and maybe a first-round bye.

 

MVP of the Mets maybe.

You can't mean MVP of the National League.

Stroman is a clown.

Today's game just seems like a typical pattern of twenty pitches per inning and a miracle if he can get through six innings.

Also, what's up with all the walks? By relief pitchers? Can you make the opponent swing the bat once in a while?

There just seems to be a lack of awareness. Runner on first base with two outs. You walk the #9 hitter and now you face the leadoff hitter with a runner in scoring position. This is in the bottom of the eighth with a one-run lead.

Challenge the #9 hitter and take your chances.

It's always a good look when the players who aren't hustling are also batting under .200.

Holmes blew the save.

Volpe blew it with his baserunning

LeMahieu and Grisham (again) didn't hustle.

 

The play that bothered me the most was Grisham leading off the bottom of the ninth. Let's recover from this shock and win this game! Show some guts!

He struck out looking on three pitches. Not just taking the third pitch, but taking all three pitches. After botching a play in CF on Thursday and botching a play in CF on Friday.

Is he employed by another team? Is he secretly trying to lose?

Stupid.

The Yankees are in a slump. Their ridiculous 30-something games over .500 and .700 wining percentage was obviously a mirage. They put those wins in the bank so they can withstand a slump or two.

But unless Marcus Stroman was intimidated, I don't see how any of this means anything. Ian Hamilton and Cody Poteet didn't even play.

Between Stroman's endless walks, hit batsmen, and home runs, it's hard to tell when he's intimidated. 

That should be a new combined stat: 45 walks + 15 home runs + 7 HBP.

Marcus Stroman's Combined Stroman Count is 67. Probably leads the league.

Then you can index all the other players to Stroman's Stroman Count. 

So 67 is a Stroman of 100.

For example, George Kirby has a Stroman Count of 24, which is .36 Stromans.

Carlos Rodon's Stroman Count is 55, which is a pretty terrible .82 Stromans.

Bullpens "R" Us.

Without fail, the solution to (almost) every team's problems (almost) every year is to improve the bullpen.

The Yankees and the Mets need to improve their bullpens.

Where do you find all the great bullpen pitchers, anyway?

Maybe the Giants and Jets can shop there for offensive linemen.