If you're not plugged into the Yankee fanbase, you probably think Juan Soto is a big story.

Juan Soto's Bronx story began over a year ago. Opening Day 2024. So even the headline is wrong.

"It’s always a good show, and big fun, when the Mets and Yankees play for the city championship in another Subway Series -- the first of which is at Yankee Stadium this weekend."

Is it, though?

"It will be even a better show than usual this time because both teams are in first place."

"Usually," the Yankees and Mets are both good teams. The 2025 Subway Series is more less the exact same thing as it always is.

A long time ago, it was interesting. "Dave Mlicki" and all that. 

I remember Mariano Rivera walked with the bases loaded one time. Here you go. How ridiculous was that?

A Korean pitcher who insisted being called Mr. Koo got a couple of hits off Randy Johnson. 

Shawn Estes saying he was going to plunk Clemens, but he didn't, but he won the game ... and he hit a home run off Clemens. Crazy! It was "the one where Estes hit a home run off Clemens." The Mets took over the city that day in 2002, they surely did, but now they'll have to try again to take it over this weekend.

I totally remember a garbage umpire call setting up Matt Franco for a garbage game-winning hit off Mariano Rivera. They don't show the whole at-bat, so you can't see the umpire blow the two-strike call which would have ended the game. The Mets won! They won! Put it in the books!

There is no need to hype the 2025 Subway Series. You're forcing it. It is as tired as the fifth ining YMCA dance.

"When 'Friends' was one of the biggest hits on network television, the episode titles always began this way: 'The one where ...' For the Mets and Yankees this weekend, the episode title could be this: 'The One Where Juan Soto Comes back to the Stadium as a Met.' "

I mean ... it's self-parody. It's a "Friends" reference.

I was right about the Soto signing the whole time. It made waves when it happened and now no one cares. Soto played one season for the Yankees and had a great season and an unforgettable moment in the playoffs. He then signed with another team. He's more Chris Chambliss than Reggie Jackson in Yankee lore.

"It just isn’t likely to be a lot of laughs for Soto when he starts hearing it from his old friends in the Bronx".

The anger directed towards Soto will be insincere and muted.

It's going to be from people wearing Jeter jerseys who couldn't name one player in the Yankees' starting rotation other than Cole.

I hope they enjoy the game. Boo Soto all you want if you really want to. Leave after Judge's third at-bat to beat traffic. I'm not judging. You're living your best life. In fact, I admire fans who can't name one player in the Yankees' starting rotation. It is I who needs to get a life.

"The games this weekend are going to be saltier than usual -- and that is saying plenty -- because of the flashpoint that Soto has become for Yankees fans since he went with the other guys."

This is made up.

I'm always put in the position of diminishing the Subway Series because it's not that big of a deal. It's two good teams playing each other. Anyone paying attention to the recent series vs. the first-place Mariners saw an intense three-game series between two teams who have dreams of making it to the World Series.

If the Mets fans crave bragging rights, they already have bragging rights. They keep beating the Yankees head to head in the regular season and no one cares.

 

 

 

 

 

Clutch fielding is a thing.

I am just repeating myself.

It seems as if I'm the only one who is noticing this.

For one thing, I don't see how Volpe won a gold glove and I don't really buy the defensive WAR stats which had him as the highest defensive WAR in MLB the last time I checked.

More importantly, he makes defensive misplays at the worst times.

For this particular sequence, I don't really think it made a difference. The leadoff single was a single. The run-scoring fielder's choice was probably not going to be a GIDP anyway.

Paired with his atrocious offensive clutch stats and I have to conclude this guy is a legit choker.

 

"We all know how good Judge is."

I got a laugh when I checked out baseball-reference.com this morning and Fried was listed as #4 in the Yankees' 2025 WAR ratings. Just shows that WAR is not always reliable, as if you didn't know that already.

At this early stage of his Yankee career, I can give Fried one of the highest compliments I can pay a starting pitcher. He's a stopper.

The "pleasant surprise" factor of Fried and the relative state of the Yankees' starting staff isn't nearly enough to elevate him above Aaron Judge.

Just to casually dismiss Judge's first 100 at-bats because we knew already doesn't really account for a staggering .406 batting average and 1.217 OPS.

He might just be a choker.

The sample sizes are short with the Yankees and in the postseason, but his ERA with the Yankees is 11.25 and his ERA in the postseason is 23.14.

Volpe is still a choker and no one seems to notice.

RISP: 29 AB, .172 BA and 14 Ks.

Two outs RISP: 19 AB, .158, 10 Ks.

It's also, like, the fan base ran Clay Holmes out of town and I remember that.

I think a demotion is coming soon enough and the question in October will not be whether or not Williams is the closer, it will be be whether or not Williams is on the playoff roster.

I like this guy.

Just hit better in the playoffs.

When a pitcher is mediocre, it's alway "one pitch."

“ 'But then the walk ahead of the homer, it’s that small of a separator between him being in a dominant position right now to — the reality is he’s throwing the ball incredibly well. It’s that next level of avoiding that ball that today is one ball.' ”

The walk ahead of the homer, though.

That batter didn't walk himself.

"Rodón has given up 51 homers in 50 total starts for the Yankees. That figure leads the majors since his Yankees debut on July 7, 2023."

That's a lot of "one pitches," huh?

Sounds disgusting.

Is it difficult to play left field?

It comes with the territory.

I mean, I understand the story line.

It's opening day and that's what happened in his Mets debut.

I also think that this type of scrutiny just doesn't comport with baseball.

What happened in this particular at-bat? I swung and missed on a 99 MPH slider. I had 1/100th of a second to make up my mind. It looked like a strike for the first 1/1,000th of a second, so I started to swing.

Babe Ruth, Shohei Ohtani, and this guy.

He will soon realize that it's difficult to get major league batters out. To be more specific, major league batters who aren't himself.

I propose a Presidential executive order to elect Lou Whitaker to the MLB Hall of Fame.

Bonus: As far as I know, Whitaker has never been accused of statutory rape.

That's the thing with Pete Rose. You have to be more specific when granting him a pardon.

While we're at it, maybe Congress should get over the whole "you're gambling with World War III" thing and discuss Tommy John's HOF credentials.

Why not take this to the next level?

At the next general assembly of the UN, all the world's delegates should be presented with a dossier explaining that the mostly forgotten Bobby Grich has one of the highest non-steroid career WARs amongst those not elected to the HOF.

Grich has a higher career WAR than Andruw Jones.

That's surprising, right?

Right?

Hello?

Are the translators working today?

 

The Orioles must not exist.

The article is behind a firewall, so I can't say for sure if Madden is ignoring the Orioles. But the headline is funny either way.

Each fly ball represents a learning opportunity.

Heck, I could be the best student the Yankees ever had. I can strike out every time and drop every fly ball to the outfield. Embrace the stink.

I don't know where this guy's career is headed, but he just strikes me as another player who never bothered to learn the craft and take care of the easy parts.

Quick! Name one thing Roger Clemens is infamous for.

No, not that.

Or that.

No. I had forgotten about that, but that's not it.

I mean his five o'clock shadow:

"In 1991, club legend Don Mattingly, frustrated with ownership’s lackadaisical attitude toward improving the roster, grew his curls out to his shoulders. He was punished with a one-game benching before he agreed to a haircut. Hall of Famer CC Sabathia and seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens, both of whom were in Tampa with beards as guest instructors on Friday, were infamous for showing a good deal of 5 o’clock shadow.

 ...

Steinbrenner’s willingness to adapt to the shifting sands is a recognition of reality. Times have changed. The Yankees can no longer rely on their aura, their tradition of excellence and their bottomless caches of cash to nab top free agents. Every advantage — and disadvantage — matters.

In other words: Players care about tradition, but they care about winning more, much more."

I mean, sure.

Times have changed.

I'd go even further and say players don't care one bit about tradition. 

The Yankees don't rely on tradition or aura, they rely on big bucks. In certain circumstances, they can appeal to a free agent who wants access to a big market, but that's not going to matter to Devin Williams, much less the catcher Austin What's-His-Name.

The Yankees have lost their intimidation factor and aura because they have just one championship since 2000.

The Yankees' lack of world championships in recent years has much more to do with the expanded playoffs than anything else.

No one likes it when Cashman correctly points out it's a crap shoot, but it's a crap shoot.

Players like money and they also like winning. The two things are correlated somewhat, but not too much. One thing that is not correlated to either of these things is facial hair. There are quite a few mediocre free agents with beards who signed with mediocre teams.

 

 

 

That's fun and exciting.

Alex Rodriguez is very tan in February.

Alex Rodriguez can also find $10k in between his couch cushions if he really feels the need to give money to college students.

Money Talks

I am not saying Williams is lying.

I also think the facial hair policy was outdated.

Yankees have an uptight corporate image before, during, and after this particular policy.

In some instances, it's conceivable that a corporate culture or clubhouse cohesion could influence a player's decision. They're in for a rude awakening if they sign long-term with a team because they enjoy the Spring Training camaraderie, just to find that all of their best bid whist partners were traded to Oakland before the season even begins.

As for Williams's free agency, let's play one regular season game first.

He might win the Cy Young Award and World Series MVP and ask for a lot of money.

That would be a high-demand scenario.

Or the opposite may occur.

In any case, the size and grooming of his beard will be about 100th on his priority list.

Dodgers are great, but ...

I saw the headline at MLB.com and knew it was Lupica.

The following is Mike Lupica praising the 2025 Yankees.

Which is something he will never do in the Daily News:

"The Yankees have reigning MVP Aaron Judge, who hit 58 home runs last season and came that close to being the first New York slugger in history to hit 60 homers in a season twice. They have Gerrit Cole, who finally won a Cy Young Award the season before last, and has been one of the true aces in the sport for a long time. They just signed free [sic] Max Fried to the biggest free-agent contract any left-handed pitcher has ever signed.

In addition, the Yankees now have one of the game’s star closers in Devin Williams -- Williams now getting the chance to bring that Airbenddre pitch of his from Milwaukee to Yankee Stadium, and perhaps give the Yankees their best 9^th-inning option since Mariano Rivera.

The Yankees also will have two other former MVPs in their regular lineup in addition to Judge with Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt, both veterans showing up at The Stadium with much to prove. They have lost a lot in losing Soto, of course, but may come out of that an even more complete team. And maybe this is the season when The Martian, Jasson Domínguez, becomes the hot kid people have been expecting him to be for a while, even though he is still just 22."

This isn't difficult to figure out.

To the New York audience, he's trolling Yankee fans.

To the national audience, he's trolling Dodgers fans:

"The Dodgers are loaded again, absolutely, having now added former Cy Young winner Blake Snell to a world championship team, and Japanese star Roki Sasaki to a team that at some point will get Shohei Ohtani back as a starter. It still won’t make LA any more of a star town in baseball than New York. Sound the trumpets and play the season. The Yankees and Mets will worry about the Dodgers later."

The whole premise is weird.

It's a shot across the bow to all the people who are saying ... ummm ... what are they saying?

They're saying that the LA is more of a star town in baseball than New York! They're wrong! LA is not more of a star town in baseball than New York!

C'mon, man.

 We're talking about Joe Kelly.

 A poor man's Adam Ottavino.

I think Judge is right.

I actually thinks he says the right thing at all times:

"Judge dropped Tommy Edman's routine fly to center in World Series Game 5 for his first error of the year as the Yankees blew a 5-0 lead and were eliminated with a 7-6 loss. Dodgers pitcher Joe Kelly said his team had anticipated defensive mistakes by the Yankees.

'We heard that, but there's nothing you can do besides you have to beat them,' Judge said. 'They won. They can say whatever they want. So if you don't like it, you got to play better.' "

Juan Soto got paid a lot because he's a great player.

A young player in his prime.

The Yankees tried to match the Mets' offer, so it's disingenuous to act like the Yankees dodged a bullet.

I don't even think this is that complicated.

 Of course the Yankees can thrive without Juan Soto. Their Plan B has been pretty good, actually.

But it's still Plan B.

Plan A was signing Juan Soto long-term, a decade of Judge/Soto probably drawing comparisons to the greatest MLB duos of all time, and cashing in with multiple rings.

I guess this makes sense if you never heard of Hideo Nomo.

Ichiro Suzuki, Kazuhiro Sasaki, Yu Darvish, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Kodai Senga, and how can we forget about the immortal Ken Takahashi? None of whom picked the Yankees:

“Since Ohtani...these are three major players that basically had no interest in New York, or the Yankees specifically.”

Sal doesn’t see it as a knock on the Yanks, but it does show that the days of Hideki Matsui and Masahiro Tanaka are over, as the Bombers are now underdogs with the best players from Japan, as many modern players are choosing the Pacific coast.

“It’s the world famous New York Yankees,” Sal said. “They’re still that, even with not winning the World Series since 2009. It’s still the biggest brand in sports. Have the Dodgers eclipsed that now?”

This is not a story.

The Yankees can't lose their pre-eminence among Japanese players because they never had it.

Four prominent Japanese players signed with the Yankees: Matsui, Tanaka, Irabu, and Igawa. Two were good.

Kuroda was a good free agent signing, but he is overlooked because the Yankee teams he played for aren't legendary.

That's it.

That's all I can think of.

Those are the only Japanese players who played for the Yankees.

Oh, wait. Ichiro stopped by on his way to the Hall of Fame, but that's only interesting if you are using that information to fill out a cell in the Immaculate Grid.

It's an answer to a Yankee trivia question, joining the ranks of Kenny Lofton, Andruw Jones, Jose Canseco, Ivan Rodriguez, Lee Smith, and many others you don't associate with the Yankees.

"Oh, yeah!" if you're a big fan, and "they did?" if you're not a big fan. 

There is one other Japanese player who played for the Yankees and I have no recollection of him. His name is Ryota Igarashi. He pitched three innings for the Yankees.

If Sal Licata is so worried about the Yankees' waning influence in Japan, I'll bet Ryota Igarashi would agree to a $100 million contract from the Yankees right now.

It's a troubling trend for the Red Sox.

The Red Sox haven't signed a prominent Japanese player since Koji Uehara and the Red Sox only won 81 games last year.

It's a troubling trend for the Rays, who haven't signed a prominent Japanese player since Akinori Iwamura and have never won a World Series.

It's a troubling trend for the Chicago White Sox who need all the help they can get.

 

The Yankees are not going to sign every free agent.

The Yankees are not going to sign every available player from every country in the world.

For every Ichiro Suzuki there is a Kei Igawa, so chill out.

"Not signing a player" is not troubling and it also isn't a "trend." Three teams are on the table for this guy, which means 29 are not.

"Sasaki continuing the trend of rejection is troublesome moving forward, especially next season. Slugging corner infielder Munetaka Murakami is expected to make the jump to MLB next offseason and he would fit the Bombers like a glove. The left-handed hitter has a career .938 OPS in NPB with 241 homers in seven seasons.

The 24-year-old will be a normal free agent, so he will be able to earn a legitimate contract unlike Sasaki who came over as an International Free Agent and is only limited to signing bonus money and a standard rookie-scale contract. Not to mention, the Yankees will have a clear hole at first base as Paul Goldschmidt was signed as a stop-gap on a one-year deal for whatever long-term plans they have for first.

Murakami’s swing in Yankee Stadium is what dreams are made of for Brian Cashman and company. However, they will have to buck the trend of rejection and pony up the most cash.

If Juan Soto taught the Bombers one thing, it’s few people truly care about the allure of pinstripes and the legacy of the Yankees. It’s merely become a soundbite for players at press conferences who decided to sign the dotted lines with the Bombers because they were the highest bidder.

Sasaki confirmed that sentiment when he became the latest to reject the Bronx."

"Confirmed."

I mean, of course this is true, and it has always been true.

It's also bad news for the Mets and "confirms" that no one wants to sign there unless they are paid $765 million.

I also like the way this guy is not even talking about this player, he's talking about the next player, one year from now, who is expected to come to America, but because Ohtani and Sasaki didn't consider the East Coast, then that means Murakami will not consider the East Coast.

It's a lot to worry about.

Maybe the Yankees will pay Murakami $2 billion and move the team to Hawaii so Murakami is closer to home.

Alonso had a bad year in 2024.

I was going to remind Sal Licata, but then he remembered:

"With that said, Sal does acknowledge that Alonso lost a lot of negotiating power after having arguably the worst season of his career when it was time to secure a payday.

'Pete had a chance to prove himself in a walk year...and he didn’t,' Sal said. 'He wilted like a little flower until the postseason.

'This is part Pete’s fault for not producing the last couple years.' "

I think the Red Sox have a potential superstar in CF who is underappreciated and overlooked.

Does anyone care about my opinion about the CFer in Boston?

Is anyone in Yankee Universe even paying attention to the Red Sox?

Rivalries ebb and flow and the Yankees rivalry with the Red Sox is in a trough.

Except, of course, in Lupica Land.

Where he dusts off one of his favorite go-tos: Pick a player for the Red Sox (81-win team, third place in AL East, 13 games behind the Yankees, missed the playoffs for the fifth time in the past six seasons) and then compare that player to a Yankee player:

"The Red Sox getting Garrett Crochet could turn out to be as big a pitching move in the AL East as the Yankees getting Max Fried.

And the Sox are spending a lot less money to do it."

And?

Lots of things could turn out lots of ways.

If the Red Sox don't win the World Series, does it matter? Just using the Lupica tried-and-true criteria for success.

So it's a "big pitching move." 

Which means what? 

Which means the Red Sox win 100 games? 120? Or just hang around and go for a wild card?

The baseball analysis isn't even why I am fascinated by this blurb.

It feels like turning on the radio and hearing Electric Avenue by Eddy Grant or some blast from the past you hadn't thought of in a while.

Coco Crisp is better than Jacoby Ellsbury ... and the Red Sox are spending A LOT LESS MONEY.

Sandy Leon is better than Brian McCann ... and the Red Sox are spending A LOT LESS MONEY.

Jonathan Papelbon is better than Mariano Rivera ... and the Red Sox are spending A LOT LESS MONEY. (He probably never said that, but I remember some big Papelbon worship period. I think I remember.)

Babe Dahlgren had half the production of Lou Gehrig ... and the Red Sox spent A LOT LESS MONEY.

Who cares?

I mean, the Red Sox are not irrelevant, but they're not top of mind ... and no one expected the Red Sox to field a team in 2025 without a pitching staff.

Yet every move the Red Sox makes is a Reverse Babe Ruth.

The Garret Crochet signing is an epochal shift.

A seismic shift to the American League landscape.

The likes of which haven't been seen since the Yankees surrendered Phil Coke.

The Mets started the 2024 season with a 22-33 record.

Foolish people wrote them off. Because foolish people say foolish things and a lot of people are fools. Baseball fans should know better.

But that's the narrative. The Mets were dead and they rose from the dead and almost made the World Series.

I really don't know how much baseball a person would have to consume in a lifetime before they realize that the players and teams go through slumps and streaks. It's somehow more interesting if these normal circumstances occur at the beginning of the season or at the end of the season.

The 2024 Yankees were 11-24 between mid-June and mid-July, if that means anything. 

Congratulations! You did it! You played awful baseball for a month!

Then they somehow rebounded to make the World Series and go "toe-to-toe" with the Dodgers after nobody thought they could do that.

They're an inspiration to billionaire owners everywhere who can build a winner with luck, pluck, and billions of dollars.

The Yankees also lost to the White Sox by a score of 12-2 on August 12th. So that probably means the White Sox could have beaten the Dodgers in the World Series.

WNBA Champions! You know it! Whoo!

Yankees in the World Series doesn't make the top three in the headlines nor the top four in the pictorial summary of 2024 New York sports.

A brief mention of the World Series appearance, with a focus on the fifth inning of Game Five.

Not a lot of excitement for a team with the rookie of the year, the MVP, Juan Soto #3 MVP, and a trip to the World Series:

"Right before that, the Mets had played the Dodgers a tougher and harder series than the Yankees would in the Series, in the National League Championship Series, going toe-to-toe with them for six games."

There is no interpretation of the NLCS outside of Lupica Derangement Land where the Mets went toe-to-toe with the Dodgers for six games.

Mike Lupica is a lot of deplorable things, but above all, he is a liar.

He isn't this stupid. He's lying. For decades, it has been exceedingly important to him to maintain the illusion that the Mets are better than the Yankees.

Just for the sake of the true record, I will list the scores of the four Mets "toe-to-toe" losses in the NLCS:

9-0

8-0

10-2

10-5

Manaea has a career postseason ERA of 7.76.

The prevailing narrative for Devin Williams is to run away because of one bad inning vs. the Mets in the playoffs.

The narrative for Manaea ignores his 9.00 ERA vs. the Dodgers in the NLCS:

"And while his 4.74 ERA in the postseason did not match his regular-season success, Manaea was solid in three of his four playoff starts."

I actually just looked up Devin Williams in the postseason.

Hilariously bad 23.14 ERA in three career appearances.

Time will tell if he's a legit choker or if this is just small-sample-size noise.

Protesting too much.

"I love building a team,” Suzyn said. “They’re not done. I was told by three different people that they’re not done.

“I love this. This is my favorite thing, which is building a team and not just spending money on a couple people and going that way. They are not done, I am told. We will see what happens.”

This is known as "buying" a team.

“They better get a third baseman here,” Suzyn said. “If you’re gonna spend this money on Max Fried, then you better have a real third baseman standing there, because that’s what he does. That’s where the balls go.

“They gotta do something at third base. Someone has to be standing over there who knows what they’re doing.”

No offense to Chisolm.

I know everyone likes to play accountant, but nothing was stopping the Yankees from signing both Soto and Fried and then trading for Williams and Bellinger.

The limitations of the luxury tax are made up.

There is also no reason to throw shade at the Mets (along with Jazz Chisolm?) for, you know, spending a lot of money on a great player.

Because I guess that means the Mets aren't building a team. They're just taking shortcuts and buying a team.

The Yankees, by contrast, surely aren't top heavy. Not with Bellinger, Stanton, Judge, Cole, Fried, Rodon, and Stroman. 

Even washed-up LeMahieu will be making $15 million in 2025.

Which isn't a lot compared to Soto, but it's not exactly budget-conscious/spread-the-wealth/bottom-up/team-building behavior.

 

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

I can't say for certain that Sal Licata was hassling Clay Holmes last season. I'd have to look it up.

Since I was the sole defender of Holmes in the entire Milky Way, I think this is an example of a man who believes, as did Emerson, that consistency is the hobgoglin of little minds:

“[Clay] Holmes was an All-Star last year,” Sal said. “Bullpens are fickle. How did Williams do in the postseason? I’ve seen this before with these relievers. They can be untouchable for one or two years, and then all of a sudden they get touched up.

“Holmes was a two-time All-Star with the Yankees…to me, that’s still a wash. Luke Weaver all of a sudden can’t get hit?”

...

“I don’t think that they did [get better],” Sal said. “I think it’s pretty much even.”

I actually agree with his conclusion.

The Yankees lost a good bullpen pitcher and added a slightly better bullpen pitcher.

Williams might pay off in the clutch. Or he might not. I wouldn't dare predict future playoff meltdowns because of one big-time meltdown vs. the Mets.

In the regular season, I expect Williams to be elite, and I expect one or two more wins due to an elite closer instead of a pretty good closer.

For the millionth time, it also depends of the defense, starting rotation, and offense.

If the defense improves around him ... and I have high hopes that it will ... then he won't have nearly as many blown saves where he doesn't allow an earned run. 

So if I agree with Sal, then what's the gripe?

The gripe is that Public Enemy #1 Clay Holmes is quickly being re-imagined as a reliable All Star as soon as he puts on the Met uniform instead of the Yankee uniform.

It's the intellect of a toddler blaming its sibling for breaking the lamp.

Everything the Mets do is good and everything the Yankees do is bad.

"People keep saying, well, yeah, but Soto will be a DH in a few years.

David Ortiz was a DH.

How’d that work out for the Red Sox?"

Right.

Lots of people in baseball history have been DHs and many of them have won World Series.

Got it.

But that doesn't explain something peculiar about this paragraph. 

According to Lupica, "people keep saying" something that no one is saying.

I searched for "Juan Soto" + "designated hitter" in an AI search engine and I could not find any recent articles.

Other than Bill Madden.

In the Daily News.

On the same page.

Many people have pointed out the obvious fact that a 15-year contract is risky at the back end. Some observers have focused on the obvious fact that Soto is not a true five-tool player.

I am unaware of any group of "people" that have criticized the signing, diminished Soto's "generational" talent as an offensive player, or given one damn that he may or may not DH. 

Make room for Soto.

Lupica is once again inventing a non-existent counter argument so he can land a very mediocre zinger.

"David Ortiz."

Ouch!

"You know what we call the pitch that Devin Williams, the new Yankee closer, threw to Pete Alonso in the playoffs?

An Aroldis Chapman."

Hilarious.

No one calls it that, but I understand the reference.

How does Lupica reconcile this Chapman dig with Chapman's signing with the Red Sox? It must be a devastating war inside of Lupica's head.

It's also, like ... Devin Williams is a low-cost/low-risk pretty good closer. 

A one-year contract for a closer who has been dominant in the regular season and, in the playoffs, blew a save, just like every other closer in the 2024 playoffs.

Lupica is mocking people who are claiming Williams is going to jettison the Yankees to a championship. But no one is saying this.

A win for Scott Boras.

The luxury suite, huh?

Either the Yankees charge a heckuva lot for luxury suites or $760 million doesn't go as far as it used to. After taxes, who knows how much is left? Maybe a few thousand bucks. Soto's family would have had to sit in the bleachers.

Is this really that complicated?

Soto is a grown man who decided he preferred to play for the Mets. He would have been paid plenty by the Mets, the Yankees, or any team that signed him.

That is what free agency is.

As for the luxury suites, I'm reminded of the time the Mets supposedly refused to capitulate to ARod's demands because the Mets were insistent on avoiding a "24 and 1" situation.

So silly.

So many people straining their necks to focus on the pebbles and acting like there is more to the story than the $765 million asteroid.

While Lupica et al like to rip ARod for winning "only" one championship, it's one more than the Cohesive Clubhouse in Queens has won in the same time period.

My only objection to the Yankees signing Alonso is that it will embolden the lunatics who have been predicting this exact thing for the past year.

Ralph from Jersey called WFAN in April and said the Yankees will sign Alonso and the Mets will sign Soto. Ralph from Jersey will tell everyone he knows about this for the rest of his life.

What Ralph from Jersey leaves out is that he also thought the Yankees should skip Gerrit Cole and sign Madison Bumgarner and Matt Harvey.

Ralph from Jersey also said that the Yankees were going to fire Boone and hire Wally Backman as their manager.

Ralph from Jersey also said Greg Bird was a future AL MVP. Bird reminded Ralph from Jersey of John Olerud and Shawn Green.

We're talking about Michael King.

"This wasn't just the Mets beating the Yankees for a cornerstone player for the first time ever (the Yanks' half-hearted pursuit of Carlos Beltran before the 2005 season was not like this)."

If you're going to hype Michael King, might I remind you of Dellin Betances?  

 

"It was the Mets doing so with the Yanks fresh off their first World Series appearance in 15 years, which was only possible because of the presence of Soto, who had formed one of the most dynamic 1-2 lineup punches in baseball history with the otherworldly Aaron Judge.

And it was the Mets doing so just over a year after the Yankees traded an absolute haul to the San Diego Padres -- including potential future ace Michael King -- in order to get one year of Soto and what they likely hoped would be an inside track to signing him long-term."

I know Mets fans are giddy right now, but why be dumb about it?

I like King, I really do. I like Clay Holmes, too, for that matter.

The Yankees did not trade an "absolute haul" for Soto. The Yankees took a risk, but it wasn't an unkown risk.

 

"To put it more succinctly, there was a very easy argument to be made that the Mets had the better future than the Yanks.

...

Soto saw the money, yes. But he also saw what the Mets are building. Soto chose the Mets' future over the Yankees' past. And in the process, baseball in New York has been forever changed."

Maybe so, maybe not. I see no down side for the Mets. I also think the Yankee brand is quite enduring and strong, so let's not put Yankee Stadium in mothballs just yet.

 

"Worth."

Of course Soto is worth it.

It's partially his value on the field, which is immense, but also it's his hype factor. The Ruth & Gehrig/Mantle & Maris evocation.

No one is marketing Judge & Bregman to the out-of-town tourists.

Boomer knows this to be true. No need to bring up silly three-players-for-one combined WAR analyses.

Everything that happens is an example of a thing happening.

The Mets can change the "other team in town" narrative ... hadn't you heard about this by now? ... if they sign Soto, thereby beating the Yankees in a bidding war and also removing Soto from the Yankees' roster, and also by winning the World Series sooner than the Yankees.

"Change the narrative" is Lupica's three-word summary of a very simple and obvious idea.

So how does Lupica get there?

1. The Yankees need Soto more than the Mets need Soto because it's a "well-established baseball fact" that the Mets are better than the Yankees.

1a. Soto had a lot to do with Judge's 58-HR MVP season.

1b. Soto is younger than Judge.

1c. Soto is younger than Ohtani.

1d. Soto is older than Witt, but not much older.

2. Mike Piazza and Kevin Durant.

3. Soto does not guarantee either team a Championship.

3a. The aforementioned Piazza never won a Championship with the Mets (I added that).

3b. Alex Rodriguez only won one Championship with the Yankees.

3c. The Padres won more games in 2024 without Soto than they won in 2023 with Soto. (This is a Lupica favorite, but it seems like very ordinary professional baseball behavior to me.) 

3d. Jason Giambi, for some reason.

3e. Kevin Durant once again.

4. Soto is really good and young.

4a. Alex Rodriguez signed a big contract.

4b. Ohtani signed a big contract.

5. Good players would likely help the Mets win, but maybe not, and it is even better if the player used to be a Yankee.

 

Juan Soto will make his decision soon!

"Before this year's winter meetings, Boras already has locked in deals for Snell and fellow starting pitchers Yusei Kikuchi, Frankie Montas and Matthew Boyd. 

Soto, who at 26 is already one of the greatest hitters in baseball history, could follow shortly."

Baseball history, huh?

I think he's on track for the HOF, and I have thought that for a while.

But a person still has to do a thing before they are credited with doing that thing.

What? No painting of the Ford Edge commercial?

 "Are you sure you're not a shortstop?"

There is no backup plan.

If Soto signs elsewhere, the Yankees are selling the franchise to Mike Lupica.

As with all of these analyses, I don't think the Yankees should say "or." It should always be "and."

Sign Soto AND Alonso for starters. Also, sign Adames AND that Japanese pitcher.

Also, the soft salary cap is stupid and it isn't working.

Also, did the threshold increase to account for inflation?

The Dodgers crushed the Mets in the NLCS.

Outscored the Mets 46-26. 

Won four games to two.

The Mets (and Lupica, by extension) take a silly amount of pride in winning a Game Five bullpen game so the Dodgers couldn't celebrate at Citi Field.

This particular phenomenon might be the silliest thing in the ultra silly world of professional sports.

"It's our house" and such.

Who cares where you lose or even how you lose?

Even though Lupica is bizarrely giving the Mets A LOT of credit for NOT making the World Series, it's simply asinine to act like the Mets played better in the NLCS than the Yankees did in the World Series.

The Yankees evenly matched the Dodgers and the games were close.

No, it doesn't actually matter. "Almost winning" is the same thing as losing.

But if you're going to evaluate the quality of the performances, and you conclude that the Mets outplayed the Yankees, then you're just being ignorant.

 

I'm also not sure why anyone would bother. 

Do the Mets get a parade down the Canyon of Heroes for winning two games in a seven-game series?

Knock yourselves out.

Get Mookie and Buck and Dwight and Darryl on Opening Day to raise the banner. Lupica could go through his rolodex and relive the good ol' days.

 

For what it's worth? At no moment after losing Game Two did I think the Yankees could come back and win the World Series.

If Judge had caught the easy fly ball and if Cole had covered first base, the Dodgers had their best pitchers set up for Games Six and Seven. Winning is always preferable to losing, but the ending was pretty much already written before the fifth inning of Game Five.

So when I say the games in the World Series were close, I'm simply stating a fact. I'm only comparing their respective efforts to the Mets because Lupica is petty enough to do that.

It's not a useful way to evaluate anything.

I mean, the Padres took a 2-1 lead against the Dodgers in the ALDS, didn't they?

So in Lupica Land, the Padres must be the World Champions right now.

So much more. So very much more. The most more that any team has ever needed in the off season, and that's if they sign Soto.

The Yankees haven't even won the World Series since 2009.

Mookie Wilson; Jonathan Papelbon; Buck Showalter; and Alex Rodriguez took PEDs.

No, he didn't say all that.

I'm reminded when Lupica said the Mets needed deGrom. Then, when deGrom signed with the Rangers, Lupica switched and said that the Mets needed the payroll flexibility.

None of this is ever an actual baseball discussion. It's just the Yankees are always stupid and the Mets are always smart ... and, of course, the Mets are about to take over the attention of baseball fans in the New York metropolitan area.

Like in 1986.

I don't even know who Michael Kopech is, but he indirectly declared war on Suzyn Waldman.

The entire idea that Rizzo is a clubhouse leader and a particular genius at the timing and messaging of something as pointless as mound visits.

What is Rizzo talking about?

I often find myself wondering the same thing, Mr. Kopech.

That's not what key means.

Dominguez is not an afterthought. He is supposedly a star of the future with potential. At this stage of his career, his is easily replaceable.

The other three players listed are afterthoughts.

Winning is fun.

Soto is a grown man who will make his decision for himself. The psychoanlysis is tedious:

“There is a rigid, robotic-like, buttoned-up feel to the Yankees...there’s something to that type of environment versus the looser, maybe more fun type of environment that the Mets have. Maybe Juan Soto likes that as well.”

The Mets may be more fun than the Yankees.

I've heard his excuse many times when the Yankees are playing poorly.

The Mets are certainly in the running for Soto. They can afford him while many teams can't.

I wouldn't expect Soto to sign for a discount just because the Mets play super-competitive canasta games in the locker room and his teammates are allowed to grow lengthy sideburns.

I can imagine Cashman at the negotiating table, offering the perks that have infiltrated corporate America: "Final offer: Fifteen years, $750 million ... and a free Galaga machine in the locker room."

It's also an ironic observation, because which is it, Sal?

The Yankees are uptight? Or the Yankees lost the World Series because they lack fundamentals and need to tighten up?

Sports talk radio is mostly a grift.

A MLB team just won 94 games and made the World Series. The negative reaction wouldn't change even if the Yankees had won the World Series.

Because the answer is always to trade everyone or break down the team and start from scratch.

I mean ... is it even fun to concoct these scenarios and put them out on the air just to get a reaction?

Even after Stanton's performance in the playoffs, he isn't worth much. He's a fragile one-trick pony. I wouldn't even be hesitant to trade him to an AL East rival.

So trade Giancarlo Stanton.

Trade Giancarlo Stanton to the Padres.

The Yankees will still have to pay 80% of his salary and, in return, the Yankees will get ... let's see ... ummm ... two minor league bullpen pitchers.

"Rebuilding the team" is a surefire key to success.

It's a bitter pill to swallow, but no one is arguing with him.

This is all true, but the regular season counts, too.

"The Braves got unlucky because they had to play a double header" is weak.

The Braves had to play a double header because they didn't win enough games in the regular season.

Then, they didn't get a first-round bye.

Like it or not, the teams aren't power-ranked when the playoffs start. Like it or not, the Yankees almost won the World Series. The bullpen pitched well, they hit a lot of home runs, they got their walks, and most of the games were very close.

Four games to one isn't close, but the crowing is because it's fun to beat the Yankees' brand. The brand has outperformed the team for decades.

It is accurate to say that talent lost out to fundamentals, but as is the case with the 2024 Yankees, their talent almost compensated for their lack of fundamentals. The World Series was not a Dodger blowout.

 

As for as Kelly's crowing, it's totally embarrassing and no one can dispute what he's saying.

It's Gary Sanchez being the only catcher in MLB history who jumps out of the way of the tag.

It's supposed future superstar Jasson Dominguez proudly proclaiming that he's going to practice his fielding. Because he wows the scouts with home runs, he apparently hasn't taken care of the fundamentals that he should have handled when he was fifteen years old.

Why doesn't Cole sprint to first base? I have no idea. You struck out two batters in a row with the bases loaded after your teammates committed back-to-back errors. That's the hard part. The sprint to first base is the celebratory easy part. Sprint to first base and get to Game Six and cross your fingers that Rodon pitches well.

Judge took his eye off the ball. It was a rare, poorly-timed goof up by a fundamentally sound player.

That was a shocker. It adds to his choker credentials for sure.

The rest of the Yankee garbage in the field and on the basepaths was entirely predictable and par for the course.

The headline and tag suggest this article is about the Jets.

It's gloating about the Yankee defeat.

Yankees, Yankees, Yankees, Yankees, Yankees, Yankees, Yankees, and the final coup de grace is a zinger lacking in self-awareness: "The Yankees are the other baseball team in town."

Then stop talking about them so much, huh?

The 3-6 Jets saved their season and are going to the Super Bowl.

The AL Champs Yankees are garbage.

Mookie Wilson, Mookie Wilson, Mookie Wilson.

Also, can we please discuss this bogus "transitive property" idea that the Mets outperformed the Yankees in 2024?

The Yankees made the World Series.

The Mets did not make the World Series.

The pride that the Mets take in losing to the eventual Champions? The same team that beat the Yankees?

Who even cares?

I don't remember any parades for the Yankees in 2017 ... or 2018 ... or 2022. Just Mission Not Accomplished: You Lost in the Playoffs.

Just like the Mets in 2024.

The Mets might be on the verge of a true dynasty, but Lupica has said the same thing for decades.

Alex Rodriguez is such a Yankee legend, Jazz Chisolm Jr. wears his uniform number.

I was listening and chuckling when ARod described the fifth inning as the worst meltdown he had seen in forty years. (Technically, he said "one of the worst.")

For one thing, have I got some 2024 Yankee clips to show you!

Most perplexing of all is the obvious observation that this dude was front and center in the Yankee collapse in the 2024 ALCS.

While I totally agree with all the postmortems ... WHY IS THIS THE FIRST I'M READING ABOUT IT? ABOUT THE YANKEE LACK OF FUNDAMENTALS? ANYWHERE BESIDES MY OWN BLOG?

This is why I thought the Yankees wouldn't get past the Royals.

Indulge in a Lupica gloat session.

Same template.

The current Yankees aren't as good as the Torre-era Yankees. 

What was your first clue over the past 20 years?

"Sure, they had the best record in the American League and won against garbage teams in the AL playoffs," that kind of thing.

It doesn't matter.

The Dodgers are better and the NL is better. The best teams don't always win the World Series, however, and I thought it was exciting and fun to make it.

Sorry if I had fun being a fan of a baseball team.

If winning the World Series is the only way to define success, then only the Dodgers were successful in 2024.

The oddball hypocrisy is his dismissal of the Dodgers payroll compared to, well ... I don't need to prove the case. 

I mean, he is kind of re-imagining the Torre-era Yankees after years of dismissing them as MLB-ruining Steinbrenner Stormtroopers.

But the really oddball thing is his insistence of rebuking an argument that no one is actually having.

No one is saying the Yankees are better than the Dodgers. No one is patting themselves on the back for almost winning.  No one is elevating this era to the dynasties of the past.

Where are you hearing these things, kind Sir? The voices in your head?

It's the World Series and the defensive ineptitude is making headlines.

Soto is a Gold Glove finalist, but I don't see it. 

Volpe already has one Gold Glove and is a finalist for another. I don't really agree. Maybe there's a defensive drought at shortstop in the AL?

Verdugo is a finalist and probably deserves it.

The best defensive starting OFer on the Yankees, in my opinion, is the one who isn't a finalist. Go figure. Or draw your own conclusions about the veracity of the Gold Glove award.

As for Gleyber, what else can be said about the man who consistently refuses to do the easy things?

It's a tad convenient to "blame" one play or another. The Dodgers had lots of scoring opportunities, only hit a couple of sac flies, and didn't cash in until the final at-bat.

But as a mind exercise, imagine the following: "If Gleyber Torres can catch a relay throw from the outfield, the Yankees will win Game One of the World Series."

So you sign up for that bargain, and you still lose.

 

Unearned runs and ineptitude with RISP.

I totally missed the deal with the ninth-inning intentional walk. I somehow missed the consequence of Verdugo throwing the ball from the stands. I thought runners were still on first and second.

It's still a risky move because, with the bases loaded, you can't afford a walk or a HBP.

Which means Cortes is under more pressure to throw a first-pitch strike.

Which means ... well, it happened.

I agree with Klapisch that Cole should have stayed in longer.

 I can't say for sure that Hill would have gotten Freeman out, but that is also a fair criticism of Boone.

 I'm still traumatized by the ridiculous walk to Muncy. Cousins has to challenge Muncy instead of just giving away an at-bat. But this is the high-reward/high-risk Yankee bullpen.

We all saw what happened. The sloppy play in the field is very standard operating procedure for this team, especially in big spots, and it comes back to haunt them quite often.

Jazz manufactured a run in the tenth, which was a long-awaited pleasant surprise.

But the Yankees are precisely who they are. They hit one home run and almost won the game. They needed two home runs.

Giancarlo earned the MVP of the ALCS. My observation is not a criticism of his performance or of his MVP credentials.

It's just a really good microcosm of modern baseball.

A DH who batted .222. in the series end up being the obvious choice for MVP.

Of course, since all four hits were home runs, his slugging percentage for the series was .889.

The Mets have a "better future" than the Yankees, for sure!

The Mets didn't give up in Game Five of the ALCS.

Even after having a bad record in 2023, the Mets didn't give up in 2024. 

Gee.

The Yankees, on the other hand, one game away from the World Series, have no pitching and their superstar, Aaron Judge, is a bum.

This is why the Mets are better.

But we already knew that based on the Mets beating the Yankees 4-0 in the regular season and Lupica explaining this to us the past thirty years or so.

Lupica has always told us the Mets are better, and he is right.

Also, the Mets have a better future than the Yankees. Obviously.

Not sure how this conclusion reached ... details are for FanGraphs dorks ... but it's obvious to anyone who believes in Truth and Justice and Grittiness.

So if the Mets are better than the Yankees; and if the Yankees get further than the Mets in the playoffs; then the only conclusion is that the Yankees overachieved or the Mets underachieved.

This hasn't happened yet.

Next week is difficult to predict, much less the nebulous "future."

But if that happens, then that's the only conclusion one can logically reach.

I have zero confidence in Stroman.

If he's described as a secret weapon, then I suspect the Yankees will be hoist by their own petard.

That's from Shakespeare.

Because I'm super smart.

An 80% save percentage isn't very good.

I'm not being serious.

One out to go is tough to take, but the Yankee bullpen wasn't going to have an ERA of 0.00 forever.

A real Joe Namath over here.

A modern-day Mark Messier, don't you know?

Messier famously got a hat trick after he guaranteed a playoff victory. Symbolic and inspiring.

Jazz is batting .138 in the 2024 playoffs.

I know it's just his preferred way of communicating and psyching himself up. It's just clownish to me if you don't deliver.

"Not ... crisp."

"Rizzo did not start Game 3, as manager Aaron Boone went with utility infielder Jon Berti against the left-handed Matt Boyd.

While it was an adventure at time [sic] for Berti, he got through most of the game without a crucial mistake. Boone would later use Rizzo as a defensive replacement in the later innings and the veteran first baseman was not as crisp."

The Yankees are heavy favorites, evidently.

12-1?

OK, fine.

I hope 12 out of 13 experts are correct.

So the Guardians are not a third-round bye?

“They’re way better than anything the Yankees will have faced this year,” Sal said of Cleveland. “The bullpen, the defense, even the lineup, while it’s not as deep as the Yankees, it’s far better than what the Yankees saw with the Royals. So they’re gonna face their toughest challenge.”

He is correct in the sense that the perception is incorrect. The perception is that the AL Central are a bunch of farm teams for the coasts and that the Yankees have an easy path to the World Series.

As for the Yankees' lineup, it's lots of things.

It's effective, as explained many times before, mostly due to walks and home runs. They hit into too many double plays, have trouble hitting situationally, and have a slumpy way of forgetting how to hit with RISP.

One thing it is not is deep.

Even with Gleyber doing the job from the leadoff spot and, in my opinion. a competent catcher who is due for some productivity from the cleanup spot ... the Yankee lineup is basically two great hitters and that's about it.

“They don’t have the starters that Kansas City had...but the Yankees don’t hit in the postseason! That’s been the given. I wish I could say I was encouraged with the first four games of the Yankees postseason...but the Guardians can pitch and play excellent defense, and I don’t think they’re gonna be intimidated at all by the Yankees. This is gonna be a very difficult series...I think the Guardians can win this series very easily.”

The Yankees also have a tendency to beat themselves.

They mostly played "clean" in the first round of the playoffs.

I foresee an infuriating situation where the Guardians score a few tide-turning runs that the Yankees give away. A walk on a pitch clock violation; a catcher's interference; a wild pitch; and an error on a tailor-made GIDP.

 

 

There's a word for fly balls that are almost home runs but caught by the outfielder.

They are known as outs.

Almost fair balls are foul, almost strikes are balls, almost wins are losses.

Besides, I'll take my chances in an extra-innings battle of the bullpens.

When Erik Kratz talks, people listen.

He is certainly entitled to his opinion. The proof is in the pudding and I don't think he's correct in this instance. In any case, the "ex-Yankee" angle is just click bait. When you think of ex-Yankees, Kratz falls somewhere between Mike Jerzembeck and Henry Rodriguez.

It's both. Why can't it be both? It's obviously both.

"You can blame the enigma that is Carlos Rodon, he of three lights-out innings before imploding in the fourth, all you want for the Yankees’ Game 2 loss, but the fact is, he had one bad inning and the bullpen was aces for five behind him."

I mean, he sort of kept his team in the game, if that counts for anything. I suppose it does.

It wasn't a complete disaster. I've seen worse.

But "one bad inning" always means it's a bad start. You don't get credit for almost getting out of an inning.

"To Boomer & Gio, it was the other side, where the Yanks had just five hits entering the ninth and squandered multiple opportunities, that bears the brunt of the loss."

Sure.

Two runs isn't enough.

So in yesterday's game, the offense was bad and the starting pitcher was bad.

The bullpen was excellent. Both games. Zero runs combined.

" '... he pitched much better this year than he did in previous years, and you would think that he’s gonna be a guy that's gonna at least get us through six innings – but they used eight pitchers last night.' ”

Did he pitch much better this year?

He got a lot of wins.

He surged at the end of the year to get his ERA down to around 4.00.

I certainly did not think he would get through six innings.

He pitched 175 innings in 32 starts. A lot of those starts against non-playoff teams. Do the math, kind sir.

The other aspect which unfortunately played out is that the guy seems to be a head case, which is bad news in the playoffs.

Et tu, Clase?

Most Yankee fans envision a disastrous blown save in the playoffs by a second-rate "closer" and they blame Cashman for his unwillingness to spend extravagantly on ... who?

"We don't want another Aroldis Chapman nightmare."

So who's the reliable closer?

There aren't any left.

Score some runs, play good defense, and don't rely on one player to be infallible.

This is a convoluted way of saying it ...

 ... but look around what is happening in the playoffs.

Mariano Rivera isn't walking through that door.

The Yankees already have a good bullpen. It's a strength of the team, not a weakness. That includes Holmes, even though he deserved his demotion.

 

Diaz just blew a save for the Mets in the eighth inning. I'm not surprised at all. We shouldn't forget that he also blew a save in the first game of the Braves doubleheader, setting the stage for Lindor's memorable home run. I don't think Diaz was expected to get a seven-out save today, but he couldn't even get through the eighth.

Now we'll see if the Phillies "closer" can close it out in the ninth.

Hader was "hittable" in the first round, even though most of the runs allowed weren't charged to him.

 

Devin Williams: 1.25 ERA in the regular season, 21.60 ERA in the postseason.

 

I believe in Clase. I also think he's one of a kind of all the current players in MLB. 

So unless you can imagine a scenario where the Guardians are going to trade Clase to the Yankees, the Yankees should feel quite comfortable going with what they've got.

It's just ten innings.

Nine and two-thirds, to be precise.

But the postseason ERA for Clay Holmes is 0.00.

The distrust and anger directed towards this player is overwrought and misguided.

Also, I will predict right now that, at some point in his career, he will allow at least one run in the postseason.

When it happens, the Yankee fans will pounce with a collective, "Told ya so."

Kudos to Peter Sblendorio at the Daily News for noticing that Clay Holmes pitched well in yesterday's game.

Stroman out.

My blog post from September 17:

"So that's five. If you want to put Stroman on the playoff roster, that's six, though I'm not sure why you would do that.

In what possible scenario is Stroman going to be more reliable out of the bullpen than Holmes? In which pitching statistic is Stroman better than Holmes?"

Opinions!

One big surprise over at MLB.com:

"Although the Dodgers won the NL West by five games with MLB's best record (98-64) and have a high-powered lineup featuring Shohei Ohtani (making his postseason debut after the first 50-50 season in MLB history), Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, our experts think the Padres are headed for their second NLDS triumph over Los Angeles in three years."

Oh, I see what he's saying. OK.

“Something magical happened. That moment is as significant in met history as any. You cannot hit a bigger home run. In fact, no one ever has. He is the first player in baseball history to hit a lead-changing home run in the ninth inning or later in a winner-take-all game in the history of the sport. That is a moment that no other fanbase has.”

So while I instantly thought of Gibson and Carter in the World Series, those weren't winner-take-all games.

OK, Mr. McGonigle.

We're good.

 

For the past few months, I have been thinking that the Mets had a better chance than the Yankees to win the World Series. If the Mets make the playoffs. If the Mets get past the first round.

The Mets barely cleared those hurdles, but they cleared those hurdles.

I'm not emotionally hedging, it's just my analysis of the teams.

I don't think the Yankees are getting past the Royals.

A typical take is Andy Martino's, where he acknowledges some of the team's glaring and persistent shortcomings, but minimizes them.

I, on the other hand, predict these shortcomings be amplified in the postseason, and it will be exceedingly frustrating to see a team lose because of unforced errors:

"The Yanks must also squash some of the mistakes that popped up a little too frequently during the season. They’ve blundered on the bases – can’t run into dopey outs with this much firepower in the lineup – and they made 93 errors, the seventh-most in MLB. Of the six teams with more, only one made the playoffs – the Mets, who had 94."

I also specifically predict, while rooting desperately for the opposite, is that the crucible of the playoffs will crush deer-in-the-headlights Volpe. I expect horrible performances at the bat, on the basepaths (assuming he gets on base), and in the field.

The Yankees will not play small ball. I don't even know what Suzyn is talking about. It's whether or not they can homer their way out of sloppy play. It's how many people are on base when they hit their home runs.

Pete Alonso does nothing in big spots.

 

Diaz is the closer.

We know Maton wasn't going to pitch the ninth.

Therefore, Maton wasn't going to get a save.

Therefore, Maton didn't blow a non-existent save.

I know I'm the only person on the planet consistently bugged by the misunderstanding of this particular stat, but it's easy to solve. Anything before the ninth inning is a blown hold.

It really is OK for the official scorer to make a judgment call.

A journeyman middle reliever in the sixth inning with the bases loaded and a one-run lead is not expected to close out the next four innings. If he keeps the game close and merely allows a sac fly, he gets a blown save.

The save stat is silly and arbitrary in its own right.

The blown save stat is not accurate in any way.

Maybe 1/4th of blown saves are actually blown saves -- a game you legitimately expected to win, where your lead in runs exceeded the number of innings remaining, and your closer was pitching.

Also, if people are going to assume that your team lost a game in which you blew the save, then just adjust the stat likewise. Nobody gets a blown save if your team wins the game. Or maybe have a team stat that accounts for this.

Byes in the first round are advantageous.

"Sal says the Mets have the manager in Carlos Mendoza, the star power with Francisco Lindor, and the collection of hitters who know their roles and get it done in big spots, from Jose Iglesias to Tyrone Taylor and Jesse Winker."

I'm not saying the Mets can't win the World Series. I'm not saying the Mets won't win the World Series

I will say that, if the Mets don't win tomorrow, Mendoza's stock plummeted based on one play.

Why wasn't Diaz pitching in the eighth inning, Grady Little? I mean, Carlos Mendoza?

"As everything seems to be coming together, Sal says these Mets have a good shot to be one of the more improbable World Series champions in recent memory."

Errr ... the Texas Rangers from 2023 don't qualify as recent? 

 

“'At this point, I don’t think we can put any ceiling on this team,' Sal said. 'Anything is possible. They continue to show us how good they’ve been. I think they have as good a chance as anybody else to win the World Series.'”

Not true.

Because four teams have already advanced past the first round.

Because: Math.

At the time this article was written, the Mets were a two-game losing streak away from being eliminated from the playoffs.

Now, it's a one-game losing streak.

 

Brian Cashman is smarter than you.

By "you," I don't mean the Diamondbacks owner, though Cashman is smarter than the Diamondbacks owner.

I mean "you," all the people who zeroed in on Montgomery one year ago just because they thought Montgomery's limited success for a World Series champion makes Brian Cashman look ridiculous.

So stupid.

Baseball players move all over the league all the time.

The Mets have ex-Yankees Severino and Bader, who the Yankees just released or didn't pursue. 

Did I forget to mention Adam Ottavino? "How could the Yankees get rid of bullpen help? I'm so much smarter than Brian Cashman! I'm going to call up WFAN and let them know."

Imagine my surprise to see Gio Urshela on the Braves.

In 2024, he went from one playoff team, the Tigers, to another playoff team! Everywhere that Gio Urshela goes, the team wins. Not really, but in 2024 only.