Saturday, March 7, 2015

Yankees Preaching “Competition” This Spring but I’m Not Seeing It


The New York Yankees and specifically manager Joe Girardi is singing from the roof tops about his excitement for the 2015 season and his new roster of stars. Girardi claimed that this year’s spring training camp will showcase possibly more competition than he has ever seen in a Yankees camp but frankly, I’m not seeing it. You’re preaching to the choir Joe and you’re lying on top of it.

Only mediocre teams claim they have tons of competition in camp while the solid to great teams are pretty set come January 1st, let alone March 7th. Barring injuries of course the Yankees have taken a sharpie to their 25 man roster and filled in the catcher, first base, second base, shortstop, third base, left field, center field, right field, and DH position. The team also has five starting pitchers basically etched in stone (barring injuries of course) and five or six of the bullpen positions with Andrew Miller, Dellin Betances, Justin Wilson, David Carpenter, Esmil Rogers and Adam Warren with Wilson being the tight rope walker. The Yankees bench will consist of Garrett Jones, Alex Rodriguez, Chris Young and Brendan Ryan leaving 24 of the 25 roster spots basically set.

Where’s the competition? Unless of course Girardi is banking on injuries and will evaluate talent from the minors to fill those holes now which sounds good in theory but has proven time and time again to be something the Yankees manager is unwilling to do. We know what happens when an injury happens and it won’t be a young guy coming up. It will be Garrett Jones at first base when Teixeira needs a day. It will be Brendan Ryan or Alex Rodriguez at third base when Chase Headley needs a break. It will be Chris Young rotating in the outfield to keep everyone fresh. It will be Tyler Austin and Aaron Judge watching Young from the minor leagues and it will be Robert Refsnyder and Jose Pirela watching Drew, Ryan and company from Scranton. It will be Kyle Roller watching Jones and it will be Eric Jagielo watching to see if A Rod still has it in the infield.


There is no competition so don’t pretend like there is. 

23 comments:

  1. Other than the pitchers, I see no competition whatsoever! This was all for the fans that only watch the games and trying to boost the expectations of the Farm Hands.

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    1. I think every team has a competition for the final bullpen spot... this is no news in my opinion.

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  2. I think we all know this one.....
    This is one I may lay at Cashman's/Joe's doorsteps! Joe can only play those players he is given by the GM! Joe has a habit of not playing the rookie..."not good Joe"!
    The coaching staff and GM do evaluations almost daily during Spring Training. When making a decision of which position player will go North, the vote goes to the player already being paid $mmmmm to play...unless there is an injury.
    The way I see it, sooner or later, Refsnyder will be playing 2nd base this year and Drew will be out. I am a bit disappointed to hear one of the play-by-play people say; "Well, Drew is still working on his change over to 2nd base", after a misplay. Making errors and hitting .200 is much less than we would get from Refsnyder. If one of the outfielders goes down we have maybe five to replace him with...it depends on which OF is injured...keep Chris Young as backup (only).

    In as much as my opinion counts as much as a Boston fans would, let me have Ryan, Drew, Chris, and Garrett replaced by the best we have on the Farm. Who are we kidding, unless everything goes perfect for the Yankees this year...no playoffs! NOW is the time to make a change and think outside the box, and dump the dead weight and play the rookies. Lets' win or lose with our own...youth has a habit of growing into very good/star players while older players have had their chance and are on the downside.

    Build the Team for the future, not today, we are overloaded with has-beens...lets play gona-bes'!

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    1. I agree Reed. If both players are still learning the second base position shouldn't the one who can hit water falling out of a boat get the nod?

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    2. I think I may have hit my head as I agree with Reed. Wonders never cease to amaze me

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    3. Heck, Ken H, I was so shocked, I had to change my Avatar

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  3. I don't understand why it's so difficult for the Yankees to eat some of these salaries to make room for the younger players. If they release somebody making 22 million that's not producing, they'll be replacing him with somebody making the league minimum. When you're talking about the Yankees payroll, what's the difference between 22 and 22.5?

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    1. Jeff, you ask a question anyone of us could answer, of course it takes a brain and the farsightedness to see past one's nose.
      The difference is; 22M is hoping that player will be better than his track record.
      Whereas, 22.5M is playing someone that has shown at every level of competition he has improved and is ready for the show...whichever position it may be.

      Nuts isn't it?

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    2. Well the kids strike again. The enjoyable part of our season will be over in a month.

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    3. We're talented, give it two months.

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  4. KEN REED..and his new Avatar / Gravatar.

    I get in trouble for making observations on others Gravatar's. Some people even e-mail me.

    But who is that in the new Ken Reed Gravatar ?... Trapper Joe, from Lake Erie ?
    Larry, the ice fisherman, from Watertown, NY ?... Mrs. Reed's heart throb ?

    Bottom line, the kid from Hell's Kitchen, made a great point today re: cutting lose / trading
    the four named players he listed......and adding the systems four best players.
    Great idea. If the team ate half the salaries, they could find takers to trade them to.

    Veterans, and top flight youth...what a combination.
    Savvy Yankee fans would applaud that change of direction, in a heartbeat.
    The un-savvy fans are waiting for some epic movie, based on 'The Core Four.'.. They'll figure it out.

    The glue that holds Ken's theory together, is this one line of his ......
    " Who are we kidding, unless everything goes perfect for the Yankees this year...no playoffs! "
    There are too many ' IF's ' in this years squad, for this season to go perfect.
    The odds are against it happening. We all know it. So.........

    Do it now, you'll never miss the departing four.
    Or, as they may be called...' The Negative Core Four.'

    The guy in the Gravatar ?...was that the last guy who survived, going over Niagara Falls,
    in a wooden barrel ?

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    1. Reed was around when Niagra Falls first sprung a leak....

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    2. Hey Daniel, I take umbrage with that statement! I'll have you know the water was backed-up so far upstream it interfered with my trap lines. Hey, what is a guy going to do but fix the problem...thus, because of some cavemen and I, we now have the Great Niagra Falls. Who knew!
      That's the truth of the story...give or take a few fibs, here and there! LOL

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    3. You've done worse things in your life I guess Mr. Reed, you get a pass this time.

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  5. Blame it on Ken H, he shocked me into going for the "Old man in the dumpster" look.
    How dare he agree with me, doesn't he know, it is no fun that way! LOL

    Let's face it, they could be better off the way they are or, the way they could be! But as Jeff just pointed out above, I sure like the idea of haveing talented kids playing, I expect them to make a bone-headed play sometimes, but it won't be because they aren't giving 110%. It is fun to watch a guy learn on the fly and play his heart out...all the time.

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  6. Patrick....
    In a few years, the core four will be a sports question in a quiz! The biggest disappointment to me is how everyone has forgotten the great contributions Bernie Williams made to those teams winning and going to the playoffs for 11 years in a row! He was a two-way player along with Posada.
    None of the four players/media ever mention Bernie at all when talking about the wins they had.

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    1. He's being honored this year at Yankee Stadium so I wouldn't say he was forgotten. Unappreciated, sure, but not forgotten. Not by the real fans anyway.

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    2. I always write Core Four* either with an asterisk for Bernie, or just call it the Core Five.

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    3. Even though Bernie came up a bit before the core 4, I like the way you do it Bryan!
      Core 5 has a nice ring to it.

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    4. I'm all for the Core Five as well. I have a t-shirt that says core five and has all their last names on it.

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  7. Am I wrong or is A-Rod lifting his leg smoother and shorter and getting it down smooth and quick.

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    1. I honestly haven't seen a game all year. Either day games or radio only. Honestly it wouldn't surprise me to see him change his mechanics though.

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)