Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda & Eric Thames

So let’s play a game that has no winners, no rules and the point of it all is really just an exercise in nothingness. Let’s play the “Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda” game with the lefty swinging and home run smashing Milwaukee Brewers player Eric Thames and let’s just salivate at the thought of the possibility, and almost the reality, of him being in Yankees pinstripes this season rather than in Milwaukee.

The Yankees needed a designated hitter last season after essentially forcing Alex Rodriguez into retirement and the team went all the way to Korea to try and find it. The Yankees organization contacted Thames and his agent last season about a possible deal to bring him to the Bronx and back to the states but apparently the financial numbers didn’t match up and Thames stayed where he was. Man would Thames look good in pinstripes right now.

At the time of this writing the New York Post had Thames on pace to hit 81 home runs in 2017. I’ll give you a second to let that sink in. 81 home runs. Now obviously I doubt he is going to keep up with this torrid pace and I absolutely cannot see him even seeing enough to hit to achieve that number even if he wanted to but still…. 81 home runs. 81 home runs in Milwaukee is probably like 145 home runs, a slight exaggeration, for a left-handed hitter inside Yankee Stadium. Barry Bonds who?? Okay, I’ll stop.

Thames stepped into Milwaukee’s lineup to replace Chris Carter who the Yankees signed to a one-year deal this offseason and has done nothing but set the world on fire since arriving. Carter was an absolute steal as far as his salary goes but Thames may be the bigger catch when all is said and done after signing a three-year deal with Milwaukee for just $16 million. That’s before you even mention the one-year deal and $13 million that the Yankees gave Matt Holliday this season as well. Both Carter and Holliday have begun their 217 campaigns sluggishly while Thames has absolutely taken off which begs the question… could you image the Yankees lineup right now with Thames in the middle of it? Could you imagine a lineup with Thames, Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez? Ladies and gentleman that’s a little thing I like to call “Game Over.”

Looking back now the Yankees certainly “shoulda” and I certainly wish they “woulda” because we all know that the financial reasons for not signing him are all bogus because we all know that they “coulda.”