Friday, June 21, 2013

Yankees Reaching a New Low

VERN-OFF: Vernon Wells, mired in a 13-for-110 slump, grounds out to the pitcher to end the sixth inning of the Yankees’ 8-3 loss to the Rays last night — a game in which he was pinch hit for by Zoilo Almonte, who had one prior big league at-bat


What can you really say at this point? This Yankees offense is just painful to watch at this point. Chris Stewart, no that is not a typo, has been the Yankees’ best right handed hitter this season. The Yankees have had only two home runs from right handed hitters in the last 30 days; one from David Adams and one from Mark Teixeira. Remember last year when the Yankees hit too many home runs or something like that?

On some level I feel as though some Yankees fans are they getting what they deserve for complaining about the 2012 that finished 1st in MLB in home runs (245), 2nd in runs (804), first in wOBA (.342), and 1st in wRC+ (113). That was an offense that should have been appreciated and not get torn down. Some people are just too spoiled. Those people are now seeing exactly what a brutal offense looks like.

This year the Yankees are 21st in MLB in runs scored (279), 17th in home runs (73), 26th in wOBA (.297) and 27th in wRC+ (83). Austin Romine, Reid Brignac and Vernon Wells all have WAR’s 0 or below. David Adams (.1 WAR), Lyle Overbay (.2) Jayson Nix (.2) are not far away from that mark. Whenever the team is down three runs the game is probably over and you just can’t win that way.

The Yankees only have a grand total of two hitters who strike any feat into opposing pitchers whatsoever. Brett Gardner has had a great season, but he isn’t capable of carrying the team for long stretches. Robinson Cano has only had a good, but not spectacular season for him. Even the starting pitching has had a recent rough patch, which you cannot blame them for since they have been carrying the team all season.

With the way things are going the Yankees seem to be in danger of falling out of the race before the injured players return and the trade deadline. Although, Boston’s struggles have allowed the Yankees to not fall very far back at this point. Those are really the only two avenues that can really make a difference at this point. The Zolio Almonte’s and Thomas Neal’s of the world are unlikely to put this team back on track.

It will be interesting to see what happens at the trade deadline. Even if the Yankees fell out of it there are not really many  pieces on this roster that they could sell because most of the players either suck or make too much money. Unfortunately, the Yankees won’t get lucky like the Red Sox did and have another team come save them of their horrid contracts.

If the Yankees are still in the race how many good pieces would they give up for a rental player? Since they are probably more than one bat away from competing for a championship I would be hesitant in giving away any top prospect for a rental. However, if a good hitter becomes available that is under team control for a few years that would be a different story. We can all dream about Giancarlo Stanton and Chase Headley I suppose.

Who is at fault for this mess? Its tough to assign blame between Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman since nobody really knows what exactly is going on in upper management. My gut feeling tells me that Cashman’s hands were tied so tight because of the budget that the majority of the blame should go to Steinbrenner.

There is not much Cashman could have done last winter when he was only permitted to give out one year deals. I’m going to assume that Cashman would have brought back Russell Martin if he had the financial ability to. There was nobody signed at either third base or shortstop this winter that would have made a big difference. Eric Chavez would have been an upgrade, but he would never had been able to stay healthy playing everyday and he seemed eager to leave New York anyways.

In the outfield the Yankees could not have anticipated Curtis Granderson going down to fluke injuries, but the fact that right field is a mess is no surprise. However,  Ichiro Suzuki felt more like an ownership move, so I do not really put this one on Cashman either. The guys he targeted in Nate Schierholtz and Tori Hunter are both having very good years and would have been upgrades.
Steinbrenner is getting what he deserves at this point. The product on the field, attendance and TV ratings are a disaster right now.

That’s what you get when you self impose an unnecessary budget when you own a team that is probably worth more than any team in professional sports and put a product on the field that in no way matches the prices you are charging for tickets. Not to mention the fact that Steinbrenner still says winning is the number one priority when clearly was not the case last offseason. All you can hope for at this point is that what’s happening with the Yankees right now causes change.

15 comments:

  1. Great article. 100% on the money. Sell the team Hal and lets get an owner who wants to win and a GM with a clue. Cashman over rated all his prospects and now look. What a disgrace.

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  2. Well Matthew B, I don't see much to dispute with your post...!

    See Matt, we can agree once a year or two right? Very well done Matt! :)

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  3. The great Farm prospects thing again and clueless Cashman! What a joke! Fans, so often go by what they read or hear, never having to make up their own mind about anything or look into things as to how and why they came about.

    18 years ago, a young ex in the Yankee front office of baseball ops was given the job of Gm and told to work hard to finish the job they started....the Farm! So, the young man dug in and tried to do something about the farm system. He would take one step forward and two steps back, because of interference from the (let's give them the name we have been using for years) Tampa Cabal.
    The Cabal was made up of King Geo. (some times), Randy and others from the real great GM's of our time in the Bookkeeping pool.
    For way to many years the draft came and went without a pick in the first two (sometimes 3rd) round, besides that they were picking around the 32 spot every year The Cabal and George dismantled the Farm system from way back in the 70's till George was suspended and "Stick" took over, after which passing it on to Cashman.

    Maybe fans should take a closer look at things, they aren't always as they seem. It is very hard to over rate ones prospects, when one has none, to speak of! Yes, we have all heard of the star player picked in the latter rounds but, what has it been, one every so often, almost all from a different team every year...well, what about Donnie Baseball?

    Everyone has a way of putting the blam on the most likely person...the GM, often forgetting he has a boss also. So, is it the, Steinbrenners, Tampa Cabal or the GM himself.

    Me thinks, mayhap there is a mystery afoot!

    Opinions are worth ???????? Right or wrong! :)

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  4. I said Cashman over rated his prospects because he refused to deal them for proven players. The Yankees didn't get Cliff Lee because Cashman refused to part with Nunez. I blame Sreinbrenner for not attempting to sign Ceapedes, Puig, Darvish etc. With the payroll Cashman has been given he has 1 World Series title to show for it(2009). That by the way wasn't hard giving CC, Tex and Burnett a blank check. So what other positive things has Caahman done?? If you don't think Cashman has a big part of this disgrace of a team, you are clueless. Lets see Cashman GM of the A's or Rays. He is OVERATED and has no eye for talent.

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  5. Joe welcome like your passion hope to see you comment more. Payroll is not the end all be all. The Angels, Dodgers, Nationals, Phillies, Red Sox last year will all tell you that. Being in the playoffs every season and in contention every year should not be taken for granted and can't take credit away for the championship they won.

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  6. Joe G...
    I and others have gone over this time and again. There have been very few GM's with a great eye for talent. Many GMs get credit for things they only said yes to, not something they did themselves.
    A GM has the job of running the whole Baseball complex, therefore he puts people he trusts in the job they have the talent for and advise him.
    If Nunez were not injured, at this time, Cashman would be a star for not trading him!
    Enough BS, not every trade made by ANY GM are seen as good ones but, unless you are the GM of the Yankees, you may never hear of it!

    Also, try asking a player such as Joyce to come to the Yankees for less money then he is making now...that's what Cashman has to work with.

    Nice discussion Joe G...thank you! I'm out! :)

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  7. joe, Cashman has done a good job in the last few years picking up players like Garcia, Jones, Colon, Chavez, and Ibanez. I just think this year the Yanks have too many injuries. Between A-Rod, Jeter, Youk, Tex, Grandy and Nunez they just have too many players injured to win.

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  8. old yankee, it's very hard to rate talent when you are talking about high school players, the players that continue to get better tend to be the best players even when it comes to college talent. There is such a wide gap between the minors and playing in the majors.. Most of the time drafting players is a crap shoot unless you are drafting at the top.

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  9. doug...

    "Most of the time drafting players is a crap shoot unless you are drafting at the top."

    Other than taking 20,000 words to say it,...I have been saying that for 60 years, give or take 30/50 years.
    Zolo we all knew was one of the better AAA players, just have to see if he can adjust to the adjustment the pitchers will make! In other words he has to make the adjustments one needs to stay in the big show...if not........AAA+. Started out just fine!!!! :)

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  10. Optomistic approarch for the Yanks, trade Cano to the Nats for Rendon, Espinosa, and Giolito. Yanks will have 2 extra first round picks next year for Hughes and Grandy. Sign Kuroda, McCann , Morse,and Ellisbury. Line-up next year- Gardner, Jeter, Ellisbury, Tex, McCann, Morse, A-Rod, Rendon, and Espinosa. Starters- CC, Kuroda, Pineda, Phelps, and Nova with Warren and Nuno as back-ups.

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  11. Ellsbury is gonna get vastly overpaid Doug that would be a terrible signing. Why sign him when we have a player who does similar things to him in Gardner for much cheaper?

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  12. HERE I GO AGAIN.....
    Trade Cano, for prime talent. Re-sign him over the winter.
    Trade Joba, trade Hughes, trade Ichiro, trade Nunez (please), trade Romaine, trade Wells.
    That's seven...over 25% of the team. A start. Why not reload?
    Cano, and Hughes, can fetch a nice catch.
    Remember what Boston did last year.

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  13. Patrick I was with you on this back in the winter. Is it to late for this year? Cano is not a long term candidate at this point and worth more than a 30ish pick next summer . Get all we can NOW.

    Reading everyday, not much to say on this end.

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  14. Matt, good point Ellisbury is not a good fit, what I was trying to say is maybe the Yanks would be better off signing 4 good players instead of signing Cano , Grandy, and Hughes and getting extra first round picks for Grandy and Hughes. All free agents are overpaid with the top ones being vastly overpaid. Your point with Gardner is well taken.

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  15. John.....
    Wisdom from a drive by commenter....Very good and welcomed, by us all...we hope!

    Comment more often, everyone's opinions are handled the same....with ambivalence, or disdain, take your pick! :)

    You write well and are concise but, have we run across each other before? Just throwing it out there, no answer required.

    Welcome to the site, have fun and enjoyment! :)

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