Saturday, June 29, 2019

London is Calling to the Faraway Towns...

Photo Credit: Frank Augstein, AP
Yankees-Red Sox Live from Across the Pond…

The title is the first line from the song by The Clash but it seems appropriate on this Saturday morning.


I am unsure of how I feel about the London Series that begins in a few hours in London. The Yankees were playing so well and had just completed a highly successful home stand (winning 9 of 10 games). Then, two days of nothing while the Yankees made their way to London and participation in subsequent events upon their arrival. The Tampa Bay Rays had a chance to make up a game on the Yankees over the last two days but fortunately their loss to the Texas Rangers last night dropped them back to 7 games behind the Yankees. The Yankees should go into the All-Star Break holding the lead in the AL East but I hope the disruptive travel schedule doesn’t sidetrack momentum. 


The next 8 games, including these two in jolly ol’ England, are not exactly a cake-walk. The Boston Red Sox may be trailing the Yankees by 9 games, but they are still the defending World Series champions and they have the talent to make a second half run despite their World Series hangover. I am not sure what is going on over in Queens but even at their worst, the New York Mets, the Yankees’ next opponent, always seem to bring their “A” game against the Yankees in the fight for the intra-city championship. Then, the Yankees conclude the first half with four games in St Petersburg, FL against the second place Tampa Bay Rays. I really dislike that warehouse of a stadium and all those empty seats yet it won’t stop the Rays from being a thorn in the Yankees’ side.   

But for now, the focus is the Boston Red Sox. With Masahiro Tanaka set to take the mound later today, I am a little worried that the dimensions of London Stadium (330’ from home plate to the foul poles and 385’ to center field with 16’ fence) will cause Tanaka to give up more than just his usual obligatory home run. Of course, Boston pitching is faced with the same dilemma and last time I heard, the Yankees have a few mashers in their lineup even with Giancarlo Stanton sidelined. I’ve heard the air is heavier, but I guess we’ll see whether or not these games turn into slugfests like hot summer nights at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado.  

If the Yankees can sweep the two-game series, the Red Sox will be 11 games behind in the AL East, making it much harder for them to overcome in the second half for their defense of the AL East championship. At the very least, I’d like to see the Yankees win at least one of two before they return stateside. A sweep by the Red Sox would be awful and no doubt our social media feeds would be filled with Jared Carrabis tweets.  

@aaronboone (Twitter)
I really wish people would lay off Giancarlo Stanton. I’ve seen so much hate directed at him for his latest injury that has potentially sidelined him until August.  Some people are already calling his contract the worst in Yankees’ history. Did everyone forget that Stanton slugged 38 home runs and drove in 100 runs last year when Aaron Judge missed so much time, helping the team win 100 games? Injuries happen. It sucks but it is not Stanton’s fault that he is currently unable to play. I guess if he would just strike out every bat, he’d save his body from harm. Get real. The guy is a great player and he’ll be back. This is not Jacoby Ellsbury revisited.

Like many, I was surprised the Yankees called up outfielder Mike Tauchman to replace Stanton on the roster instead of Clint Frazier. I get that you’d prefer to have Tauchman’s ability to play all three outfield spots with above average defense, while Frazier is a roller coaster with the glove. The Yankees used the defensive advantage as the reason Tauchman was called up, but that’s the easy answer. There seems to be more at play. Maybe it’s nothing and the Yankees just wanted Frazier to continue playing every day with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. I guess , as the saying goes, time will tell as it often does. The Yankees would be foolish to trade Frazier for a “rental” and they’ve indicated they will not. I also have a hard time believing they’d trade him to an AL East rival. It appears the relationship between Frazier and the Yankees is fractured but honestly we don’t really know. Nobody has given us a seat at the table with Hal Steinbrenner, Brian Cashman and other Yankees brass so we don’t know what they are thinking.  


Personally, I’d really like for Frazier to be the starting left fielder in 2020. Brett Gardner has been a great Yankee and we’ve been saying it for several seasons now, but he should really be no more than a fourth outfielder at this stage of his career. If Gardner wants to continue his career beyond this season, I have doubts it will be in Pinstripes. I do not expect Edwin Encarnacion to return next season. I think the Yankees will pay the $5 million buyout versus paying the $20 million salary. The Yankees, after all, have to save those pennies to make a run at Gerrit Cole in the off-season. So, Giancarlo Stanton will move back into the full-time DH slot. I hopeful that the Yankees and Frazier can repair their relationship for the good of the organization. Or if the relationship is not broken, they can change the perception that it is.

If the Detroit Tigers are leading off by asking for Gleyber Torres in trade talks for lefty Matthew Boyd, I’d call it game over. On one hand, if I was the Tigers GM, I’d shoot for the moon too and then work my way back down to reality. On the other hand, if the Tigers remain steadfast in their demand for a King’s Ransom, then the Yankees should pursue other options. It’s great the Yankees could have Luis Severino back in the second half, but there’s no denying they need more than just the returns of Severino and Domingo German to make a deep run into October.  We continually hear the names of Madison Bumgarner, Max Scherzer, Marcus Stroman, and lately, Luis Castillo, but inevitably, Brian Cashman will make a move that we never saw coming. I don’t really want to lose top prospects but Casey Stern’s line of “Prospects are Cool, Parades are Cooler” is so true. If the move(s) Brian Cashman makes over the next four weeks pay off in October, it will have all been worth it.

I thought it was funny this week when the Chicago White Sox designated first baseman Yonder Alonso for assignment. Not funny for Alonso, but given the fact it was perceived the White Sox had acquired Alonso last off-season to give them an edge to sign Alonso’s brother-in-law, Manny Machado, the situation is a little humorous. Alonso’s performance (slash line of .178/.275/.301 with 7 homers and 27 RBIs) led to the move, but this would have been very awkward had Machado signed with Chicago. I hope Alonso can rebound. He’s a former Padre so perhaps he can find his way back to San Diego to back up Eric Hosmer and join up with his sister’s hubby. 

Congratulations to Gary Sanchez and D.J. LeMahieu for winning the votes as starters to represent the American League in the All-Star Game at catcher and second base, respectively. Hopefully, the other Yankees in the final voting (Gleyber Torres, Luke Voit and Aaron Judge) can make the All-Star team as backups.  Of the three, I feel most strongly about Torres. He should be a fixture at All-Star games for years to come. Not that Judge shouldn’t be too, but Judge has missed too much time this season, in my opinion. I believe All-Star recognition should be about performance this year and not be based on past performance or simply be a popularity contest.  

@gleyberdavid (Twitter)
As great as LeMahieu has been this year, I read that the majority of his votes came from the Colorado market. I guess you could put me in that category since I live in Denver even though I am not a Rockies fan. My friends who are Rockies fans absolutely hate me talking about how great LeMahieu is. I can’t help his play every game excites me. I don’t care what anybody says…the quiet infielder has been the greatest free agent signing of last off-season. I truly hope LeMahieu is as excited to be Yankee as we are that he is.  

Photo Credit: Noah K Murray, USA TODAY Sports
As always, Go Yankees!

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