HEALTH

Now that Spring Training has begun, each of the 30 teams has a refreshed hope.  The Win/Loss counter is set to 0/0 again.  With MLB considering adding more “qualifying” teams to the playoffs soon, the best teams should currently expedite their World Series’ goal before sub-.500 teams qualify as playoff teams.  Adding failing, undeserving teams will water down the matchups and factor more luck into the odds of winning.  Obviously, I completely dislike the new proposal as I feel failed seasonal teams don’t deserve to be rewarded (a story for a future blog).

The Yankees are already favored as either the top team or one of the top teams.  Last year, the Yankees had 30 different players on the Injured List (IL) and they’re already off to another awful injury trend with James Paxton (who just had back surgery about a week ago) and Luis Severino (who announced today that he will undergo the infamous Tommy John Surgery).  Paxton is expected to be pitching sometime around June and, now, Severino will not be able to pitch until sometime next season.

Just like last season, the Yankees do have some reserve players (in this specific case, pitchers) including Clarke Schmidt and Michael King (both righties who seem to be the closest rookies to being ready for the big leagues).  King is said to be slightly ahead of Schmidt in terms of reaching the majors first.  His two-seam fastball induces many of his outs via groundballs, which would surely be an advantage if the (superball) baseball is wound as tightly as it was last season.  Additionally, Jordan Montgomery returned at the end of last season from his Tommy John surgery and should be ready as a starter this season.  By the way, ironically, it was Tommy John who (before his forever-known surgery) was well known to have an awesome groundball-inducing pitch, too!  I love his 12-to-6 sinking pitches (envision a pitch going from the 12 of an analog clock to the 6).  Other pitchers have been in queue for more than a year, but none of them have been overwhelming enough, at least at his point, to enthusiastically qualify, if fans (including me) were the decision-makers.  Hopefully, the new crop of rookies and Montgomery will shine!

As for the NYY’s offense, we will always have to worry about the 3 big (physically) guys:  Gary Sanchez, Giancarlo Stanton, and Aaron Judge.  Their large, physical structure is seemingly more vulnerable to injuries (just like a lot of the large-physique players in the game, now and in the past).  Adding to their IL chances is the fact that Sanchez is a catcher and that Judge dives viciously into the ground during his defense and during his base-stealing efforts.

Even though we’ve already begun showing health issues, the key for this talented team is to be a lot healthier this season than last and to not overwhelm our reliance on too many of our reserves.  If that improvement is significant enough this season, then we will certainly be playoff bound, once again.  Decent health will definitely help the Yankees have a very good chance of achieving their 28^th World Series Championship in 2020 with this phenomenal team.

A DREAM COME TRUE:  “YANKEE FAN TODAY TOMORROW FOREVER”

Finally, the Yankees signed an ace!!  Every offseason and every trading deadline most Yankees’ fans (including me) have expressed a strong desire for the Yankees to sign a premium starting pitcher.  Well, the Steinbrenners and Brian Cashman have finally inked such a deal for one of the best 3 starting pitchers in today’s game…Gerrit Cole.  The deal is generically valued at $324 million for 9 years.  Last year, Gerrit had a 0.895 WHIP (anything below 1.0 is superb) and struck out 326 batters!  He just turned 29, so he’s just begun his prime years as a starting pitcher. As for the playoffs, his performance is amongst the best of all time, including a WHIP of 0.868.

With Paxton supposedly resolving his pitching flaws (briefly demonstrated in the latter half of last season once he was forced to use his overwhelming curveball), with Tanaka also proving to be a top-notch playoff pitcher, and with the “potential” of Severino’s health bringing him back to where he was prior to the injuries, the Yankees have a heck of a starting pitching rotation.  In fact, many of the so-called experts have already judged them to have the best starting pitching in the game!  When’s the last time you ever heard that declaration from them?

Also, remember that every major additional transaction to a team also creates a subtraction from the team he left.  In this case, it’s the cheating Astros who suffer the consequences.  The Yankees coveted Gerrit Cole since 2008 during the MLB Draft and tried to trade for him in 2017.  Now, thankfully, he’s a Yankee! 

PEEK-A-BOOOOOOOOOO!

Well, another year whereby the Yankees lost to the Astros – this time 4 games to 2.  Most of the games were close, but the Yankees did discover one key thing that would inevitably disable the Astros when they ultimately faced the Nationals for the World Series Championship.  That key thing was the Yankees’ accusation (which later became fact) that the Astros were cheating via the usage of a TV camera and then a manual signal to their hitters identifying the pitches.  Coincidentally (cough, cough), right after the Yankees accusation, the Astros would only then win one more game in their own ballpark, which ended up being a nail-biter.  The Nationals would later win every World Series game in Houston (and vice-versa).

The Astros, by the way, are currently being investigated by the MLB Commissioner’s Office based on several of their former players (initially identified by one of their former pitchers, Mike Fiers) who have confirmed that the Astros used a TV camera and other accompanying tools to identify pitches to their batters.  MLB has since interviewed almost 60 witnesses and reviewed over 70,000 emails!  The Commissioner (Rob Manfred) has already admitted to a “discipline” being weighed.  They are investigating this past season and the two prior seasons (yes, that obviously includes 2017 when the Astros, again, had defeated the Yankees in the playoffs.

While I am clearly and rightfully griping about the Astros’ cheating efforts, the Yankees certainly contributed to their own demise during the playoffs this past October.  Mainly, they continually failed to hit in the clutch during the series.  For that to have persistently happened, there’s no excuse!  Yes, the Astros cheated, but if the Yankees had produced RBIs with the multitude of runners who were left stranded, they may have overtaken the cheating.

CAN THE NYY “ASTRO”NOMICALLY DEFEAT THIS SEASON’S WINNINGEST TEAM?

Earlier this week the Yankees swept the Minnesota Twins and won the American League Division Series Championship.  Now, beginning tomorrow, they will face their most adverse competitor this season, the Houston Astros.  I have believed for several months that the Astros are the best team in all of baseball.  I’ve also believed that the Yankees have been the second best.

At this point in time, I actually think (for this series) that the Yankees are slightly better than the Astros only because the Astros used a lot of their ammunition to ward off the Tampa Bay Rays during their full 5-game series.  While the Yankees might have too much rest (it will be 4 full days), the Astros had panicked in Game 4 against the Rays and used their ace, Justin Verlander, on only 3 days of rest in which the Rays scored 3 runs in his first inning.  It was clear that he was exerting himself to throw fastballs. 

Too often, managers tend to make erroneous decisions during the playoffs.  If a team has a decent bullpen, why not use them?  Why change it up and slight the bullpen pitchers who got you to the playoffs?

Besides the fact that the Astros ended up losing Verlander’s short-rested game, the other negativity for them is that they can’t use him in tomorrow’s first American League Championship Series.  Instead, they are forced to use their third best starter (Zack Greinke).

Additionally, because the Astros had to start their second-best pitcher (Gerrit Cole) last night, he is also not available right away for their series against the Yankees.  He will now not be able to pitch until the third game of the series. 

So, yes, the Yankees have had way too much rest this week and, yes, the Astros will have a collectively potential homefield advantage; but I believe those conditions are not as disadvantageous as the Astros’ misaligned opposing starting pitching.  It was only 2 years ago when the Astros defeated the Yankees in the playoffs (4 games to 3).  I am hoping that the Yankees can win this time – which may again take 7 games because of the tight matchup.

NY YANKEES' RESILIENCY

At the beginning of this season, the Yankees have led the league in a category that no one should lead…injuries!  Most of the injuries are worse than something like a pulled hamstring.  Over half of their standard 25-man roster players have been out of action for lengthy periods, too.  I’m not going to bore you with a list of the minor injuries, but here are 11 players who have/had been out for lengthy periods:  Luis Severino, Domingo German, Jordan Montgomery, Dellin Betances, Didi Gregorius, Gary Sanchez, Miguel Andujar, Greg Bird, Troy Tulowitzki (no longer a Yankee), Aaron Judge, and Giancarlo Stanton.  Most of them have been All-Stars.  Judge recently returned to the team, as well as Sanchez.  Yet, key players such as Luis Severino (their former ace) and Dellin Betances (their main setup reliever) are still on the Injured List (IL) since the beginning of the season!  Now, all teams have injured players, but even the media recognized the number of Yankees injured players as utterly preposterous.

With all of the aforementioned, this season’s Yankees have found ways to not only perform decently, but to exceed all expectations, perhaps even more than they were given at the beginning of the season before the injuries.  How have they managed to currently be 29 games over 500 at 64 wins and 35 losses?  The answers are simple, but not usually feasible…they have over 25 qualified players (to support the 25-man roster) and some from the originally-planned roster have exceeded expectations.  For the latter, DJ LeMahieu has proven to be even better than he was on the Colorado Rockies and Luke Voit has proven to be much better than he was for the St. Louis Cardinals.  Many have stated that LeMahieu has been the MVP of this Yankees’ team thus far and I certainly wouldn’t disagree.

Now, it’s time to continue on this awesome path.  Will Severino or Betances be back in time before the playoffs?  Both have started some throwing, so maybe – although each will certainly need some form of spring training.  In the interim, as usual, there’s always the trade deadline to acquire at least incremental improvements for the stretch.  With this year’s one and only trade deadline being July 31, it’s time for the Yankees to go after their biggest need – an above-average starting pitcher.  My votes are for either Matthew Boyd (currently pitching for the Tigers) or Mike Minor (pitching for the Rangers).  Both are lefties and both have a WHIP (my favorite pitching stat) below 1.2.  By the way, WHIP stands for Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched.

2019 - A SEASON FOR THE DECADE

Well, here I go again, one game late, with my review of this season’s initial team and my prediction of the anticipated end-result after game 162.  First of all, as I’ve mentioned in the past, the Yankees have won a World Series every decade since their existence except during the 1980s.  Obviously, if they don’t win this year, that would result into a failed season and a failed decade!  Ultimately, there’s a lot riding on this team, especially since winning the World Series is not a given as there are a lot of teams that have very good talent besides the Yankees.

Here’s the Yankees’ initial 25-man roster (minus the anticipated soon-to-be-activated replacements of Starting Pitcher, Luis Severino & Outfielder, Aaron Hicks who are on the “Injured List”, formerly known as the “Disabled List”):

Pitching

Starting Pitchers

Masahiro Tanaka (righty)

James Paxton (lefty)

J.A. Happ (lefty)

CC Sabathia (lefty) - currently suspended for thrown pitch last season

Relief Pitchers

Aroldis Chapman (lefty)

Adam Ottavino (righty)

Chad Green (righty)

Zack Britton (lefty)

Jonathan Holder (righty)

Tommy Kahnle (righty)

Stephen Tarpley (lefty)

Luis Cessa (righty) - also, a backup starter

Domingo German (righty) - also, a backup starter

Hitting

(Catchers)

Austin Romine (righty)

Gary Sanchez (righty)

(Infielders)

Miguel Andujar (righty)

Greg Bird (lefty)

D.J. LeMahieu (righty)

Gleyber Torres (righty)

Troy Tulowitzki (righty)

Luke Voit (righty)

(Outfielders)

Brett Gardner (lefty)

Aaron Judge (righty)

Mike Tauchman (lefty)

Giancarlo Stanton (righty)

This year’s team has significant enough changes to anticipate varying strategies during this upcoming season.  Let’s look at the players who are no longer Yankees:

(Hitters)

Adeiny Hechavarria

Andrew McCutchen

Ronald Torreyes

Neil Walker

(Pitchers)

Lance Lynn

Sonny Gray

David Robertson

A.J. Cole

On the other side of the spectrum, here are Brian Cashman’s acquisitions or renewed contracts for this season so far:

(Hitters)

DJ LeMahieu

Troy Tulowitzki

Mike Tauchman

(Pitchers)

James Paxton

Adam Ottavino

Gio Gonzalez

J.A. Happ (re-signed)

Zack Britton (re-signed)

I will certainly miss Robertson, but the others will not be overly missed, especially Sonny Gray!  My favorite acquisitions this season are that of Ottavino, Paxton and LeMahieu.  I really expect a lot from each.  Ottavino’s WHIP of 0.99 last season was superb!  (Ironically his WHIP began with a “0” just like the number he wore for the Colorado Rockies and will now wear for the Yankees.)  I believe his stats last year was just the first of his peaking years as a reliever.  As a starting pitcher in the American League for the Seattle Mariners, Paxton has been a pretty consistent starter.  As long as he stays healthy (he’s had some minor, but a multitude of injuries in his past), he should win at least 16 games.  As for LeMahieu, his gold glove as a second baseman should help him become an above-average utility infielder and his 2016 batting title should help him prove to be an excellent hitter, even outside of the Colorado atmosphere.  Additionally, the retention of J.A. Happ and Britton were great deals for Cashman.

This year, already, the Yankees have begun with too many on the Injured List.  Hopefully, Luis Severino’s injury is not anything serious in terms of inactivity.  As for Didi Gregorius, who is one of my favorite Yankees, his defense, hitting, and intangible character to help lead the team will surely be missed.  In the interim, newly acquired Tulowitzki and our main second baseman, Torres, will play shortstop (with LeMahieu on standby, especially with Tulowitzki’s ridiculous history of being injured).

Now for the prediction:

I anticipate this team (who we all know will change somewhat by July 31) to win the same number of games that’s on the back of Aaron Judge’s uniform.  Of course that’s 99!  Many fans will not like the fact that I am actually predicting one less game than the team won last season, but I have some of my own significant reasons.  The subtraction of Didi and not enough to replace him; the balancing of CC’s limited availability during his final season (one which he even admitted not having the same ability); the iffiness of Luis Severino’s health & full-season velocity; and (like the last few seasons) the lack of enough quality starters as Gio Gonzalez is not exactly going to provide anything above a decent starter consistently.

99 wins is not bad!!  The only key for this team is to overtake the Red Sox, who are increasingly having some issues including their depleted minor league system, as the Yankees still remain in the Top 7.  For the fans and for this Decade, let’s hope to win our 28^th World Series this year as this season is already more significant that next year’s season!

FREE AGENTS AND AGENTS’ AGENTS

The top free agents this offseason, Manny Machado and Bryce Harper, are still unsigned with spring training games about to begin this week!  It’s very strange because both Harper and Machado are only 26 years old.  Additionally, at the current moment, over 100 free agents remain unsigned.  Similarly, last offseason, many of the free agents were also unsigned until the season was about to begin, but it didn’t happen to the top 2 free agents.  Because free agent signings have lagged last offseason and this offseason, the Players Union has insinuated, “Collusion!”  I personally don’t believe it’s collusion, but I do believe the lack of owners aggressive spending sprees has been caused by a combination of things:

The first main culprits, in my opinion, seem to be the free agents’ agents.  (This is beginning to seem grammatically wrong, isn’t it?)  Such agents and the law firms that some of them work for have gotten overly greedy.  It’s gotten worse and worse for each of the past 30 years, or so; but, certainly accelerated over the past 2 years in particular.  Most baseball fans know the name Scott Boras.  He’s one of the main agents who has represented many players over the past 35 years, including A-Rod at one point.  This year, he represents one of the top two free agents, Bryce Harper (and a few more of the top 20 free agents).  Ironically, Boras used to represent Manny Machado, but Manny has since replaced him with his current agent, Dan Lozano.  Rumor has it that decent deals were offered to both of these free agents, but their greedy agents preferred record-shattering contract offers instead.  The Washington Nationals offered Harper $300 million before Harper began exploring other teams.  That would have been a record contract, but Boras felt he could help get Harper more.  At this late point, it seems like that rejected offer may come back to bite Boras and Harper.  Likewise, Lozano and Machado were said to have been offered $175 million for 7 years from the White Sox (which would have averaged $25 million per year), but Lozano was quick to dispute that the $175 million divulged to the press from the White Sox organization was not accurate.  Lozano claimed it was supposedly a lot higher.  That said, he’s insinuating that they are seeking close to approximately $30 million per year.  How can $30 million per year offered to Harper and to Machado be considered “Collusion”?

Secondly, various MLB players have historically caused a lack of confidence in long-term deals.  Recently, the Yankees’ fans are very familiar with the overpaying contract the Yankees signed for Jacoby Ellsbury back in 2014 for a 7-year deal worth $153 million.  His productivity and injuries have proven that his contract was not even close to its worthiness!  Prior to Ellsbury, A-Rod was overpaid by Hank Steinbrenner, who brought A-Rod back to the Yankees before forcing him to find another suitor.  It got so bad that the Yankees had to make A-Rod an offer to work in the front office for his final two seasons instead of playing on the field.  A front-office job of over $20 million is not too shabby!  On the other side of town, the Mets overpaid for Yoenis Cespedes who seems to do very well playing golf when he’s on the Disabled List for the Mets.  They also overpaid for David Wright whose injuries curtailed his final years for them and he has also since been shifted to the front office as an overpaid executive.  The list of examples of failed contracts that have cost teams excessive millions has become way too common as of late.  Since such contracts are guaranteed money to the players, it’s rammed bad tastes in the mouths of the owners.  So, who could blame them for “only” offering ~$30 million annually?

Hopefully, Harper (recently negotiating strongly with the Phillies) and Machado will be signed soon.  It will help the other free agents have a stronger wheeling and dealing precedence for their greedy agents’ negotiating tactics and, more importantly, it will help teams’ fans to have more players to root for by April.

THE CLOSER

In 1936, the National Baseball Hall of Fame inducted such players as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, and Christy Mathewson.  For 83 years, not one player received all of the votes unanimously (obviously, not even the aforementioned Babe)! That’s astonishing!  Now, in the Hall of Fame’s 84^th year, Mariano Rivera fittingly “closed” that wait.  The man who wore number 42 (a number that represents one-half of the 84-year wait) has accomplished gaining the most respect from the baseball writers; and, that’s for a man who showed the most respect to others during every minute in the game of baseball and in the game of life.

My very first blog was about Mariano, back in 2012.  I purposely chose him as my first topic because he was my favorite player and hero since Thurman Munson.  I remember during the 90s, people would constantly praise Derek Jeter - even more so during 2003 when Jeter was named, “Captain”.  Don’t get me wrong, I thought Jeter (who will be voted into next year’s induction) was one of the best shortstops I had ever seen; but, choosing him as the best shortstop ever could be debated.  Choosing who was the best “closer” in the history of baseball could never (logically) be debated!  Even the majority of Mets’ and Red Sox fans seemingly and reluctantly have declared Mariano as the best closer!   

Mariano certainly accomplished phenomenal numbers throughout his career, including being the Most Valuable Player in the 1999 World Series.  He threw the same pitch for 19 seasons (the cutter), breaking so many bats and perplexing every hitter.  His achieved numbers are overwhelmingly impressive.  Here are just some his record-owning key stats:

652 saves

0.70 E.R.A. in the playoffs

42 (there goes that famous number again) saves in the post-season

25 saves (or more) for 15 consecutive seasons

An E.R.A. below 2.00 for 11 seasons
A career E.R.A. of 2.21

Even with such dominating stats and even with his 100% supporting votes from the baseball writers today, it is clearly the humbleness that places Mariano above the rest.  I couldn’t be more ecstatic to write this article today and I am certainly overly proud to call Mariano Rivera one of my favorite players and heroes!

WILL 2019 BRING THE YANKEES “MANNY” HAPPY MOMENTS?

As of today, we still await the final team selection by Manny Machado.  In the end, he will become a new player for one of the three teams he met with earlier this month:  the Phillies, White Sox, or Yankees.  Supposedly, he and his agent are trying to achieve a $30 million per year deal with a term of 10 years.  There are rumors that the Yankees have offered approximately $250 million for 8 years, which would slightly exceed the $30 million per year average Machado and his agent seeks.  Will 8 years be enough length, which would bring Manny to the age of 34 when he would then have to reapply for free agency?  Is there a compromise at 9 years?

I would offer the 8 years, but I would overload it with incentives.  Those incentives would have to be overly attractive in order to fend off the Phillies and White Sox who could both easily go over the top with a 10-year offer, perhaps at $31 or $32 million per year.  For instance, the Yankees could offer Manny the $250 million deal with 8 years guaranteed, but put incentives that would then ultimately offer him a yearly average of $34 million if he achieves/achieved specific offensive numbers and at-bats per season and still offer him a player option after the 8th year, offering him approximately $28 million for an extended two years.  That would then make the whole deal potentially worth $328 million.

Many Yankees’ fans are leery about Manny becoming a Yankee.  The main concern is based on his lack of hustle, which he’s demonstrated several times during the regular season and during this past season’s playoffs against the Milwaukee Brewers.  In one of those playoff games, he failed to run to first base on a ground ball during the National League Championship Series.  After the game, he was confronted with questions surrounding that lack of hustle.  He was quoted as saying, “Obviously, I’m not going to change, I’m not the type of player that’s going to be ‘Johnny Hustle” and run down the line and slide to first base.”  He then added, “That’s just not my personality, that’s not my cup of tea, that’s not who I am.”

Shortly thereafter, at the Winter Meetings, Hal Steinbrenner was asked about his concern regarding the free agent and stated, “Certainly, those comments are troubling.”  Hal later told reporters that, if the Yankees do decide to pursue Manny, they’d bring up that concern as a big part of their evaluation.  There were comparisons to former Yankee, Robinson Cano, made by some reporters and some former MLB players.  Cano, too, had moments where he lacked hustle.  Some in baseball feel that you don’t have to hustle all or even most of the time, even though beloved players such as Derek Jeter and Joe DiMaggio exemplified it during their at-bats.  Their main point is that hustling all the time can lead to an injury whereas players like Cano and (so far) Manny have avoided major injuries.  Statistically, the majority of such non-hustled plays would have ended up being an out at first base, anyway.  Even self-admired non-homers would statistically become doubles, just like they usually do once such a player finally decides to run hard during their last 90 feet, after slowly jogging towards first base on their first 90 feet after their contact swing.

I, personally, agree with those who feel a player should hustle down the lines - I love that continuous desire in a player.  As a fan (as Joe DiMaggio suggested) we appreciate full effort from the players who we basically pay!  With that said, I also appreciate the offensive numbers that Manny produces each year.  His production is superior against almost every single player in baseball today.  In fact, if he were to join the Yankees, he would instantly become their best (or second best) offensive player.  He is also more of a clutch hitter than most of the current Yankees - and, he hits well against the Red Sox.  Those reasons, along with his excellent third-base defensive skills (where he would end up playing if he signed with the Yankees once/if Didi returns) are enough reasons for me to accept his sporadic lack of hustle.  By the way, his defensive skills as a shortstop are very iffy; so, if we do sign him, we should hope Didi returns as soon as possible.

With 2019 about to begin, we will find out very soon which team Manny selects.  I’m overly hoping it’s with us!  No matter what the outcome becomes…Happy New Year!!

MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH

Well, unfortunately, the Yankees did not beat the winningest team in Major League Baseball (the Red Sox) to move from the American League Division Series (ALDS) onto the American League Championship Series (ALCS).  I stated in early September, "This season, the Red Sox have certainly been the most consistent and dominating team."  Regrettably, they lived up to that realization.  The ALDS ended in a best-of-5-game-series with the Red Sox winning 3 games to 1.  Here are the dreaded details:

Game 1:  Red Sox 5, Yanks 4

This game had J.A. Happ starting for the Yankees, but his dominating past performances against the Sawx didn’t show up for this game.  Instead, he only lasted 2 innings while giving up a 3-run homerun to JD Martinez.  J.A. began the 3^rd inning, but was charged with 2 more runs.  On the opposite side, Chris Sale started and he pitched very well from the very first inning where he struck out the side.  Once Sale was done pitching, achieving 8 strikeouts in all, the Yankees did hit against the bullpen pecking away at a 5-run deficit, including a 9^th inning solo homerun from Aaron Judge, but they failed too many times with runners in scoring position.

Game 2:  Yankees 6, Red Sox 2

In this game, Masahiro Tanaka pitched very well for his 5 innings, giving up only 1 run.  The Yankees’ offense did their usual against David Price.  Aaron Judge smashed a homerun over the Green Monster in the first inning.  Gary Sanchez followed that same route in the second inning.  He also hit a 3-run homerun in the 7^th inning, driving in 4 runs altogether. 

Game 3:  Red Sox 16, Yanks 2

This game was about as humiliating as a game can get, especially when the game required the inclusion of the Yankees’ backup catcher, Austin Romine, pitching in the beginning of the 9^th inning!  Luis Severino didn’t have it at all as he was the starter for the Yankees.  Neither did any other pitcher the Yankees chose from their bullpen.  You know it’s bad when two of the Yankees’ bullpen “pitchers” (Stephen Tarpley and Lance Lynn) give up more runs than Austin Romine!  The Red Sox seemed to be hitting batting practice each inning.  In fact, their first baseman in that game (Brock Holt) ended up hitting for the cycle when he hit a homerun against Romine.  The Sawx started former Yankee, Nathan Eovaldi, who pitched masterfully through 7 innings.

Game 4:  Red Sox 4, Yanks 3

CC Sabathia was the starter for the Yanks.  He clearly didn’t have his arsenal - perhaps from not pitching for such a long period (almost two weeks).  On the other hand, Rick Porcello pitched 5 strong innings for the Sawx, who scored 3 runs in the 3^rd inning to set the tone.  As usual, the closer for the Sawx (Craig Kimbrel) pitched poorly - the Yankees scored 2 runs off of him, but not poorly enough as they just missed scoring that crucial tying run in the 9^th inning.

2018 will go down as a good season for the Yankees.  After all, they won 100 games.  It will also be considered a disappointing season only because they were headed for over 100 wins before September arrived.  They simmered down and stayed afloat, but never quite put the finisher onto their opponents, especially in the ALDS.

At the beginning of the year, I felt the Yankees would win over 96 games, but I also knew that they were not going to spend too much so that they could finally reset their luxury tax issue for years to come.  Brian Cashman tried to add players as the finish line came closer and closer, without acquiring superstars who may or may not have taken us to the championship, but would have definitively ruined the Yankees’ front office’s long-term plan.  I hate that we didn’t get to the World Series and possibly win it all; but, I’m also content (somewhat) that 2019 is theirs to build.  They have the nucleus of young players on their team and in the minors.  Now, they have their luxury tax reset and can spend like crazy to add key players to the mix.  That young nucleus could then become the next Core 4 or something similar.  There is no doubt to me that our 2019 NY Yankees (NYY) will be a better team than this year’s team.  I also believe that their lifted restriction to spend will make them extremely competitive for the next 5 years or more! 

We are way overdue to win as it’s now been over 9 years.  Hopefully, our anticipated improved team can take us to and through the World Series in 2019.  Additionally, we have another reason to win next season.  The 1980s was the only decade after the birth of “The New York Yankees” in which they did not win a World Series.  Let’s not add this decade to that stat.  I hope 2019 is our year for both reasons!

WILD CARD 2018

Well, as most know by now, the 2018 season ended last week.  The Yankees achieved the second best record in the major leagues with 100 wins.  Only the Red Sox had more (108).  With their 100 wins, the Yankees gained/earned home-field advantage in the American League’s wild card game against the Oakland A’s (winners of 97 games). 

The Yankees then won the wild card game, defeating the Oakland A’s 7-2 a few days ago.  That win gave them back-to-back wild card triumphs (last year they defeated the Twins 8-4).  In this season’s game, there were 3 main decisions and consequential effects that resulted in the Yankees’ win: 

1)  The Yankees started Luis Severino…he pitched masterfully for 4 innings including 0 runs and 7 strikeouts.

2)  The A’s didn’t choose a typical starting pitcher and, instead, decided to setup the game for their relievers to pitch throughout it, with Liam Hendriks being the “opener” of the assemblage…Hendriks was not great, and some who followed him also ran into various dilemmas, especially Fernando Rodney who couldn’t even achieve an out.  (By the way, Rodney usually showboats by illustrating himself shooting an arrow into the sky when he succeeds; but, this time I guess he shot himself in the foot before he failed).

3)  Aaron Judge was healthy and in the lineup to bat second (as he’d done all year when healthy)…he delivered by hitting a monster shot in the first inning to left field at 116.1 mph, setting the crowd’s loud tone throughout the game.

The Yankees had some other key contributions towards their victory throughout the crucial wild card game besides including Dellin Betances (2 flawless and intimidating innings), Luke Voit (a clutch triple), Giancarlo Stanton (hit a crushing 443’ homerun, like most of his standard homeruns), and Adeiny Hechavarria (who prevented a double with an outstanding line-drive catch behind his body).

The Yankees’ wild card victory advanced them to face their number one nemesis, the Boston Red Sox, for the American League Division Series.  Here we go again!

BAROMETRIC PRESSURE:

Well, we’re down to the final month of the regular 2018 baseball season.  As of today, the Yankees’ record is 86 wins & 50 losses.  They are 7 games behind the Red Sox (in the loss column).  With 26 games to go, they will be facing the Red Sox six times, including three games as their last games of the season (in Boston).  Can the Yankees sweep the Red Sox during all of those six games?  In baseball, anything that’s mathematically possible is technically, well…possible.  This season, the Red Sox have certainly been the most consistent and dominating team, with the best record in all of baseball - damn, that was hard to type!

As I pointed out in my last article, the Yankees needed to improve their team and they had accomplished that feat (by the end of the non-waiver trade deadline).  What they had not accomplished at that time was recently (2 days ago) accomplished by the end of the “waiver” trade deadline.  That’s when they attained an additional/insurance outfielder, Andrew McCutchen.  They also acquired a backup shortstop who has an awesome glove, Adeiny Hechavarria.  I have been a fan of McCutchen’s for many years.  I even watched his creative and genuine proposal to his (then) girlfriend, Maria Hansloven, on the Ellen DeGeneres Show almost 5 years ago!  He has a very respectful character and, from a baseball standpoint, is similar to Brett Gardner, offensively; but, McCutchen does hit more doubles.

Unfortunately, both of these acquisitions are here mainly because the Yankees have two injuries, Aaron Judge and Didi Gregorius.  Judge was expected to be out for 3 weeks, per the Yankees - that was July 26, which is now over 5 weeks ago.  Anyone who has experienced broken bones or chips knows that it takes at least six weeks for non-athletes.  The Yankees must have consulted the Mets’ physicians for that awful miscalculation!  Hopefully, Judge will be healthy and ready to play baseball in 2-3 weeks from now.  That will give him ample time to gain some very important live at-bats, prior to the playoffs.  As for Didi, he is expected to be back by the end of this week.  In the interim, and just in case his injury also lingers too long, Hechavarria will certainly be able to play shortstop defensively.

As the Yankees are now closing in on the finish line, can the current team (even without Aaron Judge) win the division or even go all the way to the World Series?  I must admit that even I have some doubts, not about them winning the wildcard, but about them going all the way without Judge.  His presence in the lineup adds so much value.  Let’s hope Judge comes back healthy and soon!  In the interim, somebody has to prove the Red Sox can be beaten.  The Yankees failed to do that the last round (when they were swept); but, over the next few weeks, they will get a chance for redemption and, more importantly, results.  An official Yankees’ barometer would surely help us know what is supposed to happen during this very unpredictable season.  I wish I had one!

CHECK, CHECK, CHECK, CHECK, CHECK, MISS!

Well, another non-waiver trade deadline has passed.  This year, the Yankees needed to accomplish 6 things and accomplished 5 of them.

The one thing they failed to achieve was the least of the 6 - attaining an extra outfielder with a lot of Major League experience.  That player could have acted as a backup to Aaron Judge (during his DL stint) and to play once in a while to rest the other outfielders.  It was not a major need, but such an experienced outfielder would have been nice to have on the 25-man roster.  Now, the Yankees will wait for Clint Frazier and Aaron Judge to return from the disabled list and either continue using Shane Robinson or perhaps call up someone like Ryan McBroom, an outfielder/first baseman from their minor league system.

The Yankees certainly improved their team and their future with the 5 checkpoints they “did” accomplish.  In general, they acquired a starting pitcher to potentially replace Domingo German, a starting pitcher to potentially replace Sonny Gray, a better left-handed reliever than Chasen Shreve (and as insurance with Aroldis Chapman’s lingering leg issue), a backup first baseman with some power to replace coveted Tyler Austin, and some international spending money to offer contracts to some of the young cream-of-the-crop international talent.

Through each of these recent deals, the Yankees managed to only trade away players who they would have had to protect or expose on this season’s upcoming Rule 5 Draft.  Why be vulnerable to losing them for basically nothing when you can get a lot more at this stage instead?  Brilliant planning, Brian Cashman, and thanks!

Below are the breakdowns of the multitude of transactions they’ve executed over the last 6 days:

Attained:

Closer, Zach Britton (This acquisition was my favorite this past week, so I’ve written the most about it!)

With all the homeruns being hit in this era (the Yankees may break the MLB record this year) and with all the hitters mainly focused on trying to hit those homeruns, the best type of pitcher to have for late innings is one who rarely gives up homeruns.  The Yankees acquired such a player in a lefty closer, Zach Britton.  He has a nasty sinker which produces groundball outs at a rate of approximately 80%.  While Yankee Stadium’s dimensions are ideal for the hitters they usually attain, it can also be very detrimental against them, especially if a Yankees’ pitcher is overly dependent on fastballs.  Zach is the best type of pitcher to defy short-porch homeruns. 

Additionally, his sinking motion baffles hitters and helps induce a very good number of strikeouts.  Between the strikeouts and the ground balls, the Yankees’ outfielders will be bored during his relief appearances.

He recently had Achilles heel surgery, but has shown nothing but an upside since his 2018 return.  Zach’s WHIP is certainly not awesome this year, but it’s been rapidly improving since his return from the surgery with all signs pointing towards his 2016 season -  a season in which he had one of the best seasons by anybody in baseball history!  The Yankees know Britton firsthand as he has dominated them enough, including this season.  Thankfully, he has also dominated the Boston Red Sox!   That aspect, alone, is a worthy reason to have attained him.  He’s a free agent after this season, but I’m pretty sure the Yankees (with their upcoming reset expense account) will offer him an attractive new contract shortly after this season ends.

As a closer, most of his career, Zach Britton could contingently become the Yankees’ closer if Chapman’s lingering leg injury worsens, or at least offer closing duties sporadically during an off-day for Chapman.  With Zach’s addition, the Yankees now have 4 successfully-proven closers to choose from as he, Chapman, David Robertson, and Dellin Betances have each saved large amounts of games in the majors.  Those arms, along with tough-pitching Chad Green and steadily-progressing Jonathan Holder now offers the most dominating collective bullpen in the majors - perhaps of all time!  With Zach Britton’s addition the Yankees now have the option to slam the door on any team from the 4^th inning to the 9^th!!

Traded Away:  

Minor league pitchers, Dillon Tate, Cody Carroll, and Josh Rogers

The Yankees traded him to the Baltimore Orioles for 3 young pitchers: Dillon Tate (right-handed), Cody Carroll (right-handed), and Josh Rogers (left-handed).  Carroll is the closest of the three to being ready for the majors and has some very good numbers.  Tate’s potential is there, but it’s too early to substantially determine his probable fate.  As for Rogers, I’m not a fan of his stats, thus far.

Attained:

Starting Pitcher, J.A. Happ

The Yankees have been seriously evaluating starting pitchers all season.  Over the last few weeks, one of the names that was constantly mentioned publicly was J.A. Happ.  Well, it finally “Happ”ened!  He was having a very dominating year until his last few starts for the Toronto Blue Jays.  Since all baseball players have spouts of highs and lows, I believe that the only way to truly evaluate them is to focus on the most recent season’s overall actual production numbers.  That being said, Happ should be a valuable asset to the Yankees’ starting rotation.  (He already provided them with a win this past Sunday.)

He, like Britton, is in the final year of his contract and will become a free agent after this season.  The Yankees became desperate for a starting pitcher lately, after first losing Jordan Montgomery to surgery and then getting too many poor starts from Domingo German and Sonny Gray.  Domingo has proved to still need more development and Sonny Gray has been very ineffective (although he’s shown improvement lately).  Even Luis Severino, a 2018 All-Star, has shown some concerns over his last few outings.  Other teams knew the Yankees had recently become desperate and have been asking for the Yankees to basically hand over their 2 Rookie-of-the-Year candidates (Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres) along with their whole AAA farm system!  While the Yankees did not acquire an ace starter this year, they will definitely find one over the winter.  This round, Brian Cashman showed his patience, though, and ended up making an alternative and reasonable deal with the Blue Jays to attain Happ.

Traded Away:

3B, Brandon Drury and OF, Billy McKinney

The Yankees had just acquired Drury earlier this season.  They weren’t sure if Miguel Andujar (one of their top rookies) was ready to play on their team.  It didn’t take long for Andujar to show his value.  That, with Drury’s entrance to the disabled list with chronic migraines made Drury’s career with the Yankees expendable.  I liked Drury and feel like he would have succeeded, but agree that Andujar’s early career was too much for almost anybody to make the roster as a third baseman.  As for McKinney, he was a very good defensive outfielder.  His offense was very good, but not good enough to find his way to the Yankees team any time soon.

Attained:

1B, Luke Voit & $1 Million for future international bonus pool money

Luke is similar to Tyler Austin, defensively and offensively.  The key to this deal was the international money.  Austin was probably sought by other teams and the Yankees wanted to ensure his abilities weren’t totally subtracted.  (Read below to see what the Yankees did with Austin the very next day).  As for the international pool money, the Yankees believe that this year’s crop of talent in that league offers them a few key players to draft.  They obviously realize what they’ve done with the current team and current minor league system, whereby they’ve built a strong structure in all levels.

Traded Away:

Relievers, Chasen Shreve and Giovanny Gallegos

All Yankees’ fans have had enough of Chasen Shreve this season (and last).  He did have one good season a few years ago, but he’s clearly developed into our worst bullpen pitcher.  As mentioned before, our bullpen is loaded with talent, so Schreve’s failures stand out like a sore thumb!  Giovanny wasn’t exactly impressing us, either.  Good riddance to both.

Attained:

$1 Million for future international bonus pool money from the Chicago White Sox

(already used $600,000 of those funds the next day by signing 16-year-old Cuban righty Osiel Rodriguez (international prospect #5 per Baseball America/#9 per MLB)

Traded Away:

Reliever, Caleb Frare

Caleb has had very impressive numbers for the Yankees’ AA team (Trenton Thunder).  He’s a young (25) left-handed reliever and has produced more strikeouts than innings pitched, along with less hits.  His WHIP with them was 0.966.  He is one to watch in the White Sox system. This deal is scary to me, but perhaps Osiel will turn out to be worthier in the long run.

Attained:

$1.25 million for future international bonus pool money from the Seattle Mariners

Traded Away:

Reliever, Adam Warren

I liked Warren.  He always had his best years in pinstripes.  When they traded him in 2016 to the Cubs, he didn’t do well.  Then, later that season, the Yankees traded for Warren to return to their club.  He, then, immediately returned to being a very good reliever.  He struggled a little bit this season, but mostly over his most recent outings.  With the trade of Shreve, Warren was considered the lowest asset amongst that great bullpen.  The Yankees will presumably save at least $1 million of their payroll from this trade.

Attained:

SP, Lance Lynn from the Minnesota Twins

Lynn compiled a 5.10 ERA in 20 starts this season for the Twins, but during his last 12 starts, he pitched to a 3.74 ERA.  I am not worried at all about his earlier numbers this season because he began the season late (without spring training).  That’s a big deal to any starting pitcher.  Furthermore, I always factor about 0.6 difference in ERAs between the American League (with the DH) versus the National League (without the DH).  Additionally, his numbers against the Red Sox are very good, although it’s a small sample.  Anytime you can gain an advantage over the Sawx, it’s a worthy benefit.  The Yankees and Twins reportedly will split paying the remaining $4 million that Lynn is owed this season, so the aforementioned Adam Warren trade helped offset about half of the incurred expense in this deal.

Traded Away:

1B, Tyler Austin and Reliever, Luis Rijo

Austin was a good player during his tenure on the Yankees’ 25-man roster earlier this year.  Who will ever forget his Major League debut during the 2016 season when he and Aaron Judge hit back-to-back homeruns as rookies in their very first at-bats?  As mentioned, Austin and recently acquired, Luke Voit, were very similar and it was clear that Austin’s days were numbered as soon as the Voit deal was transacted.  Rijo is only 19 years old and has just begun in the Single A level.  At this extremely early stage, he looks to be so-so; but, it’s way too early to project what kind of pitcher Rijo may become a few years from now.

WOW, that was indeed a lot to write about!!!