Greg Bird's last six games - .263/.364/.684. Maybe, just maybe, he's finally turning the corner.
Credit where it's due - I can't stand Ellsbury and wanted him banished to the moon or something months ago, but he's killing it lately. In 19 games this month, he's hitting a ridiculous .429/.543/.625. 24-56, 13 BB against only 8 Ks, 7 doubles and 3 triples. 5 steals too. Bravo to him for turning his season around in a big way, hope it continues.
The one guy who really isn't hitting lately is Castro. Hitting .184 over the past two weeks, with no XBH and only 1 walk.
RAB suggests that the lineup we've been seeing lately will be the postseason lineup.
Gardner
Judge
Sanchez
Didi
Castro
Holliday/Headley
Ellsbury
Frazier
Bird
Works for me.
Lost in the agita caused by Dellin's recent meltdowns is the fact that the rest of the pen has been lights out lately. Kahnle hasn't allowed a run in Sept. Neither has Chapman, and has struck out 13 and only walked 2 in 9 innings. Green has allowed one in 12 innings, struck out 20 and only walked one. Robertson has dominated since putting the pinstripes back on in July - 4 runs allowed in 30 innings. Hell, even Ben Heller has looked good in his recent appearances. Warren should be back soon. If he can return to form, and Betances can get his act together, that pen is bulletproof, the best in baseball.
So amazing that the Yankees have so many players with bat speed like that. Hoping Clint Frazier gets his weight shift right by some time next season, and joins the party. And then Gleyber, of course. And, remarkably, Didi has to be included.
Link - ( New Window )
Dan, what is disturbing?
Nice post - I agree with everything you said. Wasn't really bitching and perhaps disturbing was the wrong word to use. I just meant in terms of viewing ourselves as one of the most dangerous teams in the playoffs - it could happen but there are reasons to not expect another WS title this year.
Really like the direction we're going in though - and it's early too. With some more FA dollars coming available with this core of young players, we're going to be a headache for all of MLB over the next 7-8 years minimum. Excited to enjoy another Yankees dynasty which is just beginning, imo.
2017 Yanks have Judge, Sanchez, Bird, and Clint Frazier and others in the wings. It's like a dream....
Amen to that. Think about what this team has accomplished from a player development pov. We have young, and cost controlled star power at catcher, and right field. Optimism at first base with bird showing signs here. A legit do it all power hitting star at short stop. Gardner is the quintessential fan favorite and link to glory days of old and is having a great season. The bull pen is stacked and shows no signs of letting down in the near future.
And to top it all off, the best part, SEVERINO! A legit, flame throwing ace.
And more...
I know we want to win more than anything and you don't want to waste an opportunity but sometimes we need to stop and appreciate what's happening here. This has been a fantastic season for the Yanks. One to truly build on.
Now on the flip side, being so young a team, the Yanks have stayed strong down the stretch. I can't think of a player who's fading due to age the way ARod and company typically did a couple years back. Maybe Castro, but I think he's just slumping
And of course, the anything can happen in a short series theory can work for the Yanks as much as against. Imagine we steal a game 1 against Kluber or Kuechel...and it's anyone's ballgame
Either way, fun to talk about playoff chances now while looking ahead to a team ready to contend for the next 10+ years too
Pitchers 13- Betances, Chapman, Severino, Gray, Heller, Warren, Robertson, Kahnle, Green, Cessa, Montgomery, German, Tanaka* (May opt out)
Infielders 7 - Bird, Castro, Headley, Didi, Wade, Torreyes, Andujar
Outfielders 5 - Ellsbury, Gardner, Judge, Hicks, Frazier
Catchers 3- Sanchez, Romine, Higashioka
Others 12 - Cave OF, Mckinney OF/1B, Mitchell P, Cooper 1B, Estrada SS/2B, Holder RP, Gallegos RP, Rumbelow RP, Acevedo SP, Tarpley SP, Avelino SS/2B, C. Smith SP/RP
Outside of the aforementioned players, I don't see any others that are "high end types" that the Yanks are exposing to Rule 5.
Obviously FAs T. Frazier, Holiday, CC are not included in the list and may be signed post January 2018 after the Rule 5 draft.
Not a good post. You are completely diminishing the 40 man crunch by not including many players either currently on the 40 man or that have to be protected this off season. Here is a list...
--Gleyber Torres: our TOP prosoect!
--Tyler Austin: a guy that can play 1B and OF and appears major league ready as a hitter.
--Albert Abreu: one of our top starting pitching prospects, albeit still in low levels, but will 100% be protected.
--Chasen Shreve: has had his ups and downs. But a lefty reliever they don't want to give up for nothing.
--Ronald Herrera: a young righty starter on the 40 already who has done very well in AA past couple years.
--Lefty pitchers Camarena & Cortes: lefties don't grow on trees and both habe been very good in high minor levels.
--1B Mike Ford: mashed in high minor levels this year and is a on base machine.
--RP J.P. Feyereisen: relief power arm in upper levels that we got in Miller deal last year. Prob someone they don't want to lose.
Quote:
crunch for post Cashman's deals.
Pitchers 13- Betances, Chapman, Severino, Gray, Heller, Warren, Robertson, Kahnle, Green, Cessa, Montgomery, German, Tanaka* (May opt out)
Infielders 7 - Bird, Castro, Headley, Didi, Wade, Torreyes, Andujar
Outfielders 5 - Ellsbury, Gardner, Judge, Hicks, Frazier
Catchers 3- Sanchez, Romine, Higashioka
Others 12 - Cave OF, Mckinney OF/1B, Mitchell P, Cooper 1B, Estrada SS/2B, Holder RP, Gallegos RP, Rumbelow RP, Acevedo SP, Tarpley SP, Avelino SS/2B, C. Smith SP/RP
Outside of the aforementioned players, I don't see any others that are "high end types" that the Yanks are exposing to Rule 5.
Obviously FAs T. Frazier, Holiday, CC are not included in the list and may be signed post January 2018 after the Rule 5 draft.
Not a good post. You are completely diminishing the 40 man crunch by not including many players either currently on the 40 man or that have to be protected this off season. Here is a list...
--Gleyber Torres: our TOP prosoect!
--Tyler Austin: a guy that can play 1B and OF and appears major league ready as a hitter.
--Albert Abreu: one of our top starting pitching prospects, albeit still in low levels, but will 100% be protected.
--Chasen Shreve: has had his ups and downs. But a lefty reliever they don't want to give up for nothing.
--Ronald Herrera: a young righty starter on the 40 already who has done very well in AA past couple years.
--Lefty pitchers Camarena & Cortes: lefties don't grow on trees and both habe been very good in high minor levels.
--1B Mike Ford: mashed in high minor levels this year and is a on base machine.
--RP J.P. Feyereisen: relief power arm in upper levels that we got in Miller deal last year. Prob someone they don't want to lose.
Your list leaves a lot to be desired... Tyler Austin and 3 mediocre lefties. You are over hugging the prospects.
One correction, really? Your Torres inclusion error would be the ONLY reason why you made your reply in the first place.
Pitchers 13- Betances, Chapman, Severino, Gray, Heller, Warren, Robertson, Kahnle, Green, Cessa, Montgomery, German, Tanaka* (May opt out)
Infielders 7 - Bird, Castro, Headley, Didi, Wade, Torreyes, Andujar
Outfielders 5 - Ellsbury, Gardner, Judge, Hicks, Frazier
Catchers 3- Sanchez, Romine, Higashioka
Others 12 - Cave OF, Mckinney OF/1B, Mitchell P, Cooper 1B, Estrada SS/2B, Holder RP, Gallegos RP, Rumbelow RP, Acevedo SP, Tarpley SP, Avelino SS/2B, C. Smith SP/RP
Outside of the aforementioned players, I don't see any others that are "high end types" that the Yanks are exposing to Rule 5.
Obviously FAs T. Frazier, Holiday, CC are not included in the list and may be signed post January 2018 after the Rule 5 draft.
As far as the 40 man, Cash will likely trade some for lower prospects with upside to clear space. Just because we think a player is 40 man worthy doesn't mean other teams feel that way. Plus any Rule 5 picks need to remain on the other teams Major League roster for the year. There are some that may fit the bill, but not as many as we fear.
The future is bright and may be better than we realize. (Talk about optimism.)
1. Players that will be FAs at season’s end (a couple may be signed, but others will not be back):
• CC
• Holliday
• T.Fraizer
• Pineda
• Jamie Garcia
2. Players that could be traded, dropped from 40-man, or released:
• Kratz
• T. Austin
• Headley
• Ellsbury
• Gardner or Hicks
• Cessa
• C.Smith
• A.Warren
• Cooper
As you can see, the Yankees have a lot of options, and will have no problem protecting the players they most want to keep.
Not sure if serious
Gleyber replaces Headley, not Starlin
We don't have a CF to replace Gardner (Frazier and Judge aren't CFs), unless you think Hicks is better, and I'm still not sold on Hicks
Betances can still be a dominant reliever; he just had an off year. All relievers who pitch for a while have a bad year or two except for Mariano
Save money and get under the cap...
1. Gardner still has value, but IMO should be trade to make room for Frazier
2. Betances - I'm on the fence with him. They should consider trading him, but if not - when he is on, he is brutal; so it wouldn't hurt my feelings to keep him another year
3. Castro is currently one of the best (if not, the best) hitting 2B in MLB. He is still young and cheap. I think the team should keep him
Save money and get under the cap...
Frazier is not a CF, especially with Judge in RF. I'd try to find a deal to offload Ellsbury's salary now that he's reestablished some value but you need at least 4 serviceable outfielders (in this case Gardner, Hicks, Judge and Frazier). You want 2 of those 4 OF to be able to play CF
Castro is still valuable as a DH (good bat), so why should he be traded even if Andujar and Gleyber win infield jobs? He's better than Holliday and Headley at this point in their respective careers. Holliday is a FA and Headley moves to the bench/traded.
I'll repeat what I said about Betances. Unless you're Mariano Rivera, every reliever has a down year at some point in their careers. Betances' track record is dominant enough where he's a valuable asset
Castro probably sticks around another year, but I'm dreaming of a 2018 infield of Machado, Didi, Torres, Bird and Sanchez.
Dellin's an interesting one - I think they'd move him in the right deal, but won't actively shop him.
They'll try to move Ellsbury before Gardner, but that's a tall order. I'm not sure they're ready to just pencil Clint in as an everyday player. A little rough around the edges still, and they'll have World Series aspirations next season.
Gardner: 1 year left @ $11.5M/yr with a $2M buyout in 2019. Gardner is also 34 next year. You actually don't need to trade Gardner at all because the spot naturally opens up for Frazier in 2019. Additionally, Gardner's production is great for that contract
Quote:
very serious...we have cheaper replacements so trade them!
Gleyber replaces Headley, not Starlin
We don't have a CF to replace Gardner (Frazier and Judge aren't CFs), unless you think Hicks is better, and I'm still not sold on Hicks
Betances can still be a dominant reliever; he just had an off year. All relievers who pitch for a while have a bad year or two except for Mariano
Actually, some of this is wrong.
Andujar will likely replace Headley- possibly right out of spring training. Headley is more likely to be the Yanks DH/backup 1B and 3B. The only question for Andujar is whether the Yanks believe his glove is ready- scouts appear to think he is.
Torres isn't likely to join the Yanks out of spring training for two reasons- one, he will likely need a few weeks of ABs to knock the rust off, but more importantly, two- by keeping him in the minors for the first three weeks of the season or so, the Yanks can delay his FA eligibility by a year- thus getting essentially 7 years of control, not 6.
Torres is also MUCH more likely to replace Castro, who probably should be dealt this off-season. Castro is demonstrating who he really is- a guy who can't stop chasing breaking pitches down and away from him- even though he has zero chance of hitting them- even after being in the bigs for 7 years.
Betances is probably the Yanks most tradeable asset. He is still under team control for 2 years- but is no longer a unique guy in the Yanks pen. The return on controllable closers has been huge is recent years- the Yanks best chance to get value for him is now.
If the Yanks wanted to get creative, they could shop Betances with Ellsbury- and tell teams that if they want Betances, they have to take on most or all of Ellsbury's deal- as well as deal a nice prospect. Betances' value MIGHT be that high, as most teams simply do not have a late inning weapon like him.
1. You can't trade Ellsbury/nobody wants to take on a piece of his salary
2. Someone is giving you a starting rotation or bullpen piece that you think puts you over the top and trading Gardner doesn't offset the gain you make by adding that piece
Quote:
In comment 13611055 blue2 said:
Quote:
very serious...we have cheaper replacements so trade them!
Gleyber replaces Headley, not Starlin
We don't have a CF to replace Gardner (Frazier and Judge aren't CFs), unless you think Hicks is better, and I'm still not sold on Hicks
Betances can still be a dominant reliever; he just had an off year. All relievers who pitch for a while have a bad year or two except for Mariano
Actually, some of this is wrong.
Andujar will likely replace Headley- possibly right out of spring training. Headley is more likely to be the Yanks DH/backup 1B and 3B. The only question for Andujar is whether the Yanks believe his glove is ready- scouts appear to think he is.
Torres isn't likely to join the Yanks out of spring training for two reasons- one, he will likely need a few weeks of ABs to knock the rust off, but more importantly, two- by keeping him in the minors for the first three weeks of the season or so, the Yanks can delay his FA eligibility by a year- thus getting essentially 7 years of control, not 6.
Torres is also MUCH more likely to replace Castro, who probably should be dealt this off-season. Castro is demonstrating who he really is- a guy who can't stop chasing breaking pitches down and away from him- even though he has zero chance of hitting them- even after being in the bigs for 7 years.
Betances is probably the Yanks most tradeable asset. He is still under team control for 2 years- but is no longer a unique guy in the Yanks pen. The return on controllable closers has been huge is recent years- the Yanks best chance to get value for him is now.
If the Yanks wanted to get creative, they could shop Betances with Ellsbury- and tell teams that if they want Betances, they have to take on most or all of Ellsbury's deal- as well as deal a nice prospect. Betances' value MIGHT be that high, as most teams simply do not have a late inning weapon like him.
Assuming this is true--Andujar replaces Headley at 3B and Gleyber replaces Castro as 2B. Castro becomes a pretty nice DH. He'd be the best bat on the team without a regular position. He's certainly better than Holliday or Headley as an offensive player. Headley goes into that backup corner infield role and could play some first when Bird needs time off/inevitably gets hurt.
That Betances-Ellsbury combo trade is interesting and possibly doable, but I'd only do that if there's no way to trade Ellsbury by himself and you have another nice bullpen arm coming up
Quote:
In comment 13611062 dpinzow said:
Quote:
In comment 13611055 blue2 said:
Quote:
very serious...we have cheaper replacements so trade them!
Gleyber replaces Headley, not Starlin
We don't have a CF to replace Gardner (Frazier and Judge aren't CFs), unless you think Hicks is better, and I'm still not sold on Hicks
Betances can still be a dominant reliever; he just had an off year. All relievers who pitch for a while have a bad year or two except for Mariano
Actually, some of this is wrong.
Andujar will likely replace Headley- possibly right out of spring training. Headley is more likely to be the Yanks DH/backup 1B and 3B. The only question for Andujar is whether the Yanks believe his glove is ready- scouts appear to think he is.
Torres isn't likely to join the Yanks out of spring training for two reasons- one, he will likely need a few weeks of ABs to knock the rust off, but more importantly, two- by keeping him in the minors for the first three weeks of the season or so, the Yanks can delay his FA eligibility by a year- thus getting essentially 7 years of control, not 6.
Torres is also MUCH more likely to replace Castro, who probably should be dealt this off-season. Castro is demonstrating who he really is- a guy who can't stop chasing breaking pitches down and away from him- even though he has zero chance of hitting them- even after being in the bigs for 7 years.
Betances is probably the Yanks most tradeable asset. He is still under team control for 2 years- but is no longer a unique guy in the Yanks pen. The return on controllable closers has been huge is recent years- the Yanks best chance to get value for him is now.
If the Yanks wanted to get creative, they could shop Betances with Ellsbury- and tell teams that if they want Betances, they have to take on most or all of Ellsbury's deal- as well as deal a nice prospect. Betances' value MIGHT be that high, as most teams simply do not have a late inning weapon like him.
Assuming this is true--Andujar replaces Headley at 3B and Gleyber replaces Castro as 2B. Castro becomes a pretty nice DH. He'd be the best bat on the team without a regular position. He's certainly better than Holliday or Headley as an offensive player. Headley goes into that backup corner infield role and could play some first when Bird needs time off/inevitably gets hurt.
That Betances-Ellsbury combo trade is interesting and possibly doable, but I'd only do that if there's no way to trade Ellsbury by himself and you have another nice bullpen arm coming up
Judge called the turnaround “part of the ups and downs of a baseball season,” but there could be another factor.
For weeks, Judge walked around the Yankees’ clubhouse with a giant ice pack wrapped around his left shoulder after games.
The 25-year-old is not one to discuss injuries, but the shoulder ailment likely can be traced to him flipping over the wall down the right-field line at Fenway Park in April. Since then, the ice pack was an occasional — and sometimes frequent — sight. Recently, there’s been no sign of the ice pack.
Judge, being Judge, won't comment, but not commenting also includes not denying. The circumstantial evidence isn't bad, given that his resurgence coincided with the disappearance of the ice packs. What if the reason he stopped going to the opposite field was because he was stiff, or protecting a sore shoulder?
A scary thought for the rest of the league, if true.
Link - ( New Window )
Broke your heart, didn't it....
Geez...hasn't done stupid stuff in a while...
Ump is squeezing Tanaka on 3 or 4 pitches already.
Still the ump is squeezing him on a lot of pitches that Estrada is getting.
Thanks, bc
I despise that sonofabitch
and the Twins won, which in the scheme of things may be good. They're now up 3.5 on the Angels and Rangers, while 5.5 behind us, so it seems like the battle lines are being drawn - absent surprises, the Bosox will take the division, we'll be WC 1 and the Twins will be WC 2.