NFT: Will Yanks hold off A's for first WC?

The A's schedule till the end of the year is a cakewalk. Meanwhile we have to play Boston and Tampa Bay. At this point we better pray that the A's win the west. I'd rather face Verlander in Houston than the A's pitching. If they can keep it close I'd rather face Houston's bullpen than the A's

if they can't beat Detroit the White Sox and the Twins? It's possible they can get hot again but right now they're dead team walking.

and flip it

It’s been such a bizarre season. Last year the Yanks finished 91-71, 2 games back of Boston in the east and 6 ahead of Minnesota in the wild card game...and we were all over the moon about how the rebuild was way ahead of schedule.

This year the Yanks are 90-56 with 16 games left, but of course 10 back of Boston and only 1 ahead of the As for wild card home game, and it’s felt like a strangely crappy season in so many ways.

Yanks obviously decided to hold the line on spending to get under the luxury tax threshold, and refused to part with our top prospects at the deadline.

Those decisions probably end up keeping the Yanks from getting over the top this year, unless they figure out how to get hot in the playoffs, but they weren’t necessarily bad decisions. I’m glad we didn’t trade the likes of Torres, Andujar, and Sheffield to try and win one World Series this year.

I don't think so - I think we're going to be playing this game on the road. Almost hard to believe, but it is what it is.

Most important thing right now is to get 99 and 54 healthy and back in the fold and just hope we can get hot at the right time.

They added Stanton...it was a $25 million add to payroll just this year. And added Britton and Happ... it's not like they sat on their hands.

Yanks have as good a shot at a ring this year as anyone, in fact, better than most playoff teams.

Not so sure about that, if they can hurt the Yankees in any way I am sure they will try.

what matters is that they figure out how to play their best before the WC. Watching them sleepwalk over the past few weeks has been brutal.

In comment 14073874 allstarjim said:

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They added Stanton...it was a $25 million add to payroll just this year. And added Britton and Happ... it's not like they sat on their hands. Yanks have as good a shot at a ring this year as anyone, in fact, better than most playoff teams.

As good a shot as the Red Sox, A's or Astros? Really? Not from what I have seen for the last two months. Momentum is working against the Yankees at this point.

As it does the Yanks of losing that contest. It’ll be fascinating to see how Cashman responds in the offseason.

In comment 14073851 arniefez said:

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if they can't beat Detroit the White Sox and the Twins? It's possible they can get hot again but right now they're dead team walking.

Sadly this is true. They’ve shown no signs of re-peaking and the season is drawing pretty close to a close. The ace is tired or hurt or whatever, but he’s not an ace right now and that’s going to be monumental to overcome. A victory in the WC round is going to have to be considered a pretty significant success based on how this second half has played out.

Has everything to do with Judge missing two months, Sanchez having a nightmare season, Bird having a nightmare season, Severino having a nightmare 2nd half and for me although I know this won't be popular Torres having a nightmare second half especially at 2B. Those guys are supposed to the foundation for the next run. Hopefully next year is better for the ones that are still Yankees in 2019.

put us in this bind. However, this has been a 500 team since July 1st. Based on how the first half of the season went the 2nd half has been a huge disappointment. The one question I have is how come I haven't heard anyone calling for Marcus Thames head? This team has been an abysmal impersonation of a team that hits for more than two months. That has to fall on somebody.

the Yanks don't regain their mojo

You're our only hope.

Help us Aaron Judge Kenobi........
You're our only hope.

a really interesting off season should they lose that wild card game. Will Rothschild / Thames be the sacrificial lambs? Will Cashman finally feel some heat? Lots of pressure on Cash and Boone next year.

In comment 14073950 arniefez said:

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Has everything to do with Judge missing two months, Sanchez having a nightmare season, Bird having a nightmare season, Severino having a nightmare 2nd half and for me although I know this won't be popular Torres having a nightmare second half especially at 2B. Those guys are supposed to the foundation for the next run. Hopefully next year is better for the ones that are still Yankees in 2019.

All true. For a variety of reasons, Judge, Stanton, Sanchez and Bird are at a combined 86 HR for the season with essentially 2 weeks left.

While not bad, I think all of us would have put the over/under for the 4 of them at about 120 and taken the over.

And that’s not fully describing how terrible Bird and Sanchez have been at the plate most of the season. Both with OPS below .700. Yikes.

- Tanaka has a 2.54 ERA in his last dozen starts and has been great in the postseason (if he's the choice for the WC game)
- Happ has a 1.90 ERA outside of one bad game against Detroit.
- Betances has still been wonderful for 3 months.

Other than that...

They are done. What a gutless team.

In comment 14074126 Giant John said:

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They are done. What a gutless team.

This..... THUD!!!!

They are in a free fall, it goes to show all of you guys that complained about Girardi and Torre what a bad manager can do to a team. If Cashman keeps his puppet next year then I have serious reservations about Cashman as well. They have fucked this up but good.

Right now..so what does it matter

In comment 14073874 allstarjim said:

Quote:

They added Stanton...it was a $25 million add to payroll just this year. And added Britton and Happ... it's not like they sat on their hands. Yanks have as good a shot at a ring this year as anyone, in fact, better than most playoff teams.

And they added mccutchen on the last day of August they did more then any of the other contending teams have in terms of adding players.