Good morning all. Last season really put a damper on enthusiasm, hasn't it? No threads on ST or Yankees baseball. Even the addition of Juan Soto isn't enough to bring out the "faithful".
With pitchers and catchers reporting, I thought someone would have started a thread. With all this lack of talk, I suppose, most of you are not really expecting much this year. I know I am a bit disappointed with the offseason. Seems like pitching will be Gerrit Cole and some others. BP has a few arms and at least the team seems to find effective pitchers out of the pen.
As much as I love Nestor, I think adding that 3 or 4 mph really stresses his arm and he has trouble staying in the rotation. Schmidt was actually improving through the year and seems to be a reliable 4 or 5. Rodon, meh. Stroman - I liked him a few years back, but is he anything more than a 3 or 4 at this point? Anybody else you want to see from the Minors that could make the lineup?
Anyway, let's get the ball rolling on where we see them going this year. Have to believe Baltimore is still top of AL East with the Blue Jays not far behind.
Our rotation is sketchy after Cole. Adding Snell or Monty would be nice.
Our rotation is sketchy after Cole. Adding Snell or Monty would be nice.
Exactly the way I feel. Would have loved to have signed Snell.
Scott Boras is his agent. He’s hitting free agency
whether or not their 2nd year shortstop can cut down on his Ks and put the ball in play more often. I'll definitely take fewer taters if he would just stop all the upper cuts and square the bat on the ball more often. He could become a fantastic catalyst with higher OBP.
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But was there a known attempt at trying to sign Soto long term? Definitely get this feeling that he won't be here for the long haul. Hope I'm wrong.
Scott Boras is his agent. He’s hitting free agency
Ah certainly makes sense.
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But was there a known attempt at trying to sign Soto long term? Definitely get this feeling that he won't be here for the long haul. Hope I'm wrong.
Scott Boras is his agent. He’s hitting free agency
Or he will wait until late in the season or shortly thereafter. But I believe the word was he would not entertain extensions this year.
I have my doubts.
Nester is in a similar situation, I can see a bounce back year for him and Stroman is a very solid middle of the rotation starter.
The Yankees have young guys that can improve too in Volpe, wells and dominguez. I get that yankee fans are used to being the favorite all the time, but I wouldn't sleep on them.
Nester is in a similar situation, I can see a bounce back year for him and Stroman is a very solid middle of the rotation starter.
The Yankees have young guys that can improve too in Volpe, wells and dominguez. I get that yankee fans are used to being the favorite all the time, but I wouldn't sleep on them.
I’ll second this. Development of the young is critical, can’t have Volpe batting in the low 2’s. DJ and Riz have to have at least an average year. Boone also needs to step up his game and figure out what is going to make this time play hard and win. Will he push the right buttons?
I am not to worried about catcher. Trevino should be back and I thought Wells played well. Yes production won't be great at the plate, but there are just not many above average batting catchers.
I just do not have a big concern with Judge in CF.
Funny, but when was the last time the Yanks had a VG LF? I suppose Verdugo will be there.
This is kinda where I land.
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They won 82 last year. I have my gripes about the offseason but they should be a 90+ win team. They will have one of the very best OBP guys in baseball hitting in front of the most destructive hitter in baseball.
This is kinda where I land.
Yes, I am in the same boat. Soto is a perfect fit for us. Low K rate, high walk rate. That was a much needed addition to the core of the lineup and he is still young. Id have ZERO problem giving him 500m+ this offseason and personally, I think the yankees feel the same way.
As for pitching, we needed a starter. My only gripe was burnes, i think that was a missed opportunity by cashman...even though it would be a rental(potential to sign), it would have been a good move and re-evaluate him and soto in offseason. They made an offer to snell which he turned down (foolishly) and is now unsigned. I fully expect the yanks to circle back on this once snells requests has come back down to earth. He isnt a length guy so it adds some bullpen tax, but he is a very solid pitcher and with some strong run support, he can win a ton of games. Still think he can be a yankee here and that should do wonders for rotation. As others have mentioned, if Rodon returns to form and we get something out of nestor, the staff will be fine but lot of IFs there so adding snell is nice insurance. A rotation of
cole
snell
rodon(returned to form)
cortes
stroman
well... thats pretty nasty.
Def some question marks on the young guys but overall I dont think this team is in bad shape. as mentioned, last year was a disaster(bad breaks, injuries, etc) and they still won 82 games.
Excited for opening day!
Orioles-Kyle Bradish has ucl sprain, John Means is a month behind in his recovery and Gunnar Henderson has oblique soreness.
Puts into perspective that the Yankees had pretty good health coming into camp if Effross and Trevino are really the only ones with injuries
Happens to other teams too
Take an honest assessment of the off-season. No AL East team improved their offense more than the Yanks. Soto alone is 5+ WAR easy.
Volpe may have had a poor year- but that happened to him when he got drafted too. He spent the off-season re-working everything and turned in a monster season. That was reportedly his off-season plan- if he's done it once, he can do it again.
A new hitting coach who is focused on pole-to-pole hitting rather than launch angle helps the whole offense.
Rizzo reportedly is recovered from the concussion that was missed. People forget that he was a .300 hitter with his power returned when he suffered the concussion. The bad stats came when he tried to push through it for 2 months. He might not hit .300 again, but he will be vastly improved (let's say .260 with 30 HR) if he avoids another concussion.
The SP should be better with Stroman's addition. I find it humorous that so many are convinced that Rodon is terrible. He had a bad season- but it stemmed from a forearm injury in ST. I doubt he was ever fully healthy last season, but he pitched because he needed to. Same with Cortes. People are acting like he's never been a SP- he was a SP all through the minors and for the past three years- he might not have reached more than 160 IP in a year- but then again, teams are moving away from that model.
This is a contender people. A real WS contender.
Cashman is squandering resources faster than a jackrabbit running for its life from a wildcat.
His team composition leaves a lot to be desired. When you are depending on player after player, particularly older guys, to bounce back from injuries and sub-standard seasons, and picking up player after player who has failed to cut the mustard elsewhere, and going without sufficient back-up at important positions, you are simply asking for trouble.
Plus all the anal-ytics in the world don't mean shit if you don't draw the correct conclusions, which the Highlanders obviously aren't.
Boone is a poor field manager, particularly when it comes to handling his bull pen. He does a great job of standing up for his players, but his annual destruction of his bull pen far outweighs that.
Levine is complicit in the failures because he won't stand up for what needs to be done - firing Cashman and Boone.
So, I expect another 3rd or 4th place finish and no playoffs again this season.
CAREER.
Career OPS over 1.0 against righties. CAREER.
The Yankees will have two Judge-caliber offensive machines going 2 - 3.
He plays everyday.
Let's enjoy this year and then go from there.
CAREER.
Career OPS over 1.0 against righties. CAREER.
The Yankees will have two Judge-caliber offensive machines going 2 - 3.
He plays everyday.
Let's enjoy this year and then go from there.
Looking forward to see Soto and Judge together. Hoping that Stanton's weight loss has helped him get his muscles loosened.
Yes, when healthy Rodon is really a goo pitcher. Supposedly he lost weight also.
And yes, the return of Rizzo to playing is a huge upgrade. I'd bet his absence cost them 6 or 7 wins minimum.
Yes my enthusiasm is down and a lot may need to be reconstructed before this team can be a real contender that get past the Stros. But I'll watch as always.
And again, that is next year. Enjoy the moment. Or at least try.
Yanks would have won 90+ if Judge isn't out for nearly half the season. They will win 95-100 if both Soto and Judge play 80% of the season. Last year was weird. Fans that hate Cashman and Boone will insist that the chicken finally came home to roost but that's bologna. They were simply besieged with an absurd number of injuries to their best players. It won't happen again.
Other than about 6-7- huge differences from last season, nothing has changed.
Hopefully something will be different with him this year, but you know what they say about doing things over and over and expecting different results.
That said, good points are made above on the optimistic side.
Hopefully something will be different with him this year, but you know what they say about doing things over and over and expecting different results.
That said, good points are made above on the optimistic side.
It's almost a guarantee that Stanton will end up on the injury at some point this season. Even if he get's off to a good start injuries will derail his season as always.
Hopefully something will be different with him this year, but you know what they say about doing things over and over and expecting different results.
I don't agree that the Yankees are doing the same thing over again because they have been clearly reducing his role and importance over the last two seasons. A few seasons ago, Staton was the main Judge protection in the lineup. Then the team brought in Rizzo for that role. Now they have added Soto. I mean at this point, it doesn't matter if the injury results are the same since there is a more diverse offense around Judge
Take an honest assessment of the off-season. No AL East team improved their offense more than the Yanks. Soto alone is 5+ WAR easy.
Volpe may have had a poor year- but that happened to him when he got drafted too. He spent the off-season re-working everything and turned in a monster season. That was reportedly his off-season plan- if he's done it once, he can do it again.
A new hitting coach who is focused on pole-to-pole hitting rather than launch angle helps the whole offense.
Rizzo reportedly is recovered from the concussion that was missed. People forget that he was a .300 hitter with his power returned when he suffered the concussion. The bad stats came when he tried to push through it for 2 months. He might not hit .300 again, but he will be vastly improved (let's say .260 with 30 HR) if he avoids another concussion.
The SP should be better with Stroman's addition. I find it humorous that so many are convinced that Rodon is terrible. He had a bad season- but it stemmed from a forearm injury in ST. I doubt he was ever fully healthy last season, but he pitched because he needed to. Same with Cortes. People are acting like he's never been a SP- he was a SP all through the minors and for the past three years- he might not have reached more than 160 IP in a year- but then again, teams are moving away from that model.
This is a contender people. A real WS contender.
Thank you Rich, for being the of the few informed, smart Yankee fans on this board.
Link - ( New Window )
Rizzo, DJL and Stanton are all a year older at an age where getting a year older is not a good thing in the history of baseball.
And they may be three of the top five Yank hitters on Opening Day, if Torres gets shuffled down to sixth.
The true hope for this team is in the youth: that Volpe, Dominguez, Wells and Jones pan out, in substantial part if not entirety.
Back in December there was some discussion about how high the Yanks really were on Jones. I mentioned that Damon Oppenheimer had just raved about him and doubted they would trade him. That turned out to be true. They wouldn't put him in the deal for Corbin Burnes.
Hope that belief is justified.
Noticed that you posted all your insights on how this will be a good year....oh wait, you didn't. Got nothing to offer - STFU.
I'm not sold on DJ as a leadoff hitter any more - too slow. If Volpe can increase his OBP, I'd like to see him there.
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3rd. Boone loves his lefty righty switch, so maybe DJ-Soto-Judge-Rizzo to start.
I'm not sold on DJ as a leadoff hitter any more - too slow. If Volpe can increase his OBP, I'd like to see him there.
Maybe down the road, but not until Volpe can consistently show high OBP. I think the goal is to make Volpe leadoff long term, but until he shows that his focus has shifted to OBP not HR.
Long term, this is going to be the most competitive division in baseball. The O's have a ridiculously good young team with a new owner, and the Red Sox will have a new owner soon enough.
I'm more concerned about the Yankees' viability in the next 5+ years with Hal getting outspent and outsmarted by our division rivals.
There are reports that Edward Cabrera could be moved. After Peraza gets 2 hits this spring, Cashman should be packing for Torres. I don’t know if they intend on signing Soto, Cashman did refer to Soto’s contract as potentially an one year situation, but that’s however many gazillion there. You have Peraza, Durbin, Serna, Arias coming up the middle now and soon. Why are you still holding onto Torres and looking to sign a pitcher? Sure, I’d take Snell for 6/150 too, but that’d lead to a payroll upwards of 350M.
I guess there is a chance that they are really going all in this year, then letting Torres and Soto walk. Judge and Cole deserve a real chance at a ring.
The Athletic article on Rodon - ( New Window )
While the writer didn’t get into depth, the article at least implies if not states that the Yanks used both analytics (review of the correct arm angle to throw from) and physio therapy (strengthening specific muscle groups to support the whole arm). Interesting stuff.
Will it help him hold up? We’ll see- but the fact that he isn’t scared to let it go anymore might be a hint.
Cortes shoulder health - ( New Window )
There are reports that Edward Cabrera could be moved. After Peraza gets 2 hits this spring, Cashman should be packing for Torres. I don’t know if they intend on signing Soto, Cashman did refer to Soto’s contract as potentially an one year situation, but that’s however many gazillion there. You have Peraza, Durbin, Serna, Arias coming up the middle now and soon. Why are you still holding onto Torres and looking to sign a pitcher? Sure, I’d take Snell for 6/150 too, but that’d lead to a payroll upwards of 350M.
I guess there is a chance that they are really going all in this year, then letting Torres and Soto walk. Judge and Cole deserve a real chance at a ring.
I think that what Cashman actually said was misreported.
What he actually said is that the Yanks are unlikely to EXTEND Torres or Soto during the season. That really is not a story- Soto is a Boras client and Boras strongly encourages star players to go to FA to get the best deal possible.
I have my own personal doubts that Torres will be re-signed, so his value is at its peak right now because if he is traded before the start of the season, the team acquiring him can give him a tender offer and get a draft pick when he signs elsewhere. If traded in-season, they cannot make a tender offer.
I agree with moving Torres now- sure that’s a lot of proven ABs out of the lineup- but all indications are that he will be batting no higher than 5th in the lineup and maybe not even that high. Perhaps the Yanks can get a nice back of the rotation SP or a couple decent prospects for him.
IMO, the Yanks need to start transitioning to a younger more athletic team- Torres is a nice hitter, but is frustrating on defense and offers little athletically.
Lots of quotes and feedback from Cole- who is VERY high on Stroman. He did reference Stroman’s ground ball tendencies. I wonder if the Yanks don’t trade Torres whether he will sit when Stroman pitches to get better INF defense out there (like Peraza).
One item I didn’t see reported elsewhere is that the article makes the claim that Jordan Hicks almost signed with the Yanks before he went to SF. Interesting, but I would not have been happy with that signing even as a reliever- walks a LOT of batters.
The Gil write-up is also encouraging. Having 3 effective pitches instead of being yet another FB/slider guy bound for the pen is good news, if it holds up in game action.
Lots to discuss from the articles today. Let’s see if we can have more discussion than a Mets thread for once.
More on Yanks pitching - ( New Window )
Not much gonna happen in Tampa this weekend. Been raining since before 10 am this morning and will last through all day tomorrow.