SU says check out this piece by Andrew Marchand from espn.com on the baby Yankees in the pipeline.  True, as he says, they could all fall flat but for the first time in a long time in Yankeeland, there is real hope on the way.

“The New York Yankees could be rolling out a long run of Rookie of the Year contenders. It might become an annual event.

Before you bookmark this page for future trolling, allow me a quick caveat: Nobody knows how good any player in the Yankees’ fine crop of minor league talent will become. There might be more Ruben Riveras than Mariano Riveras.

Still, with manager Joe Girardi’s giddy speculation that this collection could be more talented than the early to mid-‘90s group that resulted in the Core Four plus Bernie Williams, there is a feeling the franchise might have something special going on.

Last year, catcher Gary Sanchez was the runner-up for the Rookie of the Year Award largely because he didn’t spend enough time in the majors. Aaron Judge, newly minted as the team’s starting right fielder, is next up. He begins the season as the Yankees’ top rookie. But he’s not alone; a progression of talent is set to follow him.

Next year, shortstop Gleyber Torres could be the man. In 2019, it might be left-hander Justus Sheffield. In 2020, it could be outfielder Blake Rutherford. And it goes on.

These young guys might push themselves to the majors earlier than that and compete with each other for the rookie award. The Yankees also have guys such as Clint Frazier, Jorge Mateo, Chance Adams, Jordan Montgomery and Tyler Wade fighting for their turn.

To repeat, there are no guarantees. Judge struck out 42 times in 84 at-bats last year, which is beyond awful. If you say he’ll be back at Triple-A by the end of April, it wouldn’t shock me. Judge, though, is an interesting case for Rookie of the Year — because if he is pretty good, he is going to be a huge star. He is 6-foot-7 and 275 pounds. He is built like a professional wrestler or a defensive lineman. He comes across as polite, which, if he performs, will allow his size to be his defining quality.

If he doesn’t perform at the big league level and Frazier rips it up at Triple-A, then the redhead with “legendary bat speed,” according to GM Brian Cashman, could get a shot instead. Of course, both would have to compete with this year’s AL Rookie of the Year favorite — Boston Red Sox left fielder Andrew Benintendi.

Torres could move his timetable up, too. Even with the injury to Didi Gregorius, Torres never had a legitimate shot to the make the big league club out of camp. The Yankees want to do everything right with their 20-year-old gem, which means not rushing him from Single-A to the majors. He will begin this season at Double-A Trenton, his first experience playing in the cold. If he masters Double-A and Triple-A, he could be in the Bronx at some point this season, playing anywhere in the infield other than first base.

First base is held by Greg Bird, who would be yet another ROY candidate if he hadn’t made such a nice debut in 2015, hitting 11 homers in 157 at-bats and posting an .871 OPS. Bird looks like a budding star. He and Sanchez will bat No. 2 and No. 3 in the Yankees’ batting order.

It’s an impressive group, and a deep one. That is why Judge might be the Yankees’ latest Rookie of the Year candidate, but he’s almost certainly not the last.”

For those tennis fans out there, SU watched two of the top up and coming stars on the men’s side last night down in Miami: Nick Kyrgios (21 years old) and Alex Zverev who is 19.  Kyrgios, who’s mental age is probably about 14, has moved up a level and faces Federer tonight in the semis down there.  They pounded each other for 2 and a half hours last night in high quality tennis featuring 130 – 140 mph serves and some wild points.  Kyrgios is on the cusp now and he seems to be having fewer of the mental meltdown moments this year.  There are now several men in their early 20s ready to ensure a nice transition from the Big Four to Gen Next.  Murray and Djokovic are breaking down now physically from having played too many 5-hour plus matches in the Grand Slams.  If you watch Federer now, he is so smart: stands on the baseline to return serve and is charging the net whenever he can to shorten points.  At 35, he knows that’s how he has to play to win and he is having a great 2017.  SU says it’s good stuff.  Time to make sure you have the Tennis Channel on your cable package.

SU fearless MLB predictions coming this weekend.  For those of you keeping score at home, SU’s predictions over the years in baseball have been pretty good if I do say so myself.  Be sure to check them out and then weigh in with your picks.

SU is not happy.  The Yankees have announced that Ronald Torreyes will be the starting shortstop while Didi Gregorius is out.  That is actually ok as Torreyes paid his dues last year as the utility infielder and is only 24 years old.  But they had the chance to slot in Tyler Wade, a 22-year old prospect, to be the back up and even split time with Torreyes.  After all, Wade has hit .357 in spring training but alas, that was not good enough.  They have decided to have Pete Kozma be the back up.  Kozma was released by the Cardinals last year – great field no hit kind of player and older.

SU says you are at best going to win 81 games this year.  The Didi injury was a bummer so why not give Wade some of the at bats?  He can also play all of the infield positions and some outfield.  It’s fine to have a blend of young and veteran but this was an opportunity and SU hates the decision.  Once the season starts, Ellsbury and Headley will get 2 months to be up and running and will get the lion share of those at bats for their positions.  I am ready to get excited this year if they play the youngsters.  But Cashman has to be more aggressive – especially as so many of these kids had great spring trainings.  In a word: annoying.

The Mets luck out with Famillia only getting a 15-game suspension.  Given that Chapman got 2 months last year, that has to be seen as a win.

SU caught a little of the women’s college hoops regionals last Sunday.  The last 5-6 minutes between Notre Dame and Stanford was so well played.  Each team seemed to score on every possession down the stretch.  Outside of UConn, I rarely watch the women but this was high quality.  It’s unfortunate that the regional finals were played before sparse crowds aside from the sellout in Bridgeport for UConn.  ESPN won’t show the crowd but when someone is shooting foul shots, you can see all of the empty seats behind the baskets.  Too bad.

As SU’s NCAA bracket goes through its annual crash and burn phase (see Arizona losing to Xavier), I did want to comment on Michigan’s late season run which ended last night in its loss to Oregon.  It was a choppy game and Michigan’s offense was definitely not in synch – in large part to Oregon’s defense.  But despite everything, their best player had an open look to win it at the buzzer but his shot fell short and that’s that.

But for SU, I will remember these last 2 weeks for a long time as well as the whole season.  This was not a great team and there were many games in the first 2/3 of the season that were borderline unwatchable.  You have to give credit to John Beilein for righting the ship and getting his players to all be on the same page and play selflessly down the stretch.  The Big Ten Tournament was great – 4 games in 4 days and SU still believes that teams that win their conference tournaments pay the price down the road with fatigue in the NCAAs.  I really enjoyed watching these games and will miss Derrick Walton, Jr.  He has a shot to play in the NBA but he will never be in a situation like he had in college.  The more I watch the college game, it just highlights how selfish the pro game is and how for most teams (not all), one player’s success comes at the expense of a teammate.  That sense of pulling for each other, not worrying about who gets what points as long as we win – well, outside of Golden State and San Antonio, not sure I see that anywhere else.  SU says that’s why the one and done players ought to stay in school a little longer to at least, maybe, experience a real sense of team.  Anyway, while I am very disappointed – “SAD!” – this was a great stretch run.

Did anyone catch the end of the West Virginia – Gonzaga game?  I have seen 6th grade boys rec basketball teams execute better than Coach Bob Huggins’ Mountaineers.  Down 3 with about 35 seconds left, one player and I mean one player dribbles the ball, shoots a terrible 3, gets the ball back on an offensive rebound, throws up another terrible 3, gets the ball back again on an offensive rebound, and then dribbles down the clock to shoot again, can’t get it off, tries to pass and the clock expires.  First of all, they didn’t need to shoot a 3, second, you do have teammates, and third, why doesn’t West Virginia ever recruit guys who can actually shoot?

Kansas is peaking now.  They will roll over Oregon who isn’t that good.  Gonzaga has escaped its last 2 games but all you have to do is advance.  No style points here.

It looks like Yankees’ starting shortstop, Didi Gregorius, will be out at least 6 weeks and possibly 1/4 of the season with a shoulder injury.  He was a consistently good hitter last season and made up for the lack of offense from several of the more veteran Yankee regulars.  Clearly not the news Yankee fans want to hear.  But SU says maybe something positive will come out of this.

For example, the Yankees just sent down 20-year old Gleyber Torres to their Class AA Trenton Club.  After all, he had only hit .444 in spring training with some power.  The betting is that he will only spend a short time in Trenton and then get elevated to Scranton.  Assuming he has success, SU says bring him up to the parent Club as soon as possible and let him cut his teeth up here.  By then, Didi will be back in the line up and Chase Headley can then have some competition for at bats at 3rd base.

The injury also creates an opportunity for Rob Refsnyder who has made the least of them over the last couple of years.  He has not shined in spring training and rumor is that he is on the trading block.

Meanwhile, Greg Bird has been named the starting first baseman and promptly went out and hit his 5th and 6th home runs of the spring season today.  The dude is hitting over .400.  Contrast that with Chris Carter who was 0 for 3 today with 3 strikeouts and has a spring training average of .108 with 4 hits and 20 strikeouts.  I know.  Shocking!  Who would have thought that when they signed him?  SU says it’s time to go all in on the youngsters.  Someone will take Headley in a trade and you can bat Ellsbury 10th or 11th in the lineup.  80 wins will be a real success this season.  Don’t be like the Knicks.  Go young in a big way and the fans will get behind the team.  The Carter signing was stupid.  Matt Holliday has had a good spring and if he can be somewhat productive, that’s fine.  I know some question Bird’s upside (see frequent SU commenter S. Goldman), but remember that Don Mattingly didn’t have great power numbers in the minors either.  Bird is the real deal and should play every day – no platoon needed.

SU has zero interest in watching the veterans anymore and that includes Brett Gardner. They are not interesting.  SU is afraid that Girardi will rely on his veterans come April and the hot hitting youngsters will find their way to the minors or to the bench.   Time will tell.

As many in the SU intergalactic subscriber base are aware, SU is all in on Michigan football and basketball.  I watch just about all the games and really enjoy how Coach John Beilein runs his program.  He plays a motion offense, emphasizes team ball, yells but doesn’t curse along the lines of Joe Girardi and recruits players who will be successful in his system.  They are generally competitive, get out-rebounded every game, find a way into the NCAA field come tournament time and as a fan, provide an enjoyable couple of hours.  Sure, there are many frustrating moments but during this period of the awful Knicks, Jeremy Lin’s injuries and Novack Djokovic’s slump, for SU they are must see tv.

Yesterday’s win over Louisville was as rewarding a win for SU since the Elite Eight win over Kansas back in 2013 in their NCAA finals run.  Louisville was a Final Four caliber team and Michigan battled its way back in the 2nd half and found a way.  This last week of basketball including the 4 wins in the Big Ten Tournament and now these 2 NCAA victories will be lasting memories coming on the heels of the plane crash.  They have a shot against Oregon who is missing their big man and then a match up vs. Purdue or Kansas.  Why not them?

Northwestern was gifted a win vs. Vanderbilt with the intentional foul and then fell victim to the missed goal tending call in a furious rally late vs. Gonzaga.  SU felt badly but the reality is that you cannot get caught up in the officiating.  The quality of the officiating in the NCAAs is really uneven and you can either get frustrated or you find a way.  The good teams find a way even when it looks like you will be hosed the entire game.  SU believes the refs will look to even up the calls at half time no matter which way things are going.

Going into the Sweet Sixteen, it’s pretty wide open now.  Kansas has that look but they go through long stretches of terrible shot selection.  And how about Kentucky?  John Calipari is a great recruiter but does he run any offense?  His teams play like Mt. Vernon’s high school team: throw up any shot and crash the offensive glass.  SU has them in the Final Four but they were awful yesterday.  Watch out for Wisconsin who plays a style no one wants to go up against.  The Big Ten has 3 teams in the Sweet Sixteen — good for them.

Have you ever seen a longer last 5 minutes of a game than Duke – South Carolina last night with all of the foul calls?  SU has a theory that a team takes on the attitude of its coach when it comes to arguing foul calls.  The more the coach complains, the more the player whine.  Coach K was going after the refs and so were his players last night and it just doesn’t help.  Duke was also playing in Greenville, SC and that was like a road game for them.

Finally, SU read an article in today’s New York Times about the 20-year old prospect Torres who they got from the Cubs in the Chapman deal.  They may even bring him up in the summer and have him playing 2nd, short and 3rd base.  Could he be up the replacement for Chase Headley?  This could be very, very good.

SU has been on the road for a spell which explains the radio silence on the blog.  But of course, we need to weigh in now on our fearless NCAA predictions for the men.  A few thoughts:

• SU is very fired up about Michigan’s Big Ten Tournament win and running the table of 4 wins in 4 days.  They played the best they had played all season, and Derrick Walton Jr. should be an NBA draft pick come June.  I generally don’t like teams that win their tournament in the NCAAs as it requires a lot of energy.  But I am thinking differently here with the Wolverines.
• Duke is the trendy pick.  SU is not seeing it.
• I actually don’t have a good feel for the winner this year.  It just doesn’t seem like there is a clear favorite out there.
• UCLA is interesting and a lot of people like North Carolina.  Kansas is always a threat but I feel they win despite Bill Self and his coaching.

I am high on Michigan making a run in the tournament.  I think they will beat both Oklahoma State and Louisville.  The team to watch is Arizona which has some edge to them and is coming off a Pac 12 Tournament victory.  I also think Kentucky is ready to make a run here.  SU’s final four: Michigan; Kentucky; Villanova; and Arizona.  And it will be Arizona over Kentucky in the finals.  So, there you have it.  What say you?  As always, SU will give credit where credit is due!

As we gear up for the NCAAs and the start of baseball season, a few random thoughts and observations this weekend:

• SU loved this piece by Andrew Marchand of espn.com about Jacoby Ellsbury having possible the worst free agent contract in Yankee history.  SU is no Ellsbury fan and it’s depressing that he has 4 more years at $22 million a year left on his deal.  But Marchand lays it out pretty starkly.  I am guessing he won’t be getting that invitation to Ellsbury’s Christmas party this year.

http://www.espn.com/blog/new-york/yankees/post/_/id/95784/is-jacoby-ellsbury-the-yankees-worst-free-agent-signing-ever

• Just read that Noah Syndergaard signed this year with the Mets for $605,500.  This should make Dellen Betances feel better.
• Did you see Derrick Rose’s response to a question about whether he likes playing in the triangle offense?  In case you missed it: “S—, do I have a choice? Do I have a choice?”  SU loves the honesty.  I guess I have two reactions.  First, listen to the coach and they are paying you a lot of money so do your job.  Second, why is it that no player, and I mean no player, likes to play in this system in today’s game?  I think that is more telling and Phil Jackson is from a by-gone era.
• At the end of last night’s Knick game, Melo took a game tying attempt with 2 players draped all over him and his teammates open all around the court.  The fact that all of them had had better shooting nights did not come into play.  SU asks this question: if Porzingis is the future, shouldn’t they run plays so that he is taking these shots?  Or is he taking any shot in the last 3 minutes?  Rose and Anthony freeze him out all the time at the end of the game.  On the other hand, SU likes the strategy of going for the 1st round pick and tanking the rest of the season.  Keep it going.
• SU is very concerned with my man Novak Djokovic.  He lost a quarter finals match to Kyrgios this week and has really lost his nerve on the big points.  He is just keeping the ball in play these days rather than going for it.  Boris Becker had him playing more aggressively but he has reverted to playing defense which doesn’t cut it against a hot player on any given day.  He needs to figure this out.
• Greg Bird hit 3 home runs this week.  There is major relief in Yankee World unless the plan is to send him to the minors and go with Chris Carter to start the season.  Stranger things happen every year in Tampa.  But SU will hope cooler heads will prevail.