After months of “not ready to resume baseball related activities”, Jacoby Ellsbury had surgery on his hip and will be out the rest of the year. He is 34 years old with the body of a 65-year old. He is still owed $21 million a year for two more seasons. Seriously, this could be the worst free agent signing of all time. This one is on Brian Cashman.
Clint Frazier is still on the concussion protocol and apparently Michael Kay said something on his radio show about his situation, i.e., whether he is that injured. Frazier fired back on Twitter and really let him have it. SU says it’s really too bad as this was his chance to play everyday. Shane Robinson is not good and now Stanton has some hamstring issues.
Zach Britton is not impressing so far. Either he is one of those guys that is so intense that he can’t function in NY or he is still on the mend from his Achilles injury. His pitches are all over the place. Props to Sonny Gray who pitched a solid 3 innings for the win last night when everyone assumed he would give up a run and blow the game. SU says he will be in the mix down the stretch as a starter.
Suggestion: go with a 6-man rotation. Consider the facts:
- Sabathia pitches much, much better now with more rest.
- Tanaka always pitches better with more rest.
- Severino has nothing to lose. I say he’s gassed this year and would really benefit from fewer innings and more days off in between starts.
- Happ has a disease. Surely he could use more time off.
If the Rays can start short relievers, let the Yankees move to the 6-man rotation. It makes perfect sense.
Question: if Chapman continues to struggle, this will be a repeat of 2017 with Girardi who ultimately took him out of the closer role. Would Boone dare to do that? Betances is scarily lights out and Robertson could close as well as Britton but SU would not trust him. Let’s monitor what the great communicator does here.
The Yankee offense is just not good. There are so many automatic outs now in the line up. It is what it is for the rest of 2018 but SU says enough of the home run or bust approach. Let’s get some players who can hit for average. In fact, can we bring back Ronald Torreyes? Neil Walker is smoking hot at .218 – this is as good as he’ll get. Plus Torreyes is a good guy in the clubhouse. Surely better than Tyler Wade who is “Mr. Potential.”
Sports Update Intergalactic 
The Michael Kay situation is very interesting. The exact quote on his radio show when he was bemoaning the Yankees’ lack of organizational depth in the outfield was “shame on Clint Frazier for not getting healthy.” Although on his show he has to play the typical talk radio clown instead of the more thoughtful person he really is, this was very out of character. He claimed yesterday that his comment was sarcastic/facetious and not only did he apologize publicly but privately to Frazier as well (apparently he said the same thing about Ellsbury but didn’t mention anything about an apology). It will be interesting to see if this story has legs and whether he will suffer any consequences. Would be a shame if this affected his career as he is a very smart and literate guy and a much more well rounded person than the average sports broadcaster.
Just reading the quote above makes me believe he was being sarcastic when he said that. Not like him to do that even on the talk show. Btw, his show was so much better when it was just him alone. The side kicks make it worse. Same way Francesa is better by himself although Mad Dog was probably the only guy who could complement him.
Michael Kay’s show on the radio is awful. And of all the sidekicks, Peter Rosenberg is the worst. THE WORST. (Emphasis added to imitate the banter on the show.) He’s clearly there to reach a younger demographic and I guess it works because he’s lasted a lot longer than some of the other 3rd wheels that they’ve had. Anyway, the show is pretty unbearable. I enjoy some of Michael Kay’s other personas but his radio show character is bad and, for me, tarnishes the rest of his work.
The Ellsbury deal is terrible. Probably worse than if they had signed Cano which itself would have been a terrible deals. Still, the A Rod deal was the worse.
Neil Walker wasn’t a bad pickup as he came pretty cheap and seemed worth it as insurance or in case he overdelivered. He was 0-6 yesterday. And he hasn’t really done much at any point during the season. He should be viewed as “easy come, easy go.” I have no idea why they’ve stuck with him. Torreyes is an upgrade.
Greg Bird hit 5th in the lineup yesterday. This can’t be the case if this team is going to perform offensively. He is not a great hitter. His numbers compare to the White Sox #5 hitter and the White Sox could lose 100 games.
Still, the good news is 2 wins in a row and good pitching in both.
Actually should be 3 in a row if Chapman doesn’t have that meltdown Sunday night. Win tonight then Texas at home for 4 games. No way they ever catch Boston but no need to have a wild card race now. Get the offense right and finish the season strong.