Well, Yankee fans can now join Met fans (and Brave fans) and look ahead to 2023. Losing to the hated Astros certainly hurts but if you take the emotion out of it, you can admit that the Yankees lost to a superior team. Getting swept is not a close call even though a couple of the games were winnable.
SU offers up these thoughts:
- The shift goes away in 2023. Does that mean that teams will no longer be so reliant on the home run as putting the ball in play will likely find more holes?
- When all of your hitters are trying to hit home runs, isn’t that hard against relievers throwing 95 mph high fastballs? Or is that an optical illusion? Or is that reflective of the Yankees not getting almost any hits from the 7th inning on?
- When you have a lead-off double from IKF in the 2nd inning and Trevino is up, do you not at least try and bunt the runner over? Or try and hit a ground ball to the right side from a hitter who struggled throughout the playoffs? Or do the analytics people say you never sacrifice an out?
- How many of the Yankee relievers who were over extended in these playoffs develop arm trouble in 2023? Keep an eye on that one. Happens every year to the teams that have deep playoff runs.
- Player health is a factor. The Yankees were very healthy the first half of the year but definitely had their share of injuries in the 2nd half. Was that a difference maker? Nope.
- SU is not sure Judge will re-sign with the Yankees. I think he wants to but if the SF Giants make a crazy offer, Hal may not match it. And SU says you cannot put all of your dollars into any one player. The truth is that Judge performs like A-Rod. Great in the regular season but his post-season stats are not very good. You can hope Judge has that one 2009 post season (hopefully not PED-aided) but there is a large enough sample size now that says he may not thrive in October. Something to consider. On the other hand, he totally carried this team in 2022, and covered up the ineptitude and really poor performances by many of his teammates who get to fly under the radar. He would be the captain in 2023 and SU is sure that the team will make that clear. It may be time to roll out Jeter to close the deal.
- IKF will be gone but Donaldson is still under a $25 million contract and can’t be moved. Stanton has many years left on his deal and while he shows he can produce in October, his $30 million+ salary clogs up the budget.
SU would be thrilled to clean house and go with the youngsters as they have some really good infielders and even a catcher in the high end of the minor leagues. But that is not the Yankee way and no doubt Cashman will be pressured to sacrifice some of them in trades for high paid veterans. Rinse and repeat. And a year from now we will be having the same conversation.
Both Cashman and Boone will stay. Hal is not one to like making such bold moves and he is certainly comfortable with Cashman.
Bottom line: the Mets have a better chance of putting a dynamic team on the field in 2023 as the Yankees will not have the budget flexibility. Houston is a lot better at this point and it’s not that close. It will be an interesting off-season for sure.
We move on. The Giants and Jets are interesting stories and the Knicks look good so far. College hoops is just around the corner. Lick your wounds and enjoy the night time free time. SU will root for the Phillies but truth be told, I don’t tend to watch much of the World Series. The Phillies are a great story and SU likes former Yankee coaches, Rob Thomson and Kevin Long. Easy to root for those guys to succeed.
Feel free to vent here or disagree. The floor is yours.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
Boone should go. They need changes and you need at least a symbolic change somewhere in leadership. But, as posted here before, Boone lost them games in this series. Yes, the players have to be the ones to perform but Boone needs to put people in a position for success and he hasn’t been doing that. And we don’t have to look further back than last night.
Something was wrong with Cortez. We all knew it but only because Boone knew it. He was the one who kept coming out of the dugout with the trainer. It took the announcers a little while to figure it out. But it didn’t take the Astros. Did Boone really think that he was going to notice a problem and then show everyone that he noticed when he goes to the mound and somehow a first-class offense like the Astros isn’t going to notice. Well, they did. And they got two walks and a HR and you knew that it was over…even though there was more baseball to be played and some more lead changes. You just knew that this team was not being managed well.
And what about Matt Carpenter? You know that Dusty Baker would have signed up to face a lineup full of Matt Carpenters any day. So why did Boone keep going to him?
I can’t blame Boone for the defensive miscues but it seemed like the Astros made the Yankees pay for every one of them.
I want Judge back. Just because he’s a joy to watch on the field. It will be so hard to explain to fans that you can live with oppressive contracts for Stanton or Cole but not for Judge. I don’t like these deals but he’s the first one you can really fully justify since Jeter. He’s the face of the franchise and likable and productive. He plays hard and does and says all the right things. This is the guy you overpay for and you figure out everything else. Yes, he will cost a lot of money. But they have a stadium where the entire experience is built around money. If they want to let Judge go because he’s too expensive, they can cut the price of tickets, hot dogs and beer. If they won’t pay top dollar for a player like Judge, why should I pay $15 for a Bud Light? And while the speculation is all about to get underway, someone should be speaking to Judge about what staying in NY does for him. Being a lifetime Yankee. Playing on the biggest stage. Endorsement opportunities that dwarf other markets. The right thing for him is staying in NY, even at a discount. (See: Robinson Cano who basically ruined his career so he could make 10% more in Seattle. See: Didi Gregorius. See: Jeremy Lin.) Sometimes you do better staying where you are. And this is especially true in NY when there are financial opportunities beyond the contract. This series has to have left a bad taste in Judge’s mouth. Even this season, probably didn’t feel as much fun as a record-breaking HR season should feel. But we need the media to make it clear to him that the other options aren’t as great as they may seem.
This isn’t a bad team. They were within striking distance of the Astros in 3 of the 4 games. Give us a new manager, Judge. Fewer key injuries. Some of the emerging players from the minors. And they’ll have as good a shot as anybody.