Aaron Boone thinks this year’s roster is ready to win it all. He also said the same thing about last year’s team which SU would say was fanciful thinking. No doubt Brian Cashman agrees given how few off season moves there were for the Yankees.
Getting swept up in Boston against a bad Red Sox team is clearly not good. But losing with such little offense in a stadium built for offense was embarrassing. It seemed like they were being no hit deep into every game. The Yankees have injuries but so does every other MLB team. SU has a handle on what this team lacks – it’s not hard to identify the issues. But the AL is so, so mediocre this year – no excuse not to get to the World Series. Here is what is going on:
- The offense has been carried by Goldschmidt, Bellinger and Rice for most of the year. Judge was mediocre while he was in there. Grisham had come on of late prior to his injury. But offensively, there are several positions where the Yankees get almost no production. You can get away with the holes if you have great pitching though.
- Starting pitching has been excellent. The injury to Max Fried hurt but he should be back soon and that will allow them to put Weathers in the bullpen where he is badly needed. As in badly. Doval can’t pitch in New York – we have seen enough there. The bullpen was an issue in Spring Training and no doubt Cashman will add to that come the trade deadline. SU does note that aside from Bednar, he fanned on Doval and Bird last year so not a sure thing. The Yankees do have some youngsters who can be elevated this year.
- Yankee prospects are always overhyped and overrated. Amazingly so. Dominguez has shown some flashes and SU is glad that he is playing every day now. But given all the hype, e.g., “the Martian”, he is looking a bit more worldly. Spencer Jones is athletic but can his minor league home runs translate in the major leagues? Very unclear. Volpe probably deserves to play somewhere else rather than keep being tortured by Yankee fans who will never be satisfied with him.
- Sounds like Judge is out until late August and Stanton – well who knows? Even if he returns, he will be an injury waiting to happen even if he is jogging to first base. As SU has said for about 8 – 9 years, that was a bad addition. True, he is a great October player and he’s a stand up guy but given how much salary space he occupies, not worth it.
- Bellinger has generally been great for the Yankees but he is slumping now and you have to worry that he might relapse into a mediocre player which he was for a number of years with the Dodgers and Cubs. I do think he will snap out of it though. Rice is slumping but you have to roll him out there every day. Goldschmidt is showing signs of overuse – need to pick your spots with him.
Bottom line: they are now down 5 in the loss column to the Rays and play them in a big 4-game series in Tampa next week. The offense needs the most help when it comes to upgrades. SU would not fire Boone although if they do not snap out of this losing streak, no doubt a change will come. Rob Thompson has Yankee pedigree and would be a nice fit here I think. Anyone will be a better in-game manager than Boone who is epically bad. Boone is a very good communicator – that is his strength.
Mitchell Robinson is getting paid by Boston to the tune of $47 million for 3 years. Good for him. SU says they are overpaying for a guy who will only play 40 games a year but he’s a good dude and happy for him. SU agrees with Dolan not to go into the 2nd apron as it really restricts your moves with trades, draft picks, signing free agents, etc. I don’t think it was a money issue for Dolan.
Celtics trade of Brown for Paul George is very odd. George is older, injury-prone and clearly on the downside of his career while Brown is younger and in his prime. They are both overpaid – around $50-60 million a year (crazy salaries in the NBA these days). But Boston is built to win now and seems misguided not to go all in this year.
SU also does not understand why the Raptors want to bring back Kawhi Leonard who is always either injured or on load management restrictions. And I don’t understand why the Wizards feel it’s so important to hang on to Anthony Davis who is also always hurt and on the downside of his career. I clearly do not understand being a GM in the NBA but on the other hand, most of these teams keep losing so there is that.
SU is all in on the USA Soccer team. Red card on the star scorer last night was a joke and it can’t be reviewed now so he is out for Monday’s game. Interesting to see the ineptitude in officiating extends beyond the NBA to soccer although with FIFA, you have the extra level of mystery for sure. I have watched a bunch of World Cup games and am starting to get a better taste for soccer. I do like the 2-hour windows for the games and I can appreciate that the penalty kicks are not layups by any means. Not sure I can watch beyond the World Cup but this has been a fun tournament.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
The red card was nuts. When the ball is in the air, each team has an equal right to go after it. It is not a “tackle” or a “challenge” to do so. The red card standards are listed below; you tell me what justified it.
Standard Outright (Direct) Red Card Infractions
According to the FIFA Laws of the Game, a direct red card is shown for the following severe offenses: [1]
World Cup-Specific Red Card Rules
To maintain discipline and prevent unsporting behavior in heated tournaments, additional rules authorize a referee to send off a player for: [1, 2, 3, 4]
Apparently, the VAR ref is the one who flagged it for the referee. In slow motion, it looked like the American player stepped on the foot of their player but to me, he was just coming down to the ground and had to land somewhere. A yellow card at most. Apparently, FIFA can even rule that the red card should be for more than 1 game and the US team is looking to make sure that does not happen.
And Andy, no one knows more about soccer than you!
I listened in to a little WFAN yesterday to help digest the Yankees loss. A host summarized the current situation pretty accurately saying that the bad hitters are bad and the good hitters are either injured or slumping. Another pointed out that Volpe had one of the dumbest at bats he’d ever seen: runner on second with 2 outs, Austin Wells on deck and Volpe attempted a bunt. You gain nothing by moving a runner two third with 2 outs and bringing up the worst hitter in baseball. All you do is hope to steal a hit and take the pressure off yourself. I would be a bit more charitable. I would say that if Volpe could lay down a beautiful bunt it could disrupt things for the opponent and generate a little momentum. Still I get that it’s bad by the numbers and reflects a lack of confidence throughout the lineup.
Boone has been and remains a pretty poor manager. I would drop him but I would have dropped him a number of times throughout his tenure. And he did get to the World Series last year. The bigger crime is how many times over the years that this team has figured out ways to not give this job to Don Mattingly.
I was at the game on Tuesday night and looked at the starting lineup on the scoreboard and tried to figure out how those players added up toe $290 million. There were two players in the lineup with OPS above the league average (Goldschmidt and Rice) and they are making less than $5 million together.
Sad to see Robinson leave but there’s no way they should have offered him that kind of money. I am glad that the basketball people in the building know what they’re doing and have Dolan under control because there have been years when he would have spent that money and killed the team with the second apron restrictions. It’s hard for me to say if Boston paid too much but my sense is that $15 million a year will come with some expectation for games and minutes and, frankly, the way/amount he played for the Knicks last year was perfect for him and the team. Any more playing time would have hurt both.
Seth, always with the long comments. Love that! I saw that Volpe at bat and also wondered what he was thinking. Cashman is just comfortable with Boone – I don’t think he would ever fire him unless Hal pressured him to do it. Mattingly is having great success with the Phillies – good for him. To me, the manager in baseball is just not that impactful but it’s true that Boone is below average for in-game moves. But given the roster this year, it’s hard to fault him for lineups, use of relievers, etc. His choices are just limited. Grishman’s return opens up more options and competition for playing time which is always a positive to keep players feeling like they have to perform.
Nice write up, Howard! The Yankee offense really is the glaring problem here. Even with strong starting pitching, they can’t keep spotting teams this little production. But on the bright side for you, at least they are in better shape than my Astros who will be lucky to make the post season this year!
Nice write up, Howard! The Yankee offense really is the glaring problem here. Even with strong starting pitching, they can’t keep spotting teams this little production. But on the bright side for you, at least they are in better shape than my Astros who will be lucky to make the post season this year!
Robert F.
Robert, the Astros always seem to find a way to the post-season no matter how things are going in the regular season. It just feels like a given that they will get healthy and make a run. But clearly something is lacking there at the moment.