This Week on the Blog
Rangers: The Rangers will face their own deadline on the 29th. At that point we'll have to see if they think this team can make a run, or whether they're ready to restock for a future by selling. Today, they waived Daniel Paille, who's acquisition, I don't think I ever mentioned, and Gorton and Arniel are going to watch Hartford tonight to see whom they should call up. Feels like they should already know, but apparently they don't. And the underperfomance of the 4th line probably isn't their biggest concern. Rick Nash has been out for weeks, and Ryan McDonagh keeps getting cheapshotted in games where Dylan McIlrath is out of the lineup. Also, they may have the wrong coach.
Knicks: Jimmer Fredette should show up early this week. Who knows if they'll play him. They lost to a terrible Nets team last night, and have no draft picks, thus far that could benefit from their inane losses. And they seem to be losing faith in Jerian Grant, though their suckiness cannot be blamed on any of the young players. I hope they have a great plan this summer.
Yankees: Chapman, Miller and Betances all through together today, and McCann believes they can be special. The Yanks also brought Mark Miller, once thought to be the next DRob, and Kyle Haynes to camp. I have no idea how Haynes didn't get picked in the Rule 5, but he is a late blooming starter with big stuff, who could easily be moved to the pen. More of the position guys should start filtering back in this coming week, too. Btw, this year's Captain's Camp ran for a month with almost no coverage until the end. It would have been nice to get a list of who was there, and what was worked on.
Giants: The Giants could announce a Victor Cruz restructure any day now. They could also dive right into the Cut Players Market, as James Laurinaitis and Chris Long are now available, among others. Also, the Combine starts Tuesday, and it will be interesting to see if they make some sort of deal with Tom Coughlin on Monday, because he will no doubt be in his traditional seat come Wednesday when the testing starts.
I hope all of you have great weeks, and thanks for reading.
posted by Kalel9 @ 1:58 PM
41 Comments:
I still want to punch Glen Grunwald in the face...repeatedly.
With the O's Gallardo deal, the Yanks move up to 18th in the draft and will get a bigger pool.
http://www.pinstripealley.com/2016/2/21/11078988/james-kaprielian-yankees-prospects-major-league-callup-pitcher
I hope he moves through the system quickly and lives up to his mid-first round billing. The Yankees are going to need to develop more arms over the next several years as the ones they have inch closer to free agency.
Also, here's an interesting article on Michael Pineda and his struggles last season: http://www.pinstripealley.com/yankees-analysis-sabermetrics/2016/2/19/11033936/yankees-michael-pineda-babip-luck
I have long suggested that pitchers who can't master a change for whatever reasons should substitute a splitter for the change.
It's pretty much develop or perish in MLB at this point. Patchwork spending and trades no longer produce anything but mediocrity.
Shreve was overused:
http://nypost.com/2016/02/21/chasen-shreves-mystery-collapse-hangs-over-yankees-hope/
supremely.
btw, Girardi abuse and Torre abuse are blending into one seamless thing.
Which is frustrating because in his earlier years as Yankees manager, I felt his biggest strength was how he employed his pen and kept his arms from tossing too many innings.
He had better starters, which is no excuse.
I caught a little of a Francessa riff about the predicament the Yankees are in because the team isn't good enough to sell tickets at the price they want, at least sell them to people that will hold them rather than resell them, and they don't know what to do. Well, there's only one thing they can do, and that is ito regularly infuse youth. Obviously, that had been an anathema to them, Despite the rhetoric and token moves with other peoples prospects rather than their own. Bird wasn't going to play despite being ready, and Refs is never good enough but Headley is. So 1 million things have to go right for them to compete. Sweet.
They need to lower prices. The team just isn't good or exciting enough to warrant what they're charging, and it's probably too late to commit to a full rebuild. I get competing at the margins given Hal's demands to "field a World Series contender every year" -- it's their only outside shot of actually reaching that goal -- but the foolish decisions of this front office seem to finally be dawning on the powers that be.
“No, I don’t think those prices are too high,” team President Randy Levine told The Post on Sunday. “The primary market for those seats are very, very strong and continue to be very, very strong."
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I'm get sick of Phil Jackson and his shit triangle obsessed coaches that play shit players.
Of course he thinks they're just right. He probably thinks the team is a World Series favorite.
They really should just muzzle these employees if they don't want to appear out of touch.
They need to emulate the Mets, only with deeper pockets.
When you try to be a World Series contender every year you usually end up never going to the World Series.
It seems like every seven or eight years they have the pieces in the farm system to turn this thing around. Will they short circuit the process again, or will they take the road less traveled, at least by them.
I mean if Stick was able to navigate around George, Cashman should be able to navigate around Hal. Still waiting of course.
At least the Yankees have a semblance of a plan. The Knicks... Beyond giving more time to terrible veterans than promising kids, I have no idea what they plan on.
Good article on the Yankees' front office's disdain for its own fans: http://theweek.com/articles/606925/im-yankees-fan-who-really-hates-yankees-right-now
It's not the whole FO, it is Lonn Trost.
http://nypost.com/2016/02/23/how-a-new-identity-made-one-yankees-prospect-a-rising-star/
Never knew this was the Florial story. Looks like the IFA class of 14 may be even deeper...
I like that article.
The lower levels should be really fun this year. The Yanks IFA program is top shelf and more of those kids from the monster class should be making it to the GCL and Pulaski this year. And some of them will pop.
Just reading Jenning's assessment of Girardi's declaration that the are better on paper: "So, are the current Yankees better than they were at the end of 2015? On paper, sure, I think you can at least make that case (but even that paper is pretty old and frayed and could be heading for the disabled list)."
That's accurate, and it points to two issues: 1) will they ever sit a big contract for youth (the signs are not promising); 2) this is why Trost and Levine end up insulting fans and local politicians. The product isn't worth the ticket price. Again, that doesn't mean they can't win, perhaps big, if about 15 things go perfectly, but that's not a reason for the average fan to spend his discretionary dollar on the highest ticket price, by far, in MLB.
So they may allow one of their few grinding hitters a chance to be a utility player.
Seriously, I'm starting to hate Phil Jackson because the new coach is the same as the old coach, and a lot of development time is being lost for some playoff push silliness. The draft lottery this year is going to sting for 10 years. That's not on Jackson, but this shit is making it worse
Jennings has probably wrote this paragraph in many forms in order to defend Yankee moves; only the names change.
"And even though I think Refsnyder’s a good guy and a nice player, I still think it made sense for the Yankees to trade for Starlin Castro, because I think that’s a talent worth adding to the organization, and because player development is a lot more complicated than simply letting the Triple-A guy move up to the big leagues once his position is open."
Maybe Castro will play well, but he has been bad for two of the last three seasons and he's owed $40 million. On a roster filled with bad contracts it's a big risk when you have somebody who's ready to step up on your own team, who is truly cost controlled.
And Refs might've been a draw for a targeted community. Tickets, the Trost way.
So Gardner is kind of sort of still hurt?
I would play Slafe every day until he breaks down
SLADE
Mason Williams isn't fully healed either. A real shame. Probably why they traded for Hicks.
If I'm a Red Sox fan, this doesn't give me the warm and fuzzies: http://m.providencejournal.com/article/ZZ/20160224/SPORTS/302249915
They have plenty of in-house pieces, including Refs in LF. Just give their own kids as much patience as they give those from outside the organization. It's not like what they have been doing for years has been paying big dividends. Try something different!!!!
So I just listened to Francesa for the first time in a while, and somehow the main topic of conversation was Trump. Seriously? WTF?
Reese thanks the Giants can compete in the NFC East. I agree. If only they had a good GM... Let alone a great one.
Sounds like the Knicks were seeing what Carmelo might be worth at the deadline.
As for the Giants, they do have everything they need for a quick turnaround.
Rangers won.
They do, I'm just not sure he can execute.
I'm sure he can. He's done it before. Just needs normal health luck.
Comparing Reese to Cashman, I don't think Cashman comes anywhere close to maximizing his advantages, but he seems to be good at some things. Given the current state of the Giants' roster, I can't even say that about Reese.
He clearly knows talent, but he seems to have surrounded himself with people who don't, or he or they don't understand risk/reward. That's why they have first round success: given the talent available at that spot there is less risk of a total flameout.
So I'm less sanguine, But I'm hopeful.
Grant going to the D league? He should be fucking starting; what the fuck???
I didn't watch, because I think I'm done with them for now, but Rambis played the right players and they won.
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