What Can/Should NY Do?

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,713
Let's get this out of the game threads....

NY's a bit of a mess right now, but they are not so far removed from the team that won seven or eight series in a row a few weeks ago. The pitching staff is in good shape, with Britton and Severino both on track to be back in the next few weeks.

1) Manager change. Boone's heart issues (pacemaker installed in spring training) maybe mean it's time to move on from him, that's what a professional team does when the talent is there but underachieving. I was not thrilled about his hire initially, I think he has been mediocre in his tenure here and NY could do better. They could also do worse (Showalter) but I would hope for Beltran here.

2) Lineup changes. This is tricky, does NY want to move even more prospects for incremental upgrades? I suggested in the game thread just now that they try to trade Gleyber for Ketel Marte, play Marte in CF and bring up young Oswald Peraza for SS. This is aggressive but it's the only real kind of move they can make since they seem determined not to take on more money.

3) GM change. This just seems dumb to me, if you look at Cashman's track record since he got the green light to redo things in mid-2016, it's very strong.
 

EvilEmpire

paying for his sins
Moderator
SoSH Member
Apr 9, 2007
17,178
Washington
Copying this over from the game thread:

I think the organization has reacted to perceived weaknesses reasonably well over the last few years. Pitching has been the biggest concern and even with injuries, pitching has improved.

Too many guys aren't hitting enough. Maybe it will be too late by the time they do. But no, I don't think Cashman is the problem. Who would we rather have?

Boone is on thinner ice if a human sacrifice is necessary. I don't think it will solve anything mid-season, and I sure don't want to see a cheater like Beltran take over.

Fake edit: Just seeing JA's post while I was typing, I'd support moving Gleyber for Marte and taking a look at Peraza. I don't think the team is complacent or anything, but I'd try shaking up the roster before anything else.
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 11, 2007
6,344
Let's get this out of the game threads....

NY's a bit of a mess right now, but they are not so far removed from the team that won seven or eight series in a row a few weeks ago. The pitching staff is in good shape, with Britton and Severino both on track to be back in the next few weeks.

1) Manager change. Boone's heart issues (pacemaker installed in spring training) maybe mean it's time to move on from him, that's what a professional team does when the talent is there but underachieving. I was not thrilled about his hire initially, I think he has been mediocre in his tenure here and NY could do better. They could also do worse (Showalter) but I would hope for Beltran here.

2) Lineup changes. This is tricky, does NY want to move even more prospects for incremental upgrades? I suggested in the game thread just now that they try to trade Gleyber for Ketel Marte, play Marte in CF and bring up young Oswald Peraza for SS. This is aggressive but it's the only real kind of move they can make since they seem determined not to take on more money.

3) GM change. This just seems dumb to me, if you look at Cashman's track record since he got the green light to redo things in mid-2016, it's very strong.
I just think patience... they've got the talent and the depth. They're likely not as good as I was thinking they'd be, a 100-105 possible win team... but they're still likely a 90-95 win team and into the playoffs even still possibly winning the East. They're then pretty well constructed for a playoff run too- assuming good health
 

EvilEmpire

paying for his sins
Moderator
SoSH Member
Apr 9, 2007
17,178
Washington
Another thing I'd consider: as soon as Stanton can play b2b, start working him into the OF rotation. He keeps breaking anyway, and when he isn't broken, aside from the occasional hot streak, his hitting is not good. Maybe playing more breaks him faster and for longer, but the status quo isn't great and I just wonder if he might hit better if he was more involved in the game. Hell, maybe moving around more improves his health a little. He's built like a tank and I know that tanks will break just sitting in the motorpool if they aren't moving enough.

So yeah, I'd consider a different approach with Stanton. Not much to lose, I think.

And then spread DH around a little more.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,713
Yeah, he should have been playing outfield at least sometimes all along, we have talked about that a bunch. Then if Gittens is hitting once Voit is back, it's possible to keep all three of them in the lineup if NY wants.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,713
Also I should have mentioned that the Marte deal isn't quite as aggressive as it seems because Marte can also play SS, so if Peraza isn't working out, Marte can take over at SS and NY can go back to their current set of OFs.

Also NY has two more guys crushing the ball in AAA who should be mentioned, 26 year old OF Trey Amburgey (hitting .404 with a 1.281 OPS in 51 PAs) and 25 year old SS/2B Hoy Jun Park (a 1.199 OPS in 67 PAs), neither is on the 40 man though.

https://www.milb.com/player/trey-amburgey-664011
 

RedOctober3829

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 19, 2005
55,298
deep inside Guido territory
Roster wise, there isn't much the Yankees can do right now. They aren't going over the CBT. Olney said last night if they want Marte they're asking AZ to pick up the tab....why would they do that? If they aren't spending over the cap, they aren't getting Scherzer. They've just got to hope they start hitting.

If this continues, they need to think about firing both Cashman and Boone at the end of the year. Cashman started to remake this roster in 2016 and this is the end result? They haven't been able to consistently score runs without the HR for a few years now. Their big position player prospects have either not developed to the point of being consistently good for many reasons or can't stay healthy. Nobody is taking Stanton's contract off their hands at this point. It's one of the biggest albatrosses in baseball.

They need to seriously rethink their approach to building a roster.
 

The Gray Eagle

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 1, 2001
16,720
Here are the options I would go with, in order of best to worst:
1. Sell the team to me for $100.
2. Hire me as president of baseball operations with complete control over all baseball decisions.
3. Contract the team after this season.
4. Trade Judge, German, Gleyber, Loisaga, and cash to the Red Sox for Ryan Brasier, Chavis, and Kike Hernandez.
5. Trade some quality prospects for big name vets like Miguel Cabrera, Strasburg, Chris Davis, Jason Heyward, etc.
6. Move the team to Walla Walla Washington and knock down Yankee Stadium. Build new stadium in Walla Walla for $5 billion.
7. Trade off every decent player and tank the rest of this season and the next 3 after.
8. Fire Boone and hire Grady Little as manager.
9. Hire Billy Martin, make a bunch of panic moves, then fire Billy Martin. Then hire Billy Martin.
10. Try to improve karma by officially vacating the 2009 world championship due to A-rod's steroid use. Tie the trophy to the back of a car and have Judge drive around, yelling "Our triumphs mean nothing! We all stink!"
1,987,867,456: Be patient and wait for the talented players to bounce back over the long season.
 

TheYellowDart5

Hustle and bustle
SoSH Member
Apr 16, 2003
9,276
NYC
I don't know that a trade does anything for this team. Judge isn't getting moved, they'd be selling low on Gleyber and Gary, Stanton and LeMahieu have limited value, Frazier has never seemed to move anyone's needle, they don't have the depth to ship out pitching, etc. If Cashman wants to dive into the prospect pile to buy someone, sure, but as Red October said, if Hal doesn't want to go over the CBT, who can they afford without having to sacrifice a useful piece? I think it's more likely they talk about moving Chapman if the struggles continue then adding anything.

I think Boone probably gets the season to turn it around and likely steps aside after it. I doubt Cashman wants to bring in a new guy like Beltran (especially given the baggage) midseason, and I don't know that anyone on the bench makes sense as an interim manager; maybe Nevin once he's recovered from his illness?

This is just an inflexible roster with few if any good solutions beyond everyone playing better. Like RO said, it's wild that this is the team Cashman's been building since 2016 and this is the end result, though the bad luck of running into the Astros twice and the juggernaut Red Sox in between at the roster's peak played a big part.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,369
The Yanks have excellent starting pitching with Cole and three other guys with sub-4.00 eras. They have a very good bullpen with an all-world closer and a bunch of other quality pitchers - their top six relievers in terms of innings pitched all have an era of 3.62 or better, and five of them have an era of 3.14 or better.

So pitching isn't the problem.

The problem is that hitters who have been really good in the past are having down years.

LeMaiheu
- Last 2 years with NY: .336/.386/.536/.922, 145 ops+
- This year: .253/.335/.321/.656, 88 ops+

Torres
- First 3 seasons: .271/.340/.493/.834, 122 ops+
- This year: .272/.351/.364/.715, 104 ops+ (due mainly to lack of power, as his AVG and OBP are fine)

Frazier
- First 4 seasons: .258/.331/.475/.806, 113 ops+
- This year: .185/.305/.318/.623, 78 ops+

Plus Voit has been hurt.

So it's basically some key guys have been much worse than what they were expecting. I think they'll bounce back and be more than fine.
 

E5 Yaz

Transcends message boarding
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Apr 25, 2002
90,014
Oregon
1) Manager change. Boone's heart issues (pacemaker installed in spring training) maybe mean it's time to move on from him, that's what a professional team does when the talent is there but underachieving.
I'm not sure I understand this point. A "professional team" moves on from a manager because he has heart issues? I get the underperforming part, but I don't see the tie to his health.

Just watching them, it sure seems like it's the offense that's in dire need of something. I posted a stat in the June game thread that they've scored the second-fewest runs in the AL. Volt is part of that, but watching them play it sure looks like a lack of aggressiveness.

The national announcers were chatting about "fundamentals," which is bull because there are other teams that win in this new era. But there's just a sense of ennui about them at the plate.
 

Seels

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 20, 2005
4,948
NH
I thought guys like LeMaiheu Voit and Frazier massively overperformed in 2019/2020, and think their current lineup issues are mostly due to regression to the mean. They're an extremely top heavy team and some streakyness should be expected.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,713
I'm not sure I understand this point. A "professional team" moves on from a manager because he has heart issues? I get the underperforming part, but I don't see the tie to his health.
Because I think a manager has to have the potential to lose his shit once in a while, and my impression from last night’s game is that Boone’s doctors have told him not to do that which is why two of his coaches got tossed instead. I don’t think he’s ever been better than an adequate and usually uninspired manager, so that is just another reason.
 

Max Power

thai good. you like shirt?
SoSH Member
Jul 20, 2005
7,877
Boston, MA
If you believe the talent is there and the offense is massively underperforming, you can either wait for things to turn around or fire Boone and see if you get one of those change of manager bounces. It's not his fault, and things might have turned around with him anyway, but I don't think losing him is that big a deal. He doesn't seem to bring anything to the table that any replacement wouldn't.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,713
If you believe the talent is there and the offense is massively underperforming, you can either wait for things to turn around or fire Boone and see if you get one of those change of manager bounces. It's not his fault, and things might have turned around with him anyway, but I don't think losing him is that big a deal. He doesn't seem to bring anything to the table that any replacement wouldn't.
Exactly, and I really do think Beltran could be something special, from all the reports of him as a veteran player. Hinch and Cora have jobs, no reason Beltran shouldn’t also.
 

terrynever

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Aug 25, 2005
21,717
pawtucket
You know what offends me the most about this team? The defense. And then the awful base running. How do you fix that? How did Cashman get to the point where he has Miguel Andujar, a butcher at three positions, in left field? Short answer. He traded Mike Tauchman for another frigging reliever.
Defense is a function of roster construction, talent, hard work and good coaching at both the minor and major league levels. How come the Yankees are below average defensively at catcher, first base, shortstop, and left field? Maybe because Cashman was trying to collect as many big power hitters as possible. As RedOctober said above, guys as big as Judge, Stanton and Voit are likely to get hurt. Hell, Mantle and Maris were big guys in their era and they got hurt a lot, too. You want muscles in baseball, expect injuries.
And don’t ask me about baserunning. Clint Frazier slid 20 feet short of second base last night to avoid impacting a DP pivot. Not sure what is worse, his lack of effort or competitiveness.
There are a few dogs on this team, led by Marmaduke Stanton. The manager keeps throwing them bones.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,713
Mike Tauchman is not an answer to anything except "name a 30 year old best suited to be a 5th OF", he is hitting .184 in SF (.589 OPS) and sitting most of the time even though they have OF injuries.
 

Murderer's Crow

Dragon Wangler 216
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
23,473
Garden City
I expected Sox fans to come into this thread saying this is an inflexible and bad roster after sweeping us. Did not disappoint.

The team does not need any pitching, probably for a long time. They are setup pretty well there both with young studs and at the top.

The biggest problem with this roster is that it's built for the postseason and is injury filled right now. Stanton and Voit would be doing a whole lot to help if they could be penciled in every day. When they aren't, you have the likes of Wade and Andujar and Rougned Odor taking up 33% of at bats. Those are not players that are going to be counted on for meaningful games in the postseason. Yet, here we are. A lot of young players but a lack of depth capable of performing. Stanton is indeed becoming an albratross but the big problem with Stanton isn't that he's hurt all the time. It's that the plan for this year seemed to be "we're gonna coast to the division title or playoffs, we just need our big bangers healthy in September through November." That only works if DJ isn't shitting the bed and you're getting something from the non-Judge players.

So yea, DJ is not a 600ops guy and he's probably the best hitter in the AL. He'll be fine. If we're going to compete though, Cashman needs to find a way to fill the Stanton and Voit gap immediately. Maybe this is where Yankees twitter got it right, going cheap and staying under the luxury tax left no room for error.
 

The_Powa_of_Seiji_Ozawa

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 9, 2006
7,873
SS Botany Bay
I don't think Cashman should necessarily get canned, but this iteration of roster construction (that began around 2016 as mentioned) is a bit one-dimensional. Too much emphasis on big strong bodies that can break exit velocity records, light up the radar, and win arm wrestling contests. DJ was a nice get, but it seemed a bit of stretch to expect him to remain the player he became once he put on the pinstripes. Can't fault him for hanging onto Frazier, but it's unlikely he's anything more than a 4th outfielder. Gardner should have been let go, even at his current price.

I was never a fan of Boone, and would not hesitate to get rid of him. Not sure if it solves the problem, but there is way too much talent on this club for them to be this mediocre. I concur about Beltran. As a baseball fan I think the NYY could thrive under him. As a Red Sox fan, I hope Boone remains manager.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,713
I expected Sox fans to come into this thread saying this is an inflexible and bad roster after sweeping us. Did not disappoint.

The team does not need any pitching, probably for a long time. They are setup pretty well there both with young studs and at the top.

The biggest problem with this roster is that it's built for the postseason and is injury filled right now. Stanton and Voit would be doing a whole lot to help if they could be penciled in every day. When they aren't, you have the likes of Wade and Andujar and Rougned Odor taking up 33% of at bats. Those are not players that are going to be counted on for meaningful games in the postseason. Yet, here we are. A lot of young players but a lack of depth capable of performing. Stanton is indeed becoming an albratross but the big problem with Stanton isn't that he's hurt all the time. It's that the plan for this year seemed to be "we're gonna coast to the division title or playoffs, we just need our big bangers healthy in September through November." That only works if DJ isn't shitting the bed and you're getting something from the non-Judge players.

So yea, DJ is not a 600ops guy and he's probably the best hitter in the AL. He'll be fine. If we're going to compete though, Cashman needs to find a way to fill the Stanton and Voit gap immediately. Maybe this is where Yankees twitter got it right, going cheap and staying under the luxury tax left no room for error.
This is a good post, but I want to add one thing: You can't both stay under the cap number while trying to compete for a title (given NY's current roster) and not aggressively use your own minor leaguers. This is why I thought Gittens should have a hundred ABs under his belt already, but instead NY tried Bruce and Ford and anyone else they could. Maybe with the Gittens promotion and then today's moving up Peraza/Josh Smith, NY is starting to realize that a bit more.
 

terrynever

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Aug 25, 2005
21,717
pawtucket
Mike Tauchman is not an answer to anything except "name a 30 year old best suited to be a 5th OF", he is hitting .184 in SF (.589 OPS) and sitting most of the time even though they have OF injuries.
Tauchman would have been a nice defensive replacement in late innings and he would have caught that ball Miggie shied away from. But yeah, trade a glove for a lefty reliever who had bounced around for a good reason. Let’s have an incomplete bench.
 

terrynever

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Aug 25, 2005
21,717
pawtucket
This is a good post, but I want to add one thing: You can't both stay under the cap number while trying to compete for a title (given NY's current roster) and not aggressively use your own minor leaguers. This is why I thought Gittens should have a hundred ABs under his belt already, but instead NY tried Bruce and Ford and anyone else they could. Maybe with the Gittens promotion and then today's moving up Peraza/Josh Smith, NY is starting to realize that a bit more.
Maybe they are showcasing players for a trade? Or getting backups ready to take over after the trade.
 

nattysez

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 30, 2010
8,429
So yea, DJ is not a 600ops guy and he's probably the best hitter in the AL. He'll be fine.
He's had an OPS+ over 100 three times in his career -- 2016 and then 2019 and 2020 -- and this is his age 32 season. I think there's a very real chance the Yanks have seen the best of DJ at this point. He'll probably hit better than he's hitting now, but I wouldn't expect a repeat of the past two years.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,713
He's had an OPS+ over 100 three times in his career -- 2016 and then 2019 and 2020 -- and this is his age 32 season. I think there's a very real chance the Yanks have seen the best of DJ at this point. He'll probably hit better than he's hitting now, but I wouldn't expect a repeat of the past two years.
Again let me point you to the research that COL batters are at an extreme disadvantage in their road games, I agree with your conclusion but I don't think you can parse much from his Rockies record.

https://www.mlb.com/news/nolan-arenado-coors-field-effect-analysis
 

NYCSox

chris hansen of goats
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
May 19, 2004
10,446
Some fancy town in CT
I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that the prior baseballs inflated the power stats of certain players who are likely still trying to use the same approach but without the same results namely cheap home runs.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,713
Tauchman would have been a nice defensive replacement in late innings and he would have caught that ball Miggie shied away from. But yeah, trade a glove for a lefty reliever who had bounced around for a good reason. Let’s have an incomplete bench.
They traded him when Hicks was still healthy for exactly that reason, they had an incomplete bench (infield) because they were carrying too many OFs and none had options.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,713
I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that the prior baseballs inflated the power stats of certain players who are likely still trying to use the same approach but without the same results namely cheap home runs.
This is a reasonable suggestion but it's not like NY is hitting a lot of deep fly balls either.
 

Murderer's Crow

Dragon Wangler 216
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
23,473
Garden City
I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that the prior baseballs inflated the power stats of certain players who are likely still trying to use the same approach but without the same results namely cheap home runs.
I've thought about this but how do you prove it? It feels like this lineup benefitted deeply from the launch angle revolution and never really adjusted their approach. But it has been a monster offense outside of this year (2020 notwithstanding).
 

DanoooME

above replacement level
SoSH Member
Mar 16, 2008
19,831
Henderson, NV
Yeah, the defense is pretty bad and the roster construction leaves a lot to be desired. When you have 4 guys on the roster that should be DHs (Andujar, Stanton, Sanchez, Frazier) that's going to kill the defense. Signing LeMahieu forced Gleyber to a tougher position and that has a domino effect with the rest of the defense. DJ and Urshela are decent out there, but no one else is and you've got multiple players really playing out of position. They really need to clear out some guys and re-tool the roster. I'm not sure any of them have a lot of value, but they should trade Andujar, Frazier and maybe Urshela. If Urshela goes, DJ goes back to 3B, Gleyber goes back to 2B and they can insert Peraza. At least the defense gets a lot better and maybe they can come up with a CF that can play well defensively and hit a little (maybe Florial could be the answer?). Gardner is toast and can be DFA'ed too (career high in K%, career low in HR%). Play the kids, what's there to lose? It's not like the vets are holding up their end of the bargain.
 

terrynever

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Aug 25, 2005
21,717
pawtucket
Yeah, the defense is pretty bad and the roster construction leaves a lot to be desired. When you have 4 guys on the roster that should be DHs (Andujar, Stanton, Sanchez, Frazier) that's going to kill the defense. Signing LeMahieu forced Gleyber to a tougher position and that has a domino effect with the rest of the defense. DJ and Urshela are decent out there, but no one else is and you've got multiple players really playing out of position. They really need to clear out some guys and re-tool the roster. I'm not sure any of them have a lot of value, but they should trade Andujar, Frazier and maybe Urshela. If Urshela goes, DJ goes back to 3B, Gleyber goes back to 2B and they can insert Peraza. At least the defense gets a lot better and maybe they can come up with a CF that can play well defensively and hit a little (maybe Florial could be the answer?). Gardner is toast and can be DFA'ed too (career high in K%, career low in HR%). Play the kids, what's there to lose? It's not like the vets are holding up their end of the bargain.
Great response. Thanks.
 

Murderer's Crow

Dragon Wangler 216
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
23,473
Garden City
Yeah, the defense is pretty bad and the roster construction leaves a lot to be desired. When you have 4 guys on the roster that should be DHs (Andujar, Stanton, Sanchez, Frazier) that's going to kill the defense. Signing LeMahieu forced Gleyber to a tougher position and that has a domino effect with the rest of the defense. DJ and Urshela are decent out there, but no one else is and you've got multiple players really playing out of position. They really need to clear out some guys and re-tool the roster. I'm not sure any of them have a lot of value, but they should trade Andujar, Frazier and maybe Urshela. If Urshela goes, DJ goes back to 3B, Gleyber goes back to 2B and they can insert Peraza. At least the defense gets a lot better and maybe they can come up with a CF that can play well defensively and hit a little (maybe Florial could be the answer?). Gardner is toast and can be DFA'ed too (career high in K%, career low in HR%). Play the kids, what's there to lose? It's not like the vets are holding up their end of the bargain.
I would argue that they need to start with the hitting coach and analytics department before they dump players. How does a whole lineup slump at once? Team chemistry? Coaching? It's clear that all the talent they need is on the roster, so why and how are they slumping? Ain't like we could blame the vaccine.

Edit: That being said, if you had given me any odds on Frazier, Andujar, and Wade being on this team in any of the last 3 seasons, I'd have emptied my bank account betting against it. Cashman simply holds onto players too long until they have virtually no value. We forget, but at one point Wade was an interesting prospect as well.

I can't fault Cashman because he does so many things so well but yea, there are some obvious question marks.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,713
Yeah, some of these guys should have been moved years ago.
 

EvilEmpire

paying for his sins
Moderator
SoSH Member
Apr 9, 2007
17,178
Washington
Cashman needs more of these low cost guys to pan out when trying to balance big contracts like Cole's if he wants to occasionally avoid the tax man. I think that is a big driver of him holding on to young guys for too long. He's had better luck with young pitchers than hitters lately, that's for sure.

We'd be better off if more just failed outright than showing flashes of promise like Ford, Andujar and Frazier all have at difference times. :(

Edit: While the focus on what the team can do better is well justified, I'm going to look inward a bit. I think maybe I jinxed DJ when I changed my avatar to him at the beginning of the season. Sorry DJ. I didn't mean to.

There. Offense solved. Once DJ starts hitting, the others guys will pick it up too.
 
Last edited:

j-man

Member
Dec 19, 2012
3,646
Arkansas
1 get rid of boone he had 4 years
2 throw a lot of cash at Robers or cash or look at Sandy almoar Jr joe mcewing etc
3 pay the tax we are the yankees not kansas city
4 get rid of gary torries gardner chapman offer judge to a team like wash sf try to get a trea turner stanon is unmoveable but if LA dogers wants him i wouild do even if i meant paying 80% of the deal
5 DJ was a great deal but 6y was too long shouild been 4y/90 mil not 6y
 

j-man

Member
Dec 19, 2012
3,646
Arkansas
and i wouild try to sweettalk jeter and say we know u dont like to pay top of the market when your players get too rich send them to us the marils have a power hatting 1b that good
 

VORP Speed

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 23, 2010
6,633
Ground Zero
The 2021 Yankee offense is tremendously inefficient. They get plenty of base runners (6th in AL) but don’t score them (last in AL in % of base runners scored). They lead the league in BB and are middle of the pack in HR but dead last in doubles (and triples). It’s hard to score without XBH when you’re not mashing a shit-ton of HR. They are grounding into a lot of double plays (highest rate in the league) and not stringing together hits to drive in the reasonable number of base runners. Basically they are squander-rific to the extreme. Is that luck driven? Or has the new ball and all the high-spin, elevated 4 seamers disproportionately affected the NYY style of hitting?
 

Apisith

Member
SoSH Member
Oct 19, 2007
3,208
Bangkok
I wouldn’t do anything much. Cashman’s overachieved with his bargain basement hunting (Gregorius, Tauchman, Urshela) over the years, some regression is expected. The pitching has been really good and good arms are coming back, so the pitching will be even better.

The hitting is the problem and the easiest thing to do is to fire the hitting coach. Do that first. I don’t know what’s going on with LeMahieu but he really makes the team tick so the focus has to be on getting him hitting again, even if the power doesn’t come back. But I don’t know, he was a career 93 OPS+ guy at Colorado, and this year he’s at 88 OPS+ and he’s already 32. Once again, some regression is to be expected.

I guess the biggest disappointment is a lack of young hitters. You guys haven’t graduated a hitter who became a key position player in years. The key hitters are all 29+, it’s a recipe for inconsistency.

I still think that you will reel off a decent stretch soon and things will look all right by the end of the regular season. The hitting pedigree is too good.

Since you have a 40 man crunch, maybe now is the time to trade for a really good, young infielder.
 

DanoooME

above replacement level
SoSH Member
Mar 16, 2008
19,831
Henderson, NV
Edit: That being said, if you had given me any odds on Frazier, Andujar, and Wade being on this team in any of the last 3 seasons, I'd have emptied my bank account betting against it. Cashman simply holds onto players too long until they have virtually no value. We forget, but at one point Wade was an interesting prospect as well.
He's got a bad case of Cheringtonitis.
 

bankshot1

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 12, 2003
24,651
where I was last at
The Yankees, with 1 championship in the past 20 years, are suffering a similar if not identical underperformance as the this year's disappointing Celtics, a problematic roster and a stagnant offense. Perhaps The Ys might consider a similar fix.

Give Danny Ainge a hearty handshake, a gold watch and promote Brad.

Just a thought.
 

Apisith

Member
SoSH Member
Oct 19, 2007
3,208
Bangkok
Cashman’s rebuild over the last 7 years, all done without having a single losing season, is elite GMing. He’s completely rebuilt the farm system, picked up loads of bargains and been one of the most savvy GMs in understanding the environment he’s operating in. They went all in on international FAs right before the limits came in, Boston and other big market teams missed the opportunity.

The Yankees have been a top five team for the last five years, I don’t think you can ask for more from a GM. The way they operate now will make them competitive year-in year-out for a long time. The only issue I see is that they haven’t graduated enough players, even though they’ve had a highly ranked farm system. Maybe Cashman held onto some prospects too long but it really seems like there’s a lot of luck to this.
 

EvilEmpire

paying for his sins
Moderator
SoSH Member
Apr 9, 2007
17,178
Washington
That was well stated. Cashman certainly makes his share of mistakes, but he is consistently good at his job. I can't think of anyone I would rather have than him in that seat.

Put another way, if Red Sox fans were polled on all the changes the Yankees could make in response to this rough start, I think "fire Brian Cashman" would be at or near the top of their wishlist.
 

Sin Duda

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
814
(B)Austin Texas
That was well stated. Cashman certainly makes his share of mistakes, but he is consistently good at his job. I can't think of anyone I would rather have than him in that seat.

Put another way, if Red Sox fans were polled on all the changes the Yankees could make in response to this rough start, I think "fire Brian Cashman" would be at or near the top of their wishlist.
Along with "Keep Boone!"
 

OurF'ingCity

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 22, 2016
8,469
New York City
I've thought about this but how do you prove it? It feels like this lineup benefitted deeply from the launch angle revolution and never really adjusted their approach. But it has been a monster offense outside of this year (2020 notwithstanding).
Well, their HR/FB rate is down from 2018-19, as is their HR% more generally. It's not a crazy difference (10.5% HR/FB this year vs. 12.8%/14.4% in 2018/19), but perhaps it takes on more importance when, as VORP points out, the offense is heavily dependent on hitting a lot of home runs.

The bigger question as others have said is whether that dip is just pure luck, a result of changes to the baseball/other actual changes in talent level, etc., or some of both. I'd guess the latter, which means that regression to the mean likely sees this team raising those HR numbers at least a bit, which in turn probably means a handful of additional wins - and a handful of additional wins might be all the Yankees need to move from outside the WC bubble to inside it (or better if both TB and Boston scuffle down the stretch).

As for the defense, the eye test suggests they are pretty bad but interestingly DRS and UZR are neutral to positive. Which may just be bad metrics but could also suggest some regression to the mean there too in terms of on-field results.

TLDR - I'd be pretty shocked if the Yankees aren't right there at least competing for a wild card spot at the end of the year, even if they don't make a single move between then and now. Competing for the division will depend more on how hot the teams above them stay. (And, yes, as a Sox fan I'd love it if they panicked and fired Cashman, but even if the Steinbrenners are growing dissatisfied with him I'd be pretty surprised if they fired him during the season as opposed to after the season.)
 

terrynever

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Aug 25, 2005
21,717
pawtucket
Let’s not link fan frustration to what is actually going on at the top levels of management. The GM is fully in charge. Boone is safe unless he does have health issues that might become exacerbated during a hot summer. Hal Steinbrenner never interferes during a season. His father did. Hal learned from that.
 

Murderer's Crow

Dragon Wangler 216
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
23,473
Garden City
I'm very curious to see what happens to offense around the league with the reduction in sticky baseballs. There is no reason that we shouldn't expect some regression away from pitchers around the league.
 

EvilEmpire

paying for his sins
Moderator
SoSH Member
Apr 9, 2007
17,178
Washington
I'm encouraged by the article JA linked above. Some problems with individual players and a large dollop of bad luck on top of it all. If the pitching can hold, I think they can grind their way through it. A guy like Marte would really help provide some flexibility both in the field and hopefully at the plate though.
 

NYCSox

chris hansen of goats
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
May 19, 2004
10,446
Some fancy town in CT
I'm very curious to see what happens to offense around the league with the reduction in sticky baseballs. There is no reason that we shouldn't expect some regression away from pitchers around the league.
Kind of works both ways no? It can also reduce effectiveness of Yankees pitchers particularly the uber spin guys like Cole.