LOL Yankees

[MFS62]

Edgy MD wrote: Is this going to be our 2017 Yankees thread or do we have another?

Keep this one. Laughing at them is as good a place to start as any.

Later

[ashie62]

I like big slugging guys that K too much ala Rob Deer, Gorman Thomas, Kingman and such....

[Vic Sage]

I like them when they walk alot and play good D, like Thomas and Deer. Masters of the 3 true outcomes... also, Dunn (without the D), and such contemporary players as Joc Pederson, Chris Davis, Stanton and Springer come to mind, too. Even our own Lucas Duda. They can be very valuable players. Or not.

[Frayed Knot]

Randy Levine acting like an entitled asshole - Exhibit # 4,592

After making comments about MFY reliever Dellin Betances leading up to their arbitration hearing such as his request (for $5 mil) having "no basis in reality", MFY Prez Randy Levine continued the verbal barrage after the hearing was over and appears to be turning that process from one where bad feelings sometimes linger to virtually guaranteeing that they will. And it's important to remember that this is all occurring after an arb hearing which the Yanx won! This was only the second case where they went to the arb hearing with one of their players this century and the team's attitude seems to be, "How Dare He!?!".

Their basic gripe was that Betances wanted closer type money (or at least the arb-eligible version of it) even though nothing more than a lowly set-up man. His three AS appearances, ROY & CY votes, and stellar record all while leading MLB in reliever innings and appearances over the last three seasons [207 G, 247 IP, 14.3 K/9, 0.96 WHIP] apparently only get you so far if you're not working 9th innings.
So Betances gets $3 mil instead of the $5 mil he was asking for and was all set to accept the decision calmly - but then Levine has to go around spiking the football in front of every single mic he can find saying, among other things, that the player & agent were on a "half-baked" attempt to upset the 40-year history of the arbitration process and that Betances comparing himself to closers was akin to Levine calling himself an astronaut, all, btw, while referring to him as 'Dylan' in interviews, a 'slip' which can't possibly be unintentional.

A year ago at this time, prior to Betances being arb-eligible and therefore the team having all the power, they offered a nominal raise that's pretty standard as players gain an extra year of service time to the then two-time All-Star up to $540K. Nothing unusual about that, the Mets did similar with deGrom as they did with Wright back in his day and the Yanx with Jeter. Also not unusual is that Betances (like deGrom) opted not to sign the contract out of protest even while knowing that they could simply renew him at any number they wanted. In this case though, instead of the $540K he symbolically rejected, they renewed him at the bare ML minimum of $507,500, the same as the last guy on the bench and not even a dime's raise from his previous season.

So, not surprisingly, Betances is openly pissed and is talking about innings limits and opting out of games if he feels overworked. He's still three years away from FA-gency so there's not a lot he can do about things as they stand plus, at age 29 by the time the season starts, he could already be exiting his prime if and when he does get there. All the more reason for him to threaten 'Operation Shutdown' when it suits his purpose.

This is going to be a fun one to watch.

[Edgy MD]

Frayed Knot wrote: ... that the player & agent were on a "half-baked" attempt to upset the 40-year history of the arbitration process ... .

Upset it, Dellin!

[Frayed Knot]

Edgy MD wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: ... that the player & agent were on a "half-baked" attempt to upset the 40-year history of the arbitration process ... . Upset it, Dellin!

Well sure.
But even short of the idea of blowing up the whole system, the Yanx here skate right past the fact that the arbitration process bears only a slight resemblance to an open market and instead head right
into condemning Betances and his agent as if they're the ones playing dirty for not obeying some set of unwritten rules which dictate further limits on what the player is even permitted to ask for.
Yeah, the player who wants his season (three seasons really including two where he was second on the entire team in WAR) compared to all relievers rather than just a subset of them is making a
mockery of the system but not the team coming off paying their three-time All-Star minimum wage for three consecutive seasons.

[Edgy MD]

The broader reality is that a pitcher has to win at least one game of Russian Roulette with his health before what's left of him ever gets a chance to see what free agency looks like. And there's every chance Matt Harvey (for instance) won't be worth nearly as much at 30 as he would have been at 24 or 26 had he been allowed to negotiate in a fair market.

[Edgy MD]

Frayed Knot wrote: ... that the player & agent were on a "half-baked" attempt to upset the 40-year history of the arbitration process and that Betances comparing himself to closers was akin to Levine calling himself an astronaut, ... .

Wouldn't Levine, as president of the Yankees, presumably be making well more than a typical astronaut? I'll hang up now and listen to your answer.

[Frayed Knot]

Edgy MD wrote: Wouldn't Levine, as president of the Yankees, presumably be making well more than a typical astronaut?

Of course. The point Levine thinks he's making is that Betances having the gall to compare himself to a closer despite normally working 7th & 8th innings* is as far 'removed from reality'
(to paraphrase Levine's own words) as a sports exec would be claiming that, despite outward appearances to the contrary, he is in fact an astronaut.

So despite it being only mid-February, I think the contest for bad analogy of the year already has its winner.





* even though just a shade under 20% of his innings pitched have come in the 9th inning and he has 22 career saves including 12 in 2016

[HahnSolo]

I'll give my MFY-loving acquaintances this: they universally think this guy is a douche.

I'm not well-versed in all things MFY, but the chances are 100% that if I see Randy Levine's name in a headline, there will be a stupid comment from him within the article.

Also, he's not the owner, and he's not the GM. What exactly does he do? And why should we care what he has to say?

[Guest 41Forever]

Seems to me that tearing down one of your players is a bad business model. If Levine was really that upset, he should have kept that in-house.

Especially since this is a team that famously over-pays players. They could have afforded that raise. And fans don't really care how much he makes.

The proper move would have been to say, "We think that's too much, but Betances is a damn good player, he's done a great job for us and I know we'll do a wonderful job setting up Chapman this season. He and the closer form an unbeatable one-two punch. Now let's focus on some baseball."

Silly Yankees.

[Guest 41Forever]

The caps with the Florida outlines seem to have all but disappeared. I've been trying to buy one online before I head to Florida, and they're nowhere to be found on the Mets, Fanatics, Lids and even New Era websites!

[Edgy MD]

HahnSolo wrote: I'll give my MFY-loving acquaintances this: they universally think this guy is a douche. I'm not well-versed in all things MFY, but the chances are 100% that if I see Randy Levine's name in a headline, there will be a stupid comment from him within the article. Also, he's not the owner, and he's not the GM. What exactly does he do? And why should we care what he has to say?

It's interesting question for any franchise. Who is the president and what does he do when he is not the owner and chairman of the board? I guess he's usually a guy who steps in and "oversees operations" when the owner is (a) old, ( aloof, or © forced to cease being and owner/operator due to conflict of interest or suspension.

I guess they oversee all the management that's not about managing player personnel. Marketing, finance, public relations, infrastructure, community outreach, but that again triggers the question, "Why would Levine be commenting about Betances?" He should presumably be giving Cashman a budget and then mostly washing his hands of player personnel and contracts.

[MFS62]

Edgy MD wrote: I guess they oversee all the management that's not about managing player personnel. Marketing, finance, public relations, infrastructure, community outreach, but that again triggers the question, "Why would Levine be commenting about Betances?" He should presumably be giving Cashman a budget and then mostly washing his hands of player personnel and contracts.

Because he's a douche.

Later

[Guest 41Forever]

Silly Yankees have apparently signed Jon Niese to a minor-league deal.

[Lefty Specialist]

41Forever wrote: Silly Yankees have apparently signed Jon Niese to a minor-league deal.

Well, I have a feeling that'll end badly.

[Edgy MD]

That's a cromulent move, especially if you're the Yankees, whose second best starter might be seventh or eighth on the Mets' current depth chart.

It would also leave Kelly Johnson as the last remaining unsigned 2016 Met.

[Frayed Knot]

The Yanx expect SS Didi Gregorius, who injured his shoulder while playing for the Netherlands team in the WBC, to not only miss opening day but be sidelined until some time in May.

[ashie62]

The MFY's are competitive,

[Edgy MD]

So, are we potentially looking at Ruben Tejada as the Yankees' opening day shortstop?

[Guest 41Forever]

But no Jon Niese in the pen -- cut today by the Yankees.

[Frayed Knot]

Checked out Game 1 of one of the early *BIG* series of the year as the Astros visited the Bronx last night for the first of four - culminating with the Sunday Night Jeter-fest which is gong to be unwatchable
even by ESPN production standards ... definitely a must-mute and by all means skip the (1/2 hour longer) pre-game situation.

Dallas Keuchel, who beat the Yanx back in the 2015 AL WC game, seems to be back on his CY form from that year and was helped out by Carlos Correa hitting a wicked opposite field 2R HR off Pineda in the 1st
Keuchel was cruising until a walk, hit, and error in the 5th (Cuban 1B Gourriel just clanked a toss from Altuve that your six year old snags with no problems) led to Ellsbury pulling his specialty, that is he
chalked up another catcher's interference, this time with the bases loaded. He had 12 of those last year - nearly 1/3 of all those called all season (acc. to Costas on the national broadcast). I don't
know quite how he does it but, at those numbers -- Ellsbury had something like 0.3% of all plate appearances last season and gets nearly 33% of all catcher's interference calls!?! -- it's obviously no
accident. Nice trick if you can pull it off and get away with it.

But it all worked out in the end as the Yanx, down 3-1 heading into the 9th, got a potential 2-run/2-out single but the tying run from 2nd, Ellsbury, got his ass thrown out at the plate to end the game.
It was the right move to send him but he was dead meat courtesy of late inning defensive replacement Jake Marisnick's throw.
Nice game all around as long as you ignore the fact that it was a 3-2 game which got turned into something needing over 3 hours (3:09) to finish.

Astros now 24-11, Yanx at 21-11, a half-game behind the Orioles who got their finale with the Nats rained out last night.

Edited May 12, 2017 by Guest

[ashie62]

This is the game of the night. Too bad it the MFY's.

[Fman99]

Happened to be going around the dial last night and watched the end. Good part of the game to be viewing. Mute button helped as well.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I watched the end as well. Also listened a bit to Jawn and Suzyn take turns blowing Alex Bregmann of the Astros for wearing No. 2.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I can only hope they did the same for Lute Barnes.

[stevejrogers]

I watched the end as well. Also listened a bit to Jawn and Suzyn take turns blowing Alex Bregmann of the Astros for wearing No. 2.

Did they assume it was for Jeter, or did they have evidence?

I mean I had assumed Syndergaard's choosing #34 was for fellow Texan Nolan Ryan when pairing up photos for social media countdowns, but it was for Roy Halladay. So it would be funny if Bregmann chose it for non MFY reasons, or was just assigned it.

OE: Never mind...
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/houston-astros-alex-bregman-wears-no-2-honor-idol-jeter-article-1.3157581

[Frayed Knot]

MLBN (Costas/Smoltz) did the same thing, putting up a graphic of all the MLB infielders currently wearing #2.
I was only half-listening at the time so I don't know whether they definitely said they were all in tribute (some, Tulowitski for instance, have said his was) although they did point out that Bregman was
drafted #2 overall so that could be his inspiration as well.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Or maybe he likes to poop.

[Frayed Knot]

Well sure, that too!

I like how Steve's linked article mentions, in the midst of a Jeter tribute, how Bregman moved to over 3rd base.
How very un-Jeterian of him!!