I was supposed to go to last night's Yankee game. A friend won 4 tickets, but has no interest in baseball, and was willing to let me have them, provided I could give the other 3 away.
Would you believe, no takers? My brother-in-law was going to be one of them, and it would have been fairly easy for him to give the other 2. But he had to work late, so he couldn't go, and I couldn't find takers for the tickets.
And then he found out his meeting was canceled. So he, and thus I, could have gone after all.
It's just as well that we didn't go. I would have wanted Joe Girardi fired. I still might.
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The Yankees opened a 4-game home series with the Texas Rangers last night. The Rangers have gone into an unbelievable tailspin, while the Houston Astros seem to have found their footing. Not only do the Astros no longer have the worst record in baseball, they're ahead of the Rangers in the AL West. Worst team in baseball? The Astros aren't even the worst team in Texas anymore.
Carlos Beltran opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the 1st inning. The Rangers tied it up in the 3rd, but Jacoby Ellsbury made it 2-1 in the 4th with a home run, his 8th of the season.
Going into the 6th inning, Shane Greene was doing well in his 1st Yankee Stadium start. And he got the 1st 2 outs. Things were looking good.
Then he allowed a single, and then a walk, and then an RBI single.
At this moment, the right thing to do would have been to get somebody warmed up in the bullpen.
The problem was, Girardi had already done that, and he pulled Greene. And brought in Matt Thornton.
Why Girardi pulled Greene, I understand. He might have been tiring. I didn't agree with the decision, but I understand it.
But Thornton? Thornton has not gotten the job done all year. Yes, the next batter up was a lefthanded hitter, but how many times did the lefty-on-lefty matchup burn Girardi when it was Boone Logan who was the lefty out of the pen?
And that next batter? Rougned Odor. No, that's not a misprint: It's pronounced "ROOG-ned OH-dore" -- not "OH-der" like a smell. He's 20 years old, a 2nd baseman from Venezuela, who until last night had 195 major league plate appearances. Any righthanded pitcher should have been able to get himself out.
But Girardi's Binder told him, "Bring in
Girardi brought in Thornton. Odor singled to left, bringing home the go-ahead run. Thornton allowed another RBI single to Shin-Soo Choo, before Girardi realized, "Holy cow, bringing in Thornton was a mistake. What does my Binder say now?" It said, "Bring in Adam Warren," and Warren stopped the bleeding by striking out Elvis Andrus.
But, speaking of guys named Elvis, we can't go on together with either suspicious minds or Girardi's Binder. Joe, don't be cruel. Mariano Rivera, you were always on my mind.
Rangers 4, Yankees 2. WP: Miles Mikolas (1-2 -- no, I'd never heard of him before, either.) SV: Joakim Soria (17). LP: Greene (2-1, and this loss was very much undeserved, but you can't charge a loss to the manager).
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But as the old saying goes, it can always get worse. You know what damn fool thing Cashman did today?
He traded Yangervis Solarte! Solarte had gotten off to a great start this season, but stopped hitting, went down to the minors, and was called back up, but then Girardi traded him to the San Diego Padres before he could re-prove himself.
Who did the Yankees get from the Padres for Solarte? Chase Headley.
Who? Chase Headley? Isn't that the actress who plays Cersei Lannister on Game of Thrones? No, that's Lena Headey. Isn't Chase Headley a pitcher we already have? No, that's Chase Whitley. I know, he's the villain from Blazing Saddles! No, that's Hedy Lamarr. "That's Hedley!"
Headley is 30 years old, from Colorado, a switch-hitting 3rd baseman who can also play the outfield. Until now, he's played his entire career in San Diego, since 2007. In 2012, he won a Gold Glove, and led the National League with 112 RBIs -- but talk about an outlier, his next-highest total is 64. He hit 31 home runs that year, otherwise his peak year is 13. And he strikes out more than Mickey Mantle or Reggie Jackson ever did: 73 times already this season, 142 last year.
Seriously: Cashman thought this was a good trade.
His reasoning is that Headley is a defensive upgrade on Solarte. Funny, but he wasn't all that interested in defensive upgrades when he had Eduardo NunE5!
Now, Headley is supposed to be the everyday 3rd baseman -- even though the recently-arrived Zelous Wheeler is doing the business both at bat and in the field.
What the hell is wrong with Cashman? At least with Girardi, we know what the hell is wrong with him: He's too "by the book"!
These guys may both have to go.
Anyway, good luck in San Diego, Yangervis. Chase Headley, I hope you can win games for us, but the way the manager and the GM are going, who knows.
UPDATE: It turned out to be a decent trade. Solarte didn't do much for the Padres, while Headley was rather inconsistent for the Yankees, looking good one game and terrible the next.
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