UPDATE: Through the 2023 season, Stanton's 6th with them, the Yankees still haven't won a Pennant since 2009. So I stand by what I wrote here.
* 1st base: Greg Bird.
* 2nd base: Starlin Castro.
* Shortstop: Didi Gregorius.
* Left field: Brett Gardner.
* Center field: Jacoby Ellsbury or Aaron Hicks.
* Right field: Aaron Judge.
* Catcher: Gary Sanchez.
* Designated hitter: Whoever doesn't start, out of Ellsbury or Hicks.
* Overall offense.
* Top 3 starting pitchers, assuming they remain healthy: Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, Sonny Gray.
* Middle relief: Chad Green, Tommy Kahnle.
* Late relief: Aroldis Chapman, David Robertson, Dellin Betances.
And these were the Yankees' weaknesses:
* 3rd base: Chase Headley, with Ronald Torreyes possibly being an upgrade.
* 4th starter: Jordan Montgomery isn't really ready.
* 5th starter: Best possibility is CC Sabathia, who is currently out of contract, and will be 38 next July.
* Other middle relief: If a starter doesn't get out of the 1st 4 innings, the choices before getting to Green and Kahnle are Luis Cessa, Giovanny Gallegos, Ben Heller, Jonathan Holder, Bryan Mitchell, Chasen Shreve and Adam Warren -- none of whom meets the classic standard of being good enough for the New York Yankees.
Therefore, the Yankees' needs for upgrades were as follows, in order:
1. 5th starter.
2. 3rd baseman.
3. 4th starter.
4. Middle reliever.
*
The Yankees' general manager is Brian Cashman. It is his job to make those upgrades.
What has he done in this offseason, besides address what was the Yankees' biggest need, getting rid of Joe Girardi and replacing him with an intelligent manager? Which Aaron Boone might be, but he's gotta be better than Binder Boy?
Today, Cashman made a trade with the Miami Marlins, which is still unofficial until physical examinations of the players involved are done. Presuming nothing odd pops up:
* The Yankees get Giancarlo Stanton, a right fielder who just turned 28, and already has 267 career home runs, including some of the longest in baseball over the last 5 years. (For comparison's sake: When the Yankees signed Reggie Jackson before the 1977 season, he was 30, and had 281 home runs.)
* The Marlins get Castro and 2 prospects who were probably never going to be factors in a Yankee uniform anyway.
Essentially, Castro for Stanton. Easy trade to make?
Sure... if you're the Marlins!
Here's what the Marlins get: A 2nd baseman who turns 28 during Spring Training (that's right: Younger than Stanton), who's already been a 4-time All-Star and a 2-time postseason player.
Here's what the Yankees get: A righthanded-hitting right fielder who led his League in home runs this year, but strikes out a lot -- which they already have, in Judge.
The Yankees have a glut of outfielders, and only 1 guy can be a DH, unless you want to go with a lefty-righty platoon there, which weakens a team as often as it strengthens.
In other words, Cashman went for the shiny, and increased the Yankees' needs. Now, we also need a 2nd baseman.
Who's going to play 2nd? Torreyes? Gleyber Torres, who's coming off an injury, is listed at shortstop, and still hasn't proven he can hit Triple-A, let alone major league, pitching?
Meanwhile, we still need 1 or 2 more starting pitchers.
So unless Cashman can fill those 2 (or 3) needs, where he previously needed to fill 1 (or 2), trading Starlin Castro for Giancarlo Stanton looks like an incredibly stupid trade.
This is like if, knowing that Arsenal needed a goalkeeper (because Petr Cech is over the hill) and a centreback (because Per Mertesacker is retiring, Laurent Koscielny's Achilles is a nagging injury, and Shkodran Mustafi is injury-prone), signed Neymar. (Or, it would be, if Stanton cheated and had stupid hair and a worse attitude.)
Or, to put it in political terms, the Yankees needed a jobs program, and Cashman signed a tax cut into law.
Understand this: I am not questioning Giancarlo Stanton's ability. Or his character. This is about what the Yankees need, and what they don't.
For the Yankees, Giancarlo Stanton is a luxury. He's a fur coat, when the kids need new shoes.
Do I hope Stanton does well for the Yankees? Of course I do. It would help the Yankees win games, and I'm all about the Yankees winning games. Specifically, winning enough games to get into the postseason, and then winning 11 games in the postseason, and thus the World Series. Maybe Stanton can help us do that.
But what are we supposed to do, win 30 of the 95 games we need in the regular season, and 4 of the 11 in the postseason, by 11-10 scores?
The 2018 Yankees are looking not like the new Murderer's Row (1927), or the new M&M Boys (1961), but like the football team at the University of Nebraska in the early 1980s, which ran up huge numbers against weak opposition (scoring at least 51 points 16 times in 5 seasons, at least 62 points 5 times, and topping out at 72), but lost games they should have won against good teams (to Florida State and Oklahoma in 1980; to Iowa, Penn State and Clemson in 1981; to Penn State to cost themselves the 1982 National Championship; to Miami to cost themselves the 1983 National Championship; and to Oklahoma again and Syracuse in 1984).
I also thought of the "run and shoot" team at the University of Houston from 1988 to 1990, but that team can't be held up as a parallel, since various violations kept them out of bowl games in those seasons, so we don't know how they would have held up against real competition.
And then, of course, there's the elephant in the room. Suppose the Boston Red Sox decide to do to Stanton what they do to pretty much any Yankee they want: Hit him on purpose, with intent to injure. And suppose he is injured. There's a season of him down the drain.
July 25, 2016, the day Brian Cashman traded Chapman to the Chicago Cubs for Torres, Warren and 2 other "prospects." July 31, 2016, the day Cashman traded Miller to the Cleveland Indians for Clint Frazier, Justus Sheffield, Ben Heller and J.P. Feyereisen. August 1, 2016, the day Cashman traded Carlos Beltran to the Texas Rangers for 3 spare parts, and also traded Ivan Nova to the Pittsburgh Pirates for 2 nobodies And August 31, 2017, the day Cashman did not trade for Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros did.
These are dates which live in infamy. Cashman's trades since July 2016 have essentially won 3 Pennants -- for the 2016 Cubs (Chapman), the 2016 Indians (Miller), and the 2017 Astros (who signed Beltran as a free agent and traded for Verlander when Cashman wouldn't).
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: In August 2017, I would have traded the entire remaining career of Gleyber Torres for the next 3 months of Justin Verlander. It would have made all the difference in the World (Series).
Now, Cashman has gone for the sports car, while the heater is broken and Winter has arrived.
Dumb GM is so dumb. How dumb is he? If he doesn't find another starter and a 2nd baseman, either from someone else or already in the Yankees' organization, Brian Cashman goes down as the worst executive in Yankee history.
And those of you still defending him, I ask you this: How can you type while bowing your heads and kneeling?
I would have used another analogy, but, this time, I wanted some people to read this who might have objected to R-rated language.
*
Speaking of the 1961 Yankees, today I learned of the death of Tracy Stallard, who gave up Roger Maris' record-breaking 61st home of that season.
Evan Tracy Stallard (why he used his middle name, when it's usually a girl's name, I don't know) was born in August 31, 1937 in Coeburn, in the western panhandle of Virginia. He came up with the Red Sox in September 1960, making 4 appearances, 3 of them against the Yankees. Ted Williams' finale, on September 28, was not one of his appearances.
He struggled the next season, going just 2-7, and with a 4.88 ERA it wasn't just because the Red Sox were bad. His best performance of the season may well have been in the season finale at Yankee Stadium, on October 1, 1961, in which he gave up only 1 run -- a solo home run to Maris, which changed baseball history. Stallard went 7 innings, giving up only 5 hits in the hard-luck loss.
"I'm glad he did hit it off me," Stallard later said. "Otherwise, I would never have been thought of again. That was about all I did, and I've had a good time with it."
Pitching in the Polo Grounds did not help Stallard, as he went 6-17 for that 111-loss team. Pitching in the new Shea Stadium, a pitcher's park, should have helped, but didn't, as he went 10-20 for a 109-loss team. Among his losses in that 1964 season was the perfect game pitched against the Mets by Jim Bunning of the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Mets traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals, and, pitching for the defending World Champions, he went 11-8 with a decent 3.38 ERA in 1965. But he fell to 1-5 in 1966, was sent down to the minors, where he hung on until 1973, without ever returning to the majors.
And yet, he held Willie Mays to a .200 average: 6-for-30. He held Willie McCovey to .152: 5-for-33, albeit 3 of the 5 hits were home runs. He held Frank Robinson to .214: 6-for-28. He held Roberto Clemente to .138: 4-for-29. And that historic home run was the only hit Maris ever got off him, going 1-for-7, for .143.
It sounds like Stallard was a good Joe Girardi-style "situational pitcher." He might have been even more so if he'd been lefthanded. Alas, 1965 aside, he was a marginal pitcher, finishing with a 30-57 record and a 4.17 ERA -- in a pitching-friendly era.
Stallard died in his hometown of Coeburn this past Thursday, December 7, 2017. He was 80 years old.
In 61*, the movie that Billy Crystal made about the 1961 home run record chase, Stallard was played by Paul Gallo, who also played a softball coach on the TV series Gilmore Girls.
*
Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: None. Right now, they are playing the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Their next game against The Scum will be on Thursday night, December 21, at the Prudential Center in Newark. Their 1st game against the New York Islanders will be on Sunday, January 7, 2018, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Their 1st game against the Philadelphia Flyers will be on Saturday, January 13, 2018, at the Prudential Center.
Days until The Arsenal play again: 1, tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM our time, away to Southampton.
Days until Phil Murphy is inaugurated as Governor of New Jersey: 38, on Tuesday, January 16, 2018. A little over 5 weeks. Goodbye, Chris Christie, and stay out.
Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 50, on Sunday night, January 28, 2018, at 9:30 PM Eastern Time, a friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina (that's 1 country), at the StubHub Center in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. About 7 weeks. After that, no matches are scheduled. They were supposed to play at the World Cup in June 2018. Alas...
Days until the next Winter Olympics begins in Pyeongchang, Korea: 62, on February 9, 2018. Just 2 months.
Days until the next North London Derby: 63, on Saturday, February 10, 2018, at Wembley Stadium in West London, where Spurs are playing their "home games" until the new stadium they're building on the site of White Hart Lane opens the following August. Just 9 weeks. Two things could change this day-count: The game could be moved due to the British TV networks' demands, or Arsenal could be drawn to play Spurs in the FA Cup, which would be the weekend of January 6 (if it's in the 3rd Round) or that of January 27 (if it's in the 4th Round). The 4th Round would be the weekend of February 17, after the next scheduled Derby.
Days until the Red Bulls play again: Unknown. Usually, the Major League Soccer season begins on the 1st Sunday in March, which would be March 4, which would be 85 days from now. Just 12 weeks.
Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": Unknown, although the season opener is rarely a derby, so it probably won't be against either New York City FC, the Philadelphia Union, D.C. United or the New England Revolution.
Days until Opening Day of the 2018 Major League Baseball season: 110, on Thursday night, March 29, as the Yankees open away to the Toronto Blue Jays. Under 4 months.
Days until the Yankees' 2018 home opener: 114, on Monday afternoon, April 2, against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 122, on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, at Fenway Park.
Days until the next World Cup kicks off in Russia: 187, on June 14, 2018. A little over 6 months. But the U.S. team won't be playing. At least now, Donald Trump doesn't have to choose, and can root for his favorite country, the host nation, Russia.
Days until September 2018 roster call-ups, when we can finally start to expect seeing most of these wonderful "prospects" that Yankee general manager Brian Cashman wanted: 266. Under 9 months.
Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 266, on Saturday, September 1, home to Texas State University. Their loss to Michigan State this past Saturday left them 4-8 on the season, although it did include 3 Big Ten wins: At Illinois, and home to Purdue and Maryland.
Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: Unknown. The 2018 schedule hasn't been released yet. But the season opener is usually on the 1st Friday in September. that would be September 7, which is 272 days from now.
Days until the next Congressional election, when we can elect a Democratic Congress that can impeach and remove Donald Trump from the Presidency: 332, on November 6, 2018. Under 11 months.
Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State game: 343, on Saturday, November 17, 2018, at High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey.
Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving high school football game (after tomorrow's): 348, on Thursday, November 22, 2018.
Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Mariano Rivera: 396, on January 9, 2019. A little over a year, or exactly 13 months.
Days until the next Women's World Cup kicks off: 545, on June 7, 2019, in France. A little over a year and a half, or a little under 18 months. The U.S. team, as 3-time and defending Champions, has, as usual, a better chance than the men's team would have had in 2018 anyway.
Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 760, on January 8, 2020. A little over 2 years, or a little under 25 months.
Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 958, on July 24, 2020. A little over 2 1/2 years, or a little under 32 months.
Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 1,060, on November 3, 2020. Under 3 years, or a little under 35 months.
Days until Liberation Day: 1,138, at noon on January 20, 2021. A little over 3 years, or a little under 38 months. Note that this is liberation from the Republican Party, not just from Donald Trump. Having Mike Pence as President wouldn't be better, just differently bad, mixing theocracy with plutocracy, rather than mixing kleptocracy with plutocracy.
Days until the next World Cup for which the American team will be eligible is scheduled to kick off: 1,806, on November 21, 2022, in Qatar. Under 5 years, or 60 months. The charges of corruption against Qatar may yet mean that they will lose the tournament, in which case it will be moved to a nation where it would not be too hot to play it in June and July.
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