Friday, March 8, 2019

The Yankees Are In Serious Trouble

Right now, it looks like the Yankees will be opening the season with CC Sabathia and Luis Severino on the Disabled List.

Excuse me: The name has officially been changed, starting this season, to "The Injured List," so as to be more sensitive to the disabled.

Well, speaking as someone who was medically certified as disabled in the middle of last season, with a State ID that now allows me to ride public transit for half-price (I'd prefer cutting my pain in half), I'm not offended by the term "Disabled List."

But no CC and no Sevy means we have a starting rotation of Masahiro Tanaka, J.A. Happ, James Paxton, and 2 out of these 4 guys: Chad Green, Luis Cessa, Jonathan Loaisiga and Domingo German.

Does that sound like at least a Division-winning rotation to you? Because it sure doesn't sound like a Division-winning rotation to me.

Meanwhile, Dallas Keuchel, a proven American League winner, is an unsigned free agent. And our general manager, Brian Cashman, is sitting on his ass, twiddling his thumbs, and giving a damn about the last thing he should give a damn about, which is staying under the luxury tax threshold!

As Arsenal fans would say, "Oi, Cashman: Spend some fucking money!"

If he doesn't, then, unless CC and Sevy come back quickly, or we can win a lot of games by a 12-11 score, the Yankees are in serious trouble.

Anybody predicting a World Championship with the rotation I described is fooling himself. With that rotation, we'd be lucky to break .500.

*

Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: 1, at 7:00 tomorrow night, against the New York Rangers, a.k.a. The Scum, at Madison Square Garden. The Devils are not scheduled to play the New York Islanders or the Philadelphia Flyers, a.k.a. The Philth, again during the regular season.

Days until Arsenal play again: 2, at 12:30 PM New York time this Saturday, home to Manchester United. Looks like it will be 3 straight games in which Arsenal get screwed by referees, following last Saturday's march against their North London arch-rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, a 1-1 draw that should have been a 1-0 win; and yesterday's 3-1 Europa League loss away to Stade Rennes in France, when Sokratis Papastathopoulos got a very dubious 2nd yellow card (though the 1st was legit) and sent off for something he didn't do, leaving Arsenal to play 10 vs. 11 (or 10 vs. 12) for more than half the game.

Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: 4, Tuesday night at 8:00, away to Santos Laguna in Torreon, Mexico, in the 2nd leg of the Quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League. They lost the home leg 2-0, so they have some work to do. They gained a draw in their League opener, away to the Columbus Crew.

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 13, on Thursday, March 21, a friendly against Ecuador at Orlando City Stadium. Under 2 weeks.

Days until the Yankees' 2019 Opening Day: 20, on Thursday, March 28, home to the Baltimore Orioles. Under 3 weeks. Come on, Brian Cashman: Sign Dallas Keuchel!

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 39, on Tuesday, April 16, at Yankee Stadium II. Under 7 weeks.


Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 43, on Saturday night, April 20, against the New England Revolution, at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. The next game against the Philadelphia Union will be on Saturday night, June 8, at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania. The next game against New York City FC will be on Sunday night, July 14, at Red Bull Arena. The next game against D.C. United will be on Wednesday night, August 21, at Audi Field in Washington.

Days until the next Women's World Cup kicks off: 91,  on June 7,  in France. Just 13 weeks. The U.S. team is 3-time and defending Champions, but has struggled in its warmup friendlies and in the recent SheBelieves Cup, drawing with Japan and England before beating Brazil, while England beat Japan and Brazil to win the Cup.

Days until the Yankees and Red Sox play each other in London: 113, on June 29. Under 4 months.

Days until the next North London Derby: Unknown, as both Premier League matches, and a League Cup match, have been played this season. The next season starts on August 10, which is 155 days from now, but the PL never puts a Derby on the opening weekend. The Gunners and Spurs usually play each other in N5 in October or November, and then in N17 (presuming Spurs finally get that new stadium open by then) in February or March.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 176on August 31, home to the University of Massachusetts. Under 6 months.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: Unknown, because the 2019 schedule hasn't been released yet. Usually, the next season begins on the 1st Friday in September, which would be September 6, which would be 182 days. It has been announced that East Brunswick and its arch-rivals, Old Bridge, will no longer play each other on Thanksgiving Day. That game will not be played early in the season, but we don't yet know when. For most of its history, 1963 to 1987, it was an early-season game, sometimes the opener. And it will be under a new head coach, because Bob Molarz, in charge for the last 6 seasons, has resigned, citing "personal reasons." 

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State game: 267, on Saturday, November 30, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. Under 9 months.

Days until my 50th Birthday, at which point I can join AARP and get discounts for travel and game tickets: 285, on December 18, 2019. A little over 9 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 319on January 21, 2020. Under 11 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 504, on July 24, 2020. Under a year and a half, or under 17 months.

Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 606on November 3, 2020. Under 2 years, or a little under 20 months.

Days until a fully-Democratic-controlled Congress can convene, and the Republicans can do nothing about it: 667, on January 3, 2021. Under 2 years, or a little under 22 months.

Days until Liberation Day: 684at noon on January 20, 2021. Under 2 years, or under 23 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 Winter Olympics begins in Beijing, China: 1,064, on February 4, 2022. Under 3 years, or a little under 35 months.

Days until the next World Cup is scheduled to kick off: 1,354, on November 21, 2022, in Qatar. Under 4 years, or under 45 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.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Why has Adams pitched .1 inning thus far in ST? And that outing according to Boone was an anomaly due to the shift put in play w all the batters he faced. Hes the Yankees #12 prospect or #20 depending on who you read. In ST his BP sessions and sim games have been spot-on. Yet hes not had a chance to throw beyond what he has...thus his name is not mentioned against competing against Cessa, German or Lasagna. What am I missing?!?