The Yankees and MLB seem to think there is something wrong with baseball if the Yankees are not better than everyone else.
Wednesday, October 6, 2021 2021: The Year of the Great Yankee Gaslighting[/paste:font] Posted by el duque at 12:35 PM Well, it's over - 2021 - and good riddance. Once again, our $2000 million team couldn't reach a post-season. (I don't consider playing in the Wild Card as "reaching the post-season." Boston made it. We didn't.) For many teams, reaching the wild card would mean a good year. Not for the Yankees. Right now, across the fan base, absolutely nobody feels good about this team. Go onto any site or social network. Everyone is pissed, throwing feces, demanding to know how we came to be so inept. I think the answer is simple. This year, the Yankees gaslighted us. Damn, they're good at it. But why wouldn't they be. They own the ****ing TV network that covers them. The Yankee Entertainment System - YES - churns out propaganda 24-7. Meanwhile, the NYC sports media is more obsessed with mere survival to actually holding the franchise accountable. Today, they'll rant along with the chorus, but next week, they'll be begging for interviews, hat in hand. They gaslighted us into viewing YES announcers as actual journalists, rather than paid mouthpieces. They'll rip a player for not hustling. But they never question upper management. They applaud every Yankee deal as a triumph of the front office. They rain upon us so much crapola that we are dizzy over the accounts and descriptions of ESPN or Fox hosts - who simply aren't on the direct Yankee payroll. (They are on the MLB tab, though. There is virtually no independent oversight of the Yankees.) They gaslighted us on the acquisition of Joey Gallo and Rougned Odor - both of whom had been jettisoned by baseball's worst team. Texas had seen enough. They gaslighted us on the bullpen, which last spring was hailed as the best in baseball. They gaslighted us on Clint Frazier's "legendary bat speed"- and Gary Sanchez, who grows increasingly distant from his rookie season. They gaslighted us on Jasson Dominiquez - "The Martian" - an 18-year-old bonus baby who played in the Futures Game before getting his first Single A hit. Last spring, they hyped him as their top prospect. He's now No. 2. They gaslighted us about the nine-man batting order, despite having only one LH bat: Aaron Hicks, a switch-hitter, who soon disappeared. A Yankee team... with no lefty hitter? They said it didn't matter. They gaslighted us into thinking the Yankees were AL favorites - a notion that now seems laughable. Part of the blame is ours. We devoured all the bullshit that their public relations staff pumped out. The Yankees won't change under the current regime. Brian Cashman cannot afford to rebuild for a year. The Yankees would fall out of contention - (though with the wild card, that's hard to do) - and attendance would drop. So next July, they'll trade whatever prospects they have to get into the race. And next October, we will just be angry again. Gaslighted. http://johnsterling.blogspot.com/2021/10/2021-year-of-great-yankee-gaslighting.html This New Yorker actually got most of it right.
I guess the commissioner doesn't want the MLB to have anymore strategy. Taking certain elements away each year.
He forgot to mention that the Yankees gaslighted their fans into thinking they would have won the WS in 2017 if not for the one and only cheating team.
How the top 10 MLB contracts from last offseason fared: 1. George Springer (six years, $150 million) Even after Springer’s three stints on the injured list in 2021, the Blue Jays would not undo this deal. In the 78 games Springer played, he was exceptional as always: he had 22 homers, a .904 OPS and familiarly rose to big moments. None of his leg injuries appear chronic. Springer is having a similar career to Bernie Williams. J.T. Realmuto (five years, $115 million) We might look back at Steve Cohen’s first offseason as Mets owner as an opportunity missed. The Mets did not go for Springer or Realmuto, but instead traded assets for Francisco Lindor, then gave him a 10-year, $341 million extension, and signed James McCann for four years at $40 million. It is interesting to wonder what would have happened with the 2021 Mets had they just used Cohen’s ample money at the top of the market. Instead, the Phillies retained Realmuto, who had a terrific season alongside players who might win the NL MVP (Bryce Harper) and Cy Young (Zack Wheeler), and still Philadelphia finished just 82-80 and out of the playoffs for a 10th straight year. George Springer Getty Images 3. Trevor Bauer (three years, $102 million) It could have been much worse for the Mets — they had the high offer here. But Bauer preferred returning to his Southern Cal roots with a near-sure winner. Bauer has been accused of sexual assault, was first placed on administrative leave on July 2 and has not pitched in the majors since. His legal issues are still unresolved, and there is some not insignificant chance he will never pitch for the Dodgers again and perhaps will not appear in the majors again. 4. DJ LeMahieu (six years, $90 million) He was the Yankees’ only sizable pursuit last offseason. The sides finally agreed to an amount that satisfied LeMahieu, who initially was trying to exceed $100 million, and was spread out over six years to help the Yankees with the luxury tax in the short term. LeMahieu was nearly the AL MVP in his first two Yankees seasons, but his OPS dropped from .922 (2019-20) to .711. There are few more important hopes for the organization than that the sports hernia that sidelined LeMahieu late was a factor that restricted him all year. 5. Marcell Ozuna (four years, $65 million) It’s not a good look for the sport that two of the five biggest free agents from last year ended up missing much of this season following charges of domestic abuse. Ozuna was arrested May 29 for an alleged assault on his wife. The Braves brought Ozuna back after he led NL, in the shortened 2020 season, in homers and RBIs. He was underperforming in 2021, then injured a finger, before the arrest. His legal matter is not completely resolved, plus he still faces a potential suspension by MLB. 6. Liam Hendriks (three years, $54 million) If you eliminate the Yankees, who put up seven runs (six earned) with three homers against Hendriks in 1 ¹/₃ innings over three outings, the righty would arguably be in play for one of the best relief seasons ever. Even including the numbers versus the Yankees, Hendriks was third in the majors in relief strikeout percentage (43.3) and second in lowest walk percentage (2.6) while holding hitters to a .174 average. He was worth every penny to the White Sox. 7. James McCann (four years, $40 million) The White Sox did not keep their backup catcher, who was paid by the Mets like a frontline receiver, and with a full workload might have shown he is a backup catcher. His offense, which perked up in two Chicago seasons, returned to the well-below-average realm of his Tigers years. McCann was good defensively. The Mets spent lavishly last offseason on a starting catcher and might still need a starting catcher. 8. Justin Turner (two years, $34 million) The Dodgers were determined not to let such an important player and clubhouse voice leave, and Turner did not want to go. His eighth year as a Dodger was familiar: He was productive and the team made the playoffs. I wonder if the success this year of hitter in their mid-30s and older, such as Turner, Brandon Crawford, Yuli Gurriel, Buster Posey and Joey Votto helps what has been a besieged class the past few years — the older free-agent position player. 9. Michael Brantley (two years, $32 million) Brantley, 34, was another older hitter who remained elite even as his power dimmed. Here are the list of qualified players who have hit .300 or better in each of the past four seasons: Michael Brantley. End of list. 10. Didi Gregoirus (two years, $28 million) There was a large subset of fans this year who would email or tweet at me how much the Yankees missed Didi Gregorius or how they should have signed him last offseason. Here is what I wondered each time: Had any of them actually seen Gregorius play this year? He was tied for the seventh-worst OPS-plus among players with 400 plate appearances, and his defensive metrics were among the worst in the majors — worse even than Gleyber Torres at short. It is so bad that even with $14 million left next season for Gregorius, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski would not guarantee him a starting job. Philadelphia needs him — like another ex-Yankee — to have an Eovaldi-esque rebound. https://nypost.com/2021/10/09/how-the-top-10-mlb-contracts-from-last-offseason-fared-sherman/ Several of these went very bad. More caution coming from owners in the future?
Holy **** that was one of the craziest innings i've seen in the playoffs. Freaking love playoff baseball.
I get that has to be a dead ball but perhaps if a ball goes out of play because it bounced off a fielder then make it a ground rule triple.
Whatever adjustment they make, it simply needs to ensure that the team that got the hit doesn't somehow get punished because of uncoordinated fielders that let the ball bounce off their glove or body into the stands. Its always annoying when the ball just bounces over (and the fielders were shifted, nowhere near the ball)... and the umpire still doesn't allow the run to score. "Discretion" seems to basically only come into play with fan interference.... and no umpire is going to rock the boat and try and presume what would have happened (even though most of the time, its fairly obvious). Now you add that the ball didn't actually bounce over but was deflected over? And future plays of that nature could have fielders "inadvertently" knocking the ball off their glove over a wall if it happens to possibly save a run? Yeah, I'd be all for if the fielder caused the ball to go over the wall.... 2B and 2 base error if its over the yellow line on the OF wall (basically a HR), 2B and 1 base error if its the wall along the foul line (triple). The fielding team has to have some level of negative repercussion for being a direct contributor (advertently or inadvertently) for the ball going out of play.
2021 MLB playoffs: Winners and losers of ALDS and NLDS Loser: Tony La Russa Turning to baseball's other Sox, the ALDS is the kind of series the White Sox were supposed to win when they made a change at manager over the winter, dumping Rick Renteria in favor of Tony La Russa. That didn't work out. Instead La Russa made some questionable decisions with his bullpen, and ended his first year back in Chicago by accusing the Astros of intentionally plunking José Abreu. https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/ Well, they got one thing right. La Russa is a loser.
