I’m sure there’s more to it in NYY’s FO, and they’ve taken a step back from their window shopping days of old of signing every big name FA, but there just seems to be a history of going after names…who knows, maybe the data they had was more hopeful of Rizzo with NYY’s short porches…but Rizzo, Kluber, Gallo, Stanton, Cole, Odor, Taillon, Chapman…just seems like Cashman is a kid window shopping by name instead of actually piecing a team together by data
I'll be the devils advocate on the Yankee's topics. Joey Gallo is equally capable of ripping off 3 weeks of dominance just like he is 3 weeks of cold streak. What he's done so far isn't crazy or unexpected. He's just a high variance player. He could easily go on a huge hot streak in the playoffs (if they make it). On the Yankees overall: -on their FO: i'm super happy they've not gone super progressive and hired someone else out of the Andrew Friedman tree. It's enough of a problem to have Friedman himself GM'ing a resource rich org like the Dodgers but his acolytes are leading some of the other major contenders in the league (i.e Neander in TB, Click in Houston, Bloom in Boston and Anthopolous in Atlanta). If the Yankees truly made that leap the rest of the league would be basically screwed, including Houston. There's only so many super progressive, well-resourced org's that can exist before the parity in the league is gone. There has to be some dumb and/or dumb luck org's out there. -On their big-name player hunting: a lot of this is a consequence of bad luck/poor development/injuries. They are still one of the best organizations on developing minor league pitching talent, but seemingly all of their young hitting talent went in a negative direction at some point (cep for Judge mostly). Gleyber Torres, Gio Urshela, Miguel Andujar, Clint Frazier, and Mike Ford have all taken a step back on the hitting side. On the pitching side Severino has had a ton of injuries and German hasn't been nearly as effective as previously. This has all led to them trying to fill holes in underperformance and injuries with known talent. Don't really blame them for it. -I dunno what exactly is the cause of their recent competitive window being so mediocre but I remember being super concerned about the "baby yankees" in 2017. if they had taken 1-2 steps forward from '18-'20 they could have easily ripped off a few WS titles if things broke right. I don't think foundationally they ****ed up their window like say the recent Phillies and Mets.
Gallo hasn't been good for the Yankees in a very small sample, but he's usually a good player. The problem with the trade deadline is that it is not the cure-all people think it is based on only a couple of months of the regular season left. 2020 should have taught MLB that 60 games is not enough as some guys can have bad slumps for that long. Sure, you need a reliever for the postseason, it is a good time to get one. Trying to patch an underperforming team with several trades for possibly making a one game wild card is risky proposition. It might still work out for the Yankees as they have a good team.
From an MLB casual, I think the problem with the Yankees is that their pitching hasn't been elite for a while now. You can outscore teams during the regular season but when you're facing the other teams' TOR multiple times in a series, getting runs on the board becomes a more difficult task. I think they have had maybe one or two years in the past 8-9 seasons where their pitching was really good.
The Yankees pitching has been very good/elite this season even with some spare parts having to pitch. Their position players have been playing below average.
Maybe it's the uber-casual in me but outside of Cole I don't see the rest of their pitching staff as elite though I'll take your word on it.
It does not make sense that they have pitched as well as they have with the guys that they've had to use (other than Loaisiga has become a really great reliever, and always seems to pitching when I watch them).
They have given up less runs than Tampa Bay and have lowest run production out of all teams in playoff contention other than Seattle. They have only 20 more runs than Baltimore. It's their offense that has sucked all season.
Thanks and judging from your comment and @Joe Joe 's I'm totally ignorant on what's going on lol. Do you guys think their pitching will hold up or maintain that if they make it to the playoffs?
If they make the postseason, they have 5 good relievers which should help them use starters besides Cole and Montgomery sparingly. I think they would have good pitching in the postseason. I don't know what to expect from their offense as it should be much better.
Cole can win a game by himself. In the playoffs, it really depends on who's hot and who's not. They still have 3 guys on offense than can score runs by themselves, so if they get hot, they could be scary. I'm not scare of them like I am of the Blue Jays, but they can give teams trouble if things click. Same for the Astros, it depends on which team shows up. The thing that scares me is that we will always be at a disadvantage from a game management level with Dusty.
First things first. How does our pitching stack up against the White Sox and then probably Tampa Bay?
Believe it or not, the Astros have the best team ERA in the AL. We just don't have a legit ace, though McCullers, Garcia, and Farmer can play like an ace on any given start.
Who is Tampa's "ace"? I'd take LMJ over most starters in the AL (especially with his playoff experience).... not sure why that doesn't make him an ace, but its all semantics at this point.
Click did a good job filling the holes in the bullpen and the A's getting Matte is a difference maker. Fact is usually trades at the deadline strengthen contenders. Occasionally, you get a Gallo situation, but those are rare.
Sure trades help strengthen contenders, but contenders are already strong. The good trades rarely are the difference makers between wild card and staying home. People only ever remember the trades that work out when the vast majority of teams that make trades to improve miss the playoffs or lose in the postseason to contenders who also made trades. In other words, it is usually the players on the team prior to the deadline that make the difference. Gallo could have a great rest of the year, but unless guys like Judge, Stanton, Cole, Torres, DJLM, and Cole play well it won't matter. The Astros getting Graveman is a lot different than the A's getting Marte or the Yankees getting Gallo, Rizzo, Heaney, et al.
Usually there is one or two games that decide a wild card, so getting a top flight player such as a pitcher makes all the difference. The Yankees weren't even in the wild card discussion until after the trade so it has worked out for them, just may not be enough. Springer was injured all year, so it's almost like they like they got him in a mid season trade, and he's made all the difference for them.
Tampa Bay's ace is Dr. Keith Meister who performed TJ surgery on Glasnow. But...we won't know until 2023.
