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 2017 is going to be a very, very weird year for the Yankees. The ownership has started to pinch pennies (kinda) so they have not been signing veterans to long term deals like they used to. Because of this the team is a bizarro combination of young talent and vetrans who may or not perform well. Because of this I can honestly see them winning 70 games and making me sad. I can also see them winning 90 games and making an interesting playoff push! What's going to happen? They probably will win 80ish game. But that's boring! Notable losses 3B/SS/DH: Alex Rodriguez 1B: Mark Texiera C: Brian McCann P: Nathan Eovaldi 2B/OF: Dustin Ackley Let's all take a moment of silence for Alex Rodriguez. Who doesn't really count, because he retired in the middle of the season last year, but I'm putting him in anyway. Notable Additions! P: Aroldis Chapman DH/OF: Matt Holiday DH/IB: Chris Carter Let's meet the Yankees! Your manager, Joe Girardi  Manager is a weird position in baseball. Most people think that the list of managers in the game that actually have a positive effect are pretty low. Also the ones who have a negative effect are pretty low too. Most just... kind of exist. That's kind of how I feel about Joe. He's done an ok job managing old players time, keeping people happy, using new blood when he could. He's also in the last year of his contract and seems to cry a lot. I like him! Your starting catcher, Gary... Sanchez  Gary Sanchez is good and handsome and he's my friend. He's the Yankee's bright hope for the future. A young Catching prospect who slashed .299/.376/.657 in 230 PAs for the yankees last year. He also has a cannon for an arm. There are obvious questions on what his actual production will look like, because it is extremely unlikely that he can keep up the pace he set last year, but all signs point to him being the real deal. Other notable things about him are that he single handily gave the team the "Baby Bombers" last year and has a tattoo that is real dumb and rivals Yadier Molina for dumbest catcher tattoo. Did I mention he is handsome? Your starting first basemen, Greg... Bird  Ok, so I need to explain. I always have a Yankees prospect that I choose to irrationally love more than I probably should. Most recently this players was Phil Hughes because I'm apparently an idiot. Now? That guy is Greg Bird. Just look at him. Look at those eyebrows, look at his dumb face. I love it. Bird came onto the scene in 2015 and had a short but memorable 46 game start for the Yankees where he hit for doubles and HR power and flashed signs that he could be a legit starting 1B in the major leagues. Then he was sidelined all last year with a shoulder injury. Now he is back and hopefully ready to be the next Tino Martinez. Recent reporting has unearthed the fact that he has a cat that descends from the cat from Austin Powers. Is there an MLB Catwatch? Your starting second basemen, Starlin... Castro  Starlin Castro is annoying. Cubs fans hate him because he never lived up to the hype. He's an ok contact hitter who can't walk, hits for ok power and has a mostly meh glove at 2nd base. He's mostly annoying because he is just so goddamn boring. He almost never does anything exciting. I hate him. Your starting shortstop, Didi... Wait, Didi is hurt? gently caress... uh ok... let's see. Your starting shortstop, Ronald... Torreyas  Goddamnit. Torreyas sucks. He is a utility infielder who cannot hit, and cannot field. Didi is only sidelined for a month, though it is a shoulder injury and those tend to nag. I am not very hopeful. Your starting third basemen, Chase... Headley  Chase Headley is kind of boring. He has had a generally unexciting career outside his one near MVP season in San Diego. He is a switch hitter who strikes out a ton, has no power, but draws a few walks and generally has an ok glove for a third basemen. He is pretty obviously a stopgap third basemen, who suspiciously comes off the books when Manny Machado becomes a free agent... hmmm... Your starting Left Fielder, Brett... Gardener  Brett Gardener is a powerless left fielder who draws a ton of walks and is great at running the bases. A classic leadoff type player, his valuable is kind of determined by how well he places the ball when he hits. As he gets older and his already limited power wanes, he is going to live and die by his BABIP which means he will probably fall off a cliff soon. He also is very unfortunately bald because he has a very weirdly shaped head and looks like The Great Gazzoo. Your starting Center Fielder, Jacoby... Ellsbury  Almost the exact same player as Brett Gardener, except for the fact that he is twice as expensive because one year he decided to go nuts and hit 32 homeruns. Everyone was kind of confused when the Yankees signed him, because they never really needed him due to having Gardener. My theory is that the Yankees have some sort of curse/blood pact where they have to sign a big name Red Sox free agent every few years or else the Steinbrenner's will lose all their fortune. He is on the books until 2021 and is starting to get too old to play center field. He also cannot hit enough to play either corner outfield position so he is quickly going to find that he has no place to play with the Yankees Youth Movementtm coming through. Still that's a problem for 2 years from now, so let's not worry about it too much. Your starting right Fielder, Aaron... Judge  The first arrival Yankees Youth Movementtm, the yankees hope he can be a Corner outfielder of the future alone with Clint Frazier. He's a giant of a man, who apparently cannot smile for photos well, and is generally considered a balanced prospect. But like I said he is huge. I'm not kidding. Guy is pushing 6'8" and is generally considered to be in the mid 270s. There are reasonable doubts on his ability to stay in the outfield because of it. Your starting Designated hitter, Matt... Holliday  Very old. Very bad at fielding. Very famously got hit in the dick once in a playoff game. Still, the yankees are paying him to hit, not field. He came over from the Cardinals for one last chance at relevancy as a Designated hitter. I assume at some point he will be benched, or will only start against LHP. We shall see Starting Pitching! Masahiro Tanaka  The Yankees annual Japanese import. He is a super cool dude who almost never walks anyone and gets a decent number of strikeouts. Has had some trouble staying healthy in the past. Here is hoping this is the year he hits 200IP! Michael Pineda  Acquired via a trade with the Mariners for noted failed prospect Jesus Montero. He's generally an ok pitcher who gets a ton of strikeouts, but also people have a decently easy enough time making contact on him. Also he hides pine tar on his neck like a loving rookie. A free agent in the offseason and a prime candidate to be overpayed by the Twins or something. CC Sabathia  An extremely cool, fat baseball pitcher who was an extremely important piece to the Yankees 2009 world Series win. After a bar fight, Sabathia admitted he was an alcoholic and stopped drinking. He ended up losing a ton of weight too! Buuuut he started sucking around 2013 and struggled with health problems. Everyone assumed his 2017 option would not vest but by some miracle he got fat again in 2016 and pitched really well! He's on the team for one last hurrah, and then will probably retire. Fun! Luis Severino  Throws hard but also kind of bad. Walks a ton of dudes, racks up a ton of strikeouts and gives up a ton of home runs. Classic power pitcher. Still, he is young and hopefully he can surprise us. The Bryan Mitchell, Adam Warren, Chad Green b-b-b-b-bonus round! Whoever wins, we lose! Notible Bullpen Guys! Aroldis Chapman  Was a Yankee in 2016 but was traded to the cubs, where he won a world series, for Gleybar Torres. Then he signed with the Yankees in the offseason for literally the largest contract for a reliever ever. He throws 100MPH. He has a K/9 of 15 over his career. People cannot hit home runs off of him. Still he is a power pitcher under contract for 5 years and every single time he throws a ball I'm holding my breath for his UCL. Also he has terrible fashion sense and also likes to beat and threaten women with guns. Dellin Betances  He is kind of is the poor man's Aroldis Chapman. He strikes a ton of dudes out, doesn't really give up homeruns and is generally thought of as a great reliever... ...Except by Yankees President Randy Levine, who bad mouthed him in his arbitration hearing because he "isn't a real closer" and then went public with it to the media afterwords! Great Job Randy! Thoughts The Yankees are going to live and die by their young talent. If Judge, Sanchez, Bird, and Severino have good years then the sky is the limit. But at the same time their starting pitching could implode horribly and they could give up a million runs. It should be a fun year! Paul Zuvella fucked around with this message at 16:34 on Mar 28, 2017 |
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Mar 23, 2017 22:05
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| # ¿ May 5, 2024 04:14 |
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Inspector_666 posted:I want to do a post about the Yankees that aren't in Paul Zuvella's post but that almost seems too niche. I have also updated the Greg Bird section to include very important information about him!!!
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Mar 28, 2017 16:25
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