Bleeding Yankee Blue: SMOKE & MIRRORS & THE KEVIN BROWN EFFECT

Wednesday, August 17, 2022

SMOKE & MIRRORS & THE KEVIN BROWN EFFECT

It's like the scene in "JAWS" when everyone is on Amity Beach enjoying a fun-filled summer day. Suddenly they're drawn into a nightmare when a pretty, young, hippie girl yells, "Sh-Shark! There's a SHARK IN THE POND!"

That's just like today in Yankee Fanland...except instead of yelling "Shark" she's yelling, "SLUMP!! THERE IN A SLUMP IN THE BRONX!" We stink as of late...like company that's overstayed their invite or 3 day old flounder you brought home in a doggy bag and forgot in the back of the fridge.

But maybe...hear me out...maybe it's been a lot of smoke and mirrors? Look, Aaron Judge is ALL WORLD. He should be offered 300 million over 7 years, a player option on the 8th and name him Captain. That's the break wall. Just offer that. If he turns it down...well, I'd be disappointed but not shocked. He may know what many of us do and don't want to say out loud...this team isn't going anywhere.

Stanton has been great...but never healthy. DJ has bounced back and is effective...but ain't gonna carry the club. We FLAT OUT overpaid and over valued Gerrit Cole. He is an ace...at times. When the planets are aligned, the weather is a comfortable 77 degrees, winds are moderate at 5 to 7mph and out of the south, south east and the Yanks are at home...playing Baltimore.

Sevy? He's broken. Nestor? He's a great story and a 5th starter or long man in disguise. Jameson? I need at least 5 to 6 shots of Jameson watching him. Frankie? That's the Kevin Brown effect Cashman LOVES to pull. We didn't get you a Warrior on the bump like Schilling...HERE'S KEVIN BROWN!! Then he blows up like a gender reveal stunt in the ALCS!!

The rest of the roster is O-K to poor. Donaldson is not going to cut it. He may run into one here and there but he's been Clint Frazier playing the infield.

I-K-F is a W-T-F. What was Cashman thinking there? Go get Didi. It's a move sideways and he's loved in the clubhouse. I love Benny as a pickup. He is a solid player and is a major upgrade from Joey (so no harm no foul there). He looks the part of a Yankee and it drives the Massholes mad.

Aaron Hicks gets his own paragraph for all the WRONG reasons. This guy sucks. No sugar coating on this one. He was a bum in Minnesota and an often injured bum here. He should be selling pretzels in the
centerfield concessions stands not playing on the field. The BEST centerfielder they have in the big fella wearing #99. (when healthy it should be Benny, Judge, Stanton Left to Right...EVERYDAY!). Hicks is killing this team.

He is an automatic out and it's time for him to go to the land of forgettable Yankees with the likes of Pavano, Brown, Gallo and Maas. Cashman's ego may be holding on to him...Brian is WRONG.

The rest of this club is just like the others. We have two closers...one a once great one on his way out and one a pickup from Pittsburgh that was over his skis in the first half. The Pen is taxed already and the stretch won't be kind to them.

At it's core I believe, like so many clubs, the Yankees have WAY over hyped their farm. For every Aaron Judge who pans out there is a full bus load of bushers that never will. But we hold onto them and miss out on trigger pulls The Boss wouldn't have ever allowed. Yes, George almost pissed away Mo and Jeter, but he wouldn't have let Soto go to save Volpe. We got Frankie we NEEDED Luis. We traded Monty...again, it won't kill us but he was more reliable than Tallion!

The Yankees got a lot of breaks early on. The Two Towers were ranking (Judge still is). The staff looked strong, but you could see the strings and tape if you looked closely. They are better constructed

over in Queens...kills me to say that but it's a fact.

I don't blame the skipper...I blame Brian Cashman.

He has the checkbook and means to always be competitive...but not the real baseball sense to make better moves. He was lauded at the deadline for being active...but c'mon his act was a cover band. It was a D+. Benny was a good move, but not enough to make up for Hicks on this team or Stanton being hurt...again.

The 2022 Yankees are a front...a put on. The Pinstripes are sharpie'd on this year. There is no true backbone.

My fear isn't the Yankees not winning the series...no. My fear is the 2023 Yankees lose Judge and return a team of older, overpaid, overhyped, overvalued players....and it's 1985 for the next 10 seasons...and Stick Michael ain't here to save us.

Tell 'em Pete...