STEINBRENNER DECLARES WE NEED TO GET BETTER, PERIOD.

Source: CBS Sports

With the lockout in full throttle, the Yankees will be in the spotlight once the new agreement goes into place, whenever that will be. The New Post calls this the end of Act 1 and the beginning of Act 2 where the Yankees have no choice but to be active instead of their dulling silence amidst some of the biggest signings in the history of the game. We need to get better, period. Yes, thanks Hal. How we are gunna do that?

"The Yankees haven’t answered their questions at shortstop or center field, and they could use another starting pitcher (they offered one year and $25 million to Justin Verlander, who accepted two years and $50 million from the Astros) plus some more bullpen depth," reported the New York Post. And on the Yankees radar are guys like Trevor Story and yes Carlos Correa. But their failure to pull the trigger in Act 1 really makes me feel uncertain about this team and the vision for the future. 

As SB Nation reminds us, "Roughly $1.7 billion was spent in the free agent frenzy that preceded the expiration of the previous CBA, but the Yankees were conspicuously absent from the headlines. Despite clear needs at multiple spots on the roster, New York’s only piece of business before the transactional freeze took effect was the re-signing of reliever Joely Rodríguez to a one-year, $2 million deal."

I think the biggest blow for me was the Yankees tendering Gary Sanchez last week. I guess I am not surprised but I am just sick and tired of Sanchez and his inability to quite frankly, get better. I know that the Yankees are considering division rival Kevin Kiermaier but what about his teammate and catcher Mike Zunino? He is up for free agency in 2022-2023 and unfortunately for the Yankees, the Rays locked Zunino for a one-year 7-million dollar option. By the way, the Yankees are paying Sanchez 7.9 million. Frustrating. Last week, I mentioned the idea of the Yankees going after Cubs catcher Wilson Contreras, which is still a possibility.  

So the Yankees have not moved on a center fielder, shortstop or starting pitching and the Winter Meetings are now a minor league event with the lockout in progress. How are the Yankees going to get better? How are they going to make up for lost time? These are the questions that keep me up at night. Good thing I have my new Purple sheets and comfy LL Bean pajamas to help my slumber, because the Yankees are down right aggravating even when they are not playing. 

 

--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof

TWO BIG GUYS THE YANKEES ARE CREEPING AROUND

 The offseason for the Yankees blows. Let's not get it twisted.

But in this whole world, Yankee fans are always thinking "Well, maybe if they are quiet in public, they're gonna make a big splash at some point because of whatever their doing behind the scenes."

That's what I'm going with.  There are 2 guys the Yankees are reportedly looking at and creeping around and hopefully, if Cashman can find the time around his busy schedule of hanging from buildings, he can make a freaking move.

Lindsey Adler of the Atlantic put this tweet out:

Have heard the Yankees have also expressed some interest in Kevin Kiermaier, though discussion does not seem advanced right now. Kiermaier is owed $12m next season and is obviously an exceptional center fielder. https://t.co/pUadIeWcQ0

— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) November 30, 2021

Now, the Phillies like Kiermaier as well, even though the Yankees have checked in. Phillies Nation writes: 

"The Phillies have had trade discussions with the Tampa Bay Rays regarding center fielder Kevin Kiermaier...Kiermaier, 31, is a a three-time Gold Glove Award winner and would represent an upgrade defensively in center field. The acquisition makes sense considering that the Phillies are reportedly pursuing Kyle Schwarber, a power bat who isn’t the best defender in left field. Bryce Harper also struggled in right field over the past two seasons."

To be honest, I don't see the Yankees making a move as fast as the Phillies would. But then that brings us to Freddie Freeman, which I believe is the Yankees top goal this offseason... even more than Carlos Correa.

Pinstripe Alley writes:

"...the Yankees are “definitely interested” in star first baseman Freddie Freeman.

The incumbent Braves are obvious favorites to retain Freeman’s services, but it’s still notable to see the Yankees described as actively interested in anything at this point. Heyman notes that Freeman is seeking in the neighborhood of $180 million across six years, coincidentally the exact amount MLB Trade Rumors had forecasted for Freeman.

That would certainly seem like a fine deal for one of the league’s best hitters, with the 32-year-old Freeman coming off a three-year stretch in which he produced a cumulative 142 OPS+. If the bidding sticks in that $180-million range, expect Atlanta to simply re-sign their man." 

Freeman is a must as far as I'm conerned and it's clear they want him and not Anthony Rizzo, because if they wanted Rizzo, it would have been done.

We will see what what will happen next, but I will say this... the Yankees need to do something big.

KEVIN CASH NEEDS TO PRACTICE WHAT HE PREACHES

I've been having a hard time staying focused on the Yankees this season. I know I'm not alone and I don't know what has caused it but....it hasn't come as easy. The injuries, crazy format and strange rule changes don't help but Tuesday night's brawl between the Yankees and Rays only made it worse.

I'm not going to defend or debate what happened with Masahiro Tanaka's pitch or what happened with Aroldis Chapman, that's done and over with. At this point, both teams have been punished, read more HERE. What's done is done and we should move on from it. I know I want to. I could have easily if it weren't for Rays manager Kevin Cash's comments HERE.

Kevin Cash was pretty upset after he was ejected from the game Tuesday, so I expected he would be upset but I wasn't expecting this:

"It’s poor judgment, poor coaching, poor teaching. … I have a whole damn stable of pitchers that throw 98 miles per hour," Cash said. "Period."

It's one thing to be upset at the Yankees coaching staff or Aaron Boone, but how is he publicly reacting any better than what he is accusing the Yankees of doing? He's not.

This is quite ironic and even hypocritical. What happened to the idea of "being the bigger person" or "taking the high road," Cash? He gets upset because he believes the Yankees intently threw at his team so he decides to fire back with a threat? So he decides to exercise the same "poor coaching, poor teaching" that he accuses Aaron Boone of. 

I did like to see that Boone responded without escalating the issue even further, "that’s a pretty scary comment," Boone said. "I don’t think that’s right at all, but I’m not gonna get into it right now."
I have no issue with Boone calling the comment scary, because Cash's comments were in the same "poor judgement" he accuses the Yankees of.

There's a lot of civil unrest in the world right now, the last thing we need is for sports to contribute to that. All of these people are supposed to be role models whether they accept that responsibility or not. Cash can have bad blood with Boone and the Yankees if he wants....but he has just allowed this problem to get worse because now his own team is feeding into it.

"I’ve said it before, we don’t like them, they don’t like us," Kevin Kiermaier said.

This is a bad look for baseball, it doesn't make one side the villain here. It's time to shut up, play baseball and keep the battles related to the score and division titles. It's also time for Cash to be the good example he clearly thinks the Yankees aren't being.....

Practice what you preach, Cash and please.....just shut up!

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

THE FIRST PLACE YANKEES!

When the Yankees lost all their stars to injury... I'm gonna admit, I was down and out.  But I didn't give up on my team. I just didn't care as much to watch Gio Urshela and Thairo Estrada as closely as I would a Stanton and Judge.  Nothing wrong with that. The game was still on in the background and I'd peak in periodically to get the score. And then something happened, and that something was nothing... meaning, there was no bump in the road. In fact, it just got more exciting!

Last night the Yankees beat the red hot Rays.  And not only that, they took first place.  The New York Post has this:

"Voit’s leadoff blast in the ninth inning drew the Yankees within one run and sparked a 4-3 comeback win Friday night at the Stadium, allowing them to leapfrog Tampa Bay into first place in the AL East."

And then this...

ESPN writes:

"Enter stage left, Gio Urshela...Two quick balls from Alvarado, and Urshela was in the driver's seat.

'When it got 2-0, I knew he was going to get something to hit. There's no doubt in my mind,' Voit said. 'The kid has just been unbelievable, and every time there's a big situation, he just comes through.' 

He certainly did. Coming off his bat at 109.7 mph -- the fourth ball in the inning hit 100 mph or harder -- Urshela blasted a liner deep into right-center field. 

Although Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier gave desperate chase to the fly ball, he couldn't quite corral it. The ball went over his head. Game over."

And just like that. Here are your standings this morning:

Honorable Mention. CC Sabathia was amazing last night... a true leader.  A true captain!

Let's go Yanks!

"THE SHREDDER" NEEDS TO BE SCRAPPED

I love analyzing baseball. It doesn't have to be stats or Sabermetrics, and we don't even talk about Sabermetrics here but I am just talking about a good breakdown of the game. As we reach the end of the MLB off season I have been watching a lot of MLB Network lately, and I gotta tell you....I am watching some of these "Top 10 right now" shows and shake my head.

Whether there are Yankee players on the lists right now or not, I am watching a lot of the "MLB Network's Top 10 Right Now" because let's face it, I am excited for Spring Training. If you have never watched the show a supposed unbiased algorithm based system called "The Shredder" picks the top ten players in each position and ranks them from ten all the way top the "best" at each position and I have to tell you....some of these I have to scratch my head at.

Let's start with pitching. There's the old saying that "Good pitching beats good hitting" well no matter how much I love the Yankees, I can't deny that the "other" New York team has an amazing starting rotation. I could go so far as to say that they have the best rotation in all of baseball, but interestingly enough "The Shredder" doesn't seem to agree because not a single Met made the list.

How do you NOT include Matt Harvey or Jacob DeGrom on that list? They pitched well all season and after years of not playing October baseball they finally made it! They have two of the best arms in the game. I just don't get it.

And how does Jake Arrieta get ranked as number 2? Not to take anything away from the guy because I know he had a great year but come on....second?! He is number two after Clayton Kershaw? That is a difference about the size of the Grand Canyon and I can't imagine Zack Greinke behind him either.

Now first base got to me a little. Yes, I stick up a lot for Mark Teixeira and I always will. He didn't even make the list! Now, I am not jaded. I am in no way even going to say that he deserved to be ranked number one but according to "The Shredder" Brandon Belt is the 10th best first basemen?

Sure, I wish Teixeira had his .280BA last season but he didn't have his home runs or RBI's. When I think about the best first basemen, my mind does not jump to Belt.

The real kicker for me, was the best center fielder list. In this case numbers seven and eight were puzzling to me. How are Kevin Kiermaier and Randal Grichuk on the list? Kiermaier had average numbers on an under performing team and Grichuk only played in 103 games. He doesn't even have the playing time to call him one of the best.

My biggest beef of all though....naming Jason Hayward the fifth best center fielder in the game. What algorithm did "The Shredder" use for that? It's based on a prediction at this point because last year he only played 10 games as a center fielder. How can you rate the guy number five when he was basically a substitute? It's a wild ranking to give with the lack of experience especially with a very under valued Andrew McCutchen only ranked a number four when he has been one of the best in the game.

I think "The Shredder" is crazy. The algorithm is broken somewhere because some of these rankings are a little screwy. It's just another reason why baseball can't be written like a math problem. There is a lot of logic involved in this but it goes deeper than that. So for the time being, I am going to scrap this Shredder for awhile before they try to convince me that two plus two is equal to five.



   
--Jeana Bellezza, 
BYB Senior Writer and Editor
Twitter: @NyPrincessJ 
 





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WHITLEY STRONG. RYAN HURT. OFFENSE FLAT.

Chase Whitley struck out 6 today in 4 innings of work.  The End.

Seriously... nothing on the Yankee offense front at all today.  Oh yeah, Brendan Ryan strained something. According to MLB.com, " Yankees shortstop Brendan Ryan had to be helped off the field in the sixth inning with what was deemed a right calf strain, sustained after trying to barehand a Kevin Kiermaier chopper that produced two Rays runs on the error."

It's unfortunate. We like Ryan here at BYB. It just seems like the guy has a string of bad luck when it comes to injury. As this point we have no idea how long the guy will be out for, if at all, but it sounds like it could be a serious injury. We'll wait and see.

I wish I had more for you... but this is lame. Sorry.  Will you forgive me?

Final: Rays 3 - Yankees 0



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YANKS LOSE AGAIN IN DRAMA-FILLED FASHION. FIRE EVERYONE!

Honestly, I don't need to give you a recap tonight. If you have been watching all year and reading our posts....you know what happened. The Yankees failed again. They had opportunities and they couldn't cash in. Same shit...different day.

It started out promising. Chris Young doubled to left in the top of the 2nd and the Ichiro Suzuki singled him home. That is the Yankees offense ladies and gentleman. For the rest of the game the Rays just had timely hits and eventually by the 7th inning I was looking for a white flag to wave. I am so pissed right now, I can't detail it all and quite honestly, I don't want to.

Michael Pineda didn't have his best stuff, the Rays were hitting him all night. He went 5.1 innings, had 4 hits, 2 runs (only one earned) an error trying to take the ball to first base himself and 5 strikeouts. I can't sit here and throw him under the bus when again...the offense takes a nap. Was it a good start? No, but he battled. But there was nothing good about this game.

I have never wanted a do-over more than I do right now. This game was UGLY. As if not hitting again wasn't enough add Derek Jeter getting plunked by Steven Geltz. It was already a 6-1 lead so I really doubt that Geltz was purposely trying to hit him, it would've been pointless. Regardless, Joe Girardi comes out guns blazing and he started arguing with Joe West. I think Casey said it best on Twitter...

Girardi needs to be passionate about important stuff. His teams down 6 to 1. Energerize your club, stop arguing with West. #BYB
— Robert Casey (@BleednYankeeBlu) September 17, 2014

Really Joe? How desperate can you be? That was the most desperate attempt at grasping at straws that I have EVER seen. Why waste your energy by arguing something so pointless? Get your head out of your butt and focus on the team. Yes, I understand that 5 Yankees have been hit in the last 4 games with the Rays but that doesn't change the fact that the Yankees are a BAD TEAM. Why doesn't he cry when it is another team? I have never heard him complain about any other team then the Rays. Joe Girardi looks like he is ready to crack, just like this team. He's getting mad at all of the wrong things. We can't hit, why can't you be mad at that, Joe?

I understand the whole retaliation concept, it's been in the game for years. I love David Phelps....but honestly throwing at Kevin Kiermaier was just ridiculous. It didn't matter! Move on and stop making excuses! Put up or shut up!

I love Phelps, but this hit batter for hit batter shit doesn't matter. The Yankees just need to play ball. Stop making excuses. #BYB
— Robert Casey (@BleednYankeeBlu) September 17, 2014

In the end benches cleared. Sean Rodriguez came out of the dugout barking like a big rabid dog and Francisco Cervelli and Dellin Betances were ready to charge. How big, bold and daring of you. Just win games, dammit! The rest of this is pointless. The isn't Monday Night Raw, fellas.

In the end we had more acting managers then runs scored. Joe Girardi, and Tony Pena were ejected. Now I have always stood by Girardi, but this loss was embarrassing and he made matters worse. What did he accomplish? NOTHING! If based on nothing but principal he needs a swift kick in the rear end. They say the Captain must go down with the ship...and this is no different. Everyone needs to go. Fire Kevin Long, fire Larry Rothschild, fire Girardi and clean house! This was an embarrassment. Losing 5 games on the road is bad enough. Not leading the team and refocusing the energy is unacceptable! That is your job and if you can't do it step aside because someone else will. I am really starting to believe that he just isn't a motivator and a good manager needs to be! Look at what happened to Buck Showalter in 1995. He was fired when we "barely" missed the playoffs. So the Yankees missing the playoffs for 2 years in a row is different? If you tell me that I call bullshit because that is a contradicting message.

This team is a joke. Where is the leadership? Does anyone even want to play anymore? There is no passion, no results. I miss when October meant something and a ring was the ultimate prize. These guys are already dreaming about the golf course. It is unacceptable to sit here and watch this happen. Yankee brass needs to get in and make changes. I don't care that George Steinbrenner is gone. I am not going to be cliché and say "If George was still alive...." because he's not but that doesn't mean that the expectation should be any different.

In case you missed it with the drama tonight the Washington Nationals, and the Baltimore Orioles both clinched their divisions.The Los Angeles Angels are guaranteed some sort of playoff birth, so congrats to all of them. There is no meaningful baseball in September for the Yankees 2 years in a row now. It makes me sick. It makes me angry. It means that for 2 nights in a row now I go to bed angry and pissed off. There is no celebrating tonight....we suck and I am tired of my Miss Hyde persona coming out.

Final Score: Rays 6 - Yankees 1




 
 --Jeana Bellezza, BYB Senior Writer and Editor
Twitter: @NyPrincessJ


  

You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in history. Now shop at the Bleeding Yankee Blue store!  Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and LIKE Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook!