ONE MARLIN'S STAR DOES NOT A CHAMPIONSHIP MAKE

I love Bleacher Report. Have I ever told you that?

But this story, while fair in regards to just how good Caleb Smith is, is just off base for one simple reason. 1 player does not make a championship. And the Marlins and Derek Jeter are just not there yet. In fact, let's face it... they'll never be there.

BR has a good story about Jeter and how the Marlins got Caleb Smith from the Yankees and all of that.  Here's some of that:

"In November 2017, the Marlins acquired Smith, along with first baseman Garrett Cooper, from the Yankees for right-hander Michael King and $250,000 in international bonus-pool money.

King has yet to make his MLB debut or throw an inning in 2019 after he suffered a stress reaction in his throwing elbow prior to spring training.

Smith, meanwhile, owns a 2.11 ERA, a ludicrous 0.89 WHIP and has averaged 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings for the Marlins.

It's only May, but the 27-year-old is building an NL Cy Young case."

And that's all fine and good... but what does that mean for the Marlins team itself? I mean, the whole reason why Jeter wanted this team was so he can make some big changes and bring the team a championship. But since taken over, he's managed to release any iconic management or front office name, sell off their top stars to just shine elsewhere... um Christian Yelich and Giancarlo Stanton to name a few… and look at the standings...

So yeah BR, say that Derek Jeter fleeced the Yankees when they got Smith all you want. Isn't the whole idea of getting good players is so you can win? They're not winning.  Hell, I was at Marlin's Park when I was in Miami a few weeks ago. There were more Cubs fans than Marlins fans. They play like a Triple A team. There's no life.

There's actually no reason to go there. I walked up to the ticket office and spent 20 bucks on good seats. They are hemorrhaging money and there isn't 1 solid star to root for. It was embarrassing.

Look, I come off harsh here. Smith is good, there's no question. But it doesn't matter. If the Marlins can't win, no one cares about Caleb Smith. No one... except for Smith himself, Smith's mom and Bleacher Report.

YANKS MAKING ROOM FOR THE OHTANI PUSH

Photo: MLB.com

It's Otani... then it's Ohtani, but it was always Ohtani, but Ohtani doesn't translate well in the U.S.... and so it was Otani. And now it's not. Doesn't matter... The Yanks are gearing up to get Ohtani.

I found it interesting when the Yankees made that trade with the Marlins yesterday.  As I wrote in YANKEES SCORE ANOTHER PITCHER! GARRETT COOPER IS GONE!...

Photo: Caleb Smith / New York Daily News

"It's being reported tonight that the Yankees have traded Caleb Smith and future star first baseman Garrett Cooper for right hander Michael King and some 2017-18 International signing bonus money."

And the part about the International signing bonus money peaked my interest.  Now Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record maps it all out...

Photo: Getty Images

"The Yankees also added some international bonus pool money for their anticipated pursuit of two-way Japan League star Shohei Ohtani... And there’s likely to be a Kentucky Derby-sized field of suitors for Ohtani, the hard-throwing right-handed pitcher and lefty power hitter who is intent on playing in the majors in 2018... Also on Monday night, the Major League Players Association announced that it had agreed to a 24-hour extension – until 8 p.m., Tuesday - for a new posting agreement to be reached between MLB and Nippon Professional Baseball.

And Yankees’ icon Hideki Matsui is ready to assist in delivering his fellow countryman to the Bronx. 'If he’s allowed to come here and the Yankees are interested, then I expect to be involved in that process as maybe trying to convince him or recruit him to the Yankees,’ Matsui told MLB.com on Sunday."

And that's the gist of it... positioning themselves with a shot at Ohtani.  We will know more tonight.  For now... we wait.  More Ohtani-Yankee Wonder.

Stay tuned.

YANKEES SCORE ANOTHER PITCHER! GARRETT COOPER IS GONE!

Courtesy BC Athletics

And just like that, the Yankees have made 3 moves and got a crap load of pitching in just a few days.  Pretty damn incredible.  Go Cashman, go!

Source: Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images North America

It's being reported tonight that the Yankees have traded Caleb Smith and future star first baseman Garrett Cooper for right hander Michael King and some 2017-18 international signing bonus money. And I found this interesting. According to FanRagSports.com...

"Miami already has 6-foot-3 first baseman Justin Bour on the roster. Adding the 6-foot-6 Cooper could potentially spell Bour against left-handed pitching, despite Bour hitting six home runs in 87 at-bats versus lefties in 2017."

Now, what about King.  I'll tell you... King is a righty,  minor leaguer and 22 years old.  He was 11-9 with a 3.15 ERA last season.

Great youth movement happening here folks.  Get on board. A ton of young Yankee future coming your way.

I can't wait to find out what happens next.

BIRDMAN IS MAKING STRIDES TO RETURN "SOON"

This is a good sign. Greg Bird is hitting home runs!

The New York Post writes that it looks as if Bird may be on his way to getting back with the New York Yankees.

"The young Yankees first baseman, who is returning from a right ankle injury, went 2-for-4 with two homers and three RBIs Friday night in his third game for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre."




Girardi was asked when he thinks Bird will come back:

'It’s really hard to say... For Greg Bird, just because he hasn’t played a lot in the last two years, it is hard to say how long it might take him to get going. Sometimes I feel young guys in those situations can get going quicker than an older player.'"

Photo: Presswire

Now, that's just Joe being cagey, because the reality is, if Bird is hitting well and feeling good, they will get him back to the Bigs soon.  You gotta feel bad for guys like Tyler Austin and Garrett Cooper, but maybe because of Bird's long absence they keep one of them up with Bird and platoon at first. 

Who knows... I'm just glad Bird is making strides.  It's exciting!

AUSTIN'S BACK & DELIVERS!

(Source: Jon Durr/Getty Images North America)

Good for Tyler Austin.  He was called up after Garrett Cooper was placed on the DL... and he did his job.  I'm a fan of Wonderboy... most of us are at BYB. We want this kid to succeed, he deserves to. It's been a long journey.

Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record writes:

Photo: New York Daily News

"Austin returned to the Yankees on Thursday, and was immediately inserted into the starting lineup for the Subway Series finale against the Mets.

'I wasn’t quite expecting to come up this soon,’ the right-handed hitting Austin said of his recall from Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. 'I feel good, feel healthy – first time all year I guess you could say.’

In a 7-5 win against the Mets, Austin went 2-for-4."

Photo: Getty Images

Yanks need the kids to start moving now.  We're in mid-August, we need a run of a lifetime! Seeing Severino rolling... seeing Judge working out of his slump.... seeing Sanchez start to hit, it's great to see. Couple that with Austin... we can do this folks! Looking forward to the post-season!

WITH HOLLIDAY ON ICE, HICKS IS HOMEWARD BOUND

(June 8, 2017 - Source: Mike Stobe/Getty Images North America)

With a big assist from Abe Almonte, a former Yankee outfield prospect who misplayed a Jacoby Ellsbury fly ball, the Bombers managed to score eight runs against the Indians Sunday in their series-tying finale. That's as many runs as they've scored in their prior five games combined.

But while Ells' three-run gift from Almonte was charitably scored a triple, Torreyes and Judge were the only others who managed to hit a ball safely with runners in scoring position (including the latter's league leading 35th dinger) as the welcome scoring outburst masked a continuing issue with situational hitting and yet another  small village of base runners stranded on the base paths.

Photo: Getty Images

And while Joe may feel putting El Kraken's bat in a timeout for a couple of days was a constructive way to coach away his passed ball problem, after watching Romine go 0-for-7 and whiff four times in his place the last two games it was definitely a step in the wrong direction.

Fortunately, another batting option is about to step up to the plate.

Photo: Times Leader

After five rehab games with the Triple A RailRiders, Aaron Hicks has batted .375  with a 1.069 OPS.  He finished the team's home stand Sunday with quite the flourish, according to the Times Leader's DJ Eberle.

"Dating back to the sixth inning of Saturday’s 3-1 win over Pawtucket, when Hicks led off the inning with a single to right, the Yankees outfielder has strung together six straight plate appearances with productive results. After singling and tripling in his final two at-bats the day prior, Hicks was 2 for 3 with a double, two runs scored and a walk on Sunday. The 27-year-old’s lone out in the 7-5 win came in the fifth inning when Pawtucket right fielder Rusney Castillo robbed a home run from him."

Photo: Times Leader

The Castillo pick of Hicks' would-be dinger from above the wall  denied the Yankee outfielder the cycle in four consecutive at bats.

Here's the live look and video replay of Aaron Hicks' home run being stolen by Pawtucket's Rusney Castillo. #Yankees pic.twitter.com/B8A8v10yy3

— DJ Eberle (@ByDJEberle) August 6, 2017

Quite the play by Rusney Castillo to rob Aaron Hicks of a homer. Hicks would've had a cycle over his last four ABs. pic.twitter.com/gmWoPtUPNC

— Conor Foley (@RailRidersTT) August 6, 2017

“Just being able to make solid contact and I feel like within all those at-bats I’ve been able to lay off pitches, which gives me a good sign that I’m seeing the ball and also being able to make solid contact,” Hicks said. “Today I felt really good on both sides of the plate. Just getting that feel back, you know? And today felt really good. Ready to go and just waiting to get those (at-bats) from both sides of the plate.”

After the game, as the team prepared to leave for Georgia for a southern road trip, Hicks announced he'd been given an off day to head to New York to "grab some clothes" before joining  the Double A Trenton Thunder on Tuesday in Hartford -- a convenient commute to the Bronx  where the Yankees will just happen to be starting their home stand against the Red Sox a few days later.

Aaron Hicks: "I'm a go back home to New York, get a change of clothes and head to Hartford." #Yankees https://t.co/Wgj3V0ZInt

— DJ Eberle (@ByDJEberle) August 6, 2017

With Holliday on the DL and Headley's bat finding rejuvenated productivity in the less strenuous first baseman's role, I would expect Garrett Cooper to be heading southbound shortly and Hicks and his switch-hitting lumber joining the battle with Boston in the Bronx.

You also might as well start calling the DH the "Daily Horoscope" from now on.  No more designated anything from here on in. Joe will use it to "rest" hot regulars and get slumping . regulars "started."  Every day will be a complete surprise and good for a chuckle or a growl, depending on your particular sense of humor and tolerance for  Joe's obsessive-compulsive shenanigans.

You thought he just played binder bingo games with his bullpen? Just watch what he does with an open lineup spot now  that he has every new toy he could want from management, no excuses and his job potentially on the line.

Like everything else this wild and crazy rebuilding season, it should be fun to watch.

It's just a pity Matt won't be around to see it.

--Barry Millman
BYB Writer
Follow me on Twitter: @nyyankeefanfore

THE YANKS ARE GOING FOR IT ALL... NEXT YEAR

Hope you're happy, Yankee fans.

Rooting for the kids  and toughing out this roller coaster rebuilding year required just a bit more patience than your winning DNA could handle -- and apparently, you had an ally in the owner's suite at the Stadium.

You wanted the team to make some moves? You got 'em. The questions of the hour though are: Were they moves that could transform this team  from the worst in baseball over the last six weeks to one that can rocket past the Rays and Red Sox into the playoffs with a real chance to win it all?

Or is that just the impression they give off to  wishful Yankee fans still sporting their spring "best in baseball" goggles who are so frustrated by relentless trips to the DL  and regression to the mean that any moves at all now resemble a yellow brick road to the Emerald City?

Let's take a quick look-see which is closer to the truth.  Remember, Brian had said they'd be "careful buyers" at the deadline and his focus would be "putting out the best effort possible, but not at the expense of what we feel can lead us to more championships, plural."

In the new paradigm, that mean's reducing payroll (aka hitting the tax threshold to eliminate the burdensome penalty the team pays now so they can start spending big anew down the road) and maintaining a fresh stock of young farmhands to keep the big club supplied with talented bodies so they don't have to keep dipping into the free market for beefcake whenever a starter goes bad.

So, boiling down the deal to its essence,  for the price of a pair of the team's top 20 prospects, an unranked throw-in farmhand, a certain inconsistent veteran reliever whose name rhymes with flippered who was in danger of being kidnapped from the player's parking lot by angry  mobs and fed to the Pizza Rat, and an additional $15 million added to the payroll,  Joe got in return:

• A pair of top-notch bullpen arms for his binder -- one that will be with the team through next season making top-notch dollars, and one who'll be under team control through the next three that's pre-arbitration eligible.
• A third baseman in his third consecutive year of decline but with some pop remaining in his bat and  only the remainder of this season to pay.

Clearly, Todd Frazier -- the 31-year-old infielder with a dozen more dingers at the mid-season break than Headley -- and a big-time closer-caliber arm like ex-Yankee setup man David "Sweet Home Alabama" Robertson" on short-term deals are more than enough to satisfy Brian's "putting out the best effort possible" advocates. 

And 24-year-old Tommy Kahnle, the big prize in the deal, certainly fulfills both "best effort" and "What we feel can lead us to more championships, plural" pledges.

And while the three prospects the team let go -- pitcher Ian Clarkin, centerfielder Blake Rutherford (both former first-round picks) and outfielder Tito Polo (the PTBNL in the Ivan Nova trade with the Pirates) -- all probably have futures in the Bigs ahead of them, with the Yankees all were stuck in lines behind more talented players  that likely meant years before they might see the Bronx and no protection in a Rule 5 draft.

Photo of: Blake Rutherford

So it was a very good deal for the Yankees. You can make a strong case it's great for the rebuild, and it's certainly better for the moment as it immediately makes their toasted grilled cheese bullpen firmer and deeper  and (hopefully) lessens the need to Joba-cize promising young starters into binder fodder so they can properly finish honing their craft on the farm as both they and the farm were intended  (a.k.a learning third and fourth pitches and mastering how to get through batting orders three times etc.).

And, of course, another big hairy bat in the lineup is always a welcome addition in Yankee Universe where anyone standing at home plate with lumber in hands is considered a runner in scoring position.

But here's the thing... The reason the bullpen was melting like Velveeta over charred Wonder bread in the first place was because the rotation was the weak link by not consistently providing length or staying out of trouble early. Remember?

And the infield position that was woefully under-producing was first base, not third base. Remember?

I mean, sure Frazier may provide a handful of dingers more than Chase in the second half. But he's also just one step ahead of tripping over the Mendoza line.

And moving Chase to first base where he's only played 14 games in his professional life and giving him a "crash course" so he can platoon with newly acquired rookie Garrett Cooper who's played  all of six MLB games there himself  sounds like rubbing two bad experiments together hoping one good one will come of it.  That's no upgrade, it's a wash at best. Frazier doesn't fill a hole. He just moves one.

No, my friends, if this team was truly "going for it" this season, you'd see the team going all in on at least one front-end type starting pitcher and at least one above-replacement level corner infielder -- preferably a first baseman that, you know,  actually has extensive experience  playing and hitting like a major league first baseman, no assembly or platoon required.  (Eating the last year of Chase's deal and snagging a certain young nifty third baseman wouldn't be a bad idea either if the O's go all garage-sale crazy and put Manny on the block like some have posited might be in their interest.)

Starting pitching and first base. Those were the two burning dumpster fires on this team before the trade and so they remain --  and calling it a blockbuster in big block letters doesn't change that fact.

So until I see Brian bring home someone legit to extinguish either one, rest assured he's sticking to the blueprint and -- absent any other moves to follow -- this trade tips toward future rewards far more than the present, which is just fine by me.

Like Bill Parcells once said when asked if his team was a winner or a loser, you are what your record says you are. And like ESPN's Andrew Marchand wrote, the Yankees are "losers of 22 of their past 32 games. That's a .313 win percentage, which wouldn't win you the batting title, let alone a division."

That's a helluva deep dark place to expect a couple of relievers and a meh infield bat to dig you out.

If over the next 11 days Brian  somehow manages to pull another whiz-banger of a deal out of his tailpipe that protects the rebuilding blueprint but provides those two precious missing ingredients handicapping this team's chances for a meaningful run at a ring this season, nobody will be more thrilled than yours truly.

In the meantime, please pardon me if I  continue rooting for the kids, demanding that performance and not paycheck size  decide playing time, looking forward to the Hot Stove and savoring what's left of this wild roller coaster ride.

I know a championship race when I see one and I'm enjoying every frustrating, exhilarating minute of the one we're in  -- for 2018.

--Barry Millman
BYB Writer
Follow me on Twitter: @nyyankeefanfore