YANKEES COULD BE ALL IN ON STEVEN MATZ

Source: NBC Sports

The Yankees have been focused on a shortstop, cleaning house to make way for the newest teammate. But don't count out their desire for a starting pitcher and word on the street is Steven Matz, former Met and current Toronto Blue Jay could sign as soon as today. Could the Yankees be in on the Long Island native? Why not?

"Matz put together a career year during his lone season with the Blue Jays, amassing a personal-best 14 wins and 2.8 fWAR. His 3.82 ERA, 3.79 FIP, and 3.94 xFIP were the lowest marks since his sixth-place NL Rookie of the Year finish with the Mets in 2016. In other words, he finally realized the potential that tempted the Mets for so long," reported SB Nation.

Matz could easily fit in with the starting rotation, be mentored by Gerrit Cole, and realize his full potential in the Bronx. Jon Heyman stated, "Red Sox, Blue Jays, Tigers, Cubs, Cardinals, Giants, Angels, Mets are among teams in on Steven Matz. Deal could come soon." The Yankees could easily be in on Matz and he could easily add value to the team, making it nine offers to Matz who managed to turn things around with one year of Toronto under his belt.

Source: NY Post

"After an ugly 2020 season, Matz was traded by the Mets to the Blue Jays last winter. The 30-year-old Matz rebounded in 2021, finishing 14-7 with a 3.82 ERA in 29 starts for Toronto," reported the New York Post. Playing in the AL East may have whipped Matz into shape, it would be a shame to see him go anywhere but the Yankees, and certainly not to the Red Sox.

Will the Yankees get an early Thanksgiving present? I hope so. Matz could be a nice, and inexpensive addition to the staff giving the Yankees more bankroll for the shortstop they need to add. Let's go Yankees, close the deal then eat some turkey!

--Suzie Pinstripe

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @suzieprof

THE END OF THE DARK KNIGHT

Finally.  I can't stand this guy.

Photo: Getty Images

If you know anything about BYB, you know that being an ego maniac gets you nowhere and we see that garbage immediately and cut right through that. Matt Harvey falls into that category and now, it's all coming back to haunt him, and I am hoping once reality sets in, he will either just be quiet, or eat some humble pie and become a regular person.  Hard lesson to learn, but I have a hunch he will eventually learn it, or maybe not because tools don't always learn when they fall from grace... or fake-grace... whatever this is that Harvey is in right now.

Metro writes a great piece about the latest Harvey saga.  Check out this gem...

"The New York Mets being able to trot out their five stud starters of Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler and Steven Matz isn't going to last for long.

Some of that is because veteran southpaw Jason Vargas, who was signed during the winter provide some much-needed rotational depth, will be returning from an injury to his non-pitching hand in the coming days.

Photo: Getty Images

But most of that is because Matt Harvey simply is not an MLB-caliber starting pitcher anymore and we all saw it again on Thursday night."

The Mets lost to the Braves, and suddenly there has been a change in the Mets playing style.  They are starting to lose. There is a lot of speculation that Vargas will replace Harvey in the rotation. And I'd love to see that happen. Hell, I think Mets fans would... he's just not good.

Now I'm not a Mets hater, but I am not a fan of Harvey. And hey, Harvey is a Met, so people think I'm anti-Met. I'm not. I just want Harvey to have a reality check.  He's not the same pitcher he once was according to many, but to be honest, I think he was never that pitcher... I think he was just once lucky.

Photo: Getty Images

As I wrote in IF JUDGE STAYS HUMBLE... HE'LL BE FINE,

"Harvey... knew he was good, pretty much told everybody he was great, bought into the hype and reeked of arrogance as he said it, and tried to bang strippers using the ol' "I'm the Dark Knight, wanna see my penis?"

Photo: Getty Images

So once Harvey started to realize he wasn't very good, and started having problems, the media pounced, because like I have written earlier, while celebs and athletes can be cool, there is always someone to remind them they are not, because they do digging through scandal, or blow up stories to try and knock them down."

Harvey was knocked down, but much of it was because of his own self-consumed arrogance.  When reality set in, he was no longer Nolan Ryan, he was more like Mark Fidrych (God, rest his soul)

A fun character, but that's about it.

No one likes to see a person be successful more than me, but admittedly, I enjoy watching failure happen when a person thinks he is untouchable. Matty is that.

Here's some humble pie, Mr. Harvey....

Eat it.

And good luck to the Mets, they'd be better off without him.

THE YANKEES ROTATION IS NO LONGER OLD

You now us here at BYB.  We will rank on the Yanks for being old and the need to bring up the kids. That's important to us.  Well, I was reading LoHud, and Chad Jennings had a terrific piece out about how the Yankee rotation isn't that old anymore. Reading through it, I didn't realize it, but I gotta tell you, it made me smile... Damn you Jennings!

Anyway, check this out:

"The Yankees have plenty of rotation issues, but age really isn’t one of them. Aside from CC Sabathia, the Yankees don’t have a starting pitcher in his 30s. Really, their rotation is built around four guys who are 26 or younger (counting Masahiro Tanaka, who turns 27 next month). That’s not to say the Yankees have a rotation as good as the Mets, only to point out that the Yankees’ rotation is probably younger than it seems...

Luis Severino -- 21
February 20, 1994

Noah Syndergaard — 23
August 29, 1992

Steven Matz — 24
May 29, 1991
 
Nathan Eovaldi — 25
February 13, 1990

Matt Harvey – 26
March 27, 1989
 
Michael Pineda – 26
January 18, 1989

Masahiro Tanaka – 26
November 1, 1988

Jacob deGrom – 27
June 19, 1988

Adam Warren – 28
August 25, 1987
 
Jon Niese – 28
October 27, 1986

CC Sabathia – 35 
July 21, 1980

Bartolo Colon – 42 
May 24, 1973"

Look, it's just one of those things that I needed to point out to our audience. I mean sure, there were some championship Yankee teams where rotations were old and more experienced than above, but in the realm of youth and "building" again so to speak, it's interesting and refreshing to see.  Check out our 1999 Yankees rotation in comparison for instance:

Orlando Hernandez-- 33
David Cone-- 36
Andy Pettitte-- 27
Roger Clemens-- 36
Hideki Irabu-- 30

Ages were much different, older, but experience was key for that 1999 team.  All I'm saying is we have a good thing going with youth coming up Yankee fans.  Like we see with the Mets for instance, if the Yankees allow time for growth for these young pitchers we have, there is a huge opportunity for us in our future. And you know what?  It's damn exciting.



 
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I HAVE A CASE OF PITCHER ENVY

Watching the NLCS I can't help but have a bit of pitcher envy.  Okay, I will admit it; a lot of pitcher envy.  I have been tweeting about it, talking about it and just feeling it.  I am not used to this kind of feeling; after all, I am a Yankees' fan.  I don't envy anything or anyone, until now.  And as Yankees' fans if you don't feel at least a little bit of pitcher envy, then you are lying to yourself.  Here's why:

I'm jealous that the Yankees don't employ Jake Arrieta, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, and Steven Matz.  Not a fan of Jon Lester or Matt Harvey, mostly because of their diva-like disposition, but clearly they can pitch too.  Jake Arrieta and Noah Syndergard impress me the most.  Arietta's post All Star Break stats are not of this world.  He has a .75 ERA and has gone 12-1 since the break.  It's crazy; I want him.  And Noah Syndergaard throws 100 mph as naturally as we snooze our am alarm.  Watching the post-season on TBS, the fire icon pops up under his pitching speed as he hits 100 mph almost every other pitch.  They call him Thor.  I can see why.  It's crazy; I want him too.

My brother who is a die-hard Yankees' and New York Giants' fan has been experiencing some sort of post traumatic stress since the end of the regular season.  He's watching the Mets and is actually rooting for them and he went to the Jet game this Sunday.  He posted on Facebook:

He is experiencing envy...post season envy, not necessarily just pitcher envy.  I root for the Yankees, win or lose but I am jealous of the Mets' pitching.  I have been since the beginning of the spring.

According to ESPN's Jayson Stark, "History tells us it is possible to win a World Series without one of those ultimate aces who just blitzes through every lineup he faces, start after start after start. History also tells us this: It helps!"  Stark was actually referring to the Toronto Blue Jays' chances of winning the World Series because of their pitching, defense up the middle and home run hitters in the line up.  I'm not jealous of them or their pitching; I am angry with the Yankees for allowing them to pick up arguably one of the best pitchers in the league, David Price.  Anger is a very different emotion than envy.

So, we have a choice, Yankees' fans.  We can watch the post season with one eye open, hoping that the Cubs make the Back of the Future prediction right or we can face what we know is true.  We wish we had the pitching the Mets have this season and hope that we can recruit, develop and trade for some much needed help on the hill in 2016.

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Senior Staff Writer
BYB Hot Stove Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof




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