Dallas Does The Yanks

Dallas Does The Yanks

With the Astros going 13 innings in Thursday night’s loss to  the Angels, Ace Dallas Keuchel took the high road after carving up the Yanks and pretty much said his motivation wasn’t inspired  by beating the $200M 27 time World Champs, it was to save the tired bull pen, so  he just  went out and pitched his 3rd complete game of the season whitewashing the Bombers 4-0

What  a guy, he did it all  for his teammates, the complete game, 9 innings, 6 hits, 1 BB, 12 K’s No  runs, 2.17 ERA was the wanna be Smith Brother’s 3rd of the season, juxtaposed, the whole Bomber team combined has one 8 inning complete game by none other then CC Sabathia, a 2-1 loss against Detroit in April

This and That

In the last  7  games the Yanks had been on an offensive roll, batting .353 with 19 home runs, getting 13 or more hits in six of them, they’ve also  become Ace killers taking out, David Price, Justin Upton Verlander, Jacob deGrom, Felix Hernandez, Max Scherzer and Cole Hamels so  they  flew to Houston breathing fire, sort of..

The silver lining next  to they don’t have to  face this guy  again for a while, Keuchel never busted the speed limit last night, he may have touched 91 on the gun, so there is hope for Sabathia who  will never see past 92, and Tanaka who lives 90 / 92, an occasional  94 now that his elbow has a minor glitch in it

You don’t need the high  octane cheese to be successful, you just  can’t bogart the plate too often, something every Bomber starter falls in love with more often then not.. Maybe Sabathia learned an old trick from a new dog last night

The Yanks didn’t get  a runner past first base until  the 9th  when they loaded them up off a tiring Keuchel.. With 2 outs ARod singled, Teixeira walked and Beltran singled, bringing up Jose Pirela who mashes LHP. Unfortunately the mashing came to  a halt against this kid, and until his big moment in the 9th,  Pirela was 0-3 with a punch out

They  elected to  stay  with Keuchel despite Pirela’s splits being favorable vs LHP..

Of course Joey Binder then  brings in McCann  as a pinch hitter, so Houston wisely stuck  with the kid stud pitcher vs the wide eyed masher who  easily could and did expand the strike zone, and it paid off..

The young anxious Bomber left fielder flailed at an 0-1 low outside 80 MPH change up, the pitch  had depth and was heading down and away, nothing a hitter could do  with  a pitch like that  except roll it over

It landed in Valbuena’s glove for a 5-4 ground out to  end the game.. It’s the type of AB you wanted to see a vintage Derek Jeter with a bat in his hands, but that  was another time and place in Bomber  history…

Their Grass Is Better

The one thing we were all sure to  witness on this little weekend jaunt to Houston was something we all  wish  the Yankees were, Young, Talented, Energetic, and Emerging as the team of the future.. That ain’t happening anytime soon, the way MLB conducts their business, the more you lose the more you win

In this era all  teams get revenue sharing from TV, but teams that  tank games and sell off their high priced veterans in an effort to replenish  their system with young studs will  always look like the Astros do  at the moment

All it took for Houston to have a buzz team was

 The four years, the Astros just completed:

56-106, followed by 55-107, followed by 51-111, followed by 70-92 which, to Astros fans, had to feel like 114-48. It’s that the Yankees would never be allowed to put a product on the field even remotely resembling that.

When  the Red Sox found gold thanks to the Dodgers taking  bad paper off their hands in 2013, they  parlayed that  salary dump and  new found payroll  flexibility  into  a World Championship in 2013.. They looked really smart for  one season, except they’ve  finished in last place in 2012 / 2014, they’re in last place in 2015 despite trying to  buy  back their swagger this off season

The Yanks could have dumped Teixeira and Sabathia before the Red Sox flipped Beckett, Gonzalez and Crawford, but in NY the team isn’t allowed to  tank  a season, I guess  the Steinbrenner’s feel that’s not in their DNA

They  could have maybe flipped Cano at the deadline in 2013, possibly traded away Robertson, and Kuroda last yr once it was obvious they  weren’t going anywhere… Instead the bought Headley, McCarthy, and Prado, and they  still  didn’t go  anywhere, but they had to  fake a playoff run  in Jeter’s swan  song money grab  farewell season

The last time the Yanks looked like the Astros was 96, the next time they resemble the team in the other dugout this weekend might be 2017 / 18, that’s if they  don’t trade away their future for more aging, just  about, or soon to be past  their prime players like Hamels, or rentals like Cueto and Jeff Samardzija

The free wheeling days of George Steinbrenner are now long gone, it’s common knowledge to even  the casual baseball fan  that  every team locks up  their young players. Teams like the Yanks can’t just pluck them from the nest  anymore, not with $50M in revenue from TV sources padding the small market team’s pockets

If the Dodgers grab Cole Hamels at the deadline they’ll be close to  a $300M payroll, at least until Zack Greinke opts out, and the $71M he’s owed comes off the books..

I’m sure Yankee fans despite the quick fix resurgence of ARod and Teixeira are tired of seeing retreads like McCann, Beltran, Sabathia, and to  a somewhat lesser degree the injury prone Ellsbury and Tanaka holding the bean  counting Hal Steinbrenner hostage

The Yanks aren’t gonna be the Astros anytime soon, but if they  stand pat and suck it up they might infuse some youth to  go  with Tanaka, Pineda, Ellsbury, Gardner, Betances and Miller in an effort to  bring back the Glory Days of 96 / 98 / 99  / 2000

the Whole 9