Levine Is Not My President

We heard from Noogsie, and along with the DonB (Big Chief Broken Ankle) he’s on the DL, but doing better and hopes to be back in the line-up by opening day.. Until  then  we’ll play  shorthanded and hang Noogsie jersey in the dugout…

The DonB is still our best  slugger so he stays in the line-up despite being on crutches.. Everything he hits goes out of the park so his 3 minute pace around the bases on crutches will be more of a celebration  then a “slowing the game down” hindrance

Billy Stafford with  the Vizzie Bros

Who’s Next?

No one knows what it’s like to  be the bad man, to be the sad man

No one knows what it’s like to be hated, to be fated….

He’s Not My President

 What  are the odds  “Dylan” Betances removed Cachamba’s El Hombre Merengue and replaced it with Pete Townshend’s Behind Blue Eyes on  his workout iPod playlist?

 Not even a Sunday go to prayer meeting brought  relief to Betances a day  after the “unhinged” Yankees President, Brillo Levine bitch slapped D-Bet’s agent for allowing him (Levine) to “trash” the 29 year old 3 time All Star..

It’s clear and present that Levine wanted to shift the villain character in this pre Spring Training mimi drama from himself to  Jim Murray

“With regards to Dellin, it was very ironic to hear the Yankees’ president express his love and affection when he spent the only portion of the hearing, to which he contributed to, was calling this player by the wrong first name. It is Dellin, for the record, not Dylan. He then proceeded to blame Dellin for the Yankees’ declining ticket sales and their lack of playoff history while trying to bully the panel, saying something to the effect that the sky will fall if they rule for the player.

Anyway, Gas Can Levine could have avoided all  this hoopla had he dummied up, but the goons gone wild narcissist  just  can’t help himself…

The teachable moment here is Betances will be scared, yes it will heal, but it will never go  away, hey join the club kid…Betances has had the backing of his MLBPA union, of course, he was trying to set a new market  ceiling for “set up  relievers”

Players Association executive Rick Shapiro went after the Bombers’ club president early Saturday evening. 

“Those are comments of an unhinged individual,” Shapiro said over the phone.

“The part that is disturbing is the whole concept that Dellin was used and misled,” Shapiro said. “Those are categorically false. Dellin is a well-informed player and understood everything about the case.”

And he was also given a vote of confidence from some prominent Union members Bubba McCann, Carlos Beltran, and CC Sabathia.. The consensus agreement of all parties involved : D-Bet will live and learn and this will not affect his performances on the field

That  said, the media will have a magnifying glass fixated on Betances, and the first  sign of him not being available for duty will create a story line…

If Betances couldn’t take the heat  from Levine, he better stay out of internet chat  rooms, that bubble he’s living in isn’t as big as he thinks….Just Win Baby….TBC

The Line-Up You Won’t See

Joel Sherman works at MLB.TV, that’s a dream gig if there ever was one.. The Sensie no  doubt hob-nobs, and has access to  all of the talent working there, and from top  to  bottom  all  aspects of the game are covered..

The new metrics are covered, the old school is covered, former players, coaches, GM’s, scouts and managers have all gone through the MLB.TV make up  room.. None of them  come out looking like Heidi Watney, but you can’t live on just  dessert, you need a solid meat  and potato meal now and again..

Sherman takes a crack  at putting his best NYY line-up on the field

I believe he should break up the Gardner / Ellsbury  tandem, and assuming the expected – Aaron Judge is the main right fielder and Greg Bird is at first – my lineup would be: 1. Gardner. 2. Gary Sanchez. 3. Bird. 4. Matt Holliday. 5. Didi Gregorius. 6. Starlin Castro. 7. Chase Headley. 8. Judge. 9. Ellsbury.

Sherman is a #2 slot is your best hitter school, and in this case it’s Sanchez.. With Ellsbury batting 9th, Gardner first, the two now  Older rabbits are still  setting the table for the SanBino, just not in the first  inning..

Sherman is also wanting to  give his best hitters more PA’s, which is a universal concept..The line-up just  doesn’t look long enough, I’m still having a hardtop wrapping my head around Gregorius who is much improved but still a career .393 slg percentage, and a .705 OPS is your #5 hitter?

Gregorius upped the anti in 2016 slugging .447 with a .751 OPS, but we’re still  looking at  a below average 97 OPS+

If Sherman  wants Sanchez in the 2 hole, he needs Judge to lengthen the line-up  and at least hit 5th.. The Yanks are too RHB heavy, so if you’re gimmick is to  go L/R then Gregorius is now a middle of the line-up performer…..

Already, I can tell you that will not be Girardi’s lineup, since the Yankee manager explained, “If I do split [Gardner and Ellsbury] up, I don’t anticipate having them hit one and nine.” That is because he still would have lefties consecutively when the lineup turned over.

The Yanks really don’t have a legit #2 hitter, Ellsbury was paid $153M to bat  at the top but he’s been an unmitigated bust and moving Sanchez up  shortens the line-up…

What all  this tells me is, Bryce Harper can’t get here fast enough…

Patches Goes Boom

You know it’s been a long winter when you start  to get excited over Batting Practice off 65 MPH fast balls.. That said Patches Carter, got that sweet  sound you only hear when ball meets barrel of bat…

“Obviously we know that there’s big power,” Girardi said. “We’re well aware of that and that’s why we went and got him.”

It didn’t hurt that Patches came relatively cheap, almost half the money Tyler Clippard is making

A  Niese Problem To Have

Lefty reliever Chasen Shreve took a good look around the Yankees’ clubhouse before Sunday’s first full-squad spring training practice, then stated, “There are a lot of lefties in here.”

Assuming Niese is healthy, he’ll become the 13th left-hander in Yankees’ camp

Yanks are kicking the tires on former Met Jon Niese, who agreed to terms on a minor-league deal… Niese is coming off a bad year  with  the Pirates, so  that’s scary, nobody pitches bad for the Pirates, right?

8-6 with a 4.91 ERA for the Pirates in 23 games, 18 as a starter, before returned to the Mets in an Aug. 1 trade for reliever Antonio Bastardo. In his second Mets stint, he finished the season going 0-1 with an 11.45 ERA in six games, two starts.

Hey, it can’t hurt, you never know, all  the kids trying for the last two  rotation spots are RHP, Niese is a good sparring partner, and the way Austin left a void in the position player depth, who’s to  say a handful of kids either get hurt or choke on the opportunity…

 21 Out Salute

If you think we’re gonna see “Dylan” Betances and Chappy wreak havoc on the last 10 or 12 outs of a game, the way Andrew Miller who  routinely got 6 outs a game then handed it off to his finisher Cody Allen with a sometime assist from Brian Shaw we can  forget about it..

Obviously we know that game plan is designed to  work in playoff baseball, not the 162 games season, and now that Brillo Levine has talked down  to Betances  the Yanks and Girardi who is touted as the top bull pen manager in 2016, will have to  figure out how to  secure the first  21 outs on their own..

 Joe Girardi is the best bullpen manager in baseball.
A really fascinating piece of the book was a section about a stat created by Rian Watt and Rob Arthur called wRM+. It is scaled like wRC+, and it measures optimal bullpen performance based on how good a reliever was and if they were used in the highest leverage situations possible. By this measure, Girardi was the best bullpen manager in baseball. Period. I can already hear people complaining about this one, but it really can’t be denied: his mark of 105.3 is the best in the game, and he has outperformed his Pythagorean record year in and year out.

Come on boys lets not get silly here, any one of us could have been geniuses rolling Betances, Miller and Chapman out there

“I don’t think so,” Chapman said through an interpreter. “The baseball season is really long. That kind of formula — when you are used that much — it is going to bring fatigue and possibly an injury.”

Don’t tell  that  to Brillo Levine, he’s only interested in paying for Saves..

enjoy

Not Race Not Gender Just American #WakeUp