The Best and Worst of Drafters Times and Yankee Times
Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 9:10 am
We are in the best/worst part of the off season. Those months of free agent signings and long days of trivial Roto World blurbs are coming to an end. Spring training has started and even though some of us are looking at snow out our windows, we can almost smell the new grass of spring.
We've studied and studied some more. We've even drafted to get ready for the bigger drafts. We know the inventory of players like we know our shirt size. We each have our favorites. We each have guys we won't touch. And we'll all be surprised when somebody like Mike Trout comes from the back of the pack and pulls a wonder year out of his ass.
It's the best time of the year because the players were drafting our playing. It is warm enough some place that baseball can be played.
It's the best time of the year because we get our draft league and draft number in less than three weeks.
It's the best time of the year because we're all in first place. And, in our minds, we'll stay there.
It's the best time of the year because we know that soon, baseball will be played every day. Not just spring training baseball or that horseshit WBC that resembles the NFL Pro Bowl, real baseball.
It's the best time of the year because agents are not in the news, players are.
It's the best time of the year because every movement up or down our draft lists now mean something.
It's the worst time of the year because the days get longer in anticipation of real baseball.
It's the worst time of the year because the 'please grade my team' posts have begun.
It's the worst time of the year because while those slow drafts seemed to never move fast enough, they passed the time quickly and now they'll be coming to an end.
It's the worst time of the year because that player that you thought couldn't be 'that bad again' has struck out badly
in spring training, reminding you of how bad he really was last year.
It's the worst time of the year because we still don't know who will be starting at certain places. And think to ourselves, 'hey, we're better off than some real teams. The Mets don't know who will be their starting outfield and in a city the size of New York, there may not be one outfielder between the two teams that'll hit even 20 home runs.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
I'm not a team fan, but I am a fan of baseball history. In that way, I have a vested interest in the Yankees.
So, I'll include these thoughts in this post, even though they don't really belong here,,,,
As everybody knows, Curtis Granderson was hurt and may miss six weeks of the season. Plus, we're always a little leery, as drafters, when the injury concerns the wrist/forearm area because it seems to zap power sometimes when that hitter comes back.
Granderson himself, drops from a 3/4th round pick to double figured rounds. Somebody, for sure, will call him a value pick, ugh, when taking him in drafts. When in reality, he is taking a discount for the six weeks lost and the risk that coming back to be the real Curtis Granderson may take till next year. Brushing up on Spanish, it may not be value, it may be 'Mal you'.
The Granderson injury weakens a Yankee lineup that has already been weakened due to attrition and Yankee owners now being tighter with a buck. If Jeter starts the year on the bench, the Yanks lineup could look like this:
1. Gardner
2. Ichiro
3. Cano
4. Teixeira
5. Youkilis
6. M Diaz
7. Hafner
8. Nunez
9. Stewart
It is reminiscent of the Pirates lineup with Cano shining like McCutchen, then players who may or may not play well around them. For those of us taking Sabathia or another Yankee pitcher to get Wins, the simple truth is that the A.L East has changed. The Yankees, on paper, may be the worst team in the A.L. East. And that hasn't been a possibility going into a season since free agency began. Some will blame Brian Cashman. They shouldn't. Since George Steinbrenner passed, the Yankees have run their team as if George were still alive. Only they're not buying any free agents that can help them over a long period of time. They're buying band-aids like Youkilis, and Hafner, and Ichiro.
Right now with the highest priced seats and tv revenue through the roof, the younger Steinbrenners are making a lot of money. Money their Dad would have put back into the team with a 'screw the luxury tax! ' mentality. Sure, they're stuck with ARod and Sabathia contracts right now. But, it wouldn't have stopped George. George would have signed Hamilton and welcomed all the naysayers, knowing that any baseball publicity is good publicity.
Some of us remember the Yankee teams from the early '60's who were very, very good teams evolve into the Yankees of the mid-60's who were very, very bad teams, it's a reminder of how quickly a team can fail. During those bad teams of the mid-'60's and early 70's, the Yankees were owned by CBS. It wasn't till 1973, when sold to Steinbrenner and his limited partners ( One limited partner of Steinbrenner's said, "There is nothing so limiting as being a limited partner of George Steinbrenner") that the Yankees returned to being Champions again.
Owners of the New York Yankees must continue to spend money. It's simply the American way. Hell, it's the Yankee way.
George would have treated the ARod contract as a bad investment and moved on. He would have moved on and signed Pujols or Greinke or Hamilton. For his sons, those players were not even a thought. Not even in driving those players prices up as George liked to do. They don't know how to play the game. Worse, they don't know how to play the Yankee game.
The younger Steinbrenners are Frank Sinatra Jr. to Frank Sinatra.
Living on the name. Not living UP to the name.
And the franchise will suffer until they change or until they sell.
We've studied and studied some more. We've even drafted to get ready for the bigger drafts. We know the inventory of players like we know our shirt size. We each have our favorites. We each have guys we won't touch. And we'll all be surprised when somebody like Mike Trout comes from the back of the pack and pulls a wonder year out of his ass.
It's the best time of the year because the players were drafting our playing. It is warm enough some place that baseball can be played.
It's the best time of the year because we get our draft league and draft number in less than three weeks.
It's the best time of the year because we're all in first place. And, in our minds, we'll stay there.
It's the best time of the year because we know that soon, baseball will be played every day. Not just spring training baseball or that horseshit WBC that resembles the NFL Pro Bowl, real baseball.
It's the best time of the year because agents are not in the news, players are.
It's the best time of the year because every movement up or down our draft lists now mean something.
It's the worst time of the year because the days get longer in anticipation of real baseball.
It's the worst time of the year because the 'please grade my team' posts have begun.
It's the worst time of the year because while those slow drafts seemed to never move fast enough, they passed the time quickly and now they'll be coming to an end.
It's the worst time of the year because that player that you thought couldn't be 'that bad again' has struck out badly
in spring training, reminding you of how bad he really was last year.
It's the worst time of the year because we still don't know who will be starting at certain places. And think to ourselves, 'hey, we're better off than some real teams. The Mets don't know who will be their starting outfield and in a city the size of New York, there may not be one outfielder between the two teams that'll hit even 20 home runs.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
I'm not a team fan, but I am a fan of baseball history. In that way, I have a vested interest in the Yankees.
So, I'll include these thoughts in this post, even though they don't really belong here,,,,
As everybody knows, Curtis Granderson was hurt and may miss six weeks of the season. Plus, we're always a little leery, as drafters, when the injury concerns the wrist/forearm area because it seems to zap power sometimes when that hitter comes back.
Granderson himself, drops from a 3/4th round pick to double figured rounds. Somebody, for sure, will call him a value pick, ugh, when taking him in drafts. When in reality, he is taking a discount for the six weeks lost and the risk that coming back to be the real Curtis Granderson may take till next year. Brushing up on Spanish, it may not be value, it may be 'Mal you'.
The Granderson injury weakens a Yankee lineup that has already been weakened due to attrition and Yankee owners now being tighter with a buck. If Jeter starts the year on the bench, the Yanks lineup could look like this:
1. Gardner
2. Ichiro
3. Cano
4. Teixeira
5. Youkilis
6. M Diaz
7. Hafner
8. Nunez
9. Stewart
It is reminiscent of the Pirates lineup with Cano shining like McCutchen, then players who may or may not play well around them. For those of us taking Sabathia or another Yankee pitcher to get Wins, the simple truth is that the A.L East has changed. The Yankees, on paper, may be the worst team in the A.L. East. And that hasn't been a possibility going into a season since free agency began. Some will blame Brian Cashman. They shouldn't. Since George Steinbrenner passed, the Yankees have run their team as if George were still alive. Only they're not buying any free agents that can help them over a long period of time. They're buying band-aids like Youkilis, and Hafner, and Ichiro.
Right now with the highest priced seats and tv revenue through the roof, the younger Steinbrenners are making a lot of money. Money their Dad would have put back into the team with a 'screw the luxury tax! ' mentality. Sure, they're stuck with ARod and Sabathia contracts right now. But, it wouldn't have stopped George. George would have signed Hamilton and welcomed all the naysayers, knowing that any baseball publicity is good publicity.
Some of us remember the Yankee teams from the early '60's who were very, very good teams evolve into the Yankees of the mid-60's who were very, very bad teams, it's a reminder of how quickly a team can fail. During those bad teams of the mid-'60's and early 70's, the Yankees were owned by CBS. It wasn't till 1973, when sold to Steinbrenner and his limited partners ( One limited partner of Steinbrenner's said, "There is nothing so limiting as being a limited partner of George Steinbrenner") that the Yankees returned to being Champions again.
Owners of the New York Yankees must continue to spend money. It's simply the American way. Hell, it's the Yankee way.
George would have treated the ARod contract as a bad investment and moved on. He would have moved on and signed Pujols or Greinke or Hamilton. For his sons, those players were not even a thought. Not even in driving those players prices up as George liked to do. They don't know how to play the game. Worse, they don't know how to play the Yankee game.
The younger Steinbrenners are Frank Sinatra Jr. to Frank Sinatra.
Living on the name. Not living UP to the name.
And the franchise will suffer until they change or until they sell.