2021-2022 Off Season Thread

[sjb23]

I think Stanton and the rest of the roster can be best utilized if he plays LF twice a week, RF once a week (to rest Judge's legs) and DHs the rest of the time.

Hicks plays CF and should sometimes play LF IMO.

Judge of course is in RF 4 or 5 times a week.

So the 4th OFer needs to be able to play CF and at least one of the corner spots. Enter Estevan Florial. Time for the young man to start contributing @ the ML level IMO.

I think the team can do (better) without Joey Gallo.

[Portbb]

They already can claim the 21st Century (4 WS titles to 2).

Just back to reading the thread. Technically its Boston 4 titles to NY 1 if the 21st century begins in 2001. Articles came out in 2019 that if the Yankees don't make the WS this year they won't have been in a WS the entire decade. People pointed out that the decades are 2001-2010, 2011-2020 etc. So they had one more year to make the WS in the decade. Which, well didn't happen.

I am confident they will make the WS several times this decade of 2021-2030.

[Yankee Tripper]

Might want to double check these adverbs.

93 would have increased their win total. - 1st WC instead of 2nd
101 would have been a substantial increase. - winning division instead of WC
Adding Harper with no other changes to 2021 roster the first would have been very likely, the 2nd would have been possible but I’m not sure it would have been probable.

[Paul Zuvella]

A-Rod is now a NBA franchise owner. He’s not going to deal with the grind of managing a MLB team.

Yeah hes not traveling with a team and spending all that time coaching—hes living the best life ever, why would he do that to himself?

[HelloNewman]

Just back to reading the thread. Technically its Boston 4 titles to NY 1 if the 21st century begins in 2001. Articles came out in 2019 that if the Yankees don't make the WS this year they won't have been in a WS the entire decade. People pointed out that the decades are 2001-2010, 2011-2020 etc. So they had one more year to make the WS in the decade. Which, well didn't happen.

I am confident they will make the WS several times this decade of 2021-2030.

are we going down this rabbit hole again? You can group sets of 10 any way you want, and custom is, always has been, and always will be to begin the decade in the zero year. I am comfortable with shorting the first decade AD one year for clarity's sake.

"Connie Mack's mighty 1930 Philadelphia Athletics, regarded by some historians as the greatest team of the '20s." Just no.

[False1]

93 would have increased their win total. - 1st WC instead of 2nd
101 would have been a substantial increase. - winning division instead of WC
Adding Harper with no other changes to 2021 roster the first would have been very likely, the 2nd would have been possible but I’m not sure it would have been probable.

The issue is they didn't make the investment so we'll never know.

Harper was a 6 WAR player this year. Excluding Stanton's 43 AB in LF, if we add up ALL the WAR for the folks that played the vast majority of LF for the Yankees this season, even INCLUDING the WAR they accumulated at other positions (like Gardner in CF), you get a -0.3 WAR (Gallo 0.4, Andujar -0.3, Frazier -1.4, Gardner 1.0).

Here are the results for those same guys against the Rays:

• Gallo - .200 / .273 / .200 (45 sOPS+)
• Andujar - .263 / .263 / .737 (180 sOPS+, hit three solo HR against them)
• Frazier - .111 / .273 / .259 (60 sOPS+)
• Gardner - .166 / .255 / .267 (56 sOPS+)

Here are the results for those same guys against the Red Sox:

• Gallo - .050 / .208 / .050 (-25 sOPS+)
• Andjuar - .222 / .263 / .222 (33 sOPS+)
• Frazier - .188 / .350 / .188 (51 sOPS+)
• Gardner - .200 / .367 / .200 (75 sOPS+)

Harpers splits against the 2021 NL playoff teams:

• Dodgers - 164 sOPS+
• Giants - 258 sOPS+
• Braves - 101 sOPS+
• Brewers - 410 sOPS+
• Cardinals - 249 sOPS+

It seems like you're really understating the impact that Harper's production represents over the dreck the 2021 Yankees ran out there. Would it have guaranteed the AL East pennant? No. But this is what the Yankees are trying to sell you with the CRAPSHOOT mentality. Nothing is ever guaranteed, so why invest?

[AussieYank]

Just to sidetrack the trade discussions for a moment.

in my mind, one of the big question marks of the off-season will be whether Cole can find form again WITHOUT using the sticky stuff. His goldfish impression at the presser when asked if he had ever used spider tack, plus his stellar gain in spin rate under the brilliant coaching at Houston (spider tack), makes it obvious that he has relied on it in the past. I reckon Verlander’s starring performance at Houston was similarly helped by sticky stuff, and so I think the Yankees would be crazy to try to get him during the off-season.

But I guess my question is … if Cole CAN’T regain his form without the use of sticky stuff, would the Yankees be able to rip up his contract on the grounds that they didn’t get what they thought they were getting?

[Paul Zuvella]

Just to sidetrack the trade discussions for a moment.

in my mind, one of the big question marks of the off-season will be whether Cole can find form again WITHOUT using the sticky stuff. His goldfish impression at the presser when asked if he had ever used spider tack, plus his stellar gain in spin rate under the brilliant coaching at Houston (spider tack), makes it obvious that he has relied on it in the past. I reckon Verlander’s starring performance at Houston was similarly helped by sticky stuff, and so I think the Yankees would be crazy to try to get him during the off-season.

But I guess my question is … if Cole CAN’T regain his form without the use of sticky stuff, would the Yankees be able to rip up his contract on the grounds that they didn’t get what they thought they were getting?

No the contract will stand. If they couldnt cancel contracts of guys like Arod and Giambi after they found out they paid for steroid induced numbers, they wont be able to do it because of sticky stuff.
I think our best hope is that the league gets lenient with the use of icky sticky and Cole can get back to what he was by doing what he used to. If not we got ourselves a # 2 pitcher for $325 million, not the ace we paid for.

[False1]

Just to sidetrack the trade discussions for a moment.

in my mind, one of the big question marks of the off-season will be whether Cole can find form again WITHOUT using the sticky stuff. His goldfish impression at the presser when asked if he had ever used spider tack, plus his stellar gain in spin rate under the brilliant coaching at Houston (spider tack), makes it obvious that he has relied on it in the past. I reckon Verlander’s starring performance at Houston was similarly helped by sticky stuff, and so I think the Yankees would be crazy to try to get him during the off-season.

But I guess my question is … if Cole CAN’T regain his form without the use of sticky stuff, would the Yankees be able to rip up his contract on the grounds that they didn’t get what they thought they were getting?

You're right of course. Cole's return to greatness versus goodness is the single most important factor for this team's success in 2022.

Hopefully baseball pulls it's head out of its you know what and deals effectively with this issue - and with ALL issues relating to unenforced rules that lead to thinks like spider tack. The fact that they decided in mid-2021 to address this issue that has been WIDELY known about in the game for years is a joke. Not sure why this couldn't have waited until the 2022 offseason. Or, better yet, they could have directly and forcefully dealt with when MLB knew that it was happening originally years ago before teams benefitting from it won World Series, before teams handed out $300MM deals to players using it, etc. It's a bit ironic that they player that probably forced the issue was Bauer, who came out and publicly spoke about it, said if MLB didn't address it he was going to use it, then used it and went on to sign the largest contract by AAV that baseball has ever seen.

Baseball provides some "sticky stuff" on the mound every inning of every game. But most will tell you that the rosin bag isn't effective enough especially on cold nights. Umpires even have discretion to let players go to their mouths with their pitching had given certain weather conditions. How about just creating a better, tackier solution between rosin and Bullfrog, providing it and enforcing the crap out of any abuse? And if you're worried about the competitive advantage that gives to hitters, how about you get rid of the dead ball to balance it out? It's just dumb. I mean, no one complains about hitters whose bats and helmets are absolutely CAKED with pine tar. Being able to control the bat in your hands and not have it slip out is kind of important. How about you fix this problem for pitchers, advise that ANY foreign substance other than what is provided on the mound in ANY location will result in a massive suspension, and call it a day?

I share your concern about Verlander. He's pitched 6 innings since 2019, and 0 innings since the crackdown on sticky stuff. I wouldn't do anything without tryouts where he was subjected to searching for sticky stuff and I wouldn't do much more than what Kluber got. And even then, I would hope Cashman can devise a better solution.

[ppa79]

Sign Corey Seager
Trade for Dom Smith
Trade for Contreras

[Yankee Tripper]

The issue is they didn't make the investment so we'll never know.

Harper was a 6 WAR player this year. Excluding Stanton's 43 AB in LF, if we add up ALL the WAR for the folks that played the vast majority of LF for the Yankees this season, even INCLUDING the WAR they accumulated at other positions (like Gardner in CF), you get a -0.3 WAR (Gallo 0.4, Andujar -0.3, Frazier -1.4, Gardner 1.0).

Here are the results for those same guys against the Rays:

• Gallo - .200 / .273 / .200 (45 sOPS+)
• Andujar - .263 / .263 / .737 (180 sOPS+, hit three solo HR against them)
• Frazier - .111 / .273 / .259 (60 sOPS+)
• Gardner - .166 / .255 / .267 (56 sOPS+)

Here are the results for those same guys against the Red Sox:

• Gallo - .050 / .208 / .050 (-25 sOPS+)
• Andjuar - .222 / .263 / .222 (33 sOPS+)
• Frazier - .188 / .350 / .188 (51 sOPS+)
• Gardner - .200 / .367 / .200 (75 sOPS+)

Harpers splits against the 2021 NL playoff teams:

• Dodgers - 164 sOPS+
• Giants - 258 sOPS+
• Braves - 101 sOPS+
• Brewers - 410 sOPS+
• Cardinals - 249 sOPS+

It seems like you're really understating the impact that Harper's production represents over the dreck the 2021 Yankees ran out there. Would it have guaranteed the AL East pennant? No. But this is what the Yankees are trying to sell you with the CRAPSHOOT mentality. Nothing is ever guaranteed, so why invest?

You’re preaching to the choir.
I want the best roster possible and for them to make the required investment to do it,
I also realizes that the best team in baseball does not win a 5 or 7 game series all the time.
Two things can be equally true.

[jnewmark]

You're right of course. Cole's return to greatness versus goodness is the single most important factor for this team's success in 2022.

Hopefully baseball pulls it's head out of its you know what and deals effectively with this issue - and with ALL issues relating to unenforced rules that lead to thinks like spider tack. The fact that they decided in mid-2021 to address this issue that has been WIDELY known about in the game for years is a joke. Not sure why this couldn't have waited until the 2022 offseason. Or, better yet, they could have directly and forcefully dealt with when MLB knew that it was happening originally years ago before teams benefitting from it won World Series, before teams handed out $300MM deals to players using it, etc. It's a bit ironic that they player that probably forced the issue was Bauer, who came out and publicly spoke about it, said if MLB didn't address it he was going to use it, then used it and went on to sign the largest contract by AAV that baseball has ever seen.

Baseball provides some "sticky stuff" on the mound every inning of every game. But most will tell you that the rosin bag isn't effective enough especially on cold nights. Umpires even have discretion to let players go to their mouths with their pitching had given certain weather conditions. How about just creating a better, tackier solution between rosin and Bullfrog, providing it and enforcing the crap out of any abuse? And if you're worried about the competitive advantage that gives to hitters, how about you get rid of the dead ball to balance it out? It's just dumb. I mean, no one complains about hitters whose bats and helmets are absolutely CAKED with pine tar. Being able to control the bat in your hands and not have it slip out is kind of important. How about you fix this problem for pitchers, advise that ANY foreign substance other than what is provided on the mound in ANY location will result in a massive suspension, and call it a day?

I share your concern about Verlander. He's pitched 6 innings since 2019, and 0 innings since the crackdown on sticky stuff. I wouldn't do anything without tryouts where he was subjected to searching for sticky stuff and I wouldn't do much more than what Kluber got. And even then, I would hope Cashman can devise a better solution.

I've asked this question before: How does MLB determine what is an ok sticky substance, and what is forbidden ? I mean, what's the difference, the degree of stickiness ? Why is Rosin ok, but Spider Tack not ?

[RoyWilliams]

Seager would fit right in here. His bat is good but he is not the best fielder and just cost the Dodgers the game.

[Benefactor]

Seager would fit right in here. His bat is good but he is not the best fielder and just cost the Dodgers the game.

When it happened, I remember thinking that's how Gleyber would've played it. And he would have been hammered for it.

[False1]

Seager would fit right in here. His bat is good but he is not the best fielder and just cost the Dodgers the game.

LOL ignore the 2R HR, the 3 RBI (of 6 total for the Dodgers) in the series and the 1.000 OPS so far and sure, he'd fit right in.

And that's a play he should make, but I wouldn't quite call it a gimme. Ball was smoked by Rosario (105.4 exit velo), Jansen kind of screened it (not entirely sure he didn't also ever so slightly alter the trajectory of it) and it was a short hop. He needs to get in front of that ball and knock it down, but people are gonna make it sound like that was a Buckner-type play. A ball with that exit velo and launch angle is a hit 63% of the time.