Fan_since_Boggs

I remember when the Marlins traded Stanton to the Yankees and how Jeter took a lot of heat for that deal with people saying the Marlins didn't get any high quality prospects for Stanton. A few years later, Jeter looks like a genius for dumping Stanton and his contract on the Yankees. On NY Sports radio, a few Yankees fans are calling for Buck Showalter to replace Boone. I forgot all about Showalter, he would be an interesting choice. I don't think Cashman would go in that direction, however. Showalter will want too much say.....

I thought A-Rod called a good game. It is too bad A-Rod was a steroids junkie, he knows baseball pretty well and has pretty good instincts when seeing things unfold on the diamond. He called out C.Frazier in right field, Dalbec holding a runner on 1b, and Cashman building the Yankees lineup around right-handed hitters. He is also right when he said that Cora is the best manager or one of the best managers in the game.

I hope they do. The strikeouts and lack of offense are making the game much more boring.

G.Stanton isn't in the Yankees lineup tonight. LOL. Of course, he will still make $80,000 today.

It is kind of interesting that the Yankees didn't set up their rotation so that their ace starter would face both the Rays and Red Sox this week. It is almost like the Yankees are trying to limit Cole's national attention exposure right now? If the Yankees scheduled Cole for Sunday night baseball, ESPN would definitely cover this story.

Wow, this has the potential to be big news. If I'm the manager of the opposing team and facing Cole, I would demand that the umpire check his hands every inning. https://nypost.com/2021/06/06/josh-donaldson-calls-out-gerrit-cole-amid-mlb-cheating-mess/

Bello looks great. The big questions concerning him now is when does he get promoted to AA and how does he perform at that level?

If all things are equal--two players with the same grade--why would needs be pointless? It is only human nature to consider the strengths and weaknesses of your farm system. In the NFL, needs play a much larger role in determining draft decisions. In contrast, MLB prospects are a few years away and needs play almost no role. But "almost no role" is different from "no role at all." Moreover, catcher is an odd position in which an organization might target players to fill the position; it isn't like drafting pitchers, you can never have enough pitchers even if your farm system is loaded with them. Speaking of pointless, since our disagreement seems to revolve around "almost no role" (my position) versus "no role at all" (your position), I can't think of a more futile topic to debate.

It is interesting that Jobe's name is popping up more and more as a high pick. The more you look into him, the more you like him. He could end up being a better pitcher than Leiter or Rocker. When I look at Jobe, though, I can't help but remember Billy Beane's comment about how he wouldn't scout certain high school pitchers--he was worried he would fall in love with the talent and would be tempted to draft a player who has a low probability of reaching their ceiling.

Teams don't draft for need, but if all things are equal--two players with the same value--a team might look at its minor league depth in order to make a decision especially when it involves elite prospects at the top of the draft. For example, there is almost a zero chance the Tigers take Davis--they spent 2 million on Dingler and he looks really good. The Tigers have so many other needs. Thus, unless Davis has a much higher grade than the other available draftees at 3, they aren't taking him. I would be surprised to see the Rangers take Davis, especially if Leiter is there, but if they have an incredibly high grade on Davis they will take him no matter what. I can't find a quality catching prospect in the Pirates system and Stallings is 31 years old; by the time the Pirates turn it around, Stallings won't be there. The Red Sox farm system is thin at catcher as well and Vazquez is 30 years old, and is arguably already showing some decline this season.

There is some speculation that the Pirates might take Davis at 1. It is worth noting that the Tigers will probably not take Davis--they really like D.Dingler. The Rangers have Huff, a good young catcher. I think the Rangers are taking an SP. If the Pirates don't take Davis, he should be available for the Red Sox at 4, and that is what I'm hoping for. Unlike the Rangers and Tigers, the Pirates are desperate for a catcher of the future. They don't have anyone that fits that description.

A Yankees fan wrote this, it made me laugh:

So when the Red Sox drafted Blaze Jordan in the third round, they knew that it would take around 1.7 million to sign him. They didn't just draft him and then hope for the best. They knew what he wanted and they knew they could match the price.

The organization contacts the agent in advance? Or the organization contacts the player in advance? I'm pretty sure organizations know this information prior to the draft and have a general idea if a player will sign for under slot or not.

If the Red Sox want to go cheap in the first round in order to go over slot in round 2, Jobe would be an interesting choice at 4. Since he isn't expected to go that high, I'm assuming they can sign him for under slot value and then spend the excess in round 2. In the meantime, while so much can go wrong with Jobe, he is an intriguing prospect with high upside and impressive stuff.

This is the approach we often see in the NFL as well. The head coach goes first; if the team continues to suck under the new coach, the GM is next to go.

You are correct, I looked up each guy. Bitsko (P) = has upside but shoulder issues, and so who knows. Shoulder issues are a major red flag (of course). Jones (SS) = is doing OK in high Single A but he is already 23 years old and will need to hit at the higher levels. He could be a decent utility player but I doubt we are looking at a superstar. Liberatore (P)= a top pitching prospect now on the Cardinals. McKay (P) = a disappointment thus far (the 4th pick of the draft). He has shoulder issues (not good) but he is a two way player and some speculate he should focus on hitting/fielding if his shoulder undermines his career as a pitcher. In 2019, he was a dominant pitching prospect before the shoulder injury. Lowe (OF) = looks like a fourth OF or platoon bat in the best scenario. Whitley (OF) = He is still in the Rays organization but isn't much of a prospect anymore. A disappointing pick at 13 to be sure. C Gillaspie (1b) = bust, now playing in an independent league. N Ciuffo © = bust, sounds like he is somewhere in the Orioles system. Stanek (P) = on the Astros, an OK reliever R Shaffer (3b) = bust When it comes to the Rays last 3 first round SPs (in bold), two of the three ended up with shoulder issues and an uncertain future. This is more evidence that the Red Sox should take Davis over Rocker. So much more can can wrong with pitching prospects. And catching prospects as good as Davis are pretty rare. BTW, Bitsko is a case in point as to why these guys should take the money while it is there. He was drafted by the Rays and paid 3 million to buy him out of his commitment to Virginia. Think about it: if he attended Virginia, and then blew out his shoulder, there is good chance he never would have received a big bonus or been a first round pick. Instead, he signed with the Rays, locked in 3 million, and then blew out his shoulder. If his career is over, so what, he made 3 million and can now spend a small fraction of that money on getting an education. He is set up financially for the rest of his life, assuming he doesn't spend the money recklessly.

That's true, the Rays do seem to place highest value on SPs--they aren't afraid to take them in the first round. Still, I would take the safer pick--Davis, who will stay at catcher--and then look for a high upside high school arm (over slot) in round 2 or one of the Tommy John guys.

The traditional move would be to fire the manager first and if nothing changes, the GM is replaced in the offseason. I've got a good name to replace Boone with: Lou Piniella! Sweet Lou is only one year older than Tony LaRussa. If not Piniella, the Yankees could try to hire Yankee great Yogi Berra. On the other hand, Yogi died in 2015 and so hiring him now would be somewhat problematic.

True, but the one position where the Red Sox are relatively weak (in the farm) is at catcher. R.Hernandez is probably more of a backup than starter and Wong was a big question mark coming into the season and hasn't done anything this year. He is also already 25 years old. I don't know how long Vazquez can hold up--he is 30 years old. In terms of needs, Davis is a perfect fit. But yeah, the Red Sox need the pitching prospect too.

How do the Yankees fix this mess of an offense in the offseason? It isn't going to be easy. Moreover, it wouldn't make sense to let Cashman fix it, since he is the architect behind this mess to begin with. To make matters worse, the Yankees have a weak farm system as it pertains to position players and so they can't turn to the farm system for help--Dominguez is many years away from the big leagues. The prospect Peraza might be ready next year and he could be the SS while moving Torres to 3b. The Yankees are stuck with LeMahieu who had a big year last season and Cashman turned around and gave LeMahieu, an aging player, too much money. I guess the Yankees could move Torres to second base, keep Gio at 3b, and use LeMahieu as a super-utility guy. The Yankees have a black hole in LF (Frazier sucks) and a black hole at catcher. Hicks will return to CF next year. G.Stanton's contract can't be moved and I don't see the Yankees trading Judge, a popular homegrown player who is hitting well this year (albeit his biggest numbers came against the Orioles Triple-A pitching staff). The lineup is too right-handed, too many strikeouts, too slow, too injury prone, and they play poor defense. How do you fix this? I guess the Yankees could look to trade L.Voit and Andujuar for some left-handed hitting, assuming that Voit and Andujar produce this season and stay healthy, increasing their trade value in the offseason.

My prediction: the two prep shortstops go 1 and 3 and the Rangers take Leiter at 2. That leaves the Red Sox to make a decision at 4: Rocker or Davis? Tough decision.....

I also believe that Houck is better than Garcia. I believe Houck will eventually burn out his arm but he will have some quality major league seasons before that happens. In contrast, D.Garcia just isn't very good and will fade away into oblivion.

I'm happy to see that A.Judge is putting up decent numbers this year, even though many of his HRs came against the Orioles pitching staff. Hopefully, the Yankees will sign Judge to a 300 million dollar contract. That would be awesome.

Mookie who? Trading away MB was total genius--the Red Sox got an excellent return and avoided a contract that will eventually be a disaster. It helps to be a little luck, too. If I'm not mistaken, the Red Sox were willing to go as high as 300 million, but that just wasn't enough money for a dipshit like Mookie Betts.