Toronto Blueleafs (79-60) @ New York (77-61): Battle for 1st TBD

[Dr. Detfink]

The New York Yankees are at the crossroads of their season.

They have exhausted their bullpen, thanks to the starters' inability to stay healthy and/or go deep into games: 1. Eovaldi is done for the regular season with elbow inflammation. 2. Nova, Sabbathia can't get past the 5th/6th innings consistently. This puts all the pressure on Tanaka and Severino to be perfect every start. Girardi's reluctance to use Betances or Miller during the last 2 games vs the O's resulted in 2 losses, which 1 win would have put them 1/2 game from 1st. Instead they are 1.5 games behind.

Offensively, the Yanks are not as devastated. Teixiera's nasty foul off his own knee cap will shelve him for the rest of the regular season but Greg Bird is doing quite well offensively (but not defensively). Brett Gardner's absence has really hurt this team. Alex is starting to get himself untracked after a mostly uneventful, MONTH! Luckily Carlos Beltran is carrying the offense.


It seems clear, the Yanks are content with the Wild Card but maybe I'm wrong. We'll find out at the end of this 4 game set.

[Dr. Detfink]

Serevino didn't have his best stuff. Toronto drew first blood.

[Dr. Detfink]

Pineda departs after surrendering the Yanks' lead, twice. He lasted 5.1 innings. Score tied 4-4. I think the problem with Pineda is simple, he can't locate that change up. Toronto is adept at knowing his slider and cutter, so they foul it off. Wait on the change up that he can't throw for a strike. When it doesn't go by design, it creeps back over and it's GONE!

In comes in Justin Wilson, another 2 pitch pitcher. Yanks needed length out of Pineda because Nova has been atrocious. How Girardi uses the pen will be a good question.

[Dr. Detfink]

Former Phillies stud Bret Cecil comes in, a wild pitch and a single given up...the game is TIED again 5-5! McCann with the save. Men on the corners, one out.

[21 Hussle]

Chasen is f***ing everything up. That's like three games in a row for him.

[Dr. Detfink]

Tanaka is the ONE starter who seems capable of keeping the Blue Leafs in check.

We know this much. The Yanks have 1 legit starter (Tanaka), 1 wild card in Eovaldi, 1 maybe starter in Serevino (see how he does next season with a full under his belt), and at least 3 long relievers: Pineda, Nova, and Sabbathia.

Dear, Brian Cashman...FIX THIS!!!!! Geezus. Tired of all this duct taping penny crap.

[Slamm Goodbody]

Hyperbole.

Pineda is a legitimate starter. He was taken out of rhythm when he got hurt and has been streaky and inconsistent since. When he's on he's lights-out. Look at his pre/post injury splits. We need to get him right but I am dubious that will happen this year, unfortunately.

Which leads to the bigger issue: The injuries have taken a toll. That's where we're at. You can't praise Cashman for holding onto the kids in the system in one breath and then complain they're not ready and he didn't get reinforcements in the next. He can't fix injuries with trades in September and we're already on backup options to fill starter roles. CC isn't going into relief with that contract so you're in the Kevin Brown zone, at least through the rest of this season - pitch the damaged goods, knowing he'll come up with flashes of the old guy every now and then, and give him a quick hook to your pen at the first sign of trouble.

Gotta hope we can eek out some wins and take the last series with Toronto if we have any prayer at the division. It ain't over til it's over - I've seen crazier things happen.

[Dr. Detfink]

Anyone who thinks Michael Pineda is a starter, is lucky to be smoking that quality of bath salt. First, when you tear your pectorial muscle, your delivery is forever changed and you see he loses that snap when he tries to throw a change up for a strike and it becomes a home run. So he's on borrowed time and he'll continue to miss starts every now and then. Second, he hasn't made it past the 6th inning in his last starts, which if memory serves was back in June.

That's the problem with the Yankees, most of the rotation can't give the pen a day off.

Now, here's the problem with Cashman. He's so SCARED of making a trade because he has ZERO scouting experience or any interpersonal managerial or coaching experience. So he just SITS on prospects and buys whatever his scouts tell him. Hence, you never see this guy trade 2-3 good prospects for one GREAT prospect. It's moves like that, which is why you see the Pirates, Royals, Astros competitive today.

Back in 2005, Cashman complained about being interfered/second guessed and went on Michael Kay, insisting he could make the Yankees into a competitive team with a moderate payroll. After initially refusing to part with Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlian, and Ian Kennedy that he dubbed the rotation of the future...he goes on a spending spree for CC Sabbathia, AJ Burnett, Mark Teixiera for ONE World Series in 2009.

From 2010-present, the Yanks passed on Cespedes, who would've been younger healthier than Beltran. Yanks passed on Puig. Also Yu Darvish but maybe Tanaka offsets that.

because the Yanks overspent on McCann, Ellsbury, and Beltran...they couldn't go after Zachary Greinke or any pitching help.

Maybe...maybe Brian won't get taken with Eovaldi but I hate his trades with Florida most of the time.

[Slamm Goodbody]

1) Pineda didn't tear his pectoral muscle so I don't know what you're referencing. He had a Grade 1 strain which doesn't involve tearing.

2) Pineda's numbers were great before he went on the DL. Guys who get hurt during the season sometimes take a while to get straight when they get back, which I mentioned in my first post and speaks to what you're saying about the pectoral strain potentially hurting his delivery. It's happened to a litany of guys for us over the years but Ellsbury is a good recent example of a successful player over his career who has hit the skids since return from an in-season injury. That is what is happening here. I'm not sure he's going to get it together before the season is over, which again, I said in my first post. I'm sure he'll be effective at worst, next season, but its up to the staff to try to get him right NOW.

3) Cashman is not scared of making trades and this "zero scouting experience" nonsense needs to stop. He's been in the Yankees organization for 25 years and GM since 1998. He isn't on the road as a scout every day but when you are the GM of a major league team you are inherently scouting talent based on video tape and occasional in-person sessions.

He absolutely has traded quantity prospects for "one great prospect" - your buddy Pineda is a good example when we swapped Montero and Hector Noesi, who at the time was a pretty good prospect for us and had performed well in his major league stints. He also traded Kennedy, Phil Coke, and Austin Jackson for Granderson who had a pretty reasonable salary in the prime of his career. The season you're referencing when the Hughes/Joba/Kennedy triumvirate were relied on to carry the team everyone thought they were going to be dynamite and the only thing Cash did wrong was not having enough depth in the system for plan B, C, and D. Kennedy fell apart, Joba got screwed up with the yo-yo routine and Hughes couldn't keep the ball in the park or stay on the mound. Sometimes **** happens, but if he traded them for some veterans that didn't work out people would be calling for his head just the same. You can't have it both ways.

Cash overspent to win that ring, I agree, although we got Tex at a relative bargain compared to the contracts people were handing out that season. He also did that with the money from Jason Giambi and a bunch of other big salaries coming off the books instead of putting it in the Steinbrenner family's pocket.

So... I guess I don't understand what your argument is unless it is that he didn't secure the guys who did well and the guys he signed haven't been all things to all people.