Perspectives: Yanks Rolling...

by Paul Semendinger

May 5, 2024

***

The Yankees have played 62 games. There are 100 more to go. (The season goes far too quickly.) These next 100 games promise to be exciting, action-packed, and a whole lot of fun. (Now, I hope the Yankees keep that promise.)

I haven't had this much fun watching the Yankees in a long long time. I attribute a lot of this to the fact that this is a better team than we have seen in a long time and that the club also has a lot of personality. They play well. They're fun. And they win.

The 2022 Yankees got off to a great start, but they weren't as much fun to watch. There were so many questions on that team. When they won, I was surprised. Once they started losing, I expected it. When they were winning, they got it done with smoke and mirrors - and that never lasts. Once the losing started, there wasn't a way to stop it. This team is different - they have more quality players. Sure, some are playing at extremely high levels, but none are doing things that it doesn't seem they can't continue, except maybe Luis Gil who is pitching at a level that would impress Walter Johnson, Satchel Paige, Sandy Koufax, and Christy Mathewson.

A few years ago the "Savages in the Box" period was fun with Brett Gardner showing life, banging on the dugout roof and all of that... but that, too, was short-lived.

I'm thinking that this team, for me, compares with 1996 in regard to the level of fun and interest and enjoyment. In 1996, it was magical. It was special. The players were easy to root for. The Yankees hadn't won in a long time... It all came together. I'm hoping that it all comes together in 2024.

Another factor (sorry younger fans) allowing me to enjoy this season is the fact that I'm retired. I don't watch games half asleep. I can stay up until the end of games. I don't fall asleep in the first inning of weekend games. I'm also not responding to e-mails and texts and such during games. If I want to focus on a baseball game, I can. That makes a big difference in being able to really enjoy the game and (thus far) the season.

I'm hoping these great Yankees feelings last well into the autumn. It's time for a World Championship.

***

I get the sense, through comments they have made, many times, the way the comments are said, and etc... that Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman are sensitive about the critical press they get. It seems that they feel the fans don't appreciate all they do for the Yankees.

There is a lot of truth in that. The fans aren't satisfied. It's been too long since the Yankees won it all. And many fans blame the decisions both those men have made for this long period of no championships. That's fair. It was their decisions that brought this long empty period. I said to someone the other day, "Juan Soto corrects the Bryce Harper mistake." That person responded, "They should have gotten Harper. They would have won a championship already with him." That person's thinking isn't wrong. At all.

All of this can change this year. New York has been aching for a winner. Aching. The Rangers just fell short. The Knicks too. People are excited about what the Jets might do, but, it's foolhardy to ever get excited about the Jets. No other New York team seems particularly close to winning. For the big city, it's the Yankees or bust.

This is the year, this is the time, absolutely, 100%, for Steinbrenner and Cashman to go all in. All in. If the Yankees have the chance to get impact players and not blow up their minor league system, especially if all those players cost is money, it's time to spend, spend, spend.

If the Yankees decision-makers want the fans to appreciate them, they should spend big to win now. It's been more than a decade since New York has had a champion. The opportunity is there for the Yankees in 2024 to be the best team in the best sport in the best city. Now is not the time to go cheap. At all.

***

Remember in Spring Training, when so many, so so so so so many, were saying that Spencer Jones was ready... that he could even be an impact player on the 2024 Yankees? His greatness was now, we were told.

Thus far in 2024, in Double-A, Jones is batting .227. He has all of three homers in 41 games.

Spencer Jones might be great one day. He might be. But, he's a kid. He's a prospect. He hasn't solved Double-A. Progress is not always linear. It often isn't. Spencer Jones might turn it around today, or next week, or he might not.

So many fans get so attached to the hype around players. "I wouldn't trade him for anyone, ever" was the sentiment just a few months ago.

***

My wish at the start of the year was for Anthony Volpe to bat ninth all year. I was wrong about that. He is the spark at the top of this lineup that was needed.

I was afraid that the Yankees would put DJ LeMahieu there once he came back. I am glad they didn't. It's working with Volpe. Now the Yankees have to stick with Volpe in that spot. Permanently. Just leave him alone and let him shine (as they have done).

Anthony Volpe is becoming (very quickly) the player so many hoped he would be.

***

Last night I was thinking that if the Yankees sign Juan Soto to a long term deal, that he should still be a star as my new grandchildren become fans. That's a very fun thing to think about. He could be the first Yankees star they root for (assuming they root for the Yankees and assuming they care about baseball...).

That home run Soto hit on Sunday ranks as one of the most exciting home runs I have ever seen a Yankee hit. It was that awesome.

Anthony Volpe could also be that star player the grandkids see. He has shown that he's a legitimate big leaguer. Last year, so often, he seemed overmatched. No longer. In many ways, Anthony Volpe is the guy who is jump starting this great Yankees club.

Can you imagine a team with Volpe and Soto starring for the next 10 years, or longer?!

This could be very very very exciting!

***

I don't know what to think about Giancarlo Stanton. At all. He's on pace for 39 homers. Many of his other numbers aren't particularly good. But... he's on pace for 39 homers.

This is the best we have seen Stanton in a long time. A long long time. Is he back? Is this a mirage? Should the Yankees play him when, absent of the homers, he often looks lost at the plate? This is a riddle and a conundrum that will become much more difficult to solve if Jasson Dominguez proves he's ready for the big leagues this year.

Stanton is a terrible pinch-hitter. He can't play defense. He can't run. He offers little to nothing off the bench. If he's on the team, he needs to play. I don't see him being traded or released. But how does one play Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, Alex Verdugo, Giancarlo Stanton, and Jasson Dominguez at the same time?

One idea might be to platoon Verdugo and Stanton. When Verdugo plays, Judge or Soto could DH with Dominguez (assuming he's healthy) in centerfield. When Stanton plays, he would DH with Dominguez in left field.

I don't love that idea, but it could work.

Alex Verdugo has been such a big part of the 2024 Yankees that I prefer him in the lineup most games. His play in left field has been spectacular.

***

The site Baseball Trade Values now requires a subscription to input proposed trades. I understand. I get it.

Think of all the sites and the writers that have put their work behind paywalls of one sort or another over the years. It happens every day.

And here we are, putting out free content, every single day, without fail, and never charging any fees. I think that sometimes gets lost or forgotten - the free content (the outstanding free content, I might add) that we give here every single day, and have been giving every single day, since October 2017.

We've done this every day for 2,416 days and counting - longer than Lou Gehrig's streak. I don't believe there is any site anywhere that has done what we've done and still remains open to all. No articles, ever, are put behind paywalls. We have no "insider content."

Instead we've created a great free community of baseball and Yankees fans. We are unique. (And we are the best.)

***

Here's a shocking bit of news. MLB suspended a player (Tucupita Marcano) for gambling.

MLB has gotten into bed with gambling. This will be just the first of these situations that come up in the MLB and all the major sports. It is inevitable.

These close relationships between betting houses and apps and casinos and such and the big sports will only lead to more problems. Many more.

I don't understand why the people who run the sports don't see this. It's obvious. A huge scandal will come. Probably more than a few... The legitimacy of sports will be then put into doubt. All the sports will suffer.

Money is a great temptation... but in the end it isn't worth it to lose one's soul in pursuit of riches...

***

My book on the Battle of Gettysburg will be sent to the publisher (Sunbury Books) by the end of June. I'm getting great feedback from my readers. This is the first of three volumes that I'm working on. Stay tuned!

***

I was interviewed on the radio for my most recent book 365.2: Going the Distance the other day. I was told how much that book has helped the interviewer find the motivation she needed to achieve. That is what the book is all about - finding the drive, inside ourselves, to achieve our dreams and do things we never thought possible.

***

On May 7, 1977, I went to my first Yankees game with my dad and two neighbors who I always looked up to. Our favorite players performed great that day. Roy White (their favorite player) homered in that game. Graig Nettles (my favorite player) too. The Yankees won 11-2. After battling an illness for years, one of those neighbors passed away yesterday. He was only 61-years-old. I'm saddened, greatly.