January 21, 2024
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This week we asked our writers the following:
Are you getting frustrated by the fact that the Yankees have not made a major move in weeks - since before the holiday season - even though there are still apparent holes on the roster?
Here are their replies...
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Paul Semendinger - I still have faith (or is it hope?) that the Yankees aren't done, but this lack of progress is frustrating as they sit quietly.
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Lincoln Mitchell - I had dinner with an old friend about a week or so ago. We met on the high school baseball team in the early 1980s where we were among the very few Yankees fans at our San Francisco high school. About halfway through the meal when we had finished catching up on family, mutual friends and the like he asked me 'Are the Yankees gonna add another player or is the grift going to continue.' My friend had summed up my feelings precisely with that question. I fear that unless they had another impact infielder, the grift will indeed continue.
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Ed Botti - Great question. A lot needed to be done, and more still needs to be done. Frustrating as it may seem, that much work needs more time to do it right, IMO. They did a pretty good job, all things considered.
What is frustrating to me however are the shenanigans going on in LA (no, not the mismanagement of the horrible fires), I am talking about the fact that the commissioner sits back and watches the Dodgers abuse the apparent intent of the CBA by deferring $1.3B, look the other way during a major gambling scandal, align his league with Gambling, and now allows Japanese stars to collude and sign with the Dodgers. He then says he did an investigation and concluded otherwise in 48 hours. As a forensic analysts, I can tell you, that is a load of garbage, just like his conclusion that Ohtani was a victim in the gambling scandal. That as well is a load of garbage if you know anything at all about international banking law, and the street laws of Bookies!
Cashman has done his job covering some of the holes he dug in the last several years. What is frustrating to me is watching a total hack of a Commissioner pose as a real Chief Executive while his flock of “Journalist” praise him on a daily basis while he does more damage do the game season by season.
That is where my frustration lies.
*** Derek McAdam - So far, it is not bothering me as much that the Yankees have not signed another infielder. There are still plenty of free agents that they can acquire, plus a couple of potential trade targets. However, I would like it if this “drama” did not extend into Spring Training, as the Yankees need to have a core roster set by then.
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Cary Greene - My short answer to this week's question is no. I'm not frustrated in the least. For one, I don't get frustrated by sports goings on - be it college or pro. In this respect, I'm not a sports fan. As we all know, the word fan is short for fanatic and therefore, by defenition, a fanatic is a person filled with excessive and single minded zeal, especially for an extreme religious or political cause. Brian Cashman's goings on hardly have the ability to frustrate me.
Another reason I'm not frustrated by what the Yankees do or don't do is that I'm focused on many other things besides the sports world. I have a number of hobbies like saltwater and freshwater fly fishing and surf fishing, I love to garden and cook and spend time in the outdoors. Also, I'm a fan of the game of baseball and I also root for the Pirates and the A's, in addition to the Yankees.
This offseason, like almost all others before it, the Yankees have done a whole lot more in the offseason than most teams ever do. Yankees fans who aren't satisfied with what the Yankees have done this offseason are, in my humble opinion, kind of crying with a loaf of bread under their arm. Yankees sharpies know that under Hal Steinbrenner, there is always some type of budget as related to being perennial CBT offenders. Cashman has added four former All-Star's to the Yankees roster this offseason (Williams, Bellinger, Fried and Goldschmidt). Most fan bases would be pretty stoked about that.
From most reports I've seen, there wasn't enough payroll space to add an elite closer, an elite starter, an elite outfielder and a couple of elite infielders. This year's free agent market contained only a few elite players who were both good fits for the Yankees and also who checked a number of other boxes. Fried is certainly one of them and Goldschmidt is an upgrade compared to Anthony Rizzo and Ben Rice combined -- so yes, he easily makes the Yankees infield better. Are the moves the Yankees did make going to be enough to finally win a championship? Perhaps that's a question worth pondering as I'm sure most Yankees fans had their hearts set on particular players they wish Brian Cashman would have gone after.
I study offseason's pretty closely and personally, I think the Yankees came away with a pretty good tranche. Did it go down like I personally hoped it would or thought it might? Not exactly, but more on that later this week. For now, given the obvious team budget, Soto is a Met and the Yankees have a few birds in hand who are worth far more than those presently in the bush.
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