The Good
Let's not bother with this one.
The Bad
The Yankees wasted another clutch home run by Ibanez, managing not only to lose the game, but their captain in the process to a fractured ankle. The Yankees now have to face the rest of the postseason without one of the only players on their roster who consistently gets on base. This was a bad night.
The Ugly
Cano, Rodriguez, Granderson, and Chavez all went hitless tonight, and I blame them for the Jeter injury. These guys have to come through, not just swing through strikes. This is a game that should have never reached the twelfth. It did and we lost Jeter as a result. Chavez cannot keep getting pinch hit at-bats if he's going to be no more effective than A-Rod. This offense is awful, and I have to think that if the Yankees don't win the World Series, Kevin Long is gone as hitting coach. The Yankees have been failing with RISP too long for him to remain as hitting coach.
Still About the Babies
Home runs by Ichiro and Ibanez mean the kids still win.
Russel Martin 1hr = $2
Raul Ibanez 3hr = $6
Curtis Granderson 1hr = $2
Ichiro Suzuki 1hr = $2
Total Postseason Home runs 6hr = $12
6 comments:
The Yankees loaded the bases but failed to score three times. Most of the team has become an automatic out in any kind of meaningful situation. You can't win a 7-game series solely with bottom-of-the-ninth home runs.
This is the first time I've wanted to describe a game as macabre. The Stadium seemed like a funeral after Jeter's injury and the team went down without a fight in the bottom of the 12th.
The only thing worse than the Yankees' offense is the TBS announcing team. When Jeter fell down, screamed, and weakly tossed the ball to Cano, Ron Darling said "HE'S FINE." Darling is paid to observe baseball games and he was probably the only person watching that play who thought Jeter was ok. The common human experience tells us that baseball players don't act like that when they're fine. They're not basketball players.
To allow myself to sleep, I will believe that Jeter's injury was a brilliant ploy to fire up the team.
I can't sleep so here are some thoughts on what can be done with the players who are underperforming. I realize this is unduly pessimistic and premature as the Yankees, inspired by Jeter's sacrifice, will never lose another playoff game this year.
ARod (signed through 2017): The length of his contract is not all bad. There is time to arrange to have his yacht sunk near a mysterious island deep in the Pacific Ocean. When he returns to the Yankees after several years of honing his reflexes by surviving in the wild, he might be worth the remaining $80 million left on his contract.
Swisher (free agent after this season): His best contribution to the 2012 playoffs has been his use of the term "Jack City." Unfortunately, Swisher does not know how to get to Jack City, and instead bought a condo in Out Town. The Yankees should offer him a 2-year, $24 million contract and this
http://www.amazon.com/Lego-6211-Star-Imperial-Destroyer/dp/B000ELIX5Y
and then say goodbye as he looks for his Jayson Werth contract.
Granderson ($15 million option for 2013): When he joined the team I said he would become a great all-around player. In 2011, he became that player. Now he has become an all-or-nothing power hitter who doesn't take a walk. Whether this is the dark side of the famous Kevin Long adjustment, who can say, but this postseason has exposed Granderson as a deeply flawed hitter. The 43 HR are enough to make the team exercise his option, but 2013 should be his last year unless he can back to his old form.
Cano ($15 million option for 2013): Attended the ARod school of turning in MVP numbers in the regular season and then disappearing in the playoffs (yes, after years of defending ARod, I have elected to take the path of least resistance). I have no explanation for his struggles so far, and he has run hot and cold in other playoff series. He should be back next year, but the Yankees will have to be very careful about his next contract.
Martin (free agent): Remember when the Yankees got great offense from their catcher? Now we know how most teams feel. He turned down a $30 million deal in the offseason, so now he gets something like $20 million after a season where he struggled to keep his average over .200 but was considered a real help to the pitching staff. In the playoffs he has a handful of hits and walks, which makes him Barry Bonds compared to most of the team.
So most of the team will be the same. I agree there is something problematic about the team's approach, as too many players are struggling in key situations for it to be an individual issue. It could be time for Long to move on, even though the players seem to like him, as the team is too talented to keep underperforming like this.
My brother thinks K-Long isn't going anywhere, but I have to think that after a season of coming up short with RISP, and then a postseason of the same thing, that K-Long will be the goat, fair or not.
Personally, I would be happy to see the Yankees cut ties with both Swish and Granderson at this point. Hell, they have the money and I think they should probably just DFA A-Rod and swallow the bitter pill of the ridiculous contract ownership overruled the GM to give him. That's very much a self-inflicted wound. Obviously, they're not going to DFA A-Rod, but they should cut ties with Swish and Granderson.
For a while I thought I preferred Swish to Granderson. Swish has better at-bats and there is something to be said for seeing a lot of pitches and helping to wear down pitchers. But we only have two guys on the team who are postseason players. One just broke his ankle, and the other plays part-time. We cannot afford Swish anymore.
I like Martin. I do. I think he's a good catcher who hits when you need him to. I can live with that. But watching these playoffs reminds me of just how badly Posada was treated at the end. He was pretty much the only guy who hit last year in the ALDS, but he was largely cast aside and the team brass acted as though he should be grateful to even be an afterthought. Well, now we're seeing how much we needed players like Posada once upon a time. Obviously, Posada could no longer be that player with any consistency, but there is no fire in these current Yankees. Cano the future captain? Get the #$&% outta here!
I wouldn't even mind seeing Cano go at this point. The problem is, letting go of Swish, Grandy, A-Rod and Cano basically means rebuilding, and the Yankees don't do that sort of thing. We also have no obvious replacements. The best outfielder we have behind Swish and Grandy is Gardner, a light hitting, soft throwing, tentative when base stealing fourth outfielder with good range. BRING BACK ICHIRO!
I'd like to punch the Yankees (minus Jeter and Ibanez) in their collective faces.
I'm with you guys. It feels like 2006. Nobody can do a anything, and A Rod is there wasting space. I can only hope that psychologically everyone picks up the slack now that Jeter has been sacrificed. 3 hours until we see...
If the Yankees don't rebuild this team significantly, getting rid of as many players as they can, there is no point in watching them on tv or going to the park. The stadium is expensive and there are better ways to have fun in NYC.
hahaha I loved how you summarized all the good part of the Yankees game, and I completely agree on that, they had an awful game, a total disappointment
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