Could the Yankees Track Pitchers who are Hungry to Win?
What was the most concerning aspect of Yankees GM Brian Cashman’s ludicrous attempt to rationalize trade for Sonny Gray and Joey Gallo?
It’s this: Their issues in the Bronx were most likely unrelated to what happened between the foul lines. The problem was in their ears.
And, despite all of the money spent on scouting and, you know, investing in the teeny tiniest analytics department this side of the Bayonne Little League, the Yankees have not spent a dime — as far as we can tell — on a system for determining whether a player has the mental and emotional makeup to succeed in New York.
Oh, Frank Sinatra sings about it after every Yankees victory, but what do the Yankees truly do to determine whether a player has a chance here?
If you believe Cashman, who is up for MLB’s Whiniest Executive of the Year after his tantrum at the GM Meetings last week, the Yankees went to Dr. Rougned Odor for a mental scouting report on Gallo before trading away a handful of prospects for him. He told them that Gallo would be able to play in the Bronx.
Consider this: You own one of the world’s most storied sports clubs, valued at more than $7 billion. It’s in the most competitive sports market, with the hardest fans and the most vicious media. Every year, you pay hundreds of millions of dollars in salary. You examine and analyze every facet of a player’s performance.
However, given your family’s 50-year ownership of the club, you have yet to establish a strategy to safeguard yourself from investing in billionaire players who would wilt at the first boo.
And now you’ll have to pay tens of millions extra for an independent firm to evaluate you. Is there a formula for this problem available from Zelus Analytics? Uh, no.
What is the significance of this? Because we’ve seen too many times in the past few years of failure that the Yankees had no one to take the wheel when the automobile was on its way to the ditch. Manager Aaron Boone’s rant about “savages” in the batter’s box is suddenly amusing. Only savages can be found in the stands.
Throw out all the data you want: With the Yankees, Gray and Gallo were never going to play to the back of their baseball cards. Gallo, who had the worst psychiatric breakdown of any athlete ever to visit New York, was eventually too terrified to leave his room.
Gray, who has moved throughout the leagues, had his greatest season in a long time last season (2.79 ERA) – in Minnesota, where there are, what, three beat reporters? The last person to be booed in Minneapolis was a meteorologist who declared a blizzard and sent children to school.
Like Gray and Gallo, the Yankees’ most recent busts — Aaron Hicks, Gary Sanchez, Josh Donaldson and others — never had a chance, either.
Yankees supporters were outraged when Bryce Harper, who never received a call from Cashman as a free agent, smashed big home runs for the Phillies during their playoff run. Harper is a tough SOB who will hit clutch homers, charge the mound, be the first player over the dugout railing in a brawl, and jump into an umpire’s face — all while inspiring a team full of guys to play the same ass-kicking game.
I despise Jose Altuve as well. But who on the Yankees’ roster can match Harper and Altuve’s toughness?
Aside from Gerrit Cole, there are none. When Brett Gardner and Luke Voit were traded, the Yankees never replaced their bravado.
Gold Glove goes to Anthony Volpe. Nice youngster, well-reared. Gleyber Torres: A gifted player who is prone to lethargy and brain sprains. Giancarlo Stanton: No tussle, just muscle. Are you taking Anthony Rizzo or Tino Martinez? LeMahieu, DJ: Has he EVER yelled at anyone?
Aside than Cole, who Yankees pitcher would purposefully throw inside and then stare down a batter? Nestor Cortes now days merely wants to get to the fifth inning. Clay Holmes has had to take a few time off from his closer’s job, and even Paul O’Neill has wondered what goes on in Holmes’ psyche when he can’t find the strike zone. Jhony Brito, Clarke Schmidt, Michael King? I’m sure they’re nice folks.
And has anyone seen any indication that Carlos Rodon — promised $162 million — won’t need weekly therapy sessions to get through 2024?
(For those of you who are old enough, Reggie, Thurman, Nettles, and Piniella also won titles while throwing a few haymakers.)
Today’s Yankees are a group of button-down employees that show up every day, work well, but have little fire and sterile personalities. Aaron Judge has been called for more bad strikes than any other hitter in the game today. Has anyone ever heard him utter the words, “Enough!”
It’s Politeness in Pinstripes.
How do you assess a player’s toughness and heart?
I’m not sure, but I do know this: I’m not going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on wages based on what Rougned Odor says.
There’s got to be a better way.
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