fitzfarm wrote:Man that home plate umpire has a completely different strike zone for Dallas k. That kid throws balls for strikes no wonder he is a 20 game winner. I would be one to with that strike zone. Gosh imagine if Mike moose had that strike zone he'd be the greatest pitcher in mlb history!
Man, I was saying the same thing throughout the game. Keuchel got EVERY close pitch tonight--and so many of those were off the friggin' plate. Even the couple of relievers they used got the calls with these pitches off the plate (how 'bout the Sipp pitch to Bird for strike 3?).. Made it impossible to be patient and try to wait out Keuchel. Ahh, what are ya gonna do man..Lights out...The Astros were the better team. Keuchel deserves a lot of credit--John Kruk called him Tom Glavine with a better curveball and I think that's spot on. The guy's the real deal, esp. if he's getting pitches off the plate like that! 
Congrats to Houston -- I like that team. They'll be the team I'll be rooting for to go far this post-season.
My thing right now -- how do you fix the Yankees going forward? How do you tweak this team for next year for the better? Who do you add, who do you subtract?? I think we're looking at a transition yr. of pretty much more of the same...Where would you start? The offense has been a collective disappointment the entire 2nd half, let's start there--Beltran's got one more yr. at $15mm and Judge isn't ready, so status quo in RF...I like Headley but we can clearly do better at 3rd--problem here is Headley's on the hook for another $39mm over the next 3 seasons. The reality on Headley: average player that's overpaid...A-Rod and Tex were very good for the most part this season but can we honestly sit here and expect the same production? That's wishful thinking and on top of that--here's another 2 players on the hook for big money (A-Rod's owed $40mm total over the next two seasons and we have Tex for another season at just over $23mm). You figure a full-time Ackley/Refsnyder platoon at 2B should help but who even knows if the Yanks believe that. We'll have to see if they continue their love affair with Ryan and Drew...At short, I preferred signing Jung-Ho Kang during the off-season (that dude Kang was on his way to ROY in the NL before he got hurt)--I suppose Gregorius turned out to be a decent overall player, but a guy that may not get much better than what we see now (great fielder but a rather average/undisciplined hitter). We need to continue to keep a close eye on this Jorge Mateo--this guy could move quickly up the food chain--he might turn out to be a better option over Didi. He's developing into a real stud leadoff hitter in the minors--I wouldn't be surprised to see this dude in AA or even AAA next yr at some point...I think we can expect more from Ellsbury in center next season but regardless, he and Gardner aren't going anywhere and aren't getting any younger (Gardy's set to make another $24mm over the next two years and Ellsbury's contract takes him all the way to 2021 at over $21mm per). Ashame about Gardy--he's one of my favorites on the team but the guy just disappeared in the 2nd half of the season, 2 yrs in a row now I believe.
The only tweaks I can see offensively: resign Dustin Ackley & pencil in Ackley/Refsnyder as a 2B platoon (keeping one of Ryan or Drew around for defense and bench depth), tell A-Rod to dust off his glove and get ready to resume playing 3rd part-time (I don't know if Headley's an everyday player--if A-Rod's physically able to play the field next year, I'd like him back in the mix at 3rd) and then go out and get an impact bat, maybe someone like Chris Davis (I know he whiffs a lot but can you imagine this guy in YS with the short porch? 40, even 50 HRs/potential MVP talk wouldn't be out of the question). There are problems with that though -- Davis will command a ton of money off the hot finish (say somewhere close to $100mm -- the payroll's already at $187-188mm next season--if they decide to add Davis, you figure that'll add another $20mm for next yr give or take--we'll be over $200mm again and won't be able to do much else moving forward), would Davis settle for primarily a DH role?, and it would retard Bird's development (which will already be affected by Tex coming back next yr). What we could do though is secure Davis as a FA, he takes over at 1st for Tex after next season and we shop Bird for a 3rd baseman upgrade over Headley or more pitching..
I think the pitching will be fairly solid again -- the bullpen will continue to be one of the best in baseball on the two backend guys alone and I like the rotation -- Tanaka's still the ace; Severino's the real deal; I like Eovaldi a lot--I think this guy continues to grow and develop into a real solid #2-3; CC's still under contract for at least 1 more yr (I think it's 2)--he's a lefty that will eat innings; Pineda & Nova should both be better; Warren is quality depth as either a starter or reliever; and even though he hasn't shown much, I still think Bryan Mitchell's stuff is too good to ignore -- he should be a top priority for them starting with winterball instructional league. Either he's incorporated somehow or he could be an attractive trade chip to package with a Greg Bird to go get something we need--an everyday 3rd baseman with big-time pop, another frontline SP?--provided we did sign Chris Davis).
I dunno, make any sense? Let's hear some thoughts on how to better this team for next year before we shut down this thread for awhile.
9/30/2015 6:03 PM