MLB 2022: The Long and Winding Thread

Surprised nobody commented on Josh Naylor's clown show after he hit his home run last night. Unless I am missing it.

 

My first thought was about Francona also. ... and him wanting to slap Naylor up side of the head and say, "What the hell is the matter with you?" I can almost hear it in Francona's voice.

My second thought also, was that he was going to awaken the sleeping dog, which didn't really happen, because for as talented as the Yankees are, they don't play like a hungry team. Cole did his job last night, and they might win tonight, but the one double play in the fifth inning, when Ramirez made a diving stop on Gleyber kind of summed up the Yankees (and they are my team). Gleyber would have been doubled up even if he had been running hard, so I don't want to overstate it, but it's just inexecusable to me for him to have been shuffling up the line in October in a must-win game. Same with Rizzo not running on a ball that dropped in fair.

By comparison, watch Steven Kwan or Andres Giminez when they hit a ball. They just run. In the 7th, Giminez turned a single into a double when Bader bobbled a ball for a second, because he was running hard from the minute the ball hit his bat.

 

I think Boone is gone if they don't beat Cleveland. And likely gone if they don't beat Houston. Someone commented earlier that Yankees managers age like presidents, and you can see it in Boone's face that he is feeling the pressure. Yesterday, during the in-game interview, he had the look of a man who had gone on a drinking bender the night before after they lost.

That said, I don't think Boone is really the problem with this team. What I do think is the problem is that there are a lot of really talented players who don't play with hunger to win. It's the hardest quality to gauge in players, and hunger without talent doesn't get you very far if you focus too much on it. But it's a necessary ingredient, and a bunch of key players on this team don't have it.

Also, if you are going to focus on Boone, you have to focus on Brian Cashman, too. He's gotten long in the tooth too in the job. The moves he made at the trade deadline were abysmal, and it's not just the injuries. Frankie Montas had a sore arm before they got him, and even when his arm is healthy, he's always been a guy who looks like he should be a lights-out pitcher. ... but the results never match. Even as great as the Badar trade might prove in the coming years (and I am glad they have him and Aaron Hicks will be gone after this season), I am never a fan of trading pitching when your team is in it. Pitching is what wins. Sure enough, I'd feel better with Jordan Montgomery going tonight than I feel with Taillon going.

 

Badar didn't flip his bat. Not sure what you were watching. He was very enthusiastic going around the bases, put his arm up in the air and if you want to argue that that was too much compared to what you would have seen when we were younger, fine, but come on, there was no comparison between what he did rounding the bases and the complete idiocy from Naylor. Bader was celebrating, Naylor was showing up the pitcher. Plus, Naylor's was made even worse in that they were losing. He's a complete clown.