It was a heck of a ride and it ended in NY against our rivals. You tip the cap and try to get better. Two things were clear in this series. The sox were better and the Yanks were too young and too vulnerable. Our pitching, led by a solid starter in Severino, didn't show much poise outside of Tanaka's typically brilliant post season start (he has been ridiculous in the playoffs). While Severino is the "ace" of the club, he has had two erratic post seasons with multiple solid starts and multiple utter flops. It is probably a bit of immaturity on his part and partly on the load he has shouldered the last two years. He is only 24 yrs old after all and will likely only get better, but the Yanks needed more from him and I am not sure if it is there when the lights get bright. He needs to take his stuff to the next level in the post season, not shrink down to a #3 or #4 starter. He will get that chance next year. Our vaunted offense was exposed in this one as well. We scored 4 runs in 24.1IP against right handers in this series before Kimbrel made the game interesting. Also, Kimbrel allowed one of those runs earlier as well. Our team is built far too right handed. And in our stadium, that is not conducive to winning. It wasn't meant to be that way. We were supposed to have Bird and Gardner with Hicks and Walker switching hitting. Well, Bird sucked, Gardy lost his job and Walker was a bench bat. We also had lineups that couldn't separate the same sized players. You cannot stack Judge with Stanton or Stanton with Voit. It is the same look, the same angle, the same rotation for the pitcher. With what we had on the squad, we couldn't do that. The kids didn't rise either, with Gleyber hitting mostly infield hits (.308 average but entirely empty) and Andujar going into the tank. I said it from the beginning and I will say it again, the Yanks team was disjointed from day 1. We won 100 games, but with our talent, we should have done more. We added Stanton who ended up being a good hitter, just not what we needed. Rather than a RH boom or bust guy, we need hitters.
This is why I am wondering if we even jump into the Machado-Harper sweepstakes. Our lineup is good as it is. We led the majors in homeruns. But we don't have balance and we have too many guys who sit on mistakes and become easy outs for good RH pitchers. We kill lefties, but I am willing to sacrifice some of that for some consistency against right handed pitching. We battled vs Sale, killed Price and dominated ERod in this series. We couldn't hit Nathan Eovaldi or Rick Porcello, which is surprising to say the least.
I wonder if a guy like Michael Brantley ends up making the most sense for us. Left handed bat that actually hits the ball. Has some power and can still steal bases. Not a great OFer, but should be a good balanced leadoff hitter who doesn't strike out often at all. He'd be cheaper than Machado or Harper as well, allowing us to plow finances into the rotation and pen. On the rotation front, we need some arms that don't wear down and have playoff experience. I like the idea of Keuchel and Corbin, but I am wondering if we go bigger. I am wondering if we use some of our financial might and still solid minor league system to get a true top of the rotation starter. Maybe make a play for a package of Brandon Belt and Bumgarner as Belt isn't hitting well enough in that park to justify the contract. Maybe we re-engage the Mets on one of their top 2 guys. If we don't go the trade route, we need to get Keuchel or Corbin. CC has to go. Happ is probably right behind him. I liked Happ, but a guy who will get a 3 yr deal at 35 isn't the guy we need, especially when our last memory of him was getting his brains beaten in at Fenway. He is a nice starter to have, not a guy to lead a rotation. If we add Sevy and Tanaka to a penciled in top 5, consider the 5 spot Sheffield's to lose, we will have 2 spots open at the starts of the season. Maybe we get both? Who knows, but additions to the rotation will be necessary and we can afford to use the 5th spot as a Sheffield position as Montgomery will be back after the ASB and could take the spot over again if he struggles.
Going to the pen, there will be some turnover. Do the Yanks hold onto Kahnle and try him again? Do the Yankees try to re-up KRob? I don't think there's any chance they pony up for Britton, he is heading for a closers role somewhere. If all guys who are ticketed to depart leave, our pen becomes
Chapman
Betances
Holder
Green
Tarpley
Cole
Kahnle
Better than most Rivera years, but considerable downgrade from the jump. We do still have guys with fire in their arms in the minors, but have been reticent or unable to use them. This might be the chance
Either way, our core is intact. Our rotation has lots of holes. Our pen needs probably a single addition. And the Yanks have tons of cash and prospect capital to play with. Our kids won't be kids next year and Stanton will be in year 2, a historically good season for big time pickups. I see bright things, but I also think it starts in November
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Originally Posted by mvp 78
