OH WE EATIN.

Another day.  Another Yankee win.  Seven in a row.  13 of 17.  Beating Chris Archer.  Winning games after rain delays.  And here we are.  September 10th and the Yankees are a half game back of a fucking playoff spot and 3.5 games out of FIRST PLACE.  Of all the dramatic things.  

They say this team doesn't have a strength.  I couldn't disagree more.  Tanaka has low-key been the best pitcher in the American League this year.  Showing up today and straight fucking outclassing Chris Archer and his weird hair/durag thing.  Gary Sanchez has been the best player in baseball since he was inserted into the Yankee lineup in August.  And the bullpen hasn't missed a beat.  If anything, it's gotten better as a collective unit.  Big Delly.  Clippard. Warren. Tommy Layne.  Blake Parker.  Everybody contributing.

Tomorrow at 1 was supposed to be about football.  About the Jets and Bengals.  And now?  It still kind of is.  But if you aren't dedicating one television to the Yankees tomorrow than you're probably 90% of America so I don't blame you but if you're a Yankee fan than it makes sense.

WE EATIN.

Gary Sanchez Is The Best Player In Baseball

It's pointless to try and put the start of Gary Sanchez's career into words.  He literally hits a home run every single day.  Throwing runners out left and right.  Working the count like fucking Paul O'Neill.  He's been the best player in baseball over the last two weeks.  That's a Snapple Fact.

It's pretty ridiculous how much more exciting the season has gotten since the fire sale.  First there was the Austin-Judge debut and now a stretch of 10 homers in 12 games by Sanchez that has turned his every at-bat into appointment television.  This team isn't playing better by coincidence.  The Yankees are a better team than they were before the deadline because they've basically had Miguel Cabrera with a metal bat hitting in the middle of their lineup for the last 21 games.  Warren-Clippard-Betances are nothing to shake a stick at either.  They're 13-1 when leading after 6 innings since they shipped Miller and Chapman away.

It's nothing short of preposterous that the Yankees are still in this thing.  This team was pretty much trash before they traded off their three best players and here they are.  They're going to be six games over since the deadline and two games back of a playoff spot with almost their entire remaining schedule against teams that are in front of them.  I'm sure for the next five weeks we'll all sit here and wait for the carriage to turn back into a pumpkin but for now the Yanks are right in the thick of it and that's pretty cool.  Just ask my man #IamGary

New Yorkers never quit. Neither will we @Yankees. Please keep coming out to support. Thank you. #YankeesDontQuit #IamGary

— Gary Sanchez (@ElGarySanchez) August 27, 2016

Would you trade Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez right now for Chris Sale?

Joe and Evan had Jon Heyman on this afternoon and were discussing the Yankees youth movement when the idea of trading for Chris Sale came about.  Joe was vehemently against dealing either Judge OR Sanchez for Sale while Heyman claimed he'd make that move if he were the Yankees in a nanosecond.  Evan was somewhere in the middle.  For me, as appealing as it would be to employ the best pitcher in the American League for the next 3+ years while paying him half of what he ought to be making, I can't part ways with these kids right now.  The Yankees aren't an ace away from contending.  They aren't a big time starting pitcher away from making a run to the World Series.  They have a LOT of holes to fill before they can get back to the top and two of the most glaring ones would be those left by Sanchez and Judge if they were shipped off for a pitcher.  If those two reach their potential the impact they would have on the team would be exponentially greater than that of any big time starting pitcher.  That's a Snapple Fact.

Is Chris Sale a generational talent?  You could say that.  But I'd be lying if I said I could watch him and his lanky frame herk and jerk and gyrate all over the place without wondering when his elbow is going to explode into a thousand pieces.  As Joe was saying this afternoon, that's just the way it is now with pitchers.  EVERYONE gets hurt.  Pretty soon Tommy John surgery is gonna be like getting the chicken pox vaccine before you're allowed to join a major league roster.  Not only is a starting pitcher's impact limited to 33 games or so in a fully-healthy regular season, it can all vanish in one fell swoop.  Look at Kershaw this year.  The guy was just pitching one day and all of the sudden he's fucking paralyzed.  It's like final destination with these guys.

My philosophy, especially with pitchers, is stockpile talent, see who flames out/dies from elbow surgery and take the rest.  Acquire as many good arms as you possibly can and hope to fill out a rotation.  There are smarter ways to do that than to trade your two best offensive prospects.

Would you trade Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez right now for Chris Sale?

Joe and Evan had Jon Heyman on this afternoon and were discussing the Yankees youth movement when the idea of trading for Chris Sale came about.  Joe was vehemently against dealing either Judge OR Sanchez for Sale while Heyman claimed he'd make that move if he were the Yankees in a nanosecond.  Evan was somewhere in the middle.  For me, as appealing as it would be to employ the best pitcher in the American League for the next 3+ years while paying him half of what he ought to be making, I can't part ways with these kids right now.  The Yankees aren't an ace away from contending.  They aren't a big time starting pitcher away from making a run to the World Series.  They have a LOT of holes to fill before they can get back to the top and two of the most glaring ones would be those left by Sanchez and Judge if they were shipped off for a pitcher.  If those two reach their potential the impact they would have on the team would be exponentially more valuable than that of any big time starting pitcher.  That's a Snapple Fact.

Is Chris Sale a generational talent?  You could say that.  But I'd be lying if I said I could watch him and his lanky frame herk and jerk and gyrate all over the place without wondering when his elbow is going to explode into a thousand pieces.  As Joe was saying this afternoon, that's just the way it is now with pitchers.  EVERYONE gets hurt.  Pretty soon Tommy John surgery is gonna be like getting the chicken pox vaccine before you're allowed to join a major league roster.  Not only is a starting pitchers impact limited to 33 games or so in a fully-healthy regular season, it can all vanish in one fell swoop.  Look at Kershaw this year.  The guy was just pitching one day and all of the sudden he's fucking paralyzed.  It's like final destination with these guys.

My philosophy, especially with pitchers, is stockpile talent, see who flames out/dies from elbow surgery and take the rest.  Just randomly acquire as many good arms as you can and hope to fill out a rotation and there are smarter ways to do that than trade your two best offensive prospects.

Yanks drop second straight to Toronto and I'm an idiot

I seriously think I have psycho-emotional issues.  Last night when the Yanks took a 6-0 lead I legitimately thought they were ready to make a run at the playoffs.  That's just how I'm geared.  I see a few special moments - Green's gem, Judge and Austin's back-to-back, Sanchez's home run barrage  - and all of the sudden I'm envisioning Chase Headley soaked in Don Pérignon hoisting the 2016 World Series trophy.

Safe to say the last 24 hours have been humbling.  This lineup may be a LOT more dangerous with Judge/Sanchez in there as everyday players but that doesn't change the fact that this team can't pitch and hasn't been able to do so for 90% of this season.  It's time to officially stop worrying about wins and losses and just enjoy watching the kids.

PS - Imagine the optimism that would've surrounded this team right now if Severino pitched half as well as he was supposed to this year?  Hard to complain about the young talent coming through the pipeline but the young pitchers in this system have a ways to go before they can catch up with the bats.

Sanchez to finish the season/next 10 years as the everyday catcher

There are a couple of things to be excited about today if you’re a Yankee fan, and they both involved Gary Sanchez.  The first is that he and Judge are going to be hitting 4th and 5th in the lineup respectively this afternoon against J.A. Happ.  Pretty much a no-brainer here.  I suspect some might think it’s not fair to throw a couple of kids with a handful of major league at-bats into the middle of the order for the rest of the year but there’s quite literally nobody else on this team capable of filling those roles.  These two are red-hot, they’re feeling good, get them some more at-bats and see where it takes us.  Playing it safe and batting Chase Headley cleanup is the most nonsensical move in sports history.

The second is that Joe Girardi announced this morning that Gary Sanchez will be the everyday starting catcher for the duration of the season, with Brian McCann working as the DH.  Not a surprise, but it’s interesting what this might mean for McCann going forward.  The Yanks have a already tried to trade him, waived him and have now taken his job.  He’s got two years and $34 million left on his deal after 2016 and you can bet your bottom dollar it’s going to take the Yankees eating a good amount of that to get someone to take him off their hands.  One way or another, I’d expect the Yankees to be carrying two catchers in 2017 and not one of them is going to be named Brian McCAnn.

Yanks Win Fourth Straight, Move Two Games Over .500

It'd be wrong to call this a roller-coaster ride since it's been the dullest Yankee season in 30 years but I really don't know how else to phrase it.  Every time I'm ready to sell they give me a little hope and every time I get a little optimistic they make me want to throw my TV out the window.  If you have half a brain you won't let this fool you.  You won't let Pineda fool you.  He can just as easily go out on his next turn and serve up homer after homer like he did against the Red Sox this past weekend.  But this is what happens when you get good starting pitching.  Four straight good starts = four straight wins.

There is one constant on this team.  Late inning leads do not vanquish.  Ever.  NoRunsDMC has been so good all year it doesn't even make sense and lately, it's been a group effort.  28.2 straight scoreless innings.  .088 batting average against.  Those are fucking disrespectful statistics.  If you want to take something from this week, it's the middle relief.  Anthony Swarzak and Nick Goody have both been really impressive lately and if they can continue to show glimpses of competence like this down the stretch it'll be huge.  If the Yanks plan on getting back into this they're going to need guys who can throw up zeros other than Betances/Miller/Chapman.

The clock is winding down here.  There are some very, very difficult decisions that have to be made in the next couple weeks and the more the Yankees win, the more complicated things get.  Folks will tell you the Yankees winning these four games is bad for the big picture outlook on this team but it also means they have more leverage.  If Cashman can convince other teams that they're a contender, that means the asking price on Miller, Chapman and Beltran goes up.  I think that's a good thing.