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Blogs • Rangers • Rangers Thursday Thoughts

Jan 9, 2020

Rangers Thursday Thoughts: Goalie Resolution Remains Unclear

This season was never supposed to be about wins and losses or the playoffs, but the Rangers have a chance to reach the postseason if they get it together starting now.

During the Yankees season, every off day I write “Off Day Dreaming” which is essentially my current thoughts about the team, and do a similar thing for the Giants after each of their games. I wanted to do something similar for the Rangers season, and decided to make it a weekly thing, so here is the first installment.

1. The Rangers beat the Avalanche 5-3 on Tuesday night at the Garden. The win ended the Rangers’ three-game losing streak, all of which came in Western Canada, despite nearly erasing a six-goal deficit against in Edmonton, successfully erasing a two-goal deficit and another one-goal deficit in Calgary and playing the most complete game possibly all season and winning the expected goals in Vancouver. The Rangers’ slow starts against the Oilers and Flames were why they came away with zero of a possible four points to begin the road trip, and they were just unlucky in going pointless against the Canucks.

But to return home and overcome yet another slow start, trailing by two just 6:34 into the game against arguably the best offense in the league (only Washington and Toronto have scored more goals than Colorado and both have played one more game) was impressive. That’s how this Rangers team has played all season, losing games to inferior opponents and winning games against the league’s best.

2. In the height of the most recent Yankees-Red Sox rivalry in the late-90s and early 2000s, the Yankees would never allow a rookie starter to make their debut on the mound against the Red Sox. Igor Shesterkin’s call-up timing wasn’t necessarily a surprise given his play in the AHL and possible threat of returning to Russia. It was time for Rangers’ top prospect to show what he can do in the NHL. But to give him his first career start against the top offense in goals per game in the league with a defense that allows more shots than any other team in the league in front of him was certainly not ideal.

Shesterkin drew an ovation very early in his debut for his puck handling abilities and half-ice outlet pass, but 4:44 into the game, he allowed a goal on a deflection and not even two minutes later got beat on a breakaway by Nathan MacKinnon, who could be considered at worst a Top 5 scorer in the world. Six minutes and 34 seconds into the Shesterkin era and the Rangers were trailing early for the fourth straight game and trailing by two early for the third time in four games.

Shesterkin settled in, allowing only one more goal in the game, which came in the second period on a play he had zero chance of defending, and shut out the Avalanche in the third period despite an onslaught of shots, preserving the Rangers’ one-goal lead through an early third-period penalty kill and for the final couple minutes of the game with an extra attacker. I think anyone would have signed up for three goals against for the rookie in his NHL debut against that offense with this defense. Add in his ability to buckle down after the first few minutes, defend both posts at the same time and handle the puck like a third defenseman on the side of and behind the net, and I think every Rangers fan should be happy with what they saw.

The only person who wasn’t impressed by Shesterkin was Mike Milbury, who was part of NBC Sports’ broadcast team for the game. Milbury commented that Shesterkin “didn’t look comforable” and “didn’t look like the superstar in waiting.” Immediately following those comments, Shesterkin stopped a barrage of shots and went on to earn the win.

3. Now that Shesterkin has played for the Rangers, the goaltending situation clock, which had already started has been sped up. The Rangers are going to have to make a decision on what to do, and I feel like it’s going to come down to Alexander Georgiev getting traded, and I’m more than OK with that.

If Henrik Lundqivst were going to waive his no-trade clause, he most likely would have done it during either of the last two seasons. Now that the Rangers are trending in the right direction and were able to speed up their rebuild through the draft lottery and by signing Artemi Panarin, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and if Lundqvist wasn’t willing to move during the last two miserable years, I don’t think he’s going to suddenly have a change of heart.

I want nothing more than for Lundqvist to win the Stanley Cup. He has earned it and more than deserves it, and had the team been better constructed for his first decade in the league, he likely would already have one. If he were OK with going to somewhere like Colorado or Toronto, two teams which are goaltending away from possibly winning it all, I think it would be a win for both parties: he and the Rangers. It would take a miracle season for the Rangers to win the Cup between now and Lundqvist’s Rangers career ending, and his only chance now seems to be elsewhere.

But if Lundqvist wants to remain a Ranger for this season and next season (and possibly beyond), the move then would be to move Georgiev. (This isn’t about one game, which is Shesterkin’s career resume.)

4. For as painful as it was to watch the Rangers following their statement nearly two years ago before they traded away every tradeable asset for two seasons, they are that fun to watch now. The wins might not always be there, but the core pieces are in place for the future, and to watch a Rangers team that doesn’t have trouble scoring goals since Jaromir Jagr, Michael Nylander and Martin Straka were tearing it up for the Blueshirts helps get through the cold, dark northeast winter. No deficit is insurmountable (and there have been a lot of deficits, especially early ones this season) and one- and two-goal deficits don’t feel like three- and four-goal deficits the way they have for basically all of the Lundqvist era.

5. Panarin is the main reason for that with 23 goals and 35 assists in 42 games. His 58 points put him on pace for 113 as he only been held off the scoresheet in nine games. (The Rangers have lost seven of nine when Panarian is held pointless.) In the last six games, Panarin has 13 points, and that includes two games (Calgary and Vancouver) in which he didn’t record a point. The Bread Man has been better than advertised and worth every but of his $11.6 million average annual salary. Now we just have to hope his prime isn’t wasted with poor roster construction the way the team’s veteran superstar’s was.

6. I understand the reason for balance and separating Panarin and Mika Zibanejad, but how about screwing balance and putting the two together? Yes, Ryan Strome is having a career year centering Panarin, but think about the type of season Zibanejad would be having if he were playing with Panarin. Panarin is having a career year with Strome as his linemate and has played a lot with Jesper Fast as his other linemate, which makes Panarin’s season and point pace even more ridiculous. The Bruins have given the middle finger to balance by putting Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand together and it has worked out OK for them.

7. Why not take it to another level with screwing balance and put Kaapo Kakko with Panarin and Zibanejad? You want to boost the No. 2 pick’s confidence, which has frequently been reported as a problem? Put him with the best two players on the team and let him show why he was worthy of the second overall pick and why he could have easily been the first overall pick.

8. The benching of Kakko in Calgary for a third-period penalty despite the Rangers trailing by a goal, which led to Greg McKegg, who will one day tell his grandchildren how he still isn’t sure how he played so much for the Rangers, was both unnecessary and absurd. It shouldn’t take Larry David to be the voice of reason when it comes to Rangers analysis, but that’s exactly what the comedian has become. Here’s what he said on The Michael Kay Show this week:

“Why did he bench Kakko in that third period? First goal in 14 games, and an assist. He benches him because he takes a bad penalty? Come on. That’s ridiculous … But you think putting him on the bench is going to make him … you don’t think he knows that he took a bad penalty? He knows. Benching him isn’t going to do anything. They needed another goal.”

Everything David said was spot on. I hate a lot of the lessons David Quinn tries to teach, especially when experience for the youngest team in the league is the lesson they need the most. I also hate the favoritism he displays on who gets benched and who doesn’t get benched for “bad” penalties or third-period penalties. Where was Strome’s benching on Tuesday?

Kakko is going to be fine. His 16 points in 38 games are fine. The expectations that come with being the No. 2 pick are usually unattainable for any 18-year-old. Joe Thornton was the No. 1 pick and had seven points (!) in his first season. Tyler Seguin was the No. 2 pick and had 22 points in his first year. Nathan MacKinnon (No. 1 pick) scored 16 goals in his fourth season and didn’t become a point-per-game player until his fifth season. There are far more examples of No. 1 and 2 picks struggling to begin their careers than there are No. 1 and 2 picks playing like superstars right from the start. I’m not worried about Kakko, and no one should be. I am worried about his playing time being taken from him for a penalty though.

9. For all the negative things I have written and said about Marc Staal over the last few seasons, he has been playing much better of late. That’s not a great consolation prize for his salary and contract, but I can’t fault him for signing an extension he was offered. That’s on the team. Staal will always be coupled with Dan Giardi as part of the duo the Rangers wrongfully extended while letting Keith Yandle and Anton Stralman walk and then needing to trade away Ryan McDonagh because of the Girardi and Staal extensions. His healthy scratch earlier in the season (on Dan Girardi night of all games) was years overdue and welcomed, but in recent weeks Staal has upped his overall game and has been better of late. (I still don’t trust him and don’t want him out there in the final minutes of a close game.)

10. The Rangers are 20-18-4 with 44 points and are on pace for an 86-point season, which would be an improvement off last year’s 78 points, but it won’t be enough for a playoff berth. I know this season isn’t about wins and losses and reaching the playoffs, but as long as the Rangers have a chance, it’s hard not to think about getting postseason hockey for the first time in what will be three years. Right now, the Flyers hold the second wild-card spot and are on pace for 97 points. For the Rangers to reach 97 points, they would have to earn 53 points in their remaining 40 games, or 1.325 points per game. That translates to a 24-11-5 record, and even at that record, they still might not get in. Reaching the 100-point plateau would guarantee them a spot, but that would take a 25-9-6 record. It’s not impossible, but it’s not likely either.

Blogs • Giants

Jan 7, 2020

No Confidence Giants Ownership Hired Right Head Coach in Joe Judge

I want to believe the Giants got it right this time. I want to believe the team found its head coach for the foreseeable future. But it’s really, really, really hard to put any faith into a decision made by Giants ownership.

I want to believe the Giants got it right this time. I really do. I want to believe the team found its head coach for the foreseeable future and didn’t strike out on the third swing-and-miss in four years. But it’s really, really, really hard to put any faith into a decision made by Giants ownership at this point, especially since Dave Gettleman is still part of the team and involved in decisions.

No one knows how Joe Judge is going to be as a head coach because he’s never done it before. This isn’t Ben McAdoo — a puzzling choice from the moment he was forced on to Tom Coughlin’s staff — showing up to his introductory press conference swimming in an oversized suit with zero career experience as a head coach anywhere. And this isn’t Pat Shurmur getting hired despite a 10-23 record in the league, simply because he worked wonders with Case Keenum, even if it was the Vikings defense which deserved credit for the team’s run to the NFC Championship Game. This is a 38-year-old wide receivers coach, who has never so much as been a coordinator in the NFL, let alone a head coach, being thrust into the biggest media market there is to run what is, or at least was, one of the most prestigious jobs in the sport, before ownership allowed its reputation to be ruined by McAdoo and Shurmur.

I have no idea if Judge is going to stop the Giants from fully becoming the Browns because no one does. Whenever someone is hired as a head coach without any head coaching experience, people think they know how it will turn out, but no one knows. No one has any clue what type of coach Judge will be. Being mentored by Nick Saban and Bill Belichick is meaningless given the track record of their coaching trees. It’s not Saban or Belichick coaching the Giants. It’s someone who worked for them and working for greatness doesn’t make someone great.

The best thing Judge has going to for him is that he doesn’t have a track record. He doesn’t have a ledger. He’s an unknown with a clean slate being asked to prevent the Giants from falling any farther than they have over the last seven years with one winning season, 42 wins in 112 regular-season games and one disastrous playoff game in that time. McAdoo failed to right the ship as it started to sink at the end of the Coughlin era, unable to last even two full seasons, and Shurmur failed to do anything other than cement himself as one of the worst head coaches in the history of the NFL with a now 19-46 record to his name.

If the Giants are right, they will find have found their guy, three tries after regrettably parting ways with Coughlin. If they’re wrong, I’ll be writing these same words about someone else two years from now.

I don’t have any confidence the Giants got this hire right given every personnel, roster, draft and trade decision they have made over the last seven years. But I want them to be right. I want to have a Giants season last past September. I need them to be right.

Blogs • Yankees • Yankees Offseason

Jan 7, 2020

Dellin Betances Deserved to Be a Yankee

The Yankees didn’t bring Dellin Betances back and it sucks.

I was in a cab on Lexington on Christmas Eve when I saw the news: Dellin Betances signed with the Mets. I had just regrettably paid for a $15 Christmas cocktail and I could feel it coming back up. My favorite Yankee in a post-Derek Jeter world had once again been screwed over by the only team he had ever known, and the New York native, homegrown superstar and best reliever in baseball for five straight seasons was no longer a Yankee. It didn’t matter that it was the Mets. It could have been the Dodgers or Nationals or Braves and I would have felt sick. The fact it was the Mets only made it worse.

As a Betances fan and someone who wants the Yankees to win the World Series for the first time in more than a decade, the decision to let Betances walk makes no sense. As someone who has watched the franchise treat Betances like crap in the past, the decision to let the team’s only bright spot between the 2012 ALCS and Gary Sanchez’s call-up in 2016 walk makes complete sense.

I will never understand why the Yankees decided to treat Betances like crap. After beating him in arbitration and taking a victory lap in the media following their saving of $2 million, Betances is the latest in a long line of homegrown Yankees who the Yankees have treated poorly when it comes time for a new contract. Maybe he was too accountable as a major league pitcher and too good of a person for their liking. Or maybe the Yankees could never get over Betances trying to receive $2 million he had more than earned when the team needed that money to put toward one of their failed free-agent signings.

It was easy for the Yankees to give A.J. Burnett a five-year, $82.5 million contract, eventually paying him to pitch for Pittsburgh for the final two years of the deal. They didn’t even blink when they bid against themselves in handing Jacoby Ellsbury a seven-year, $153 million contract, for which he only played in games in four of the seven years before being released. Brian McCann? Here’s five years and $85 million, and we’ll pay you to play for the Astros for the final two. Carlos Beltran? How about $45 million for three years, and you can finish the contract in Texas. Right now, the Yankees are trying to get salary relief on the $17 million they owe J.A. Happ for 2020. It’s always been easy for the Yankees to overpay and hand out ill-advised free-agent contracts for other team’s free agents. But when it comes to paying their own, homegrown free agents, they have been nickel-and-diming for years.

Bernie Williams was seconds away from signing with the Red Sox and rewriting baseball history before George Steinbrenner to his modest salary demand. Mariano Rivera was allowed to meet with the Red Sox as a free agent despite being the best relief pitcher of all time. Derek Jeter was told to test the market as the team’s captain and everyday shortstop of 15 seasons. If the organization could treat 51, 42 and 2 so poorly, it should come as no surprise that Betances is no longer a Yankee. He didn’t have his best years with another team and he has been nothing but a model professional on and off the field.

Yes, Betances missed nearly all of last season due to a shoulder injury suffered while trying to rush through spring training. And yes, he suffered a freak Achilles injury in his only appearance of 2019, and there’s some cause for concern about paying a 32-year-old reliever who throws as hard as Betances and has for as long as he has and is coming off a lost season. But the Yankees’ finances allow for them to take these kinds of risks. The Yankees can afford to gamble that Betances is still the 2014-18 version of himself. Many, many times over the last two decades have the Yankees taken risks on injured pitchers with must less talent and nowhere near the track record of Betances. But those were always other pitchers from other teams whether it was Gabe White, Mark Prior or Pedro Feliciano. Rather than give Betances an extremely affordable deal and make what’s already the best bullpen in baseball even better, the Yankees allowed him to walk. And now, someone with the talent level of Jonathan Holder, Ben Heller, Stephen Tarpley or Luis Cessa will be in the Yankees’ bullpen because Betances isn’t.

There was no reason for the Yankees to not sign Betances. Believing they don’t need him because they have Aroldis Chapman, whose declining velocity and control and inability to put away hitters is frightening, Zack Britton, whose control is a real problem and isn’t who he once was, Adam Ottavino, who helped ruin the ALCS, Tommy Kahnle, who is a year removed from spending the season in the minors, or Chad Green, who was demoted last season for the worst stretch of relief appearances possibly ever, is more than risky. The Yankees might not need their excessive abundance of elite relievers on days when Cole pitches, but they’re still going to need them when James Paxton (less than 5 1/3 innings per start in 2019), Masahiro Tanaka (just over 5 2/3 innings per start in 2019), Luis Severino (will be coming off season-long shoulder and lat injuries) and Jordan Montgomery (will be returning from Tommy John surgery) pitch. (Or Happ if they’re unable to move him). The Yankees’ bullpen is deeper, better and more stable than any other bullpen in baseball, but that’s even more of a reason to make a strength stronger. They might not need their bullpen to win the division and beat up on what will once again be a mostly non-competitive league, but they will need it to win in October, as we once again just saw. Having to watch someone Tyler Lyons or Luis Cessa enter a playoff game because the Yankees are one elite reliever too short to get 27 outs in the postseason isn’t something I want to see.

I hate the Mets. But when Betances is called on to get the Mets out of a jam or hold a runner at third with less than two outs or protect a lead or nail down a save, I will be a Mets fan because I’m a Betances fan. Betances deserved better and he deserved to be part of what will be a championship-or-bust season. Trying to achieve the former and trying to avoid the latter for a 12th straight season is going to be that much harder without him.

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My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is now available as an ebook!

Blogs • Giants • NFL

Jan 3, 2020

My Super Bowl LIV Dilemma

In what is becoming a recurring theme, the Giants aren’t going to win the Super Bowl this year since they once again didn’t reach the playoffs. Now I need to figure out which teams to root for this postseason.

Someone will win Super Bowl LIV, but it won’t be the Giants. Unfortunately, this blog is becoming an annual thing because of the Giants’ inability to reach the postseason.

Here’s the list of playoff teams in order of who I want to see win the Super Bowl to who I don’t want to see win the Super Bowl.

1. Vikings
Do I want Kirk Cousins to be a champion? No. But I do want my wife to be happy and since her Dodgers aren’t going to win the World Series anytime soon now that the Yankees have the best rotation and bullpen in baseball, she should at least have her football team win a championship. Unfortunately, the Vikings’ inability to win within their division cost them the NFC North title and a home playoff game, and they will open the postseason in New Orleans in the Superdome, which has once again become the worst place for any opposing team to play. Sorry, Brittni, but your NFL postseason is going to last one week.

2. Titans
The Titans only getting five points in a playoff game in New England is ridiculous. This isn’t Patrick Mahomes or Lamar Jackson playing outside in the cold in January. It’s Ryan Tannehill. I don’t care about what he’s done this season in taking over the starting job from Marcus Mariota or him finally realizing his potential as a former franchise quarterback. Hey, I want nothing more than for the Titans to upset the Patriots and knock them out of the playoffs as quickly as possible, but I’m a realist, and it’s going to take an actual miracle for that to happen.

3. Bills
I think the Bills can win this weekend in Houston. But then they will have to win at either Baltimore or Kansas City and then most likely at whichever of those two teams they don’t play in the divisional round. The Bills are a nice story, and easy to root for, but trying to win three road games just to get to the Super Bowl is way too much to ask of this Bills team.

4. Texans
The Texans aren’t going to win the Super Bowl. To me, it’s the Texans and the Bills who have the lowest odds of winning a championship, even if the Vikings have the hardest first-round matchup. If the Texans beat the Bills, they’re most likely going to have to go to Kansas City, and if they were to win there, they would win then most likely have to win at either Baltimore or New England. That’s not happening.

5. Chiefs
If the Chiefs win the Super Bowl, it means the Patriots didn’t.

6. Ravens
Last postseason, I bet on the Ravens to beat the Chargers. I still have no idea how John Harbaugh sat there and let a winnable postseason game fade away as Joe Flacco stood on the sideline while Lamar Jackson couldn’t register a first down. I also have no idea Jackson went from the quarterback in that game to the one who is now the league MVP. But as has always been the case with the Ravens, unless they are playing the Patriots, I don’t want to see them win.

7. Packers
Until the Patriots are eliminated, I need NFC teams in the playoffs that can beat them should they reach the Super Bowl. The Packers needed a time-expiring field goal to beat the David Blough Lions with a first-round bye on the line in Week 17, and needed a time-expiring field goal to beat the Lions in their first game of the season. I don’t care what the Packers’ record is, if the Patriots do their usual playoff thing, I can’t have the Packers as the last line of defense to prevent another Patriots championship.

8. Saints
Last season, in this blog, I wrote this about the Saints:

I will be rooting for the Saints on Super Bowl Sunday when they play the Patriots in Atlanta. I don’t want to root for Drew Brees to win another championship after he single-handedly depleted my bank account over the last few weeks, but I’m going to have to. The Superdome Saints aren’t going to lose in the NFC playoffs and then it’s off to Atlanta, another dome for the Saints to hopefully prevent the Patriots from winning another championship.

After blowing an early 13-0 lead in the NFC Championship Game, the Saints got screwed over on the non-pass interference call which changed league rules and then lost in overtime on a Drew Brees interception. The Saints’ loss cost me a two-team parlay with the Patriots that day and the Saints’ loss gave the Patriots a sixth Super Bowl win after getting to play the inferior Rams. The only reason the Saints aren’t lower on this list is because there are much worse options to win the Super Bowl.

9. 49ers
When the Falcons blew a 28-3 third-quarter lead to the Patriots in Super Bowl LI, it was 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan calling the playoffs that led to turnovers and three-and-outs as the Falcons completely abandoned the run. Had the Falcons just run the ball for no gain and then punted on fourth down with the 25-point lead, they would have won the game. Shanahan deserves to never experience a Super Bowl win as a head coach after that.

10. Seahawks
I will never get over what Pete Carroll did in Super Bowl XLIX. Never. I will also never root for him unless I absolutely have to because of it. And the only way I will have to is if there’s a Super Bowl XLIX rematch.

11. Eagles
I never thought I would root for the Eagles, let alone with a Super Bowl on the line, but playing the Patriots will do that. But one championship is enough for the Eagles and their fans. There’s only way I’m rooting for the Eagles, and it’s if there’s a Super Bowl LII rematch.

12. Patriots
My hatred for the Patriots forced me to root for the Giants’ No. 1 rival in the Eagles in the Super Bowl. If I’m willing to root for the Eagles to win a championship, I’m willing to root for anyone other than the Patriots to win the Super Bowl.

Blogs • Yankees • Yankees Offseason

Jan 3, 2020

My New Year’s Resolution: Don’t Get Upset with Aaron Boone

I understand these resolutions are rather meaningless since I can easily see myself breaking at least one or possibly all three within the first week of the season.

I try to come up with a New Year’s resolution every year that will help my life. Whether it’s cutting out unhealthy foods or working on being on time for dinner reservations, I try to pick something reasonable and achievable. This year, I have three resolutions. Reasonable? Not so much. Achievable? Unlikely. But if I’m somehow able to follow through on them, they will help my life and my overall health.

The three resolutions all revolve around Aaron Boone. I can’t control the decisions of the Yankees manager though I can control how I react to them. They’re not going to be easy to keep up, but in order to prevent me melting down on Twitter and tossing and turning in the early hours of the morning, I think I have to at least try to keep them.

Resolution 1: Don’t Get Upset Over the Lineup
After two full seasons of Boone as manager, we have enough data to know he (or whoever actually fills out the lineup card) has no idea how to build the best possible lineup. It’s why in the postseason, Brett Gardner was batting third, Gleyber Torres was batting fifth and the automatic out that was Edwin Encarnacion continued to bat fourth. The nonsensical lineup decisions from the regular season carried over into October and they will be there again in 2020.

I need to take a deep breath when I see Gardner batting in the middle of the order or when Mike Tauchman is batting third to separate Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Thankfully, Didi Gregorius is no longer an option to bat third or ahead of Gary Sanchez. Boone has managed the Yankees for 324 regular-season games and 14 postseason games and I shouldn’t expect him to suddenly create lineups that make sense.

Resolution 2: Don’t Get Upset About Scheduled Off Days
The 2019 Yankees played their last game on October 19. Opening Day 2020 is on March 26. There will be five months and a week between the end of the 2019 season and the beginning of the 2020 season. The Yankees have March 27 off then they play six games and have April 3 off. There is a 100 percent chance non-catcher position players will have days off within the first week of the season.

The Yankees proved last season when they set the single-season record for the most players placed on the injured list that there’s no way to prevent or avoid injuries. Even after setting the all-time record, the Yankees continued to manage their roster and lineup as if they had somehow solved injury prevention, all while not playing a single game in 2019 with their expected everyday lineup. The Yankees’ scheduled days off and extra and unnecessary rest for their position players is out of control, and unfortunately, it’s not about to change. If anything, it’s only going to get worse.

I’m prepared for the scheduled rest to increase and be even more comical than it was last year, and when it is, I need to remember it’s not worth getting upset over.

Resolution 3: Don’t Get Upset About Bullpen Usage
It took Chad Green putting together the worst single-month performance of any reliever I can ever remember for him to finally be taken out of high-leverage situations and sent down to get straighened out last season. It took Jonathan Holder pissing away every late-game tie or lead for the few months of 2019 before the Yankees decided enough was enough. When the Yankees were battling every day in September for home-field advantage in the ALCS, it was September call-ups getting the ball in close games.

The Yankees’ regrettable decision not to bring back Dellin Betances means one less elite arm in the bullpen and one more spot that’s going to go to someone like Holder or Ben Heller or Luis Cessa or some other AAAA pitcher who Boone will gladly go to try to steal some outs or give one of his “A” relievers the day off only to end up using them later in the game anyway. It’s going to happen. It’s not just about the result, it’s about the decision. I can live with the right pitcher giving it up, it’s the wrong pitcher giving it up that is the problem. It’s not a matter of if but when for Boone ruining a game with his in-game managing. He might have gotten better from 2018 to 2019, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement and too much to think he will always make the right the decision.

I understand these resolutions are rather meaningless since I can easily see myself breaking at least one or possibly all three within the first week of the season. I’m really going to try to achieve them, but I know Boone will make it hard to.

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My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is now available as an ebook!