Blogs – Page 150 – Keefe To The City

Jul 31, 2018

The One That Got Away (Twice): An Oral History of the Yankees’ Near-Trade for Cliff Lee

It’s been eight years since the Yankees’ near-trade of Cliff Lee that cost them the AL pennant and a trip to the World Series, and they haven’t been back to the World Series since.

Three pitches into the bottom of the first inning of the 2009 World Series, I knew the Yankees were in trouble. Derek Jeter fouled away a 90-mph fastball and then fouled away a 76-mph curveball. Down 0-2 in the count, Jeter swung through an 84-mph changeup. It was obvious Cliff Lee was on.

Johnny Damon followed Jeter’s strikeout with an ill-advised bunt attempt for an easy second out and Mark Teixeira did what he did for the majority of his postseason career with the Yankees and struck out swinging. The inning was over after 11 pitches in what was as easy of an inning of as you will ever see in the first inning of a World Series game, and it never got much better from there.

Lee went the distance, pitching the Phillies to a 1-0 series lead with a complete-game win on the road. He allowed six hits, walked none and struck out 10. The lone run against him came in the ninth on his 114th pitch with the Yankees trailing 6-0.

I was nervous after the Yankees’ loss in Game 1. It had been six years since they had been in the World Series and nine years since they had won it, and here they were, completely shut down in Game 1 at home, needing to win Game 2 to avoid being down 0-2 with the next three games on the road.

Thankfully, after Lee, the Phillies’ rotation consisted of a 38-year-old Pedro Martinez whose velocity had left him long ago, Cole Hamels, who had talked about wanting his season to be over, and Joe Blanton, who, well, he’s Joe Blanton, and you don’t want Joe Blanton starting a World Series game for you.

Lee provided the Phillies with their only two wins in the series in Games 1 and 5 as the combination of Martinez, Hamels and Blanton helped the Yankees’ to their 27th championship. The following season, Lee was a Mariner after having been traded to Seattle to open the door for the Phillies to trade for Roy Halladay. The Yankees appeared built to defend their championship with the franchise’s 28th, and that was even before the events of July 9 and July 10 when it was reported that they were going to acquire Lee from Seattle.

Unfortunately, the trade fell through, and Lee ended up going to Texas. A little over three months later, Lee was back on the Yankee Stadium mound shutting down the Yankees in Game 3 of the ALCS.

I left the Stadium following the Yankees’ Game 5 win of that series to pull close the series gap to 3-2, knowing that even if the Yankees could win Game 6 in Arlington, Lee was waiting for them in Game 7 and it was going to take an actual miracle to win that game.

The Yankees lost to the Rangers in six games, and it was probably better that way since Lee would have likely dominated them in Game 7 and losing a winner-take-all game to advance to the World Series to the starting pitcher you thought your team had traded for probably would have ruined my life in a way that could only be trumped by the 2004 ALCS.

The near-trade for Lee did still ruin my life though, as his presence in the Rangers’ rotation changed the course of that series and swung the AL pennant. He had been the difference in deciding the ALCS, and Brian Cashman’s reluctance to trade a couple of prospects, who never amounted to anything for the Yankees, cost the Yankees a second straight trip to the World Series and potentially a second straight championship.

The Yankees haven’t won the World Series since beating the Phillies in the non-Lee starts in 2009. That could have been avoided if the trade for Lee had gone through.

Let’s go back to the near-trade that cost the Yankees the World Series with quotes from the prominent people involved in the actual trade and the reporting of the trade.

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On the morning of July 10, I woke up, rolled over and grabbed my phone to find out the Yankees were close to acquiring Cliff Lee. I couldn’t believe it. It was the happiest non-game related moment of my life as a Yankees fan. The Yankees were going to get the best left-handed pitcher and the best postseason pitcher in the majors for a few prospects. The Yankees were going to win the World Series.

Joel Sherman, New York Post: Around 9 p.m. ET on July 8, Seattle agreed with the Yankees to accept Jesus Montero, David Adams and Zach McAllister for Cliff Lee, and the sides swapped medical info.

Chuck Armstrong, Mariners President: I went home Thursday night, thinking we had a deal with the Yankees. Pending an exchange of the physical information of the players involved. The next morning, when we got into the details of the physicals of the players involved, one of the players that was coming to us from the Yankees was disabled, and based upon the best medical information that our team medical director, Edward Khalfayan, had, he recommended that we not proceed.

At the time, no one knew who David Adams was. He was still three years away from making his Major League debut for the Yankees as part of the forgettable 2013 team.

Joel Sherman: Around 3 a.m. Zduriencik called Cashman to say Seattle’s team doctors were concerned about Adams’ right ankle.

Brian Cashman, Yankees General Manager: He’d been on the DL for two months and the Mariners were bugging me about him for a week. I finally said yes and it turned out they didn’t know he was hurt. They came back and asked for either Eduardo Nunez or Ivan Nova.

Adams would go on to bat .193/.252/.286 with two home runs and 13 RBIs in 43 games in the majors, but it was his right ankle that was the first holdup in the Yankees’ trade for Lee. The second was Cashman’s unwillingness to trade Nunez or Nova.

Chuck Armstrong: Jack Zduriencik and his people then spent some time with the Yankees trying to come up with an alternative player, or players, to replace that player. Or even players to be named later. If we could come up with that. In the meantime, other clubs became involved. The White Sox, Minnesota and Texas to name a few.

Brian Cashman: We see Nunez as a starting shortstop in the big leagues, and Nova as a starting pitcher with great potential. I couldn’t do that for a three-month rental. There was no guarantee what would happen going forward. It was too much to give up.

Nunez ended up playing 270 games for the Yankees, batting .267/.313/.379 with 10 home runs and 76 RBIs and providing some of the worst infield defense anyone has ever seen, leading to the Yankees trying him in the outfield. Prior to the start of the 2014 season, the Yankees released Nunez, giving his roster spot to career minor leaguer Yangervis Solarte. Cashman’s infatuation with Nunez’s potential ultimately cost the Yankees a trip to the World Series, and though he wouldn’t include him in a trade for Lee, he eventually let him go for nothing.

Nova, on the other hand, actually had some quality seasons for the Yankees. He won 16 games in 2011, becoming the team’s most reliable starter heading into the postseason, where he would win the rain-suspended Game 1 of the ALDS over the Tigers before losing Game 5 in that series. He was bad in 2012 (12-8, 5.02 ERA), solid in 2013 (9-6, 3.10), horrible in 2014 (2-2, 8.27) before needing Tommy John surgery, bad upon his return in 2015 (6-11, 5.07) and bad again in 2016 (7-6, 4.90) before being traded to Pittsburgh at the deadline.

Two Cashman prospects that never lived up to their expected potential and the general manager’s reluctance to trade them turned out to be the difference in the ALCS.

Cliff Lee, The One That Got Away (Twice): Obviously, when I woke up this morning, the media had kind of caught on to something. It was all over SportsCenter and everything. I saw the Yankees and that it was on the verge of happening.

At 1:55 p.m. on July 9, Joel Sherman tweeted Lee had been traded to the Rangers. Justin Smoak would be the centerpiece of the Mariners’ return.

Jack Zduriencik, Mariners General Manager: We had a lot of talks with Texas and Smoak is the player that we desired. And they threw different things around and yes, there was a point in time this morning when, through the conversations, I said, ‘Look, there are other opportunities. If you want to do this deal, this is the player we want.’ And they said yes.

Cliff Lee: Obviously, I called CC Sabathia to see what he thought and if he knew anything. I called my agent. It seemed like it was real close. It nearly happened. But it’s not what happened. It’s definitely not what happened. I’m a Ranger now.

Jon Daniels, Rangers General Manager: Cliff was a No. 1 guy on our board that we wanted to acquire. We haven’t won anything yet, but we feel like we’re in position to put our best foot forward. It’s going to be very competitive in our division.

Cliff Lee: They’ve got a great team, they’re in first place and I’m going to try and go there and do everything I can to help them head in the direction they’re heading. They’re already in a good spot, have a great team and I just want to be one of the guys.

Justin Smoak, Rangers/Mariners First Baseman: Lee is a great pitcher. They want to take it to the next level here. This can always happen in baseball. It’s tough, being new to this business. You think you’re going to be on a team for a while and then things change overnight.

Cliff Lee: It’s kind of like what happened last year going to Philly. They had a six-game lead or so and that’s a good place to be, and they got that without me having anything to do with it.

Jack Zduriencik: It was a pleasure to have Lee here. We all wish things would have gone a little better. We felt we were at the point where something had to be done for the long-term good of the organization.

Brian Cashman: They had a huge asset and a major decision and I have no problems with what they did.

Jack Zduriencik It’s hard for me to sit here and go into specifics. We had ongoing talks with several clubs. And at the end, when you’re finished and you go another direction, before you consummate a deal, you always go back and tell the other club, ‘Hey, look, this is the direction we’re going, this is the decision we made.’

Joel Sherman: In actuality, once Justin Smoak was put into the offer by Texas, it is possible the Yankees never had a second chance on Cliff Lee.

Jack Zduriencik There are issues here and there; we certainly do it. You never do a deal without exchanging medicals, and that was certainly an issue in this deal … A deal is not final until it is final.

Brian Cashman: We had him. We had a deal in principle pending physicals.

***

Prior to Game 6 of the ALCS with the Yankees facing elimination for the second straight game, Cashman spoke about his decision to hold on to Nunez and Nova, and reiterated his stance by saying, “It was too much for a rental.”

The Yankees lost the ALCS and then lost out again on Lee, as a free agent, in December when he chose to return to the Phillies, who had traded him to the Mariners. It was the second time in five months the baseball world expected Lee to become a Yankee, only to be spurned again. While the midseason trade that wasn’t was tough to take, Lee’s decision to not sign with the Yankees might have been more tough with CC Sabathia’s opt-out clause looming and Andy Pettitte headed for retirement. Lee had been the Yankees’ Plan A and really their only plan and he turned them down. In return, the Yankees’ 2011 rotation consisted of Sabathia, Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova, Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia, and they would lose in five games to the Tigers in the ALDS.

I don’t think I will ever get over the near-trade for Lee and Cashman’s decision to not include Nunez or Nova to land the ALCS difference-maker. Actually, I know I won’t.

Blogs • MLB Trade Deadline

Jul 30, 2018

Chasen Shreve, Adam Warren and Tyler Austin Traded Away

I didn’t see Sunday or Monday’s trades coming, which is the way most Brian Cashman trades happen. The Yankees traded away Chasen Shreve, Adam Warren Tyler Austin.

I didn’t see Sunday or Monday’s trades coming, which is the way most Brian Cashman trades happen. The Yankees traded Chasen Shreve and Giovanny Gallegos to St. Louis for first-base depth, traded Adam Warren to Seattle for international bonus pool money and traded Tyler Austin to Minnesota for Lance Lynn.

A day after trading Chasen Shreve to St. Louis, the Yankees got rid of another bad bullpen option in Warren. The less bad options Aaron Boone has to ruin a game, the better off the Yankees will be. No, Warren wasn’t as untrustworthy as Shreve, but to me, he was the next in line of relievers I don’t want to see in games (not counting A.J. Cole, who only pitches in blowouts one way or the other).

I will always be thankful to Shreve (along with Dellin Betances) for keeping the 2015 season afloat while Andrew Miller was hurt. After Shreve got knocked around at the end of 2015, I never thought he would still be a Yankee nearly three years later. He had a good run, but it’s time to move on from him. Aside from his heroics against the Mets a couple of Saturdays ago when he got out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam to save Aroldis Chapman and the game, his season was full of disappointment.

Warren’s time with the Yankees was weird. He pitched to a 3.40 ERA in 20 starts and 246 relief appearances, and while he was actually mostly reliable, it never felt that way. It always felt like he was letting inherited runners score, or blowing a lead, or turning a one-run deficit into a two-run deficit, or losing a game in extra innings. He should have most likely been a starter since he performed well in that role in 2015 before losing his rotation spot to the return of Ivan Nova (good decision by the organization) due to the Yankees’ lack of starting depth in recent years.

The Yankees already traded him once to acquire Starlin Castro and then got him back in the trade Aroldis Chapman-Gleyber Torres deal. Now Warren is off to his third team in as many seasons, and I’m petrified of the thought of him setting down Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez in the eighth inning of the AL Wild-Card Game.

There are a lot of things not to love about Cashman, but I love his obsession with trading for international bonus pool money. I have a feeling the rules are going to change when it comes to these types of trades, but as long as it’s allowed, keep doing it. Torres, Gary Sanchez, Luis Severino and Miguel Andujar were all international signings, and the more bonus pool money you have, the more players you can sign, and the more players you can sign, the better chance you have of hitting on a few of them.

I will always remember Tyler Austin for being the front end of the back-to-back home runs with Judge in their Major League debuts in 2016 and for charging the mound against Joe Kelly in Boston in April. Austin wasn’t very good, batting .230/.287/.459 in 85 games for the Yankees, didn’t really have a position, was often injured and needed injuries to create everyday playing time for him in the majors. He could always run into one here and there, which he did eight times early this season, to help the Yankees’ offense in the absence of Greg Bird, but Austin was never going to get a chance to play consistently with the Yankees. Much like the trades of Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney, who also were never going to be everyday players for the Yankees, Austin is better off somewhere else.

I’m not a fan of Lance Lynn. Mainly, because he isn’t good. That, and his poor performance, allowing three earned runs in 5 2/3 innings in two appearances in the World Series against the Red Sox, taking one of the four Cardinals’ losses in that series. I’m not a fan of anyone from that Cardinals team, which helped explain my opposal of Matt Holliday being a Yankee in 2017.

Supposedly, the Yankees plan is to use him as both a starter and reliever, though I’m not sure how that will work since once he’s relieving, he would need to be stretched out as a starter. And I don’t see how he’s better than any rotation option they have now, and that includes Sonny Gray. If the Yankees plan on skipping starts to give their starters extra rest over the last two months, which wouldn’t surprise me since they are more concerned with rest than winning games, then that’s an even worse plan than trading for him. Ultimately, this move made little sense for the Yankees.

The Yankees got better after they traded for Zach Britton and J.A. Happ. They made the best bullpen in the majors even better and they added veteran stability and a left-hander to the rotation, who has had solid success in the AL East. The moves from Sunday and Monday don’t really make the Yankees better this season. They make them better for after the season by clearing 40-man roster spaces and giving them even more international bonus pool money to use to help the future of the organization. The Yankees are just as good today as they were 48 hours ago, and that needs to be good enough to catch the Red Sox and win the AL East.

Blogs • MLB Trade Deadline • Yankees

Jul 27, 2018

Zach Britton and J.A. Happ Are Yankees

The Yankees should have two general managers the way some football teams have two kickers. One GM could do the free-agent signings and Brian Cashman could do the trades.

I have always said the Yankees should have two general managers the way some football teams have two kickers. One GM could do the free-agent signings and one could do the trades, the way one kicker does kickoffs and one does field goals. Brian Cashman could be the Yankees general manager who conducts the trades, and he could let someone else take care of the free-agent signings since the majority of them have been failures.

Going back to the offseason in preparation of this season, Cashman has done the following:

Got rid of Chase Headley and his $13 million by attaching Bryan Mitchell to the deal
Turned Starlin Castro, Jorge Guzman and Jose Devers into Giancarlo Stanton and got the Marlins to pay $30 million of his contract
Turned Tyler Widener and Nick Solak into Brandon Drury

Now Cashman has added Zach Britton to the best bullpen in the majors and J.A. Happ to a rotation in desperate need of veteran stability. He did so by trading two Triple-A prospects and a Double-A prospect whose paths to the majors was blocked, Drury, who is blocked by Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar, and Billy McKinney, who is blocked by the current Yankees outfielders and Clint Frazier. The Yankees gave up five players who were only ever going to be Yankees following a series of unfortunate events and injuries.

I would think the Yankees are done with their pre-deadline deals unless Cashman looks for stopgaps for either Gary Sanchez or Aaron Judge for the next month. But if he doesn’t, there’s no room for another bat, the bullpen is already one pitcher too many, and with Happ, the rotation is full once again. Andujar has been rumored as the centerpiece in a trade for a starting pitcher, but now that Drury is gone, Andujar isn’t going anywhere. The same had been reported about Clint Frazier as well, but he’s back on the disabled list with concussion issues. I think it’s safe to say the Yankees team you see against the Royals right now (plus Sanchez and minus Kyle Higashioka) is the Yankees team you will see on Aug. 1 and through the rest of the season, and that’s a good thing.

Britton gives the Yankees a second left-hander and a dominant one at that out of the bullpen. I would be shocked if Chasen Shreve is a Yankee much longer, but maybe getting out of that bases-loaded jam against the Mets last Saturday bought him another season of DFA immunity. I thought Shreve was one his way out long ago, but he has continued to survive, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he survived again. At least if he does remain a Yankee, he won’t be the only other left-handed option for Aaron Boone to go to. The more elite relievers the Yankees can obtain, the less bad decisions Boone will make.

Happ gives the Yankees a veteran presence and rotation stability. He has AL East and postseason experience, he’s left-handed, and most importantly, he’s dominated the Red Sox for his entire career, outside of his last start against them. Happ had been good this season as the Blue Jays’ lone All-Star representative, and it’s not like he needs putting on the pinstripes and pitching in a pennant race to rejuvenate himself or revitalize his career like past Yankees deadline deals for starting pitchers. He just needs to continue to pitch the way he has.

The Yankees are better than they were when they left Tampa Bay, since they couldn’t have been much worse outside of Masahiro Tanaka. They have a team that can win in October the way last year’s team did, and a team that could get that elusive fourth win in the ALCS the way last year’s team couldn’t. But first, they need to do everything they can to avoid the wild-card game for the third time in four years. The additions of Britton and Happ help them do that.

***

My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is now available as an ebook! Click here to purchase the book through Amazon as an ebook. You can read it on any Apple device by downloading the Kindle app.

Blogs • Yankees

Jul 9, 2018

Yankees Need a Starting Pitcher Not Named Nathan Eovaldi

The Yankees tried to fix Nathan Eovaldi for two seasons and weren’t able to. The last thing the team needs is a reunion with the hard-throwing failed starter.

I think people forget how much Nathan Eovaldi sucked as a Yankee.

Yes, Eovaldi had an impressive 23-11 record in two seasons, 51 starts and three relief appearances for the Yankees, but that win-loss record is very deceiving. In 2015, Eovaldi received 5.75 runs of support per start, and only 10 of his 27 starts were “quality”. In 2016, it was much of the same, as he received 5.54 runs of support per start, and only eight of his 24 starts were “quality”. As a Yankee, Eovaldi pitched to a 4.45 ERA and 1.387 WHIP and only struck out 218 in 279 innings (despite throwing 100 mph), but somehow posted a .676 winning percentage. He was as average as average can be, and anything other than the “Nasty Nate” nickname the Yankees gave him on social media. With an arm like his, there’s a reason why the Dodgers and Marlins gave up on him, allowing him to become a Yankee: because he isn’t good.

If missing nearly two years and then having a few good starts against the worst teams in the majors can completely erase the rest of your career, then every mediocre starter should sit out for a couple years. The perception of Eovaldi as a starting pitcher has changed so much because of 48 1/3 post-Tommy John surgery innings that a lot of people are willing to completely disregard his other 739 career innings.

Since his return on May 30, Eovaldi no-hit the A’s for six innings, one-hit the Nationals in six innings, allowed two earned runs over six innings to the Marlins, and on Sunday, he one-hit the Mets over seven innings (and carried a perfect game into the seventh in that performance against the Mets). Supposedly, the Yankees had a scout at Eovaldi’s dominant outing at Citi Field, so naturally some Yankees fans want a reunion with Eovaldi because he has been unhittable against two of the worst two teams in baseball, an underachieving disaster and a respectable .500 team. Unfortunately, the Yankees don’t need another start can shut down teams counting down the days until the end of the season. They need a starting pitcher who can beat other playoff-bound teams. A starting pitcher who can win in the postseason. Eovaldi is far from that.

In his other four starts, Eovaldi was his usual self, needing nearly 100 pitches and sometimes more to get through five innings. In three of those starts, he faced the Yankees, Mariners and Astros, all of which will be in the postseason. His line in those games: 18.1 IP, 19 H, 12 R, 12 ER, 1 BB, 13 K, 7 HR, 5.89 ERA, 1.093 WHIP. That’s the real Eovaldi, and I’m going to pass on the guy who gave up seven home runs in three games to actual Major League hitters. I think the Yankees will too.

On Saturday, the Yankees faced J.A. Happ, another name the team has been connected to because of his expiring contract and because of his success against the Red Sox. Like Cole Hamels’ start earlier this season against the Yankees, Happ had a chance to show that he can handle a real lineup in a pressure situation. The pressure in this situation being the Yankees needing to win every game to keep pace with the Red Sox and Happ needing to pitch well in an audition to join a contender. Happ’s audition didn’t last long.

The Blue Jays’ left-hander gave up back-to-back home runs to lead off the game and then walked the next two batters. After back-to-back strikeouts, he gave up a two-run double, and the Yankees had a 4-0 lead. Happ needed 34 pitches to get through the first inning. In the second inning, he loaded the bases with two walks and a single before bouncing back to get out of the jam unscathed. But in the the third, after a leadoff walk, a lineout, a strikeout and another walk, he was removed. Jake Petricka came in and further ruined Happ’s day and ERA by giving up a two-run triple on his second pitch. Happ’s line: 2.2 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 6 BB, 5 K, 2 HR.

I know Happ is better than that. I have seen him be better than that. But he’s 35 now and has a 4.44 ERA and unless he gets traded to a postseason team, he won’t pitch in a bigger game in 2018, and he was awful. Yes, one start is the smallest of sample sizes, but the postseason is all about small sample sizes, and the Yankees can’t afford to add the wrong starter for the final two months of the season and the postseason. He’s still a better option that Eovaldi.

Domingo German has been the answer to Jordan Montgomery’s rotation spot, but his inconsistency might end that, and Jonathan Loaisiga looked he might be the answer to Masahiro Tanaka’s before suffering shoulder inflammation. I don’t think Luis Cessa is the new answer to that spot, and I don’t trust him to be either. That would leave Justus Sheffield as the next starting option. I’m all for Sheffield being given a real chance to be part of the rotation, but with the way the Yankees have babied their starting prospects over the years, I know I can’t count on that idea (even if has the ability the biggest difference-maker the Yankees could potentially add).

I definitely don’t want Eovaldi to a Yankee again since I didn’t want him to be one for the first time. I also don’t want Happ or another rental pitcher like him to be one if the price is anything other than a couple prospects that are nowhere near the majors and most likely will never reach them either. A trade for Jacob deGrom isn’t happening and I don’t think I want to give up current Yankees and more Major League-ready prospects for someone who could be done every time he throws a pitch. The same goes for Madison Bumgarner. But even if I did want either, they are both most likely unavailable.

The Yankees’ best bet is either Happ or Cole Hamels, who I petitioned for earlier this season. Either will be a salary dump and the return would be players without a spot on the Yankees prospects nowhere near helping the Yankees. Either will be better than Sonny Gray (who’s the reason the Yankees need to add another starter), and will be more reliable and stable than Luis Cessa or their other in-house options.

Outside of the Gray trade last year, rarely, if ever, has someone been connected to the Yankees and they eventually trade for them. Usually, out of nowhere, the Yankees are reported to be close to acquiring a player, and five minutes later, a deal is done. Neither Happ or Hamels has been connected to the Yankees of late. One of them needs to be their guy, and they should go out and get one of them.

Blogs • Yankees

Jul 3, 2018

Gleyber Torres Needs to Stop Batting Ninth

Gleyber Torres has been the Yankees’ second-best hitter this season, but he continues to inexplicably bat ninth behind pitchers, backup catchers and utility players.

If I got called up to the Yankees today, I would bat eighth ahead of Gleyber Torres in the order. It wouldn’t matter that I haven’t seen live pitching in a long time and have never seen live pitching anything close to resembling what I would see at the Major League level. All that would matter is that I was a player on the team, and that’s good enough to bat ahead of the 2018 American League Rookie of the Year. I wish you needed more of a resume or any credentials at all to bat ahead of the 21-year-old batting .296/.353/.560 with 15 home runs and 42 RBIs in just 61 career games. Unfortunately, you don’t.

On Sunday, Torres batted fifth, and hit a three-run home run off of David Price in the first inning. Had he batted at the bottom of the order, as he usually does, he wouldn’t have come up in the inning. It was just the latest example of why Torres should always bat in the top half of the order. But on Monday night, the Yankees’ best hitter not named Aaron Judge was once again the Yankees’ No. 9 hitter. All he did was have his 18th multi-hit game of the season with three hits, draw a walk and pick up his 26th extra-base hit.

Torres has now batted ninth in 40 of 60 career starts, and in his other appearance, as a pinch hitter, it was also as the 9-hitter. He has batted fourth once, fifth 10 times, sixth twice, seventh twice and eighth four times. Despite having the best batting average on the team and second-best on-base and slugging percentage, Aaron Boone keeps batting him ninth.

There is this idea that moving other players in the lineup down would cause a disruption in the clubhouse or possibly hurt the feelings of Major League players making millions of dollars to play baseball. There is another idea that Torres makes the lineup longer and that he acts as a second leadoff hitter and that he’s comfortable there. I don’t know which idea is worse: the idea that seniority and not performance should create the lineup or the idea that giving more at-bats to lesser hitters is the way to go because Torres is doing well at the bottom of the order. If that’s the case then Derek Jeter should have continued to bat ninth for 19 years since he was doing so well in that spot, and Judge should still be batting eighth from last year’s Opening Day since he dominated there.

It would be one thing if Torres was batting ninth because he was a struggling rookie that the organization wanted to give everyday at-bats. But he’s proven to be a force in the lineup, capable of handling any pitcher in the game and he’s being treated like a glove-first middle infielder.

On Monday night, Torres hit ninth behind Kyle Higashioka, the near-career minor league who got his first Major League hit on Sunday. Last week, Torres hit behind Neil Walker, who should be expecting his release at any second, and many times Torres has hit behind Austin Romine, who is crashing hard from his early-season offensive success and shutting up any idiot who thought he should be the starting catcher over Gary Sanchez. None of those lineups were as bad as when Torres batted ninth three straight games at Citi Field behind Masahiro Tanaka, Domingo German and Luis Severino.

I thought Boone was supposed to be a manager who happily invited statistics into his lineup building and in-game strategy, but this isn’t even about using sabermetrics or advanced data. This is about using common sense. Boone continues to make questionable decisions in a season in which one game might decide if the Yankees win the division or play in the one-game playoff, and the decision to keep batting Torres ninth is the worst of them all.

Meanwhile, Greg Bird is being treated like the player he’s projected to be and not the player he actually is as he continues to bat in the heart of the order. Thanks to 242 good plate appearance in 2017, the Yankees have forgotten about the rest of Aaron Hicks’ career as he continues to either bat leadoff or no lower than sixth as if he’s Bernie Williams and not just a former first-round pick, who has had a couple good months over six years. Day in and day out, Didi Gregorius is the team’s No. 3 hitter even though he’s batting .210/.257/.323 with five home runs and 15 RBIs in 46 games since May 4 with absolutely no plate discipline. Torres, on the other hand, keeps mashing and keeps batting ninth.

People think complaining about the batting order is ridiculous because the Yankees are 52-30 and on pace to win 103 games. Maybe in another season it would be ridiculous, but in this season where 103 wins might mean hosting the wild-card game instead of going on to the ALDS, every win and every game and every decision and every at-bat matters. Right now Torres is getting less at-bats than he should be because he bats ninth. That could be the eventual difference between winning a championship and losing one random home game to end the season.