Keefe To The City

Apr 17, 2015

Thank You, Brian Cashman for Ruining the Yankees

Every time Brian Cashman talks I feel like Dunphy in Outside Providence when he says to Mr. Funderburk mid-sentence, “Oh will you just shut the f-ck up.” Everything that comes out Cashman’s mouth is just

Every time Brian Cashman talks I feel like Dunphy in Outside Providence when he says to Mr. Funderburk mid-sentence, “Oh will you just shut the f-ck up.”

Everything that comes out Cashman’s mouth is just a long way of making an excuse. Through nine horrific games this season, Cashman has wondered why the defense has been so bad or the offense hasn’t been there or the pitching has been inconsistent. He has cited small sample sizes rather than admitting that when you put enough baseball players together that suck at baseball, the team is going to suck.

At 3-6, the Yankees have lost all three of their series to open the season, are three games back already in the division, and if things don’t turn around this weekend in Tampa Bay before heading to Detroit for four games followed by the first part of the Subway Series and a series in Boston in two weeks, the 2015 Yankees might not make it to Cinco de Mayo let alone Memorial Day.

Before the season started Cashman said to his team, “Be a good enough team to get to the playoffs, allow me to tweak in-season to make it good enough to win a World Series.’’ He believed before the season that the team he constructed could be good enough to compete for a playoff spot, and if they were to, he could get them to the World Series, apparently with his magic trade powers. The same powers that have Didi Gregorius looking like he belongs playing in an Independent League while Shane Greene is 2-0 for the Tigers thanks to back-to-back starts of eight scoreless innings.

The season might be 5.6 percent old and maybe before this road trip is over the season will have turned around. But so far, every fear I had about the 2015 Yankees has come true and then some. Everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong. The offense comes and goes, the pitching is inconsistent, the defense is an embarrassment and on Thursday night, the bullpen joined the club with a sixth-inning implosion to cost the Yankees the game.

It didn’t have to be this way. The same bad lineup and shaky rotation you see every game and will see for the next five-plus months didn’t have to look like this. Let’s go back in time and look at what Brian Cashman could have done differently to not put the Yankees in this spot.

The Yankees missed the playoffs in 2013 because of devastating injuries to Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira. That led to the following players playing the most games at each position:

C – Chris Stewart
1B – Lyle Overbay
2B – Robinson Cano
3B – Eduardo Nunez
SS – Jayson Nix
LF – Vernon Wells
CF – Brett Gardner
RF – Ichiro Suzuki
DH – Travis Hafner

After years of fortunate health, the Yankees’ fortunes ran out in 2013 and the team missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008 and the second time since 1993.

Then came the 2013 offseason.

The Yankees’ missed postseason, coupled with the Red Sox winning the World Series set the front office into a panic, throwing out their plans of staying below the luxury-tax threshold they had talked about for so long. They decided to lowball Robinson Cano with a BS offer and instead gave Jacoby Ellsbury (a bigger-name Brett Gardner) a seven-year, $153 million deal. Despite catcher being the one position of depth in the organization, they gave Brian McCann a five-year, $85 million deal for his 30-, 31-, 32-, 33- and 34-year-old seasons. After watching Carlos Beltran’s postseason performance and after years of dealing with Nick Swisher’s postseaon failures, they gave Beltran a three-year, $15 million deal for his 37-, 38- and 39-year-old seasons, nine years after they should have signed Beltran.

The 2014 Yankees’ payroll was $197.2 million.

Let’s say they don’t sign Jacoby Ellsbury. The payroll drops to $176.1 million.

Let’s say they don’t sign Brian McCann. The payroll drops to $159.1 million.

Let’s say they don’t sign Carlos Beltran. The payroll drops to $144.1 million.

Let’s say they re-sign Robinson Cano and give him the contract the Mariners gave him (10 years, $24 million). The payroll increases to $168.1 million.

Without those three and with Cano, the payroll would have been $29.1 million less.

The 2014 Opening Day lineup would have been:

C – Francisco Cervelli/John Ryan Murphy
1B – Mark Teixeira
2B – Robinson Cano
3B – Kelly Johnson
SS – Derek Jeter
LF – Alfonso Soriano
CF – Brett Gardner
RF – Ichiro Suzuki
DH – Someone else on the 25-man roster

That lineup isn’t exactly the offense we got used to over the last 15-plus seasons, but it’s also not that far removed from the actual 2014 offense.

The rotation stays the same as it was with CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, Masahiro Tanaka, Ivan Nova and Michael Pineda.

I wanted Brian McCann on the Yankees because I had to sit through a lot of Chris Stewart and Austin Romine in 2013. But it didn’t make a lot of sense for the Yankees to pay a catcher $85 million for his 30-34 seasons when, once again, catcher was the one position of depth in the organization at the time.

Ichiro ended up playing in 143 games, so it was like he was an everyday player anyway.

Soriano only played in 67 games (238 plate appearances) and hit .221 with six home runs and 23 RBIs before he was released. Soriano was supposed to be the Yankees’ designated hitter. He was supposed to play in the outfield only to give others a day off. But because of the old, brittle signing of Carlos Beltran and having the softest player in all of baseball in Mark Teixeira, Soriano lost out on being the full-time DH and was relegated to infrequent at-bats as part of an outfield rotation. The Yankees put Soriano, a career everyday player, in a position to fail and when he did, they let him go. Beltran hit .223 with 15 home runs and 49 RBIs. Soriano could have those numbers or close to them if he played the full season.

The actual 2014 Yankees missed the playoffs, so if this team had missed it, nothing changes. The only thing that changes is that they are in a much better financial position for 2015 and beyond. Let’s look at this past offseason and this season had that Yankees roster been constructed.

The current 2015 Yankees payroll is $217.8 million.

Before we continue, remember the 2014 Yankees traded Johnson for Stephen Drew, traded Yangervis Solarte for Chase Headley and Vidal Nuno for Brandon McCarthy.

Let’s say they re-sign Headley, sign Andrew Miller, don’t trade Shane Greene for Didi Gregorius (their salaries cancel each other out) and don’t trade Martin Prado and David Phelps for Nathan Eovaldi. Add $11 million to the 2015 payroll for Prado (Side note: the Yankees are paying $3 million of Prado’s salary in 2015 and 2016 to play for Miami. No big deal.) and add $1.4 million for Phelps. That brings the payroll to $230.2 million. Then subtract $3.3 million for Eovaldi. That brings the total to $226.9 million.

Let’s say they re-sign David Robertson for the contract the White Sox gave him (four years, $46 million). Add $10 million to the payroll. The total is $236.9 million.

Let’s say they re-sign Brandon McCarthy for the contract the Dodgers gave him (four years, $48 million). Add $11 million to the payroll. The total is $247.9 million.

Add in Cano’s $24 million. The total is $271.9 million.

Now subtract McCann’s $17 million. The total is $254.9 million.

Subtract Ellsbury’s $21.1 million. The total is $233.8 million.

Subtract Beltran’s $15 million. The total is $218.8 million.

After all of that, the 2015 payroll is $1 million more than it is actually is in real life.

Here is the 2015 Opening Day lineup after that.

C – John Ryan Murphy
1B – Mark Teixeira
2B – Robinson Cano
3B – Chase Headley
SS – Stephen Drew
LF – Martin Prado
CF – Brett Gardner
RF – Chris Young (or maybe Jose Pirela or Rob Refsnyder?)
DH – Alex Rodriguez

No, I still wouldn’t have wanted Drew on this team, but guess what, he’s already on it, so nothing changes. Except that the rest of the team is better around Drew.

And here’s the rotation (in no particular order):

Masahiro Tanaka
Michael Pineda
CC Sabathia
Brandon McCarthy
Shane Greene

For $1 million more, the Yankees could have Robinson Cano hitting third in their lineup instead of Carlos Beltran. Brandon McCarthy and Shane Greene at the back of their rotation rather than Nathan Eovaldi and Adam Warren. They could still have Martin Prado on the roster to play wherever he is needed. They could have a back-end of the bullpen of Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and David Robertson. All for $1 million more.

Thank you, Brian Cashman. Thank you for ruining the Yankees.

Blogs • Rangers • Rangers Playoffs

Apr 17, 2015

Rangers-Penguins Game 1 Thoughts: It’s Too Easy

The Rangers’ Game 1 win over the Penguins felt like the easiest playoff win ever for a team that has made winning in the postseason a challenge.

I didn’t know a 2-1 playoff win could feel easy. I didn’t know clinging to a one-goal lead the final 33:45 of a playoff game could feel easy. I didn’t know any playoff game could feel as easy as Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Penguins felt. But that easiness has to do with Sam Rosen screaming for a Rangers goal just 28 seconds into the postseason.

When Derick Brassard split the Penguins defense untouched and unnoticed to bang home a rebound on Rick Nash’s textbook far-side rebound-chance shot to open the playoffs and send the Garden into five-alarm gongshow status before fans could enjoy the first sip of their first-period beers, the game was over. Even if was just a one-goal lead and even if the Rangers would lead by only one goal for 48:23 of the 59:32 following Brassard’s goal, the game never felt close. It never felt like a one-goal game.

I have never felt this confident about the Rangers, especially in the playoffs. Usually the Rangers are in the Penguins’ position. Usually they’re the underdog that clinched on the last day of the season and can’t find a way to score consistently and whose superstars are nowhere to be found in the postseason.

But it was Rick Nash’s shot that led to Derick Brassard’s first-period goal and it was Ryan McDonagh who scored the Rangers’ second goal on assists from Keith Yandle and Mats Zuccarello. The Rangers’ highest-paid player, their $25 million center, their captain, their biggest trade acquisition and their latest contract extension came through. And in net, Henrik Lundqvist was his usual self, as their $59.5 million goalie stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced.

Meanwhile, for Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby was pointless, minus-1, held to one shot on goal and limited to 3:42 of ice time in the first period because of the Penguins’ four first-period penalties. Evgeni Malkin was also pointless and had just two shots on goal. Chris Kunitz, also pointless (but if Crosby is pointless then so is Kunitz since that’s the only way he scores) didn’t register a shot on goal and his goalie interference penalty was the first of those four.

The Penguins ran around in the first and were out of position and undisciplined summarizing the team that lost it’s hold on the Met earlier in the season and didn’t clinch a playoff berth until Game 82. However, oddly enough, Crosby didn’t think so.

“We were thinking a little too much, trying to play the right way, be disciplined, play our position,” Crosby said. “But sometimes when you’re thinking out there you’re not reacting and you get behind.”

I don’t know if there has ever been a worse review of a performance (maybe the critics who said Dumb and Dumber To was worth going to see), but that has to be the worst evaluation ever of something that happened. Crosby didn’t get one thing right and his Penguins did the exact opposite of everything he said.

The Rangers dominated the Penguins in the way that everyone who has picked the Rangers to reach the Final for the second straight season imagined they would. Even though most of the Rangers’ quality scoring chances came in the first period, it never felt like the Penguins were really in the game despite the score, and it never felt like they were going to steal the momentum of the game. Martin St. Louis agreed.

“I didn’t think they ever really had the momentum, I don’t think it was a situation where we were trapped.”

It didn’t matter that the Rangers didn’t score again after McDonagh’s goal or that they weren’t able to amount the same type offense in the second and third periods that they had in the first. Like St. Louis, said, “It’s about winning the game, you know? It’s about winning the game.”

And now it’s about winning the next one.

Blogs • Rangers • Rangers Playoffs

Apr 16, 2015

My Rangers’ Playoff Wish Came True

I wanted the Rangers to face the Penguins in the first round of the playoffs. In the past, my wishful thinking hasn’t gone according to plan, but this time it better.

In 2007, I desperately wanted the Yankees to face the Indians in the ALDS. The other option was the Angels and after the four-game loss in the 2002 ALDS and the five-game loss in the 2005 ALDS, I wanted no part of the Angels. I didn’t care that the Indians had won two more games (96) than the Yankees (94) to tie the Red Sox for the best record in the majors or that they had the best 1-2 punch in the league with CC Sabathia (19-7, 3.21) and Fausto Carmona (19-8, 3.06), who no longer goes by that name. To me, the Indians presented the easiest path for the Yankees to the ALCS.

While the Red Sox swept the Angels in their division series, the Yankees were embarrassed 12-3 in Game 1 and then Joba Chamberlain blew a one-run lead in Game 2 thanks to Joe Torre not pulling his team off the field while the Cleveland midges attacked his phenom setup man (while Carmona ate the midges on the mound) and the Yankees lost 2-1 in 11 innings. The Yankees came back to win Game 3 at the Stadium thanks to a relief performance by Phil Hughes and with 19-game winner Chien-Ming Wang facing journeyman Paul Byrd in Game 4, it looked like the series would head back to Cleveland for Game 5. It didn’t. Wang was destroyed in Game 5 like he was in Game 1 and the Yankees’ season was over.

Sure, my rooting interest didn’t matter and the Yankees were going to play the Indians whether I spent the month of September pulling for it, but it was a devastating blow to have wanted a matchup so badly and then to have it backfire as badly as it did. (I don’t need to tell you what happened in the ALCS or World Series that season.)

For the last six weeks of the NHL regular season, I had the Scared of the Rangers Playing Them in the Playoffs Power Rankings. And for most of that time, I wanted the Rangers to face the Capitals in the first round. That might have seemed like the worst idea to 2012 me after what happened in the 2008-09 ad 2010-11 playoffs, but after the Rangers were able to eliminate the Capitals in seven games in 2011-12 and again in 2012-13, the Rangers had overcome the Capitals and 2015 me gladly accepted the matchup. (The Yankees did this with the Angels in the 2009 ALCS. I’m still waiting for them to do it with the Tigers.) But since the end of February, the Capitals became a team no one wanted to play. Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh the Penguins were folding as badly as the Bruins.

So the last time I updated the Scared of the Rangers Playing Them in the Playoffs Power Rankings on April 9 it was the Penguins I wanted to see in the first round. They had gone from NHL power and a lock to win the Met early in the season to playing for their season in Game 82. After years of being a 1- or 2-seed and a lock for playoffs, the Penguins had become the Rangers we have gotten used to: a slightly-above average team that wouldn’t clinch a playoff berth until the second-to-last game or last game of the season.

Before May 7, 2014 when the Penguins beat the Rangers 4-2 in Game 5 to take a 3-1 series lead, I would have never wanted to face the Penguins in any series. But after what happened in Games 5, 6 and 7 last year, the Rangers were able to overcome the Penguins the way they had the Capitals two years prior and it changed everything.

When the Penguins won the Cup in 2008-09, I expected them to become the latest NHL dynasty and mimic the Oilers of the ’80s. Entering the 2009-10 season, they had the best player in the world at age 22 with already one Cup, two Final appearances, a Hart and an Art Ross on his resume. They had the next best player in the world at age 23 with an Art Ross and a Conn Smythe and a former first-overall pick goalie at age 24, who had just held off the Red Wings in seven games. The Penguins were set up for a decade of success with the foundation of their team in the early-20s and the two best players in the world on the same roster. But that Game 7 win in Detroit on June 12, 2009 was the last Stanley Cup Final game they have played.

In that 2009-10 season, the Penguins blew a 3-2 series lead in the first round to the Canadiens and lost Game 7 at home. In 2010-11, they blew a 3-1 series lead in the first round to the Lightning and lost 1-0 in Game 7 at home. In 2011-12, they lost in six games in the first round to the Flyers, allowing 30 goals in the series. In 2012-13, they were swept in the conference finals by the Bruins and scored two goals in the four games. And then last season, they blew a 3-1 series lead in the second round to the Rangers and lost another Game 7 at home.

The Penguins are still waiting to cash in again on their 2003, 2004 and 2005 draft fortunes, and there’s a good chance we are looking at a 30 for 30 in the future being made about how much of a disappointment the Sidney Crosby Penguins era was.

No one is backing the 8-seed Penguins this postseason after their 39-18-10 record on March 12 turned into a 43-27-12 finish and without the Bruins finishing even worse, the Penguins might be home right now looking at another regime change instead of in New York waiting for Game 1. Two years ago, the Penguins were four wins away from reaching the Final. Last year, they were one win away from returning to the conference finals. Now they are the 8-seed in the East and the underdog, which is somewhere and something they haven’t been in the Crosby era.

I got my wish: Rangers-Penguins in the first round. Maybe this is an example of being careful what you wish for since it might not have been the best idea to pull to see the best player in the world and at times the second-best player in the first round. Not exactly the most sound decision. But like with that 2007 ALDS, it was going to happen whether I wanted it to or not. It better not backfire.

Rangers in six.

Podcasts • Rangers • Rangers Playoffs

Apr 15, 2015

Podcast: Adam Herman

The Rangers have never been a team that performs well with expectations and this spring they will play with expectations they haven’t had in 21 years.

The Rangers have never been a team that performs well with expectations and starting on Thursday night, they will play with expectations they haven’t had in 21 years. The post-lockout Rangers have thrived when no one believes in them and when the spotlight is elsewhere, but that will have to change this spring if they are to take the next step in their progression and win in June.

Adam Herman of Blueshirt Banter joined me to talk about how the Rangers quickly built themselves from a mediocre team to an elite one, the expectations and pressure on the Rangers, a review of the Keith Yandle trade and what should worry Rangers fans about the team in the postseason.

Podcasts • Rangers • Rangers Playoffs

Apr 14, 2015

Podcast: 610 Barstool Sports New York

The wait for the playoffs to begin seems like forever, but the Rangers are set up perfectly for a long run into the late spring and that makes it worth the wait.

The days off between the regular season and the postseason feel like forever. And when you add in the fact that the last few weeks of the Rangers’ season was just a formality because of their strong hold on a playoff berth, the wait has been even longer. But the playoffs are about to begin and the Rangers are perfectly set up for an extended run that should take us into the late spring and that makes it worth the wait.

610 of Barstool Sports New York joined me to talk about which team Rangers fans should have wanted to face in the first round, what it’s like to be the team to beat in the playoffs, why Rangers fans shouldn’t be worried about the Penguins this postseason, how the playoff experience has changed for Rangers fans and predictions for the playoffs.