1. It feels like it’s been a month since the Yankees last played, and with still one more day to go until Game 1 of the World Series, it feels like it will be another month until they play again.
When the Yankees last won the pennant, they clinched on Sunday night and Game 1 of the World Series was Wednesday. The Yankees will have had six full days off between eliminating the Guardians in Game 5 and playing the Dodgers in Game 1.
2. The only good thing to come of the extra time is that the baseball season is extended and the offseason is shortened. For teams that didn’t reach the postseason, this Sunday will already be four weeks since they last played. By the time the World Series ends, it will have been nearly five weeks since the majority of the league played. Thankfully, the Yankees are still playing.
3. The hype and anticipation for this series has been unlike any other World Series, and the ticket prices are there to prove it. You could pay for a year of college, put a down a payment on a house, buy a boat or … sit in the 100 level at Yankee Stadium for Game 3 of the World Series.
4. There has been talk of the possibility of Shohei Ohtani pitching in this series after missing the whole season as pitcher following Tommy John surgery. Please let this happen. Gleyber Torres, Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Rizzo and Alex Verdugo have all faced Ohtani and are 7-for-20 with two home runs and three doubles against him. That was against Ohtani as a star pitcher. Ohtani coming off surgery with no rehab outings? Again, please let this happen.
5. For now, I’m happy for Aaron Boone. At this moment, I even like him. With four more wins, I will even respect him! But if he tries to steal outs in this series, pinch runs for Stanton too early, bats a lefty between Judge and Stanton or gets Tim Mayza and/or Marcus Stroman up in the bullpen, all goodwill will be lost.
And with that let’s get to some questions from readers …
6. Nestor in place of Stroman? – John
It looks like Nestor Cortes will be on the World Series roster. I don’t know if it will be in place of Stroman, but it will be in place of someone.
Cortes last pitched six shutout innings in Seattle on September 18 before going on the injured list and looking like he will need Tommy John surgery.
“We have weighed the consequences that this can lead up to,” Cortes said, “but if I have a ring and then a year off of baseball, then so be it.”
Cortes threw 28 pitches in a simulated game at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, facing Oswaldo Cabrera, Jose Trevino and Austin Wells to simulate the left-right-left lane he will likely be asked to face.
“Coming out of the bullpen, I’ll be restricted to throwing 20 to 30 pitches, so they’re not going to bring me in face three righties,” Cortes said. “I know those are the guys I’m going to face. It’s a tough task, but I know I’m able to do it.”
If he appears in a World Series game, it will be more than five weeks since he last pitched in a game. Even not at 100 percent, Cortes gives the Yankees another viable option in relief. It moves Stroman and Mayza (and Mark Leiter Jr.) down a peg on the option-to-pitch chart. Tim Hill will likely get the Ohtani-Mookie Betters-Freddie Freeman lane the first time a reliever is needed, but then Cortes would get it the second time?
7. Who has the advantage in this series? Is it the Yankees’ pitching health and bullpen? Or the Dodgers offense through this playoffs? – Manny
Give me the Yankees’ rotation health. If injuries didn’t exist, yes, the Dodgers would have the better team because it would mean they would have Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw and Dustin May as rotation options. Instead they are going to try to win it all using their bullpen more than any team has ever used their bullpen before.
The only way the Yankees’ advantage of an actual rotation becomes a disadvantage is if Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon suck, which is possible. Cole was bad in ALDS Game 1, very good in ALDS Game 4 and then bad again in ALCS Game 2. Rodon was bad in ALDS Game 2, very good gin ALDS Game 1 and then so-so in ALCS Game 5. The Yankees have played nine games this postseason and have gotten strong starts in two of the nine (ALDS Game 4 and ALCS Game 1). Outside of that, they haven’t received a single quality start and getting their starters to get outs in the fifth inning has seemed like the equivalent of throwing complete games.
The Dodgers are going to be looking for their bullpen to get at least 15 outs in games when they use a traditional starter and then all 27 outs during bullpen games. The Yankees will see their relievers multiple times in a short amount of time. The Yankees just destroyed the Guardians’ “Four Horsemen” in the ALCS and they will do the same to the Dodgers’ relievers after multiple looks as well.
If Cole and Rodon pitch to the best of their abilities, the Yankees will win it all.
8. What’s your confidence level (1-10 scale) in this World Series matchup? – Osvaldo
My wife is from Los Angeles. Her family are Dodgers season ticket holders. She has never seen the Dodgers win a World Series in a non-shortened season, not held at a neutral site in a season in which they only had to play the NL West and AL West without fans in the stands. She can’t see them do it now. It’s imperative the Yankees win this series for their own history and the legacies of their managers and star players and to end their championship drought. But for me personally, it’s imperative for my own well-being.
This morning I asked my wife the same question of on a scale of 1-10 how confident she is about the World Series. She responded, “7.5.” It was higher than I thought it would be, and it was higher than any Dodgers fan should be. I’m a 9. Yes, a 9. I’m extremely confident about this series. Too confident.
The Dodgers have a good team, but this is probably the worst roster they have had during Dave Roberts’ tenure. Their rotation is in shambles. Freddie Freeman is playing on one leg. Sure, they have Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernandez, but I’m not scared of Max Muncy, Will Smith (who is having a miserable postseason), Tommy Edman and Kike Hernandez or Andy Pages and Chris Taylor. The Yankees just ripped out the hearts and destroyed the confidence of Emmanuel Clase, Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith, do you think I’m going to be up at night worrying about Michael Kopech, Blake Treinen, Ryan Brasier or Anthony Banda, who faced 10 batters as a Yankee two years ago and eight of them reached base (0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 6 K, 1 HBP, 1 WP).
The Yankees can lose this series. That’s baseball, Suzyn. But I would be surprised if they did. They are the better team. They have an actual rotation. They have actual starting pitchers. They have the better 1-2 punch. They have Playoff Stanton. And there are only a few matchups in the league where this holds true, but the Yankees even have the managerial advantage.
9. Is it time to give Cabrera a shot in place of Jazz? Maybe give Jazz another game or two and if he doesn’t produce, try Oswaldo? – John
There’s a better chance John (who asked this question) will be given playing time over Jazz Chisholm than Cabrera.
The Yankees had endless opportunities this season to make Cabrera a starter in place of injured players and they never did, despite him hitting whenever he played. He did an outstanding job at first base in the ALDS, and even still, they sat him at time for Jon Berti and then sat him entirely for Rizzo in the ALCS. The Yankees seem to think he’s most valuable as a bench player, who can be inserted into the lineup as pinch runner or pinch hitter or defensive replacement.
As for Chisholm, he can’t suck as bad as he did in the ALDS and ALCS in the World Series. When he’s right, he can be a star, but he hasn’t looked right in the postseason. For someone who called the Royals “lucky” for winning Game 2 of the ALDS and then said the Yankees are going to win the World Series during the ALCS, he sure hasn’t done anything to help them. Chisholm is 5-for-34 with 11 strikeouts in the postseason. He’s going to continue to hit in the middle of the order, so it’s time he started hitting like someone who hits in the middle of the order.
10. Do you think the Yankees winning the World Series would have any influence at all on Soto staying with the Yankees, and/or the Yankees’ eagerness to keep him? Or do you feel winning the World Series might make Hal & Cash feel that they’d now have some currency with the fans & could let Soto walk, which I hope like hell wouldn’t be the case. – Rich
With each win in October, the Yankees have guaranteed themselves another game of Soto being a Yankee. Now we’re at the point where we have somewhere between four and seven games guaranteed with Soto. It’s depressing to think about, but it’s hard not to think about. I think about it each time he comes to the plate, as I have for each of his plate appearances this season. I never wanted to take his being a Yankee for granted.
In terms of Soto re-signing with the Yankees, I don’t think it would have mattered if they finished in last place or missed the playoffs or lost to the Royals or were eliminated by the Guardians, and I don’t think it matters if they win or lose the World Series. Soto is going to the highest bidder whether it’s the Yankees or Mets or Giants or Mariners or Angels or anyone else.
Yankees fans seem to think there’s no way Soto will sign elsewhere. Mets fans seem to think there’s no way Steve Cohen will be outbid for him. I think there’s a number Hal Steinbrenner won’t exceed for Soto, even with the absurd amount of money coming off the Yankees’ books following this season. If the Yankees don’t win the World Series and Steinbrenner is outbid, he can say, “Well, we couldn’t win with Soto.” If the Yankees win the World Series, he would justify not re-signing him by believing he got a championship out of him, somewhere between six and seven extra games at the Stadium, postseason revenue from TV, merchandise and concessions and thinking he will have a grace period with fans now that the championship drought is over.
The Yankees make more money than any of the other 29 teams, and yet, they are middle of the pack in terms of payroll to revenue ratio. Don’t ever believe for one second the Yankees can’t afford to pay Soto whatever the asking price ends up being. There’s no market smaller than San Diego and in the last six years years, the Padres gave $340 million to Fernando Tatis, $300 million to Manny Machado, $100 million to Jose Musgrove, traded for Yu Darvish’s $21 million average annual salary and tried to give Trea Turner $342 million, and Judge $400 million after 2022 and then gave Xander Bogaerts for $280 million. If the Padres of all teams can spend the way they do, it’s disturbing to think what the Yankees could truly afford to spend compared to what they actually spend.
If Soto isn’t a Yankee in 2025, that will be it for me as a Yankees and baseball fan. If the team that generates more revenue than any other team can’t sign the player who will command more money than any other player, then what’s the point? I don’t care about Hal Steinbrenner’s bank account or financial statements, which are what they are because he inherited the biggest ATM machine in sports by being luckily born to the right parents. He didn’t do anything to become owner of the Yankees, and he has done very little since becoming the head of the franchise, a franchise he didn’t want to manage and his father didn’t want him or his siblings to run. If the Yankees win the World Series, and Soto leaves, at least I will being going out as best I can.
Last modified: Oct 24, 2024
