Almost A Rays Fan
It’s the start of baseball season, and while this will go on for the next several months I have a few observations to make after approximately a week or so of play.
First, if I wasn’t a Yankees fan (you can blame my Father for that), I would definitely be a Tampa Bay Rays fan. The reason enough is simple. I love how they do things. At the time of this writing they are 7-0 to lead off the season. I know. April baseball, particularly the initial 10 games, does not even qualify as a sample size. Be that as it may they are 7-0, and if the past is any indication of the future they’re going to be tough all season. That is what they do. With a payroll that dwarfs in comparison to my Yankees the Rays do things right. They do what I wish the Yankees would. I’m a fan of the organization because their front office does circles around the Yankees, and while I’m a bomber fan I still can say they deserve any grief they get from the Rays. The Yankees, from a fan’s perspective, continue they same mode of operation. They through good money, and a ton of it, after bad. Every team does that. Everyone gets burned with trades that don’t work out in all sports, but generally speaking the teams try to pivot so it won’t happen again. At least not soon. Not the Yankees. They compound situations by doing the same thing again expecting a different result. Let that just let that thought hang in your head for a bit. The Yankees want to become a legitimate contender. Want to improve? Do that. The Rays own you, and they should. Time to start having a reduced payroll, and only shell out the big contracts to the obvious targets like Judge.
Another part of this observation is this unwillingness to admit mistakes at cut the cord. I try my best to refrain from naming specifics, but at this point its the elephant in the room. The Aaron Hicks situation never should have come this far. In January 2019 they inked him to a one-year deal. That was one year more than I would have given. I had already seen enough (injuries aside) there was no future. At best he was a bargaining chip to strengthen another position. That one-year deal wasn’t the problem though. The problem was that a month later they had decided to double down and rescind that deal for a seven-year, $70 million deal. I nearly fell over in my chair, and quite frankly, set me on the road with others that feel its time the Yankees refresh the GM chair with a different human. Cashman could have made the argument to me that a one-year deal was a stop gap measure until a more permanent solution could be found. The seven-year deal told me he thought Hicks was the solution, and that is a decision that cannot be forgiven. It’s like putting spoiled milk back in the refrigerator and thinking it’ll be better tomorrow. Spoiler alert – it won’t be, and I take issue with sports talk radio that defend Cashman saying he does what he can, and “the players need to live up to the back of their baseball cards.” Stop. Just stop that. The backs of baseball cards only tell me what a player has one; not the level of player they are today.
Josh Donaldson, for example, was a 3x all-star (2014-16). AL MVP in 2015. 2x Silver Slugger winner (2015-16). All of this was seven or more years ago. The back of the baseball card is what was, not what is. There has been a steady decline in both games played and production since 2018 even when the pandemic is taken into account. If you wanted to pick him up as a veteran? Fine, but it has to be a veteran in a utility role with limited time. Anything else is pushing the limits – and here we are a week into the season looking to try and fix a vacant third base. Another example of throwing good money after bad. It’s not unlike a car purchase. Eventually the money poured into repairs is not worth it, and the smart bet is to take that money and buy a new vehicle. This is where the Yankees find themselves.It’s only a week into the season. The Yankees are 4-3, and the Rays 7-0. There is another 155 games remaining – plenty of time – but at the same time not surprising. So who has the better front office?