Who Will Play the Most Games at Shortstop? | 837

Today is Friday, January 13th, Friday the 13th, and we've got a kooky episode. Uncle Joe's is here. We're talking shortstop. We're talking left field. Let's talk Yanks. Hello, and welcome back to episode 836 of Talking Yanks. I can already tell it's going to be an iconic one. Even better, myself, Jake Stromboli, Zach Esposito producing his butt off for BBD, and for the John Vino himself, Joe's McFly from the Bronx office. What is good? Those were my little... I got a lot of props here. You walk into the Bronx office now, you'd be like, what's going on? What has Joe been doing in the years? Kind of like what I have. I'm kind of happy. Great. How you doing, Joe's? Doing great. I'm pretty happy. I've been doing gaming, so that's pretty cool. Bandwagon Daga stuff. Hopefully, the Yankees get a left fielder. That would be great. That would be great for my mental health. What up with you? It's a weird little... John Boy Media, we're kicking off the new year. We're rolling. You mentioned Bandwagon Daga, you and Jim's hockey team that has been taking off. We were doing a bunch of warehouse stuff the other day. We've kind of been in this Yankees spin cycle a little bit. BBD on vacation, Jimmy, Big Jom, myself. I got some life stuff going on. Big weekend. You've got a new hat, it looks like. I want to circle up and get some of your thoughts on the big things in Yankee land right now. A little left field. I also want to get hype a little bit. I mean, that's what you and I are good at. I was thinking of guys that we aren't talking about enough or getting hype about yet. Even Tommy Canely. I was sitting there on the couch the other night and I was like, you know, last year he was coming off injury and he was still good. He's really good. Canely could be awesome for us. I agree. So maybe we'll get hype a little bit. Joe, first I want to start out, left field. It's been the big topic. We were laughing. Some of the yes people were in the office. It's the topic. It's what they're talking about on hot stove. Your guy Heyman came out with some Brian Reynolds trade rumors, which were pretty tough. So where are you at with left field? To be honest, and what Heyman said is that they basically asked for the Yankees three top prospects and Volpe and Paraza and Jason Dominguez. And, you know, that's going to be a no for me, dog. I mean, I would probably, I would definitely do that for Juan Soto, assuming that he'd say yes and extend and do all that stuff. I'm not doing that for Brian Reynolds, man. And even if he's going to be a big upgrade, you know, I'd rather just rock with what we have and I guess go with Hicks and hopefully Cabrera can do something, a left field and, you know, get some options. And I mean, it's not exciting, but, you know, well, it's better than this. Like, why am I giving you these top three guys? And I get it. Shoot for the shoot for the stars, because if you fall, you land on a cloud. Kanye, Kanye for you. That's a pre pre Kanye. Anyway, he's kind of out now. He's kind of out. I'm like, yeah, I'm that Kanye could, you know, during that time, I'm good with. But I mean, I think before him, they used to say, aim for the moon. You can land on the stars. I think that's I don't think that's any record label. I think that's just like old Europeans used to say that, that the Europeans also thought that, you know, it was a flat earth. And because apparently they think that a star is further than a moon. So that's not it goes. Where's your line for Brian Reynolds? Like, say, say it is real and it were to happen if it breaks tomorrow, that it is Dominguez and Peraza with maybe some some stuff around it. But those are the two big pieces. I mean, OK, fine. I just I'm just wondering, like, what else are they adding some other stuff there, you know, to help out the team in other areas, too? That would be kind of interesting. Will Crow coming over? You've been scouting the pirates, huh? Yeah, I don't know. Like, figure something else out. So it's not just feeling like that. But I think you need to throw some pitching in there somewhere. I think they want pitching. So we'll see what's up with that. I think that I'm not giving up Volpe and Peraza and Dominguez. I feel like that's a little crazy. We know the Yankees. I mean, they're not giving up Volpe at this point. They talk about him like he is like he's a star, whether, you know, talking about with the moon or just with star baseball players. But they they love Volpe, the jersey thing, who he is. Just we know they're all any trade rumor with Volpe. I'm instantly calling fake. I think I think Cashman in the crew has put a full like no chance we're trading that guy. He's he's our dude. Do you think they're going to do something in left field? Because the more and more we looked at it, I know me and Jim, you know, for talking Yanks, one of the things we kind of less aligned on, like I still think they got to do something. I think Jim was leaning like this is it and Hicks and Ortega or as Waldo. But I don't know. It makes me nervous. There's a lot of posturing. It feels like, you know, you're watching the, you know, hot stove on. Yes. And stuff that they're talking about and they're saying, you know, I think this might be it, you know, and they're kind of just throwing those things out. And I think that's a lot of like we're not going to try to bid against ourselves or overpay for something. And Cashman likes to think out of the box. I don't know how far out of the box we're getting. But I can so see them saying we're going to go ahead and rock with these guys and we'll revisit something later, maybe at the deadline and try to get somebody else. Do you love it? No, because the team kind of needs some left hand, you know, kind of want more stability, especially left field. But we'll see. Yeah, it's I don't know. I don't know. We're less than a month away from pitchers and catchers, I think, or right around a month. Like, yeah, it's I don't know. It's either happening. It's not. And, hey, the roster is still stacked. Well, the pitching is stacked. Pitching is stacked. The top of the Yankees lineup is still stacked and really good. I just I guess and this is where I was, you know, when me and Jimmy were talking last episode, you know, the the premier AL lineups, at least because, you know, NL will deal with that. You know, we'll deal with that when we get there. I think the Blue Jays in Houston, they're both about seven dudes deep. And the Yankees right now are like four and a half, five. And I don't know what the injuries and are they are they going to play the young guys? It's just it's question marks, which, you know, you're going to have those coming into any season, but especially they pursued Benny and the Reynolds rumors. It just when they when we know that they know that they needed an upgrade, but they didn't get it yet. It leaves you a little on edge. It does. I mean, you can't tell me, oh, yeah, we need an upgrade and then just not get somebody. And then you say, oh, yeah, this offseason is a success, you know, especially when you put it out there as a need. You know, then they did that with shortstop after they found out that Glaber wasn't going to be the shortstop, went out there and said that they, you know, they put the whole catcher thing out there as well with Gary. So when cash identifies it, I don't know if that's a good strategy because maybe other teams will know that. But when you're doing that, I think you've got to kind of address that. They'll figure that out. Hard to get a left handed hitting left fielder. It's just it's kind of hard to find. They got to play good defense at the stadium, make a defense. And Joe's I mean, we're talking a lot about needs and addressing your needs in Roman. I mean, those are some big time needs. First line on here. Do you want a better sex life? Answer the question, Joe's. You can always improve on great. And if you need to, if you need to improve in the bedroom, testosterone, low tea. They've got the Roman swipes last four times longer in bed. Oh, I see in the corner, Zach. Oh, boy. At Roman, there are no waiting rooms, no hassle. Straightforward digital experience from the comfort of your own home and discreet packaging and free two day shipping. My thing I always come back to. If there's something you're dealing with low tea ed premature EJ, you're going to want to address it in Roman are the people you want to address it with. So go to R.O. Dot C.O. Slash John Boy, R.O. Dot C.O. Slash John Boy. Get 20 percent off your entire first order. Go address your needs, whether left field or the bedroom with Roman R.O. Dot C.O. Slash John Boy. Joe's the one of the other things, as you know, we're doing some offseason episodes and things like that. The shortstop position we we talked about a lot last year here. Pinstripe Strong, the office. Any time you ran into a Yankee fan, shortstop was the topic. And it's been quiet this offseason so far, right? Because Peraza came up. We got a taste of him. Even as Waldo, we saw him fill in there. Yes, the Wunderkin Anthony Volpe is on the way. And then something that hasn't been talked about in a while, IKF, who was our starting shortstop throughout the entirety of the regular season last year, the Yankees resigned him before arbitration and he's on the team for six mil. So if I want to get clicky with it, the title is who's playing the most games at shortstop for the Yankees this year. And and I guess Joe's just tell me, I guess, tell me how you think it plays out and how you hope it plays out. How I think it plays out is how I hope it plays out, which I think I think this year will be Anthony Volpe's year. Jimmy won't agree because he thinks Peraza is going to be out there, but I think it's going to be Anthony Volpe or Volpe. Some people say Volpe. Volpe, I think, yeah. You could call him shortstop, but I think that and honestly, I really do think that kids focus his lot. He's locked. He's a contact bat. Shortstop is a position where we talked about it last year. I'm OK with going with the defensive first kid there, right? Because I can take that. I'm still open to Peraza for sure, but I think that they want to be wowed by by Volpe come spring training and they want him to like outright win the job, whether it's with his bat and show his speed, like show all your tools. You remember that one spring training where I think Jorge Mateo, that's a blast, came in and he hit like a triple. You're like, whoa, that's a long time since we've seen a Yankee do that. And I look exciting like we I want to see him come in and just like, wow, everybody like that with just different things that he's doing. Well, have a really good spring. He may not. And then ends up going back to AAA. But I think that he ends up playing the bulk of the games at shortstop. Yeah, that's there's a couple of things that that are going through, I think, all of our heads, even as a couple of years ago. And, you know, I think at the time we used to say sources and we've kind of revealed Kyle McDonald came back, who does all the warehouse stuff with us was in the Yankees minor league organization. And he he didn't say this as a shots fired to Volpe at all. He said Volpe is the truth. He's the guy. He's next. All of it. But he said like Peraza is kind of the shortstop Volpe is the second baseman. I wonder and I mean, I don't want to get to Yankees universe about it, but the shortstop of the New York Yankees is the shortstop of the New York Yankees. And like, are the Yankees going to kind of prioritize Anthony Volpe as the like next face of the team shortstop of the Yankees and lean into that? And then that's when I start talking myself into Peraza trades. And, you know, the other thing we didn't mention about Aaron Hicks, which always gets Yankee fans spinning in left field, he comes up on his ten five rights this year, which basically is kind of like if the Yankees don't trade him now, he gets full no trade clause and and that can affect a lot of their upcoming deals. So that's where I get caught up in a spin cycle that I I still wonder if maybe the big trade is there. Peraza showed, you know, Peraza played a nice little sample last year and he played well when he played. And if they're all in on Volpe, that means you've got a huge asset, a young top 50 prospect shortstop who came up and looked solid last year. This team has some other needs. I wonder if that's still attached to like the Reynolds or some other trade that we're not seeing. And Volpe is the guy because Volpe is the guy, right? Yes, he is the guy. I mean, you talk about K-Mac. I mean, I've spoken to different people that have played with him, you know, just different minor leaguers along the line. They're like, that guy, that guy's like we know him as like Mr. Yankee. They're trying to like, like, like groom him to become that next guy to be like that leadership. The Yankee org sees him as like a Jeter. And I hate to heap that kind of praise. I mean, he's a hall of famer, first ballot, you know, they're Jeter captain, but they kind of see that same makeup and the organization treats them that way minor league wise. So if it's close, they're going to go with Volpe unless they do like time stuff, you know, like, oh, they want more years of control. I don't know how that works. I don't know where it is right now. But I can still see that. I can also see later on down the line, Paraza being a third baseman. I can see that. So we'll see what they do. We'll see what they do. But I think that the Yankees want him to have that spot. There's no way you put like a no trade. Like I'm not trading him for anything kind of thing. And then not look at him as your shortstop. They kind of see him, you know, they don't, they're not going to see him as a, I mean, he may end up being a second baseman, but it just, it just has a different feel to it. I'm Joe's. You just got me a little hype for spring training because you're right. I mean, because the action on Volpe next year, I mean, he is going to be, is he the biggest topic at Yankee spring training that we know of so far? Give us a legitimate position battle between two kids fighting for their dream. How could you not be excited about that? And then one day, you know, like you see Volpe doing great. Then you got Paraza doing great. Another day, then you got split squad games where you have Volpe and Paraza playing at the same time. And then it's like, Oh, this guy's doing good. And then I want them to both do well, make the decision hard for the Yankees, make it to the point where they'd be like, you know what, let's find a way to give, you know, they may end up saying, you know what? These kids, these two kids are ready. Let's find a trade for some people that we weren't even thinking about trading. And that would be cool. But when was the last time that I feel like it's been a really long time since there was a actual position battle where a kid could win a job out of spring training? Like, right. What was the last one? What was it? Cano that actually won a job out of spring training? I mean, who knows? It's been such a long time. It's the tough part with the Yankees, man. It's why, you know, we get mad at a lot of these prospects that I don't want to say flame out because that's really rude, but they never get a chance with the Yankees. You know, I mean, if Estevan Floreal was on the Oakland Athletics the past couple of years, I bet he would have got some run and they would have found out if he's got something more in the tank. I wonder what his spring training looks like. Or again, if that trade were to happen, if he's involved out of options this year. We've heard so much about Floreal through the years. I know Jim hates that long swing. You know, that can be changed. He's an athlete, but you'd have to get reps. You have to get reps at a certain level. And the Yankees don't provide that sometimes. And Joes, it is a really good point because with Peraza and Volpe, we talk shortstop. And then second base gets mentioned. It's like, well, Glaber's over there and there were trade rumors with him. The other side of this is if the Yankees think Peraza and Volpe can both be starting infielders for the next five years, that's a huge leg up for the Yankees because those are guys under team-controlled contracts who are young and contributing and could have flexibility to play multiple infield spots if you need that. And however DJ ends up being these next few years, if he's playing a third or first or second or wherever he is, I mean, you know, I'm at grips with and I think Yankee fans are at grips with Donaldson getting run at least for the first half of the year. The Yankees owe him a lot of money. They loved his defense last year and it was good. The bat just never came. It was always this like, all right, maybe now, maybe now. That if they think those guys are going to be part of the organization, as much as I might not love the left field part of this and again, Oswaldo could come in this year and that guy, I mean, that guy was in like the heart of our lineup for the final three weeks of the year. So I like Oswaldo and if they committed to him being left field, I would talk myself into that because like we're saying, let the kids play because the Yankees never do that. And that's just why if Oswaldo and Hicks are in the roster, they're going to play Hicks man. Like I've just seen that, you know? Yeah. And maybe Oswaldo may get one thing and I'm a big time, like we're taking away the shift from lefty thing. Like it kind of maybe shooting people's numbers up, especially people that bat from the left handed side. So we might see an uptick in his numbers, which would be great. Um, but yeah, I mean, he got a poll. He got postseason starts at a lot of spots. Yeah. So let's, let's go, you know, he deserves a chance to, you know, he went and came up there first year. You know, like when the Yankees are fighting for, and try to get into the playoffs and all of that stuff. So I'm with it, I'm with it too, but I don't overpay for left field. It's just hard to go with two kids, you know, cause then there's growing pains. There's obvious growing pain. Right. Um, but the, the way that he played left field, I thought was really good. I think there's like two instances that you think about like, okay, that's a little tough. You know, the plays that he made, um, but he looks like he's really one thing about Cabrera that I really like is his ability to adapt, um, and learn on the fly. So his learning curve, I feel like is like, is, is shorter than other people. And it just feels like a testament of working hard. And you like seeing those things in young players. Um, the guy only played like one minor league game in his career, I believe in left field or the outfield or whatever it is. And yeah. And for him to play as well as we felt to the point that he's actually starting playoff games is great. So, uh, be open to that too. Yeah. Oswald deserves a little more love, man. Now that we're removed from that awful August, like he gets called up. We think he's going to be like competing for shortstop and said, he's a starting outfielder. Yeah. He plays a little shortstop just so the Yankees like show he shows he can do that all while wearing his swaggy necklace that like no Yankees do that. Um, what he did last year was really impressive. And it's kind of funny that we get, I don't know. It's, it's where I get caught in the Yankee loop of they play veterans or they play the guys they're going to play that. I don't know of the kids as Waldo played last year. And I don't know. I, I love him as the super utility. I'd love for him to get reps in the outfield because he was nasty while having never played the outfield before. Yeah. He might get even better. There's a pocket with young kids. You can sell me on this kid can get better because this, this, and this and age, you know, his age also kind of would help that trend. When you try to tell me, for example, Donaldson's bat speed is going to get like faster at his age. I just don't, you know, it's kind of tough for me to buy into that. Right. So it's about having that right mix between vets and kids. And I think that for him to play that left field, left field, the Yankee stadium is like center field. We heard the Yankees say that many times. And he played that pretty well. He did. Oh boy. Joe's that would be, I think the Yankees think that's a risky bet. 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Joe's let's get a little hype, man. I mean, cause I've Jim kind of called me out like last episode. I was kind of taught. I was like, I'm not happy with the second half of the Yanks line. Like it wasn't very, it wasn't Jake. Like it didn't feel right. So, I mean, I gave you that Canely piece at the, at the start. The rotation is arguably as good as it's like ever been for the Yankees. Agree. I guess. And you know what? Another guy that our boy, Dan Rourke cornered me in the warehouse yesterday. And he's like, DJ Lemay, Hugh, when he played, he was really good last year. And I was like, yeah. And we kind of haven't been penciling him at all because there was, he's going to get surgery. Then he didn't get surgery. So I guess Joe's give me some of that signature Joe's McFly hype on some guys or something with the Yankees that maybe we need to talk about more. Yeah. I mean, we can start with pitching. Like you said, I don't remember the last time going into a season that I felt this way about the starting staff. So there's going to be some innings there. This is good. We have some people that are further removed from injury as well. And innings limits like Nassar, you don't have to do that. That that I else did. But now even if you do it, I else then, you know, assuming everybody's healthy, you still have other people there. You know, you have like Herman is there. You know, you have other guys that can now eat innings for you. And I also got to see another guy coming back from Tommy John. This thing is like, I feel like what's this kid's name? He got hurt last year. Luis Hill. Yes. Yeah. Could be like later on that might be there, you know, maybe even out of the bullpen. You just don't know. So now the Yankees have a lot of, you know, options to go to pitching wise. And for the first time, assuming everybody stays healthy, you know, that's the knock on wood. Could this be a trade deadline where the Yankees are not looking for starting pitching? That would be interesting, right? Or they could deal from a position of strength to then flip somewhere else. That's cool. Having those options as far as the lineup charges coming back and judges, not the kind of. Now he's going to take this official title of the captaincy to heart. He was always there. But I feel like now like it's an official title and he's going to go ahead. There's like another level that he's going to reach. Not saying he's going to have a better year, but I think we might see like similar numbers. I told you about the shifting. Rizzo is going to have a better year this year. I thought last year he was going to hit 40 homers. He hit 32. I think he probably would have if he didn't like miss time. Because he went through like a hot streak. But I think there is something mental to it. I heard Bryce Harper talk about it. I heard other left-handed hitters talk about it. Something mental about having that shift. Everybody just shifting there to the right side. And it'll let Rizzo say, hey, knock a bloop in the head over there. Let's see that good old batting average go up. And we know confidence is like that snowball effect. The lineup can still bop, man. It can still bop, which is great. You want contact hitters?