I Feel Like I Was Just Played…
by Paul Semendinger
March 20, 2022
***
I stand by all I wrote the other day, the recent events in baseball transactions don’t necessarily change any of that.
But, but do I feel a bit like I was just played.
Worse, I feel like Mr. Brian Cashman was just played.
This makes me wonder if Cashman feels like Doyle Lonnegan after being taken to the cleaners by the con man Henry Gondorff in the classic movie, The Sting.
***
The Sting is among my favorite movies of all time. It is, a fantastic movie. Maybe one day I’ll make a post about all of my favorite movies: Every Rocky Film, The Godfather (I and II), The Natural, The Sting, Field of Dreams…
Oh man, I could go on all day… The Shawshank Redemption, Walt Disney’s Robin Hood, Superman, Cinderella Man, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Mary Poppins, Cool Hand Luke, First Blood, Pride of the Yankees…
Yes, Mary Poppins is a great film… (I had a sense that some might have felt that movie was out of place.)
But, anyway…
The Sting is a fantastic movie. It is about some lesser-known con artists trying to play the Big Con over on one of the biggest “marks” out there. Doyle Lonnegan is the big fellow. Henry Gondorff (and Johnny Hooker) are the men who wish to put “the sting” on him, and take him for a small fortune.
(If you haven’t seen this movie, the 1973 Winner for Best Picture, stop reading and go watch it. I’ll be here when you return.)
I wonder if Brian Cashman sees any of Doyle Lonnegan in himself this morning.
***
Again, I have high hopes for the 2022 Yankees. I think the recent deals shored up the infield defense. I like that the Yankees have some new veteran leadership. I think Isiah Kiner-Falefa is an underrated hitter. I think Josh Donaldson can still mash. I like the Yankees’ positional flexibility.
There is a lot to like, but one has to look harder and harder to see the good when better named guys have been signed for just about the same money, or less, than the Yankees are spending on Josh Donaldson alone.
Now, I did not want Carlos Correa on the Yankees. I want guys I can root for. (If there is a reason to not like Josh Donaldson outside of his feud with Gerrit Cole, which I don’t care about, I don’t know about it.) But to see the Twins shed the salary of Josh Donaldson and to then see them turn around and use that salary relief to get Carlos Correa, makes one think…
Couldn’t the Yankees have done that?
What’s better – Gio Urshela (3b) and Carlos Correa (ss) or Josh Donaldson (3b) and Isiah Kiner-Falefa (ss)?
Does that question need answering?
***
And, I bought the Kool Aid on the new superhero-like catcher, only to see him just a few days into camp get hurt (an oblique?!) and see the team with zero depth at catcher.
Uggg.
***
And the Yankees need starting pitching. Badly. Terribly. Desperately.
And here we are, on March 20th, and the Yankees haven’t yet done anything to address this critical need.
Or the need in centerfield.
***
Forgive the movie reference if you never saw The Sting, but I feel a bit as if I have been told to “Place it all on Lucky Dan.”
***
I understand the Yankees are still “in” on the A’s pitchers who are available.
I understand that the Yankees might still sign Trevor Story.
I understand that there might be other deals in the works.
And I understand that I can’t judge the “off-season” until it’s over, but, this isn’t a great look.
I know I won’t care about any of this if a World Series Champions 2022 flag flies over Yankee Stadium next year, but, right now, as the big needs remain unfilled, and the greatest players have been signed (and traded for) by other teams, I feel like I just might have been played.
I wonder if Brian Cashman feels the same way. He thought he made a great deal only to find out that the other player had the better cards up his sleeve.
***
Floyd: Doyle, I KNOW I gave him four threes. He had to make a switch. We can’t let him get away with that.
Doyle Lonnegan: What was I supposed to do – call him for cheating better than me, in front of the others?
