That throw he made to get Hanley at third base (when Papi barely scored) seemed out of character for Ellsbury.
'Invisible' Ellsbury
- Thread starter E5 Yaz
- Start date
Ellsbury has a shitty throwing arm. Joan Joyce (for history's sake) and nearly every OF in the soon-to-begin NCAA softball tournament will "girl-throw" a softball about 2 million miles up your ass.
A friend of mine was a softball pitcher in college. One of her social media sig lines was "throws like a girl."
Whoops, you're right. I was thinking of the play where Betts almost got thrown out at 3B.
Cafardo with a somewhat reflective piece (for him anyway) on choosing JBJ over Ellsbury in today's Globe. One thing he says that I hadn't heard yet:
Is this true? Are the Yankees actively shopping him or have they explored the possibility of trading him? I had assumed they were still in the process of hoping he would simply get healthy for a stretch.
That's merely a Cafardo turn of phrase. He writes things like that all the time, with little-to-no validation.
He's got a no trade clause. Unless he wants to go somewhere else, I think the Yankees are hoping he improves.
Our hero has a 1.047 OPS in May, up to .750 for the year. He has an amazing .478 OBP for the month, which I think doesn't even count his increasingly frequent catcher's interference calls, he has 5 already (the alltime record for a season is 8).
Edit: I posted before his two run triple in the 9th, OPS up to .775 now.
Edit: I posted before his two run triple in the 9th, OPS up to .775 now.
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So is the catcher's interference an intentional part of his approach, like 2013 Victorino getting HBP in 10% of his PA?
It sure seems to be, he has these loopy tennis-like backswings. It's kind of bullshit, but I'm not sure what can be done about it. You'd think opposing catchers would be aware of it by now, but there's not too much they can do, catching the ball a bit farther back must go against all of their instincts.
Time to check in on Jacoby!
On August 1 he is sitting at .264/.328/.366, so for his third year in a row with Yankees he will be below his career numbers (.287/.342/.420) - of course every year he plays with the Yankees has also dragged his overall career numbers down a bit further... If he can hit just 5 more HR this year (at 4 presently) he will have during his tenure with the Yankees finally tied the total number of HR he hit in 2011!
But I think my favorite Jacoby stat is this one:
Career Postseason plate appearances:
Boston - 148
New York - 1
With this year & next being "rebuilding" years for the Yankees, those numbers are unlikely to change for a while. Not sure he figured on that happening, but the writing was on the wall (the roster age/contract size issues and need to eventually tear it down and rebuild) and he still chose NY....
On August 1 he is sitting at .264/.328/.366, so for his third year in a row with Yankees he will be below his career numbers (.287/.342/.420) - of course every year he plays with the Yankees has also dragged his overall career numbers down a bit further... If he can hit just 5 more HR this year (at 4 presently) he will have during his tenure with the Yankees finally tied the total number of HR he hit in 2011!
But I think my favorite Jacoby stat is this one:
Career Postseason plate appearances:
Boston - 148
New York - 1
With this year & next being "rebuilding" years for the Yankees, those numbers are unlikely to change for a while. Not sure he figured on that happening, but the writing was on the wall (the roster age/contract size issues and need to eventually tear it down and rebuild) and he still chose NY....
Let's be honest here: he chose the highest monetary offer. As almost any player would. Making the postseason was a consideration (I'm sure he didn't want to go to a team that would los3 95 games a year) but it was naturally a secondary one.
Cano did the same thing when he signed with Seattle.
Cano did the same thing when he signed with Seattle.
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2007-2010: 93 OPS+
2011: 146 OPS+
2012-2016: 99 OPS+
Probably should've given him 7 years and $160MM just to bridge the gap for All Star center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr., natch.
2011: 146 OPS+
2012-2016: 99 OPS+
Probably should've given him 7 years and $160MM just to bridge the gap for All Star center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr., natch.
Hmmm. After he left, didn't we all love the joke about Damon: "Looks like Jesus, throws like Mary?"
That was before he left. After he left (and got the Yankees Stepford haircut) it was "Looked like Jesus, throws like Mary, acted like Judas."
Bumping for first 2017 update, and its a doozy - ESPN just reported that Girardi "basically admitted" that when Jacoby returns from the DL, Hicks will remain the "regular" Yankees CF....
Not terribly surprising in that Jacoby is OPSing a career average-like .771, which is not anywhere near Hick's 1.010, and with Gardner also having a good season, Jacoby may be now playing just say twice a week, spelling the other 3 OFs from time to time and getting the occasional turn at DH.
Not terribly surprising in that Jacoby is OPSing a career average-like .771, which is not anywhere near Hick's 1.010, and with Gardner also having a good season, Jacoby may be now playing just say twice a week, spelling the other 3 OFs from time to time and getting the occasional turn at DH.
I wouldn't get too upset about it if I were Ells. Soon as Hicks remembers that he's not supposed to hit baseballs, Ellsbury will be back in CF.
Of course Dustin Fowler is probably a better option also, Ellsbury is arguably the sixth best OF option for NY right now (Judge, Hicks, Gardner, and Frazier/Fowler in AAA). I'll be pretty surprised if he's still on this team next April, massive salary and all.
Something is going to happen, they're not going to keep carrying him on the 25 man roster if the other five OFs keep killing it like this. If that means releasing him and eating multiple years of his salary, then that's what it will mean (I think anyway), but I'm guessing Ellsbury will be open to a trade rather than that, much like McCann was this past winter. NY will likely end up picking up between half and 2/3 of his salary, I'm guessing.
Bumping this three months later, because he has been very hot lately, leading all of MLB in September with a .526 OBP and a 1.092 OPS (SSS of 58 PAs, but still).
This combined with Hicks' injury issues and underperformance in the second half plus Fowler's injury/trade plus Clint Frazier not grabbing the starting spot when given chances means that I think there's a much better chance Ellsbury starts 2018 with NY.
This combined with Hicks' injury issues and underperformance in the second half plus Fowler's injury/trade plus Clint Frazier not grabbing the starting spot when given chances means that I think there's a much better chance Ellsbury starts 2018 with NY.
Now slashing .273/.361/.420 for the year with 21 sb in 23 attempts. He gets paid too much, but probably not by a lot. Of course, he has 3 more years after this one.
He's been on the DL all season with various ailments, real and possibly imaginary. This quote from Cashman today made me laugh, hence the thread bump.
"Brian Cashman says Jacoby Ellsbury is still dealing with a back issue and is not doing baseball activities but added that “everything he’s had has been diagnosed legitimately by a doctor.”"
"Brian Cashman says Jacoby Ellsbury is still dealing with a back issue and is not doing baseball activities but added that “everything he’s had has been diagnosed legitimately by a doctor.”"
Well he'll never be able to match Pavano for milking as much $$ while not contributing, because of his past with us...so he's got that going for him.
The Pavano contract will live on in all of our memories but it was legitimately small compared to modern contracts. 4 years $40m..... Most teams in the majors have at least $10m rotting on their roster.
inflation is a glorious thing and even if he tried, how could Jacoby ever match a move like injury by rear ending a garbage truck showing off your Porsche while cheating on your wife.
It's not especially comparable, I'm pretty sure (based on very little) that if Gardner and Hicks had both gone out for the year in spring training that Ellsbury would be playing every day for NY now and doing ok. I believe (again based on very little) that he and Cashman had a discussion in spring training and that Ellsbury chose this over being DFAd, at least this way there is a possibility of eventual return.
I don't really get why he'd want that, though. If he gets DFA'ed he can just go try to play elsewhere and still gets his money. It does all seem very convenient though.
Usually many players are needed over the course of a season so he probably thought he would get his chance, and he might still be right. Frazier is ahead of him though now, and McKinney maybe too. Obviously if this is what actually happened (and again, I am just guessing), he wants to stay in NY if at all possible, which is also what his position seemed to be this winter concerning his no-trade clause.
It's not out of the realm of possibility that Ellsbury could out perform both Gardner and Hicks this year offensively once he returns.
When I think of Pavano, I actually think of the Yanks acquiring him and Randy Johnson in 2005 as counterpunches to the Sox winning in 2004. Both really kind of fizzled (tho Johnson had a serviceable if unspectacular 2005). I’m still kind of bummed we never got a Schilling Sox/Johnson Yankees matchup.
If Ellsbury misses the entire season, do the Yankees have an insurance policy that would cover his contract? Do they even want to see him in uniform again?
Probably but I don’t think it’s public info, and probably not but if 2-3 outfielders went down, then maybe.
To be fair, who wouldn't want one of our OF slots locked in for a .700-.750 OPS, plus the noodle arm, for the bargain basement price of $21 mil? For 2018, 2019, and 2020.
Stretching the limits of this thread but I have a question for veteran Red Sox fans. Who is the best fielding Boston center fielder you have seen in your lifetime? I am stuck between Fred Lynn and JBJ.
Ellsbury was okay for an invisible player.
Ellsbury was okay for an invisible player.
Allen Craig, Rusnay Castillo, Pedro Sandoval, and Hanley Ramirez see your post, and raise you $135 million.
Ells-binky would make it all better.
I have to say though, this is an excellent use of "whataboutism"