Jared Carrabis and the guys at Baseball Is Dead discuss whether the Bronx Bombers, with all their injuries, still have a decent chance of winning the No. 28 title.
On the most recent baseball is dead podcast, the crew — minus Dallas Braden — discusses Max Scherzer’s slow start, lets Cardinals fans romp with voicemails, and asks an important question: Are the Yankees legitimate World Series contenders?
EDITOR’S NOTE: This podcast contains adult language.
The Yankees have been RAVAGED by injuries so far, with notables like Aaron Judge (hip) and Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring) as well as pitchers Carlos Rodón (elbow/back) and Luis Severino (straight right) on the list of injured. Of course, Yankees GM Brian Cashman says don’t count his team, noting that luckily for them, it’s a long season and they have a championship-caliber organization. OK, but Jared asks, true or false: Are the Yankees a championship-caliber organization in 2023?
Joey says wrong and that he doesn’t think they’ve been real championship contenders in a while. He says their roster isn’t as bestial as people assume, especially with the injuries, especially for Judge. He maintains that they had a good 1 1⁄2 months last season, but we all knew they were going to lose to the Astros and that was probably their best season in the last five years as far as the alignment. Jared points out that the Yankees are 24th in points per game and that doesn’t surprise Joey given some of the names they fill out on their roster card (Oswaldo Cabrera? Jake Bowers? Jose Trevino?).
Jared says what scares him is if it was a little hammer blow, then okay, but a hip injury on a guy that big? Jared isn’t a doctor, but as a fan, given the athlete’s height and the nature of the injury, the hip is really on his mind. Especially for a guy who is so dependent on the couple. The way Judge brings value to the New York Yankees is his power and his hip and bottom half deliver that power, so if you’re a Yankees fan, it’s not something you want to hear. Jared also agrees with Joey that if you lose Aaron Judge for a while, it’s not like they’ve built a roster that can withstand that kind of absence. And unfortunately for the Bronx Bombers, while Stanton is more than capable of taking over from Judge, you don’t have him right now either.
Let’s not forget those pitching issues either, with their valuable off-season acquisition Rodón yet to pitch a pitch and we still don’t know when Severino will be back. And given his injury history, Jared asks how will Severino fare when he returns? Can he stay healthy? Where are the reinforcements coming from?
Jared says Brian Cashman can say what he wants about not giving up on the Yankees, but they have real issues in the Bronx. He points out that Gerrit Cole is just one guy and he just can’t coach the Yankees on his own. Especially when he only takes the field once every five days.
Jayhay backtracks a bit, however, on the idea that the Yankees haven’t been contenders lately, noting that if you make the ALCS, you’re a real contender. He also points out that the guys are rewriting history a bit when it comes to people’s expectations for last season’s ALCS against the Astros and whether the Yankees had a chance of beating Houston. He agrees with the idea that the 2023 version of the Yankees roster is diminished from what it was in 2018/19 and possibly even last year, but he says that if you say that They haven’t been recent World Series contenders, so you’re judging them by a completely different standard than any other baseball franchise. He says we’ll probably never go back to the 1990s version of the Yankees, but to him they’ve been one of the World Series’ inner circle contenders for the past half-decade, there’s no question.
Joey, however, remains somewhat indifferent. He argues that the Yankees are overrated every year and really aren’t that good. And, while noting that the Yankees have been good for at least 90 wins every season in our lifetime, Jayhay admits that this 2023 roster does indeed have some serious issues.
Meanwhile, Cardinals fans are in their feelings these days and the crew has thoughts…
Listen to the podcast or watch the video below for the full discussion!
SHOW BREAKDOWN
Scherzer in trouble + voice messages from the cardinals
- Dallas has the day off today after a long night at the Coliseum, so we have Jared, Joey and Jayhay holding up. Today we talk about Scherzer’s struggles to start the year and if something is to blame besides his age. We’ve also opened the voicemail lines for Cardinals fans to voice their 10-21 departure. Jayhay has no sympathy for them. Other topics include the importance of Verlander’s effectiveness to the Mets, Ohtani’s 13K exit, whether the Yankees are legitimate World Series contenders, Max Muncy’s grand slam and the decline of Craig Kimbrel. . Enjoy and see you next week!
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