thelesterlee
While everyone is celebrating the return of Major League Baseball following a lockout that should’ve never occurred, I am dumbfounded by the lastest maneuver of my beloved New York Yankees.
Source confirms: Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa traded to #Yankees, with Gary Sánchez and Gio Urshela going to #Twins. @JeffPassan was first to report. @mlb @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) March 14, 2022
The New York Yankees have finally given up on their star catcher, Gary Sanchez, and are hitching their wagon to 36-year old Josh Donaldson—who I am constantly told is a ‘former MVP’ without anyone ever adding that he won the award when Obama was still in office.
You know who has won an MVP award more recently? Bryce Harper. Last season. A player that hit free agency in 2019 but the Yankees refused to pursue because the single most valuable sports franchise on planet Earth simply could not fathom paying Harper the 13-year $330 million deal the Phillies agreed to.
Wellllll fast forward two years and the Yankees just acquired a 36-year old who is being paid the EXACT SAME AMOUNT Bryce Harper would be making at age 36. $21 million. Except the Yankees would be getting all of Bryce’s prime years including a 2021 MVP season.
Which brings me to the end of El Gary in the Bronx. In 2016, Gary burst onto the scene and smashed 20 bombs in 53 games. He finished 2nd in Rookie of the Year votes. The Yankees found their franchise catcher for the next 15 years.
Too bad Gary Sanchez looked worse and worse every season and could never return to his rookie glory. We were told how horrible he was at defense despite non of his defensive stats ever matching that narrative. We were told he was ‘out of shape’ or ‘lazy’ which always sounded like racist dogwhistling.
But for some reason, no one ever blamed the Yankees organization for their inability to develop any talent in the last decade. From Greg Bird to Miguel Andujar to Clint Frazier to Gleyber Torres and now Gary Sanchez—at what point do we look at the Yankees from front office down to coaching staff and question why all of these studs look like monsters when they arrive and exponentially decline before any of them even reach free agency for the first time?
Not the ending we expected but Gary Sanchez had some awesome moments as a Yankee pic.twitter.com/7brrVBqznL
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) March 14, 2022
There is absolutely no reason why a player with this much potential can become a replaceable trade piece for a washed-up aging weirdo without the organization being labeled a complete fuck up.
It’s maddening watching new Aces manifest themselves on playoff teams like a Walker Buehler or a Max Fried but the Yankees are incapable of turning Chance Adams or Deivi Garcia into 5th starters in the rotation let alone All-Stars.
The only silver lining for Gary Sanchez fans is knowing he’ll most likely end up being the best hitting catcher in baseball now that the Yankees shackles are off. Meanwhile, Josh Donaldson is going to miss half the season with injuries because 1.) the Yankees have a terrible training staff and frequently lead the league in injured players and 2.) he’s 40 and just stealing money from the team.
