CorneliusWolfe wrote: ↑06 Jul 2025 09:43 am
Melville wrote: ↑06 Jul 2025 08:29 am
CorneliusWolfe wrote: ↑05 Jul 2025 20:58 pm
Melville wrote: ↑05 Jul 2025 20:43 pm
CorneliusWolfe wrote: ↑05 Jul 2025 19:52 pm
scoutyjones2 wrote: ↑05 Jul 2025 19:44 pm
I did the math... 163 average.. 2 HRs and a 509. OPS during this stretch
Things just keep getting worse. Friday's loss to the crosstown Mets dropped the Yankees to 48-40 and two games out of first place in the AL East. Goldschmidt went 0-for-4, continuing a stretch where he's only recorded 16 hits in his last 98 at-bats.
If the Yankees feel a lineup overhaul is necessary, could that mean Goldschmidt finds himself on the bench? The Yankees wouldn't really make that move, would they?
No, probably not. Very rarely do the Yankees bench veterans, let alone a former NL MVP like Goldschmidt, amid prolonged slumps. Manager Aaron Boone has instead created the impression that he only sits players if he truly feels they can't turn things around, which is why Joey Gallo barely lasted a year with the Yankees.
Benching old (great) vets a hard call. You don’t want to embarrass a guy who’s been a face of the game and great ambassador for the sport and you never know if they have a shot of that MVP magic left, like he flashed the first few months.
I’d probably wait and see if he gets back at it after the break. Last 6 weeks in a tight race maybe not.
Disagree.
If the CORRECT BASEBALL DECISION is to bench a player, that reality is not altered by tangential factors.
The game does not care about a player's age.
Or contract.
Or legacy.
Or potential embarrassment.
The game reflects performance only.
And I am only and always about the game.
Correct baseball decisions aren’t always of the short sighted and cold calculating variety. People, not robots (TLR).
We’re talking about a highly respected player who has performed, and provided value on a contender, THIS season. Maybe he’s a little banged up and the break will do him some good. It’s why it exists. Not talking about guaranteed playing time the rest of the year…just a little more leash.
Your method as a GM would make other veterans that could be useful to your team avoid signing like the plague. I’ve got you back down to 90%. Still really good though.
Scouty raised the question of benching a veteran.
Which is the context of my reply.
The discussion is not about the usefulness of veterans to the roster.
They are.
Nor about "respect".
Some have certainly earned it.
And yes, players can be banged up - at any age.
Not the point.
The game does not care about any of those things.
The game is about outcomes -nothing else.
Bottom line - once a manager believes a player should be benched based on lack of productivity, that decision must be made regardless of tangential factors.
Is Goldschmidt at the point?
I don't know.
I would need to watch the Yankees for perhaps 7-10 days to form a conclusion.
Boone, of course, has been observing far longer.
And if, in his judgement, Goldschmidt is not the best starting option to provide production, he should act on that without consideration to the other factors under discussion here.
“The game” doesn’t make any decisions, people do. And they must assess WHO they are benching or releasing. PG not ANY veteran, nor did Scouty
infer it in OP. It was about a unique and specific veteran. One who was MVP 3 years ago, maintains excellent physical conditioning, played in a toxic culture last few years

and was killing it in the first 1/3 of this season. And I never said I’d disagree if Boone, who knows the situation best, benched him. Scouty asked what we thought.
Tossing straw men in the fire beneath you.
We are saying much the same thing...but differently.
Your comment that “The game” doesn’t make any decisions, people do" is correct and aligns perfectly with what I have stated" The game does not care about any of those things. The game is about outcomes -nothing else."
Further, I correctly stated that "once a manager believes a player should be benched based on lack of productivity, that decision must be made regardless of tangential factor".
The decision should not be set aside nor second guessed due to contract status, or "legacy", or "embarrassment", or other non-baseball related considerations.
Is a player the best available option, period?
That should drive the decision.
A little perplexing that you dispute or struggle with a very straightforward proposition on my part.