Welcome back to Yankees Twitter Reacts, my column filled with the best and worst takes, funniest tweets, reactions to Yankees news, and everything in between from our beloved Yankees Twitter. I want this to be as fan interactive as possible, so remember to hashtag #BPYankeesTwitter or tag me at @T_Danks_to join the conversation and submit the best and worst tweets of the week!
Per usual, Yankees Twitter was alive and well this week (and quite honestly, a little more positive). From the Adam Ottavino signing to Aaron Boone’s mystery tweet, here is this week’s edition of Yankees Twitter Reacts.
Check out last week’s roundup in case you missed it.
News of the week – Adam Ottavino
The New York Yankees have a deal with reliever Adam Ottavino, league sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 17, 2019
In what was their second big signing in as many weeks, the Yankees signed reliever Adam Ottavino to a three-year, $27 million deal. Ottavino has played for the Rockies since 2012, and was one of the more sought-after relievers on the free agent market this offseason. Now, Ottavino joins what was already one of the best bullpens in baseball.
We know how mixed the reaction was for DJ LeMahieu last week on Yankees Twitter. So, what did people think of the Ottavino signing?
Yankees Twitter reacts to the Ottavino signing
Good news: there are certainly more good reactions than bad. The common theme is that the signing makes the Yankees bullpen the most feared in baseball.
Chad Green
Adam Ottavino
Dellin Betances
Zach Britton
Aroldis Chapman#NYY pic.twitter.com/Vz450bZvqC— Steve Angelovich (@angelsteve89) January 17, 2019
The Yankees currently have five (!) of the top-20 relievers in K% over the past three seasons:
3. Dellin Betances – 41.0%
4. Aroldis Chapman – 39.1%
9. Chad Green – 35.0%
17. Adam Ottavino – 31.9%
19. Tommy Kahnle – 31.3%Hitters: beware of the final few innings in New York.
— Devan Fink (@DevanFink) January 17, 2019
THE NEW YORK @YANKEES SIGN ADAM OTTAVINO TO A 3 year $27 million Deal pending physical Jeff passan reports!!! LETS GO TELL ME HOW YOU REALLY FEEL #mlb #mlbstove adam ottobots maximize ! #yankees pic.twitter.com/WrAbgptOKt
— JoezMcfly🇩🇴 (@JoezMcfLy) January 17, 2019
I just got out of work and just got the news the Yanks signed Adam Ottavino and that just made my day 100x better pic.twitter.com/IG74Qhax1l
— Mark Gawenus (@Mark_Gawenus) January 17, 2019
The best bullpen in baseball is now secured in The Bronx! pic.twitter.com/DCX0hxat0C
— The BP Show (@YankeesPodcast) January 17, 2019
Also, it looks like Gleyber is excited about watching the Yankees bullpen mow-down the competition.
Yankees Bullpen.. WOW pic.twitter.com/8CbQ1NCDpM
— Gleyber Torres (@TorresGleyber) January 17, 2019
And like any other move the Yankees make, there are the pessimistic fan reactions.
Am I supposed to believe the addition of Adam Ottavino will win the Yankees the world series when they said that about Sonny Gray in 2017 and JA Happ and Zach Britton in 2018?
— Khristian Seeley (@khristianseeley) January 17, 2019
This didn’t shock me as much once I realized the guy in Khristian’s profile picture has been to the AFC Championship eight consecutive times. Is anything enough these days?
Aaron Boone’s mystery tweet
As always, there were plenty of interesting tweets from Yankees Twitter this week, but perhaps none were more interesting than Aaron Boone’s tweet from Tuesday.
cEmidb
— Aaron Boone (@AaronBoone) January 15, 2019
Was this an accident? Was Boone drunk? Was it an autocorrect? All I know for sure is that this was Boone’s first tweet since November 13th, so he isn’t the most active tweeter. While most people assumed it was a pocket-tweet, Andrew Rotondi had his own spin on what it could have meant.
“call everyone, Machado in da building” https://t.co/JNhEmD61iN
— Andrew (@Andrew_Rotondi) January 15, 2019
Could it be? Is Boone trying to tell us something?
The tweet is still up on Boone’s account three days removed from publishing, so maybe it did have a secret meaning after all. Speculate all you want.
Overreactions of the week
White Sox have offered Manny Machado a seven-year/$175M deal, per @Buster_ESPN pic.twitter.com/1M0kbvvxLv
— Bleacher Report MLB (@BR_MLB) January 16, 2019
In other news this week, it was initially reported that the White Sox’s offer to Manny Machado was for 7-years and UNDER $200 million, sending Yankees Twitter into uproar.
If the #Yankees can’t match or beat a seven-year, $175 million offer from the White Sox for Manny Machado, I might actually end up going insane, hahaha.
— Max Wildstein (@MaxWildstein) January 16, 2019
“I’ve seen 1 Yankees World Series Championship in my 15 years as a Yankees fan. Manny Machado is 26-years-old and the Yankees don’t even want to give him the 7-year, $175 million deal they offered to 31-year-old Cano.”
“Sir, this is a Chick-Fil-A Drive Thru”
— Hirsty 🇺🇸 (@TheHirsty) January 16, 2019
Give me a legitimate baseball reason why you don’t want one of the 10 best players in MLB in Manny Machado on the #Yankees when you can apparently sign him for $25M/year?
I’ll say it again, “we don’t need him” is not a reason.
— Christian (@Christian_NYYST) January 16, 2019
Honestly, it is understandable that fans were frustrated hearing the current offer to Machado was for $175M and the Yankees were seemingly out on the young superstar. A couple hours later, and after Machado’s agent fired back, it would seem the report was just another rumor.
hear that the rumor of a chisox 175M offer for 7 years for manny machado is not correct. am told it is "way off," though not sure exactly how off. I'd say offer has to be higher and almost surely begins with a 2.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 16, 2019
For now it seems this was all just an overreaction! Unless, of course, Machado does sign that 7-year, $175 million deal. If he does, you will certainly see the bloodbath that ensues on a future Yankees Twitter Reacts.
Andujar is putting in work!
Earlier this week, Miguel Andujar posted this video to his personal Instagram account:
Miguel Andújar just posted this video montage of him working on his defense at the #Yankees complex in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic: https://t.co/B1gywO5rHr pic.twitter.com/fDoKrDqUQc
— Pinstripe Point of View ⚾️ (@PinstripePOV) January 14, 2019
After struggling mightily on defense his rookie year, it’s exciting to see Andujar focusing on this aspect of his game. Seeing players post this kind of stuff has me counting down the days to Opening Day.
Clint Frazier is BACK (and he needs a new nickname)
after a longggggggg battle with the concussion like symptoms i’m happy to tell u i’ve been cleared to participate in spring training and go after what i’ve wanted since being traded over here, to win an outfield job and show u guys what i can do. i’m readyyyyyyy. pic.twitter.com/qsi7LcMmbr
— Clint Frazier (@clintfrazier) January 17, 2019
First, Frazier got us all excited by tweeting this early on Thursday. Despite being part of many trade talks and battling concussion symptoms throughout the 2018 season, “Red Thunder” was ecstatic to tell the world he is back and ready to win the outfield job. I love it!!! And then just hours later…
ya i don’t like red thunder as a nickname soooo can we move on from that
— Clint Frazier (@clintfrazier) January 17, 2019
My bad, Clint. I take it back. BP Crew, now that we’ve got our man back, let’s get him a new nickname!
Worst take of the week
Ottavino the solution to the offense hitting .214 and going 4-26 with RISP in the ALDS or nah?
— RJ (@R_Loub) January 17, 2019
It’d be wrong to call this a bad take given that RJ does correctly point out one of the Yankees biggest problems of the 2018 season — hitting with runners in scoring position. However, this IS a bad take in the sense that RJ is looking at the move all wrong. You can’t improve every single problem with one signing, no matter who it is. Ottavino greatly improves the bullpen and is a valuable signing at $27M. To spin it and make it seem like a bad signing is indeed a bad take. Or was he just indulging in Yankees Twitter…?
Best take of the week
The Yankees won 100 games last year and have…
-Improved starting rotation with Paxton and bringing back Happ
-Strengthened bullpen returning Britton, adding Ottavino, cutting Cole
-Helped out infield with Tulo on a low risk/high reward deal, LeMahieu high contact gold glove— Eric Hubbs (@BarstoolHubbs) January 18, 2019
Yankees Twitter is FULL of people complaining about the Yankees acquiring guys like these instead of the sexy names like Machado, Bryce Harper, and Patrick Corbin. These are the same people that think the Yankees are entitled to the best players on the market, and won’t settle for anything less. This tweet is for those people — let’s look at the realistic picture here!
I tweeted this earlier, but as The Bronx Pinstripes Show mentioned on this week’s episode, sometimes it isn’t the biggest names making the biggest impacts in the moments that matter. I know you may not want to remember this, but Jackie Bradley Jr. was the Red Sox MVP in the ALCS and in the World Series, it was Steve Pearce. Will LeMahieu be the MVP of a playoff series? Will Ottavino get key outs in the World Series? Who knows, but the point is it isn’t always a brand name player that makes the biggest impact.
The Yankees don’t need Machado, Harper, or Corbin to have a successful offseason. And if you disagree, just keep re-reading the above.
Funniest tweets of the week
Sneak preview of Gary Sanchez trying to handle Adam Ottavino’s slider pic.twitter.com/IlcN06OlB3
— Ben Porter (@Ben13Porter) January 17, 2019
We all know how nasty Ottavino’s slider can be, but there are certainly people out there (like Ben) who think his slider will be TOO nasty for Gary Sanchez. Now it’s time to get this tandem some reps so El Gary doesn’t end up spilling the chili!
Yankees sign Adam Ottavino
Meanwhile… on the Red Sox…
I trust their bullpen as much as I would trust a skydiving parachute made by my blind uncle Melvin!
— Terry Cushman (@cushmanMLB) January 17, 2019
Let’s end this week’s column on this note! As the Yankees continue to make their bullpen stronger, the Red Sox bullpen continues to get weaker… you have to love that! I can’t say I’d trust their bullpen either, Terry (or blind uncle Melvin either).
Remember, if you see something that you think deserves to be in the column next week, be sure to hashtag #BPYankeesTwitter or tag me on Twitter @T_Danks_ ! And be sure to listen to the most recent episode of The Bronx Pinstripes Show: http://smarturl.it/YankeesPodcast