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!
It finally feels like baseball season is starting to fully return, as Yankees and baseball news alike comes in bunches every single day. There was plenty of that this week – between Manny Machado‘s deal with the Padres to Tommy Kahnle‘s insane caffeine addiction, here’s this week’s edition of Yankees Twitter Reacts.
Check out last week’s breakdown in case you missed it.
NEWS OF THE WEEK – MACHADO IS TAKING HIS TALENTS TO… SAN DIEGO?
As we all know, All-Star Manny Machado finally signed a 10-year, $300 million deal with the San Diego Padres on Tuesday. This deal was surprising not only because he got the mega-money he was looking for after months of inactivity on the free agent market, but also because he signed with the Padres – a team that wasn’t expected to be in the Machado sweepstakes. Yankees fans were split on whether or not they even wanted Machado, making this a very interesting week in the world of Yankees Twitter.
Sources: Machado to Padres on 10-year, $300 million deal. https://t.co/ujR2wZam4R
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) February 19, 2019
YANKEES TWITTER REACTS TO THE SIGNING
On the @YankeesPodcast Twitter account, we posed the question to you guys: How do you feel about the deal? The tweet got 275 total responses, and here are some of the best….
So Machado signs a 10-year, $300 million deal with the Padres.
How do we feel now, Yankees Twitter? #BPYankeesTwitter pic.twitter.com/Z1I5mcdKIg
— The BP Show (@YankeesPodcast) February 19, 2019
I like winning. He clearly doesn’t. Seems good for both parties
— Kyle (@kylekokawski) February 19, 2019
We dodged another A-Rod sized mistake contract pic.twitter.com/z0D2DB9zXs
— Cody Mullins (@Cody_Mullins8) February 19, 2019
Relieved… and excited that in 2 years the padres will try to trade that contract and we’ll get him for nothing, with salary retained
— Mahesh K (@MaheshNYCTO) February 19, 2019
Just glad he’s permanently out of yankees way pic.twitter.com/EMX71p29UM
— Eric Kirby (@EK315) February 20, 2019
— чαnkєєculєlícєч (@willyjrh) February 19, 2019
I’m super pissed!! We have a need for him at 3rd and short. People are acting like Adjuar and Didi are sure bets for the next 5 years.
— Fabio S. (@spumoniking) February 19, 2019
I would have loved having him for 5-7 years but 10 is waaaay too many. He would be another A-Rod in the final couple years – Paying $30 mill per year for a guy that isn’t even good enough to have in the lineup. Those 10 year deals are never good.
— ⚾️⚾️TheChaseFor28⚾️⚾️ (@NYYChaseFor28) February 19, 2019
And how could any of us forget what this little guy had to say on the topic…
this kid EXTREMELY did not want Manny Machado pic.twitter.com/6oFCVgIsz5
— SNY (@SNYtv) February 19, 2019
TOMMY KAHNLE DROPS HIS INSANE CAFFEINE HABIT
In other (and clearly more important) Yankees news, Lindsey Adler tweeted early Thursday about how Tommy Kahnle dropped his caffeine habit this offseason. Doesn’t seem like a big deal, right? That is, until you find out what this guy has been drinking. Five Red Bull’s and two coffees a day for 5-6 years? Holy smokes. I have so many questions about this, as did the rest of Yankees Twitter…
This offseason Tommy Kahnle kicked his Red Bull habit. He says he was drinking up to five Red Bull's a day for the last five or six years (plus two coffees). Now it's one coffee a day and that's all.
— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) February 21, 2019
Tommy Kahnle was drinking like 50000% the daily recommended amount caffeine. He's lucky to still be alive. #BPYankeesTwitter https://t.co/5H76xKl6nM
— Andrew (@Andrew_Rotondi) February 21, 2019
How I imagine I would be after 2 coffees and 6 red bulls like Tommy Kahnle #Yankees https://t.co/HKLLVXcrEm
— Ryan G (@RyanGorrie) February 21, 2019
Tommy Kahnle's doctor probably: pic.twitter.com/fCndVyxODc
— Daniel Tiller (@tiller_daniel) February 21, 2019
can we talk about the fact that tommy kahnle is still ALIVE somehow after consuming 48393939 gallons of red bull????
— julianna (@vitanarry) February 21, 2019
Someone get Tommy Kahnle an EKG and a stress test. That is the most absurd thing I've heard in a long time.
— Eric Kopp (@EricKopp21) February 21, 2019
Tommy Kahnle last 5 years pic.twitter.com/hZSQB9zK1v
— Facade Views (@FacadeViews) February 21, 2019
After posting a combined 1.7 WAR with the White Sox and Yankees in 2017, Kahnle was lost in 2018 and actually spent more time with the RailRiders than the Yankees. Let’s hope the reduced heart rate for Kahnle will be a good thing in 2019.
UPDATES FROM YANKEE CAMP
Now that spring training is in full force, Twitter is a great place to catch up on what’s going on at camp. The best people to follow for these updates are Yanks reporters like Bryan Hoch, Coley Harvey, and Brendan Kuty to name a few. Here are some of the highlights from this week:
Adam Ottavino lit it up on the back field this morning. Four batters, four strikeouts. (Gleyber Torres, Tyler Wade, Luke Voit, and Tyler Wade again.)
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) February 21, 2019
In which Aaron Judge hits a ball over the George M. Steinbrenner Field batter’s eye. pic.twitter.com/g3wRMIMsUB
— Coley Harvey (@ColeyHarvey) February 19, 2019
Troy Tulowitzki pulls one out of the stadium pic.twitter.com/dENZRve7SN
— Brendan Kuty (@BrendanKutyNJ) February 20, 2019
Aaron Boone said there is “definitely a noticeable difference” in Greg Bird’s swing and how he is impacting the ball.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) February 20, 2019
YANKEES ZIPS PROJECTIONS
This week on The Bronx Pinstripes Show, Dan Szymborski joined and talked about some of the 2019 ZiPS projections for the Yankees. ZiPS is a player projection system that Szymborski created, and it uses growth and decline curves based on player type to find trends. Here are a couple tweets where you can learn more about some of the 2019 projections for the Yanks.
2019 ZiPS Projections – New York Yankees https://t.co/7zKd0zU0IP
— FanGraphs Baseball (@fangraphs) February 19, 2019
Digging Into the #Yankees 2019 ZiPS Projections
✍️ by: @FrankieMarco
📲 Read here: https://t.co/UxTWYEaT3l pic.twitter.com/LiTmKAN6pz
— Bronx Pinstripes (@BronxPinstripes) February 21, 2019
Will Miguel Andujar follow-up his impressive rookie season?@DSzymborski weighs in on what the ZiPS projections think of the #Yankees young third baseman.
📲 Listen here — https://t.co/Rlyd8IGjnq pic.twitter.com/H6iOerZcKb
— The BP Show (@YankeesPodcast) February 20, 2019
WORST TAKE OF THE WEEK
Yankees: $207 mill payroll in 2005 when they only had revenues of $277 million! 2019 Revenue projected at $700million BUT only $220 mil payroll? Just because top 3 in league that is being cheap itself is no standard! Corbin, Machado & Harper should have been signed. Refunds due.
— Joe from Brooklyn (@JoeVa100) February 22, 2019
The most popular cold take of them all – that the Yankees are cheap! While Joe from Brooklyn does bring up some numbers to defend his argument, the most important one is that the Yankees are expected to be top three in the league in 2019 payroll. That fact alone doesn’t deserve the adjective “cheap.” This would all be great if we were playing MLB The Show, but you have to be realistic. A $220 million payroll is a lot for any team, regardless of the revenue. Heck, there are eight teams that are expected to have a payroll of less than $100 million! The notion that the Yankees are cheap just doesn’t make sense, despite the mass amount of revenue they bring in.
BEST TAKE OF THE WEEK
Honestly, not even mad. Yankees couldn’t (wouldn’t) have wanted to give him that much, and he’s going to a place simply for the money. Robinson Cano did the same thing and he hasn’t seen the playoffs since. pic.twitter.com/5nTVvLqEQU
— Bobby Baccala (@nick_serrone) February 20, 2019
This is probably the best way to sum up the Machado deal. It seemed pretty clear based on all of the reports that the Yankees were not willing to give Machado close to $300 million, let alone 10 years. While I’m sure Machado did actually want to be a Yankee, he did what was best for him – and he chased the money. As Nick points out, Robinson Cano also chased the money and has not been to the playoffs since. Congrats to Manny for getting his money, but it’s clear he didn’t go to the Padres to win. The Yankees now move on to bigger and better things.
FUNNIEST TWEETS OF THE WEEK
Tommy Kahnle compared to the rest of the bullpen pic.twitter.com/2glPPGM3ym
— CharlieYankee (@CharlieYankee28) February 21, 2019
I guess the Yankees changed their appearance policy…. pic.twitter.com/kNtP7FhKkn
— Jake Montgomery (@JakeM0NTGOMERY) February 21, 2019
“Are you sad Manny Machado went to the Padres and not the Yankees?”
Me:
pic.twitter.com/7RuyqUGuko— Bryce In The Bronx (@SpooKy_vx) February 19, 2019
Thanks for reading this week’s edition of Yankees Twitter Reacts! 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
