Last night, the Yankees called up Oswald Paraza, their number three prospect, on the heels of another sub-par defensive outing from “shortstop” Isiah Kiner-Falefa. When speaking to the media last night Aaron Boone went out of his way to praise Kiner-Falefa’s defense, stating: “He’s been one of the best defenders in the league at shortstop.” While most Yankee fans and people with functioning eyes know this not to be true, it begs the question why call up call up Paraza if IKF is so great? The answer: to not play him at short.
Paraza is not in the starting lineup for tonight’s series opener against Tampa and when speaking to the media this afternoon Boone told reporters that IKF is still going to be the starting shortstop and according to ESPN’s Marly Rivera, they will consider using Paraza at second base. When asked by reporters about Paraza’s playing time Boone stated that it’s “a fluid situation” because they’re “trying to win”.
The trying to win statement is especially galling when you look at the line up the Yankees are trotting out tonight against the Rays. Torres, Hicks and Kiner-Falefa all in a row is almost like having three pitchers in the lineup. Another glaring omission is versatile rookie Oswaldo Cabrera who has not started since the second game of the Angels series. While Cabrera has been slumping a bit at the plate, he has provided a spark of energy that this team desperately needs right now as it struggles to hold on to a divisional lead which is getting smaller and smaller.
The alarming and continued decay of this once exciting Yankee team is a real shame when you consider this team was being compared to the 1998 Yankees as late as June. Sadly this team looks more like the 1991 Yankees now not only in the losing and unwatchable baseball but in the mismanagement and disfunction of the team.
