Pinstripe Alley open thread - 11/11/20

Welcome to Wednesday and happy Veterans Day. Dan Kelly has a great Veterans Day-themed piece coming shortly on longtime Yankees player, coach, and manager Ralph Houk, who absolutely earned his nickname of “Major” through his World War II service. After that, Peter will address the Yankees’ need to reform their perhaps self-induced pitching struggles of the past few years, Josh will grade Thairo Estrada’s slog of a season, and Erica will tell you why Charleston’s departure doesn’t mean that Bill Murray is gone from the Yankees’ affiliated clubs just yet.

Fun Questions

1. DJ LeMahieu rejecting his qualifying offer was hardly a surprise. He is going to make bank. Acknowledging the caveat that yes, Hal & co. can really afford anything, is there any limit to how much you would want the Yankees to invest in LeMachine? His stellar 2019-20 could lead to some stiff competition.
2. I don’t spend much time thinking about the Manager of the Year Award because success is so fleeting for most of those winners anyway, but the Cespedes BBQ guys raised an interesting point. Sure, given the Rays’ league-best success, Kevin Cash was the easy choice for AL MoY but the Blue Jays’ Charlie Montoyo had a terrific case in his own right, given the low expectations and tumult over where the team would even be playing. I will always remember the weirdness of MLB play at Sahlen Field in Buffalo. Should Montoyo have earned the nod? Or maybe even the since-departed Rick Renteria?