Yankees beat Guardians in Game 5, advance to ALCS

Giancarlo Stanton

So, did Monday night's postponement of Game 5 of the American League Division Series help the New York Yankees? Perhaps.

The Yankees scored four runs in the first two innings Tuesday afternoon and went on to beat the Cleveland Guardians, 5-1, in the deciding game of the best-of-five series.

One thing is for certain: The rain opened the door for each manager to change his pitching plans, and the Yankees took advantage.

Had the game been played Monday night, we would have seen a matchup of No. 4 starters -- Jameson Taillon for the Yankees and Aaron Civale for the Guardians.

But given the extra day of rest, New York manager Aaron Boone brought back his No. 2 starter, Nestor Cortes, on three days' rest to pitch Game 5. Cleveland manager Terry Francona could have used his ace, Shane Bieber, but he opted to stick with Civale.

That decision by Francona backfired immediately. Civale recorded only one out before being knocked out of the game. He walked Gleyber Torres, hit Anthony Rizzo with a pitch and surrendered a 3-run homer to Giancarlo Stanton.

Four batters into the bottom of the first inning, the Yankees had a 3-0 lead, and the game was effectively over.

Cortes held up his end of the bargain, tossing five innings of one-run ball. Three New York relievers combined for four shutout innings to close it out, leaving Cleveland to wonder what might have been had it used Bieber in this game.

The Yankees, who won 99 games in the regular season, will take on the 106-win Houston Astros in the AL Championship Series, starting Wednesday. 

No surprise to see those two teams meet at this stage of the playoffs. All summer long, it's been the Astros, Yankees and everyone else in the AL. They've been on a collision course, and now they'll collide.

Shohei Ohtani, Ronald Acuna Jr. win Rookie of the Year awards

Shohei Ohtani

Los Angeles Angels pitcher/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. have been named Rookies of the Year in their respective leagues.

The vote was not close in either league, and it was not expected to be.

Ohtani won the AL award after becoming the first player since Babe Ruth in 1919 to have at least 20 home runs and 10 pitching appearances in a single season. He is the first player to hit at least 20 home runs and record 50 strikeouts as a pitcher in the same season.

The right-handed pitcher went 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA in 10 starts before a torn elbow ligament shut him down. Ohtani will not pitch during the 2019 season.

Despite the injury, he played 104 games as a designated hitter, slashing .285/.361/.564 with 22 home runs, 21 doubles, 10 stolen bases and 61 RBIs.

Ohtani received 25 of a possible 30 first-place votes. The other five votes went to second-place finisher Miguel Andujar of the New York Yankees. Another Yankee, Gleyber Torres, placed third.

In case you were wondering, White Sox outfielder Daniel Palka received one third-place vote after  his 27-homer season.

Acuna, the NL honoree, was called to the majors April 25 and delivered 55 extra-base hits in his first 100 games. His season helped propel the Braves to an 18-game improvement and the NL East Division championship.

In 111 games, the 20-year-old hit .293/.366/.552 with 26 home runs, 26 doubles, 16 stolen bases and 64 RBIs.

Acuna's performance netted him 27 out of a possible 30 first-place votes.

Juan Soto of the Washington Nationals received two first-place votes and finished second. Right-handed pitcher Walker Buehler of the Los Angeles Dodgers earned one first-place vote and finished third.

The White Sox's alleged 'refusal' to make trades with the Cubs

Jon Garland -- drafted by the Cubs, won a title with the Sox

It's going to be a long summer for White Sox fans. Our team is not good. We've acknowledged it on this blog countless times. The losing has started, as the Sox have dropped five straight after Thursday's 7-6 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

But it's going to be a long summer in other ways, too. For instance, it's only May 12, and I'm already sick of reading articles and hearing radio talk criticizing the Sox for their alleged "refusal" to make trades with the crosstown Cubs.

I'm not going to link to any articles, because this topic doesn't merit more web hits than it's already getting. But if you've been paying attention, you've no doubt heard the discussion.

Let's clear up one thing: Geographical rivals in Major League Baseball rarely trade with each other. The Yankees don't make a lot of deals with the Mets. The Dodgers don't trade much with the Angels. The Orioles and Nationals don't have each other on speed dial. You think the Rangers are going to be talking trade with the Astros anytime soon?

Me neither.

So, it's true the Sox are unlikely to make any deals with the Cubs this year, or any other year, but this is not a unique situation in the game of baseball. So why is the local media making it out as if Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf invented the concept of not making major trades with a close geographic rival?

Your guess is as good as mine. We can only speculate. There are many legitimate criticisms of Reinsdorf and the Sox. We've made some of those criticisms here on this blog, but not making more trades with the Cubs is not a legitimate gripe.

Let's clear up another misconception: At this time, the Sox and Cubs are not a good match as trading partners.

That's right, I said it.

It is true the Sox are interested in dealing starting pitcher Jose Quintana. It is true the Cubs are off to a slow start this season relative to expectation, and lackluster starting pitching has been the main reason for their struggles.

However, many media types are operating under the myth that the Cubs have a "deep farm system." This is false. Of the two Chicago teams, the Sox actually have the higher-ranked farm system -- they are in the top 10, and in some cases the top 5, in a lot of rankings.

The Cubs, in contrast, are ranked in the middle of the pack, because most of their top prospects have now graduated to the big leagues. The North Siders also paid a high price to acquire relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman at last year's trade deadline. The Cubs sent shortstop Gleyber Torres to the Yankees in that deal. Torres is now the top prospect in the New York system, and many believe the Yankees have the best farm system in baseball.

You look at the Cubs, and they have two really good positional prospects -- outfielder Eloy Jimenez and second baseman Ian Happ. But after that, it thins out significantly. To acquire Quintana, the Cubs would have to part with at least one of those two players, and potentially both. Do you think that's a price they want to pay, given that their system is significantly thinner than it was at this same time last year? I doubt it, especially since their tremendous depth was among the reasons they won the 2016 World Series.

You know who else needs a starting pitcher? The Yankees, and as I mentioned, their farm system is regarded by many as the deepest in the game. Don't be surprised if Quintana ends up there midseason. Even though it's lost on the Chicago media, the Sox and Yankees match up much better as trade partners than the Sox and the Cubs. There is no question New York has more trading chips to entice the Sox than any team in baseball, including the Cubs.

I know, I'm destroying the narrative with logic and facts.

You see, there's tremendous risk for both sides when you trade with a close geographic rival. If you make a bad move, or a lopsided move, it can haunt you for years. We still hear talk of how the Sox traded Sammy Sosa to the Cubs -- that trade has been cited this week, in fact. And it was cited to claim the Sox are reluctant to make a move with the Cubs because they were burned on that one, way back in 1992. There's no arguing the Cubs "won" that Sosa deal, steroids stuff aside.

But, let me fill you in on a little secret: Jon Garland was once a first-round draft choice of the Cubs. He also is the proud owner of a White Sox World Series ring. Garland pitched 13 years in the bigs, and he was a two-time 18-game winner with the Sox, including during the 2005 championship season.

The Sox would not have won that championship without Garland, and they would not have had Garland had the Cubs not foolishly traded him to the South Side.

That logic works both ways, but we rarely hear a levelheaded analysis of it. It's much more convenient to accuse Reinsdorf and the Sox of being petty and refusing to deal with the Cubs. That narrative is fiction, and with this blog entry, I've already given it way more discussion than it's worth. So I'll stop right now.