Paul O'Neill's commentary before Mike Trout crushed Angel Chivilli was Yankees nightmare

Typically speaking, listening to Paul O'Neill call a game is a true joy for New York Yankees fans. For those of a certain age, O'Neill represents the pinnacle of the franchise's glory days. For others, his wealth of knowledge, whimsical anecdotes, and occasional musings on food provide for an informative and entertaining experience. However, during the April 16 series finale against the Los Angeles Angels, O'Neill's commentary couldn't have been more off.

With the Yankees trailing 6-4 in the top of the seventh, Aaron Boone called on Angel Chvilli to take the mound. After striking out Zach Neto, Mike Trout came to the plate and worked a 2-2 count. Highlighting the erratic Colorado Rockies reliever's tantalizing stuff, O'Neill said, "You're looking on paper, Michael (Kay). You've got 99 (mph) fastball, 94 slider, and [89-90 changeup]... On paper, you shouldn't give up hits."

With that, Trout promptly deposited a 90 miles per hour Chivilli changeup 446 feet into the left field bleachers for his history-making fifth homer in the series.

On paper, no one should hit this guy. But the game isn't played on paper. And when you spam changeups to Mike Trout in the zone, this is what you're going to get.

Paul O'Neill's commentary highlights where the Yankees' bullpen has gone wrong

Chivilli likely won't be up for long as New York tries to figure out its middle relief issue following another Jake Bird disappointment. In reality, the deal that brought Chivilli, a 23-year-old with a 7.06 ERA over 58 2/3 innings last season, wasn't a bad one. All the club gave up was soon-to-be 26-year-old first base prospect TJ Rumfield, who was barely in the top 30 and hopelessly blocked as a lefty bat stuck behind Ben Rice.

Rolling the dice on a youngster with an electric repertoire and with options in exchange for a fringe player is no big deal, even if Chivilli crashes and burns. However, the move is emblematic of the Yankees' larger overall strategy.

We heard all offseason about how great Bird's stuff was. Ditto for Camilo Doval, who was supposed to add a layer of electricity to the bullpen that was sorely lacking. Yet these moves have all backfired.

Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake explained the club's strategy during some spring training comments to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic (subscription required).

“It’s a volatile market in general. You see a lot of (teams) that spend high dollars on relievers, and it doesn’t always pan out. You can find some under-the-radar guys with good stuff that haven’t gotten opportunities, or maybe you change something about the way they’ve been operating, and you catch lightning in a bottle.”

If you look at the top performers in the Yankees pen thus far, guys like Tim Hill and Brent Headrick, they haven't been hurlers who light up radar guns or wow you with stuff. Instead, they've made quality pitches and consistently gotten outs.

You'd like both, of course, but those sorts of relievers cost a pretty penny, and that has been something the club has been reluctant to do, whether they admit it or not.

There were cost-effective options out there. Guys who didn't have the most mind-blowing stuff, but consistently did their job, but the Yankees passed them over in favor of dart throws, banking on stuff to win out. They've paid the price and need to learn about balance.

It's fine to take a shot on a guy like Chivilli and hope you can coach him up to harness the electric stuff. But if that isn't matched by acquiring consistent performers, you're creating a boom-or-bust environment, and when it goes bust, it can be an absolute disaster.

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