Friday, January 15, 2016

Brian Cashman, Jack of All Trades, Master of None.

A couple of days ago I was told that the Yankees had acquired two players from the Dodgers.  I said I'd rather not know unless their names were Yasiel Puig and Corey Seager.

I just didn't want hear about another Brian Cashman special hey look at how smart I am micro deal.  Here's what it was:

Yankees Acquire Tyler Olson, Ronald Torreyes From Dodgers
By Steve Adams | January 12, 2016 at 5:27pm CST

The Yankees announced that they have acquired left-hander Tyler Olson and infielder Ronald Torreyes from the Dodgers in exchange for minor league infielder Rob Segedin and either a player to be named later or cash considerations. Both Olson and Torreyes had recently been designated for assignment by Los Angeles. With the two new acquisitions, New York’s 40-man roster is full.

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You can't make up stuff like this.  Cashman has turned the Bronx Bombers into the Bronx Bookkeepers.  Maybe this was his most successful trade in recent years:

Curtis Granderson
But wait.  Is that Max Scherzer's name I see there?  Scherzer was available?  And Cashman let Scherzer slip by?

Granderson played for the Yankees 2010-2014, led the American Conference in Runs and RBI in 2011 and did hit 41 and 43 homers in 2011 and 2012.  Granderson was the first Yankee since Mickey Mantle to hit at least 40 home runs in consecutive years.  On the other hand Cashman let Granderson walk as a free agent and instead signed Carlos Beltran, despite the fact that Beltran was three years older than Granderson.  In 2015 Granderson had OPS+ 125 ... with the Mets; Beltran had 122.

One claim to fame for Cashman is that he has not traded away a player who later became a star.  Much the same can be said on the receiving end.

Would Cashman have paid big bucks to the Red Sox for Babe Ruth?  Or to the San Francisco Seals for Joe DiMaggio?  Would he have let Mickey Mantle walk after his sixth season, the one in which Mantle led both leagues in BA, RBI, HR?  The Mick struck out too much, had bad personal habits and aching knees.

Luis Arroyo just died.  He was almost 89.
In 1961 Arroyo had his career year at age 34 and made the All Star team.  He led the AL in appearances, saves and games finished; 119 innings, 2.19 ERA, 15-5.  Maybe Cashman would have made that deal.  On the other hand:

Anatomy of a trade: Roger Maris: KC Athletics to NY Yankees. Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Finally, Roger Maris:
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Would Cashman have made that trade or the series of trades leading up to it outlined in that detailed post?  Maris hit 100 home runs in his first two Yankee season, was AL MVP in both and broke the Babe's season home run record with 61 in 1961.

Yankee GM Brian Cashman acquired Giambi, Rodriguez, Sheffield, Matsui, Teixeira, Granderson, Ellsbury, Beltran. Now what? Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Has Brian Cashman run out of bullets?


Yanks acquire outfielders Ruth, DiMaggio, Maris, Sheffield, Matsui. Hicks? Thursday, November 12, 2015
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The point there was not to denigrate Aaron Hicks but Yankee general manager Brian Cashman who now seems to concentrate on stuff like a fourth outfielder...

... how it was during the early years of Cashman's tenure as Yankee GM, which started in February 1998.
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Gardner to Ellsbury to Hicks. The madness of Brian Cashman. Tuesday, November 17, 2015

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