One for 18. One championship in the last 18 years. Zero championships:
2001-2008 (0 for 2 in World Series: 2001, 2003)
2010-2018.
That's TWO runs of 8 and 9 consecutive years without a championship. No other Yankee general manager has ever done that.
Without a Bold Move, the Yankees Gamble on Their Own Discipline
The Yankees let the trade deadline pass without improving their struggling pitching staff, a decision that could benefit in later years but might cost them this October.
By James Wagner Aug. 1, 2019 nytimes.com
Patrick Corbin, Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Dallas Keuchel and Charlie Morton were all available at points over the past two years, but the Yankees acquired none of them ...
Asked if failing to land a pitcher on Wednesday sparked any regret over missing out on Corbin (by one year and $40 million) and Keuchel (by nearly $2 million), Cashman said the Yankees wouldn’t have been able to sign LeMahieu and Ottavino if they had gotten Corbin...
Houston dipped into its prospect base again to fill its pitching needs, sending three of the team’s top five prospects, plus another, to acquire the All-Star starting pitcher Zack Greinke from Arizona ...
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Cashman and the media people are disconnected from, you know, common sense and facts.
Specifically on Cashman's comment above (money is in millions):
Patrick Corbin
Position: Pitcher
Bats: Left • Throws: Left
6-3, 210lb (190cm, 95kg)
Team: Washington Nationals (majors)
October 29, 2018: Granted Free Agency.
December 7, 2018: Signed as a Free Agent with the Washington Nationals.
James Paxton
Position: Pitcher
Bats: Left • Throws: Left
6-4, 235lb (193cm, 106kg)
Team: New York Yankees (majors)
Born: November 6, 1988 (Age: 30-269d) in Ladner, Canada
November 19, 2018: Traded by the Seattle Mariners to the New York Yankees for Dom Thompson-Williams (minors), Justus Sheffield and Erik Swanson.
Corbin and Paxton are both lefty starters. Paxton is 255 days older than Corbin.
J.A. Happ
Position: Pitcher
Bats: Left • Throws: Left
6-5, 205lb (196cm, 92kg)
Team: New York Yankees (majors)
Born: October 19, 1982 (Age: 36-287d) in Peru, IL
July 26, 2018: Traded by the Toronto Blue Jays to the New York Yankees for Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney.
October 29, 2018: Granted Free Agency.
December 17, 2018: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Yankees.
Happ is a starter and six years, 273 days older than Corbin.
Zack Britton
Position: Pitcher
Bats: Left • Throws: Left
6-3, 195lb (190cm, 88kg)
Team: New York Yankees (majors)
Born: December 22, 1987 (Age: 31-223d) in Panorama City, CA
October 29, 2018: Granted Free Agency.
January 11, 2019: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Yankees.
Britton has been a relief pitcher since 2014; max reliever innings: 76. Britton is one year, 209 days older than Corbin.
Cashman also signed free agents infielder DJ LeMahieu and relief pitcher Adam Ottavino. Total cost in 2019 for those two: $21.
Why would the sports writers simply sit there and let Cashman say that and not challenge him? Were they too dumb and lazy to know better?
Especially for the 2019 season Corbin would have been a non factor relative to the others. Cashman may have had a bit of a point about the later years but by then the Yankees might have gotten Cashman off the schneid and won a championship or two.
Consider that Happ is already two years older than Corbin will be in the sixth year of his contract. And in the three years that Happ is signed their money is:
Corbin $56.7
Happ $51.
Which would Yankee fans rather have?
And, of course, relief specialists Zack Britton ($13) and Aroldis Chapman ($17) are getting $30 for each of three years: 2019, 2020, 2021. That's for fewer than 9% of team innings but about 38% of the pitching budget ($80 of $200).
One of Cashman's previous blunders is the Cubs starting pitcher in this afternoon's game against Milwaukee: Jose Quintana. He never pitched for the Yankees but Cashman released him ... twice.
When Cashman was looking for a third baseman a few years ago Oakland traded Josh Donaldson to Toronto. Donaldson was AL MVP in his first year with Toronto: 2015.
Cashman traded Chapman to get Gleyber Torres. But that was after Cashman failed to sign Torres as an international free agent. By his own admission, Cashman swung and missed.
And speaking of international free agents: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.:
July 2, 2015: Signed by the Toronto Blue Jays as an amateur free agent.
How come no one asks about Cashman not even being in the running as he had been for Gleyber Torres? Cashman didn't even come to bat and his media followers never made a peep.
Cashman drafted Aaron Judge ... his second pick in that draft. Cashman's first pick is long gone and has yet to play a major league inning.
Max Scherzer was a free agent starting pitcher after the 2014 season. He signed with Washington and has been about the best pitcher in baseball during those five seasons. Maybe Cashman didn't have the money because of three panicky and regrettable free agent signings the year before that caused his signing of Masahiro Tanaka (January 22, 2014) to put the Yankees over the salary cap:
catcher Brian McCann December 3, 2013
outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury December 7, 2013
outfielder Carlos Beltran December 19, 2013
Brian Cashman has led a charmed life. His family knew the Steinbrenner family and Cashman was hired as an intern. Eventually when senior people had had enough of George Steinbrenner, Cashman was elevated to general manager in February 1998, basically doing a clerk's job. All major decisions over the next decade were done by George Steinbrenner. Cashman handled the paperwork.
When George Steinbrenner faded out, he was replaced by oldest son Hank, who also faded. Eventually, power went to the youngest Steinbrenner: Hal. Apparently, Hal never heard of a performance review. Cashman has had a lot to answer for.
Almost inevitably Cashman has also done many good things. He had to. He's in his 22nd year as general manager. He had to learn something. And he's had the biggest payroll over those years. Positives:
Gary Sanchez
Curtis Granderson
Mark Teixeira
Robinson Cano
Brett Gardner
CC Sabathia
Didi Gregorius
But even his lone championship not completely or mostly inherited from his predecessors (2009) was anchored by the core four from the 1990s: Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera.
And yet here we are in August 2019 listening to this clerk drone on about his bureaucratic activities. Who can stand listening to this guy? I guess the one guy who counts: Hal Steinbrenner.
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