Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Brian Cashman’s Plan to Rebuild the Franchise


Disclaimer: I know going in that this article is not going to be a popular one. Brian Cashman could give 99% of his assets to charity and people would want him to give the other 1%. Cashman could win 160 games and some fans would wonder why the team lost the other two. Brian Cashman could be hounded to hold onto his prospects rather than trading them for 30-something’s (Ben Zobrist) and then when he does get hounded for standing pat and only acquiring Dustin Ackley. There is no winning for Cashman, it’s a tough crowd out here. With that said I believe I have deciphered Cashman’s master plan to not only rebuild the team but rebuild the franchise and I know going in that not many people are going to agree… and that’s okay.

One commenter here on the site specifically has said that the New York Yankees have no farm system to speak of. I disagree, New York just uses their farm system differently. For many years it was to simply acquire the next big thing on the trade market with all eye’s set on another World Series championship. Now that the system is actually beginning to produce talent, finally, Cashman is taking full advantage of that. Cashman is not a talent evaluator, and he’s not paid to be but if he were paid to be he would be terrible at his job, he is a GM that like almost any other GM relies on the scouting reports and the word of his scouts and trusted advisers. Those advisers have led to, just to name a few, the trades that sent Shane Greene out and brought Didi Gregorius in. Trades that sent David Phelps out and Nathan Eovaldi in. Trades that sent John Ryan Murphy out and sent Aaron Hicks in.

Do you see a trend developing here? Cashman cannot simply draft Top 10 talent in the first round so he is acquiring everyone else’s young talent with his young talent. Truth be told most people overvalue Yankees prospects simply because of the caliber of the team, an opposing GM will ask for the Yankees top prospects, get denied and then settle for a much lesser package(on paper) elsewhere. For the longest time that kept Cashman from making the right deals and forced him, if he wanted to keep his job and the “World Series or bust” mantra alive, to overpay thus emptying the farm. Not anymore.

Now Cashman is trading someone, Greene, who never projected to be above a #3 starter and got an everyday shortstop out of it. Go try and find an everyday shortstop on the free agent market or at the trade deadline and then try to get an, at best, #3 starter and see which is easier to acquire. Now Cashman is trading a backup catcher with marginal defense, not my words but from the scouting report and keyboard of Mike Axisa who analyzed the trade for about 5,000 words over at River Ave Blues, for what could be (keywords, could be) an everyday outfielder with speed, elite defense and occasional pop. Now Cashman is trading pitchers who were bounced around back and forth between the bullpen and the rotation and never projected to be more than a 5th starter or long relief pitcher for an evolving starting pitcher that could, my opinion, be a #2 starter at the current rate of development and projection.

With drafting high and acquiring players who were drafted high you’re always going to have a risk involved with any deal. You don’t want to whiff on high draft picks and when you do you don’t want to trade them too early before they realize their potential. When the team who drafted this high draft pick or acquired this high-end projected talent, most recently Hicks who was a first round talent for Minnesota, you’re also taking a risk. The risk is much less obviously after two or three subpar seasons but the risk is there nonetheless. What Cashman is doing is not just using the quote that is showcased on the Statue of Liberty to take your tired, your poor and your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Cashman is taking you’re high end talent that have played for bad teams and lost the drive to be great, the players that haven’t seen their true potential for whatever reason (late bloomer, no protection in the lineup, bounced back and forth between Triple-A and the Major Leagues, rushed in the minor leagues, small sample size etc.) and is giving them the freedom to breathe free…. Just in New York.


If you’re an opposing GM and you’re reading this, watch out. Brian Cashman is coming for your young talent and he’s going to make them his own. That’s the plan anyway, until someone else catches on. 

5 comments:

  1. I can't see much to add Daniel, you hit the nail on the head. In a round about way, I think we had some discussions about this same fact...in a way!

    Remember when it was...why do we draft catchers and we have a few guys that can work out of the BP why this guy or that guy? Along with, we need position players not a bunch of BP type pitchers.

    Well, it looks like you got it...so far anyhow, let's see how well it works out.

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    1. Cashman is leaning the Yankees towards the trade market. Couldn't see it then, finally seeing it now. Just hope he hits with more of these trades then not.... that will define his legacy here.

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    2. The good thing is, we don't need a lot of new players to become WS contenders...I think!
      What we need is for those we have and those coming up fulfill their projections or better. Maybe trade for a player here and there but, not many.
      What say you?

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    3. I honestly can't see this team winning a World Series with Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira on the club.

      How can you expect CC and ARod to go late into October and Maybe even November as little as they have played over the past three seasons and at their age. Also it's hard to expect Teix to stay healthy right now.

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    4. You are right Daniel, and I don't expect us to win with those players still here.
      I meant the players we have now...meaning when we replace those that are killing us from making progress...those you mentioned!
      Are you implying you can't read my demented mind? LOL

      Sorry, I didn't explain myself and took it for granted we were talking about later..."the young guys we have and those coming up" I should have written!

      But, there is a slim possibility CC will retire or go into the BP (hopefully). A-rod will be limited much more than last year, he played too many games for a guy his age and not having played for almost two years.
      DH Beltran more, and if A-Rod is hot don't wear him out let him get rest giving Beltran a shot for DH, thereby resting him also.

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)