Quick Hit: Small Update on the Red Sox Sign Stealing Scandal

“The Boston Red Sox are stealing our signs using an Apple Watch!!” – Yankees GM Brian Cashman

“Well they are stealing our signs using YES Network cameras!!” – Red Sox executive Dave Dombrowski

“Is there a timetable for a resolution for the Red Sox stealing the Yankees signs?” – New York Post

“Quick” – Rob Manfred, Commissioner of Major League Baseball

I may be embellishing a little bit for dramatic effect but the above is basically how the whole sign stealing debacle has gone down thus far between the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox and the league. The latest quote though is a small update on the scandal as Commissioner Manfred expects to rule and act on this quickly, which is great news for the sport. Honestly I don’t expect much to come of this, maybe a fine or two which are generally drops in the bucket for these multi-billion dollar teams and multi-million dollar players, but maybe it will set a precedence and put a stop to it. Who knows?

You have to come down strong and heavy though on the Red Sox if you ask me, and not just because I am a Yankees fan. Again I turn to the word precedence. The Red Sox admitted to the wrongdoing leaving no doubt that the act occurred. Many other teams are probably already stealing signs using electronic devices despite it being against MLB rules and many of those teams are looking at this decision to base their decision of whether they continue to do so or not. If the penalty is a slap on the wrist and a simple wag of the finger back and forth I doubt it deters many teams or any teams from continuing to steal signs illegally. If the Red Sox get the hammer dropped down on them though it may deter the electronic part of the sign stealing just a bit.

If you think I’m crazy look at the early failed steroid testing punishments and the number of players still using and failing tests compared to the current penalties and number of failed tests. It isn’t a coincidence. 

Apple Watches, Cheating and the Evil Empire

Dammit, why didn’t we think of that? The word “that” is in reference to the Boston Red Sox using an Apple Watch to steal signs from not only the New York Yankees but from other teams as well over the course of the 2017 season. Stealing signs have been around since baseball and giving signs have been around and while it technically may not be against the rules (unless you use electronic devices to do so of course which Boston did) it can be a shady thing to do. To be fair I’m sure the Yankees have done their fair share of it, there were always those allegations that Derek Jeter received signs and pitch tipping from some random guy out in center field which I never truly believed, but this is a Yankees-themed site and it was the Boston Red Sox who did it to New York so of course I’m going to talk about it. Here are my thoughts on the whole debacle. 

I will say that I think it’s great that Boston fessed up to the league about it, honesty goes a long way with me, but I am not so sure that manager John Farrell didn’t know about it like they stated. Sure, I’d buy that Dave Dombrowski and other team executives didn’t know about it but I find it highly unlikely that the manager had no idea what was going on here. Rob Manfred says a penalty is coming and I am interested to see what kind of penalty the league will lay down on Boston for this offense. I mean, what can they do? Fine them? Money is a drop in a bucket to a Major League team. They can’t reverse the outcome of games and they aren’t going to make the team postseason ineligible or anything drastic like that so what could they do? I’m not so sure but I’m not expecting much to be honest.  

Will the league follow what the NFL did when the New England Patriots got caught cheating in “Deflategate” and suspend a player for a huge chunk of the season? Tom Brady was suspended four games, or one-fourth of the NFL regular season, after cheating in the 2015 AFC Championship game while the team was also docked a first-round draft pick so maybe something along these lines could happen to the Red Sox for this scandal. I’m thinking the punishment will be more like “Spygate” though, you know that other time a Boston-area team got caught cheating, when the team was docked a 2008 draft pick in the first round while the coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000 after filming Jets coaches signals during a 2007 game.  

So what are my thoughts? To hell with the Red Sox. Dock them five-or-ten games and let the Yankees win the division. I’m being a bit extreme and a tad bit sarcastic but honestly something major has to be done. You have executives from teams being charged with hacking other team’s personal files and databases and now there are reports of teams using electronic devices to steal signs. Where does it stop, and more importantly when does it stop? It stops when the league stops it so no pressure, but the future of the game is riding on this decision. A slap on the wrist encourages more cheating but a stern and strong hand nips it in the bud. Stay tuned to see which one we’ll be talking about when the league drops their decision on the Boston Red Sox. 

ICYMI: Brian Cashman CANNOT Rely Solely on Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira

I hate being right but dammit, when I am right I am usually right. Thus far, again it's only May 2nd, it looks like I was right back in November when I wrote this little article below. In the article it stated that the New York Yankees and Brian Cashman could not solely rely on Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira in the middle of their lineup if they plan on competing in 2016. Long story short the Yankees didn't make any significant moves to the offense other than Starlin Castro, who has been hitting at the bottom of the order for much of the season, and the Yankees offense in struggling. Can't say I didn't warn you although I'm not ready to say I told you so... yet.

The New York Yankees made the postseason for the first time since their 2012 loss in the ALCS to the Detroit Tigers this past season and if the team wants to return improvements will need to be made. Much of why the team made the postseason as the first Wild Card winner in 2015 was the returns of a healthy Mark Teixiera and an effective Alex Rodriguez. The Yankees were flying high until the month of August when Rodriguez’s production, undoubtedly due to fatigue after basically missing the last two seasons with injuries and a suspension, and Teixeira’s health, he fractured his shin and missed the remainder of the season, reared their ugly heads. I’ll say it again, if New York wants to return to the Promised Land in 2016 they absolutely cannot rely solely on the returns of Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira in the middle of the lineup.


In 2015 Rodriguez finished with a .50/.356/.486 triple slash playing in 151 games. Rodriguez hit 33 home runs but it was obvious that the fatigue had set in by the month of August. Rodriguez disappeared in the months of August and September slashing just .215/.313/.454 since August 18th. Speaking of August 18th, this was the day after Teixeira fouled a ball off his shin and it was also the day after Teixeira’s season ended. Teix played again on the 15th and 26th of August before ending his season at .255/.357/.548 and 32 home runs in just 111 games. If Cashman thinks he is going to get another productive season like this out of Rodriguez as he creeps towards 41-years old, even as a full-time DH, and a healthy season of 140+ games out of Teixeira, he hasn’t played in more than 123 games since 2011, then the Yankees are in for another long season.


According to Fangraphs and their Steamer projections system Teixeira is projected to play in 126 games in 2016 and will slash .233/.328/.451 while hitting 27 home runs while Rodriguez projects to hit .240/.335/.415 with 21 home runs in 128 games. To be fair the Steamer projections usually underbid a lot of these projections, the 2015 versions had Teixeira hitting 20 home runs and Rodriguez only hitting nine home runs, but the fact of the matter is this cannot be the middle of your lineup in 2016. The consensus around sabermetric based franchises is that your best hitter is supposed to hit third in the lineup, if Alex is hitting .240 and hits 21 home runs and is the Yankees best hitter in 2016 I think this team is truly in trouble.



New York won’t have the weak Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays to pick on for at least half of the season this time around. Tampa will be better, they always are, and Baltimore could be better as well even if they lose many of their big free agents. Boston will definitely be better, I have the utmost faith in Dave Dombrowski unfortunately, and the Blue Jays will have full seasons with Troy Tulowitzki and their newly revamped offense in 2016. Aaron Hicks is a nice move that compliments the team and the bench well but if another bat isn’t added somewhere that can help the team I truly worry about this team’s chances in 2016. Another year older, another year out of their primes and another year closer to the twilight's of their careers.

MLB GM's, Brian Cashman and Comparing Apples to Oranges

My name is Daniel Burch and I have been a fan of the New York Yankees ever since I can remember. Being born in the Bronx and into a family full of Yankees fans I really had little choice in who my affiliations and fandom would go but I have to say in all honesty it was the best decision I ever made or had made for me. Being born in 1985 I missed the Don Mattingly MVP Award and much of the losing in New York before watching religiously starting in the 1994 season. I have to say I was an utterly crushed nine-year old when the season and World Series was cancelled with “my” Yankees in first place in their division and I was even more crushed to see them lose to Seattle in the 1995 ALDS. My disappointment wouldn’t be long-lived though as the team went on to win the World Series in 1996 and made the postseason in 1997 but I can remember the first time I ever questioned the Yankees decision making and truly worried for the team. It was in 1998 when at the time what I described as a “little nerdy guy with glasses” (remember I was 13-years old) took over as the GM for the team I grew up adoring, his name was Brian Cashman.

Cashman’s history is well known around Yankeeville these days as he boasts (with or without “Stick” Michaels help) five World Series Championships, seven American League pennants and 15 trips to the playoffs during his 18 season tenure with the club. It’s been a roller coaster ride of emotions, ups and downs with Cashman as the team’s GM with not enough praising and far too much mob inciting lynching going on. Over 18 seasons if I had a penny for every time I heard or read “Fire Cashman” I’d have enough money to buy a new hairpiece and I’d be the one running for President of the United States. Why “Fire Cashman” though? Is he not doing what he’s told just like everyone else that has a boss does? We don’t really know what we have in Cashman as a GM because either George Steinbrenner was butting in promising the world to a player or Hal Steinbrenner is butting in doing the same thing just with less money at his disposal. This is all before even mentioning the fact that Cashman has dealt with the “World Series or bust” mantra year in and year out where improvement and steps forward were not allowed and winning was mandatory.

As a blog owner so many times have I seen Cashman compared to other GM’s around the league, namely John Mozeliak of the St. Louis Cardinals, Brian Sabean of the San Francisco Giants, Dave Dombrowski formerly of the Detroit Tigers, Miami Marlins and Boston Red Sox (current) and Andrew Friedman of the Tampa Bay Rays. As I said earlier in that 18-year tenure Cashman has seemingly led the Yankees to the postseason 15 times, to the World Series seven times and brought home five World Series Championships all while having to deal with management driven deals and trades, trades and deals being shot down due to fiscal restraints and moves being shot down because of a limit on years given out in contracts. Mozeliak, Sabean, Dombrowski and company never had to face such hardships and difficulties simply doing their job, they always had full control, so comparing Cashman to any of these GM’s in my opinion is like comparing apples to oranges.

During that same 18 season stretch the St. Louis Cardinals finished outside of the postseason six times while finishing in first place nine times. That's quite impressive, no one will argue that, but making the postseason 12 times and winning two World Series is not 15 postseason trips, seven World Series trips and five World Series wins. By the way Mozeliak inherited a team in 2007 that was fresh off a World Series victory in 2006 and only has one World Series win to his name so keep that in mind before bringing up the fact that Stick Michaels and Bob Watson handed Cashman a dynasty.

Andrew Friedman was hired before the 2005 season to be the Tampa Bay Ray's general manager and he led the team to the postseason four times and the World Series once in 2008. Talk about being handed a great team though and talk about riding the coattails of someone else, do you all remember the farm system that Friedman was handed? This is not to say that he didn't do an absolutely stellar job while in Tampa, because he has with little to no resources all things considered, but that was only because Tampa was allowed to have eight consecutive losing seasons before hiring Friedman, something that will never fly in New York.

Finally you have Dave Dombrowksi, the man who has "fleeced" Cashman in trade after trade after trade over the years. I say "fleeced" because I feel like Cashman has done okay outside of the Mike Lowell trade and did especially well with the Didi Gregorius acquisition but that's another debate for another day. From 1998-2001 Dombrowski was in Miami where he had three losing seasons before heading to Detroit in 2002. From 2002 until he was relieved from his job this season in Detroit the Tigers made the postseason five times with one of the biggest payrolls in all of MLB and with the best hitter on the planet Miguel Cabrera. Detroit went to the World Series twice losing both times to the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants respectively. Dombrowski is a great GM but he still hasn't been able to hold a candle to the overall success in New York under Brian Cashman.

So there you have it, Dombrowski, Friedman and Mozeliak have had great careers with their respected team and they are all great GM's. They may be better GM's than Brian Cashman truth be told but honestly we will never know. For much of Cashman's tenure he has been cut off at the knees at every turn and has won in spite of it, not because of it. Those three, and many other GM's across the league, may be great but Cashman is no slouch either and comparing them all to Cashman is simply like comparing apples to oranges. That's just my opinion. 

Chris Young, Two Years $13 Million and Brian Cashman is a Genius

Imagine that, another unpopular article here on The Greedy Pinstripes. I can’t help it though. I like to go against the grain and I like to put my true thoughts, not the popular thoughts, into my articles. This brings me to Chris Young and his new contract with the all of a sudden extremely generous Boston Red Sox organization. Chris Young, the Yankees fourth outfielder and bench player, received $13 million from Boston over the next two years to fill the same role. Young is getting paid $6.5 million annually to play occasionally off the bench. Aaron Hicks, the man Brian Cashman deems as Young’s replacement, is making $525K. Let that sink in a minute. Brian Cashman is a genius.

Young enters the 2016 season at 32-years old. In a partial 2014 season and a full 2015 season Young batted .252 with 14 home runs and 42 RBI in 318 at bats with the Pinstripes. Young hit .327 against left-handed pitching and will presumably fill that platoon role in Boston. Imagine Young facing off against CC Sabathia inside Fenway Park with the Green Monster just 310 feet away. He’s going to pop it up and it still go over the wall. This is going to get annoying fast but I digress.

Hicks on the other hand is just 26 years old and is a former first round pick from the Minnesota Twins. Hicks, like Young, can play center field but Hicks is the better and faster base runner, base stealer and defensive wizard. Hicks is an obvious upgrade for the Yankees on the defensive side and the sky is the limit on the offensive side. Hicks is a much better hitter than his career .225 batting average would suggest and his career .272 average against left-handed pitching as a right-handed batter should also improve. All that and Hicks is a switch-hitter, just in case you forgot.

The Yankees got depth, versatility, speed, base stealing and youth with four years of team control left while the Red Sox got a 32-year old veteran for two years and $13 million. Enjoy that now, the Yankees will enjoy it later though.

Oh, So Now You Want a Salary Cap?

The Boston Red Sox handed the biggest contract to a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball recently, the whole David Price contract… maybe you’ve heard of it? Price got seven years and $217 million with an opt-out clause after three years. When I got online the next day to read some of the reactions around the league I expected the Boston Red Sox to be praised and for Dave Dombrowski to be elevated to King status but what I actually saw came as a bit of a surprise. The David Price contract brought the “MLB needs a salary cap” voices to the front of the line.

Including the top four major North American sports Major League Baseball is the only one of the four that does not have a salary cap. That sits well with many MLB fans but when you consider that Price makes more annually than every single player in the NFL, NHL and NBA you can see why there may be a little bit of envy going on around the sports world. Price isn’t the first one to ruffle the feathers of the other sports and their players because of a big contract either, MLB owns 27 of the top 30 richest sports contracts across the four major sports according to Wikipedia.

Major League Baseball and their Players Union have it figured out. The cap is not needed. The players are making their money and the owners are making even more money with the split of revenues and profits tilted slightly in the owners favor. The bottom line is this, there is plenty of money to go around and everyone, not just the owners like in the cap leagues, are benefiting from it.

The salary cap will only make the owners richer. Major League Baseball is always wanting to interest more players to come to their game instead of the NFL and NBA, maybe using the lack of a salary cap and the draw of millions and millions of dollars without a cap or floor is just what they need instead of intense commercials and youth baseball programs. Just saying.

The salary cap is not coming to Major League Baseball without a work stoppage, a strike and probably another cancellation of the World Series. You can take that, and your $217 million check, to the bank. 

David Price and "GG" to the Division Race

Excuse me as I use lingo my son and his friends are using in the title, first let me explain. My son likes online gaming (at 5-years old.... I'm in trouble) and loves to watch Youtube. After every game the players all say "GG" which means good game but they also use it in the future context as well. For example, "If I get that sword before he does it's GG." Well with that new-found knowledge if the Boston Red Sox and Dave Dombrowski get David Price, and they are supposedly "all in" on the lefty ace, then the AL East Division is GG. It's over. Boston wins.

David Price has had his struggles in the postseason, they are well documented and we all know about it. I didn't suggest we start etching the World Series trophy now but I think that division, barring a big free agent pitching signing by the Toronto Blue Jays or a ton of work by Brian Cashman in the Yankees, would be essentially over. Price is the final missing piece to a young, hungry and exciting Boston Red Sox team.

Boston had two major issues in 2015 that led to another season without the postseason in Bean Town. The lack of an ace starting pitcher and the lack of a shutdown closer/ relief pitcher. The Red Sox have already acquired Craig Kimbrel from the San Diego Padres in an over-pay in my opinion and have now turned their attention to Price, an ace that no one is denying.

Price has a lot of innings on that left arm and he will likely break down eventually much like CC Sabathia has in the latter years of his contract and career but that is unlikely to be for the next three to five seasons, if that soon. Price also allows everyone in that Red Sox rotation to take a step back. Clay Buchholz has all the makings of being a very solid #2 starter while Rick Porcello, stuff wise, may be the best, and most overpaid with an AAV above $20 million, third starter in all of the league.

Dombrowski was the man that traded Price to the Toronto Blue Jays for that substantial haul that was led by Daniel Norris and may want his ace back. Imagine if Dombrowski got Yoenis Cespedes back too? That's GG.

Brian Cashman CANNOT Rely Solely on Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira

The New York Yankees made the postseason for the first time since their 2012 loss in the ALCS to the Detroit Tigers this past season and if the team wants to return improvements will need to be made. Much of why the team made the postseason as the first Wild Card winner in 2015 was the returns of a healthy Mark Teixiera and an effective Alex Rodriguez. The Yankees were flying high until the month of August when Rodriguez’s production, undoubtedly due to fatigue after basically missing the last two seasons with injuries and a suspension, and Teixeira’s health, he fractured his shin and missed the remainder of the season, reared their ugly heads. I’ll say it again, if New York wants to return to the Promised Land in 2016 they absolutely cannot rely solely on the returns of Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira in the middle of the lineup. 

In 2015 Rodriguez finished with a .50/.356/.486 triple slash playing in 151 games. Rodriguez hit 33 home runs but it was obvious that the fatigue had set in by the month of August. Rodriguez disappeared in the months of August and September slashing just .215/.313/.454 since August 18^th. Speaking of August 18^th, this was the day after Teixeira fouled a ball off his shin and it was also the day after Teixeira’s season ended. Teix played again on the 15^th and 26^th of August before ending his season at .255/.357/.548 and 32 home runs in just 111 games. If Cashman thinks he is going to get another productive season like this out of Rodriguez as he creeps towards 41-years old, even as a full-time DH, and a healthy season of 140+ games out of Teixeira, he hasn’t played in more than 123 games since 2011, then the Yankees are in for another long season. 

According to Fangraphs and their Steamer projections system Teixeira is projected to play in 126 games in 2016 and will slash .233/.328/.451 while hitting 27 home runs while Rodriguez projects to hit .240/.335/.415 with 21 home runs in 128 games. To be fair the Steamer projections usually underbid a lot of these projections, the 2015 versions had Teixeira hitting 20 home runs and Rodriguez only hitting nine home runs, but the fact of the matter is this cannot be the middle of your lineup in 2016. The consensus around sabermetric based franchises is that your best hitter is supposed to hit third in the lineup, if Alex is hitting .240 and hits 21 home runs and is the Yankees best hitter in 2016 I think this team is truly in trouble. 

New York won’t have the weak Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays to pick on for at least half of the season this time around. Tampa will be better, they always are, and Baltimore could be better as well even if they lose many of their big free agents. Boston will definitely be better, I have the utmost faith in Dave Dombrowski unfortunately, and the Blue Jays will have full seasons with Troy Tulowitzki and their newly revamped offense in 2016. Aaron Hicks is a nice move that compliments the team and the bench well but if another bat isn’t added somewhere that can help the team I truly worry about this team’s chances in 2016. Another year older, another year out of their primes and another year closer to the twilight's of their careers. 

Bring Me Alex Anthopoulos

I have written a lot of these “Being Me so and so” posts before regarding free agents but I cannot say that I have ever written one about a member of a front office before, until now. News broke earlier this week that the Toronto Blue Jays offered an extension to their GM Alex Anthopoulos but the extension was ultimately turned down making Anthopoulos a free agent of sorts. The Yankees have an assistant GM position open, think Anthopoulos would bite on it?

This is a long shot, so was signing Don Mattingly to be the team’s bench coach (with some maneuvering) or hitting coach, and a demotion of sorts but the Yankees absolutely have to make the call. New York tried to lure Ben Cherington to the dark side after he stepped down as the GM of the Boston Red Sox and they absolutely have to do the same with Anthopolous. Anthopoulous is the man that is credited with building and developing the Toronto Blue Jays as they stand today. Anthopoulos, like Dave Dombrowski, has never shied away from trading big time prospects for established veterans and basically emptied the Blue Jays farm this summer for basically an ALDS championship but would not have that sort of power and pull here in New York.

Anthopolous could work under Cashman and presumably take over as the GM for the Yankees whenever Brian decides to hang it up or move on to another era in his lifetime. I have said many times that I personally thought that Anthopoulos was the best GM in Major League Baseball, and this was before he pulled off deals for Troy Tulowitzki, David Price and Josh Donaldson, and I personally would love his will to win here in New York.

It is a long shot, why would he turn down an extension with a team that is expected to be a power house once again in 2016 to take a position with a team with widespread change on the horizon, but it’s a shot worth taking in my opinion. I’m not holding my breath for Anthopoulos but I’m jumping for joy if the Yankees bring him into the organization.

The Yankees New Trade Partner: The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

I have said this numerous times in my blogs because I truly believe it, I think teams have a “screw the Yankees” policy when it comes to trading players. Some teams presumably think the Yankees have enough resources because of their financial powers that they just flat out refuse to deal with Brian Cashman which leads to either no activity at the July 31^st trade deadline or trades with the same teams over and over again. That list of teams is the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Seattle Mariners, the Detroit Tigers under Dave Dombrowski, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Atlanta Braves. With the addition of Billy Eppler as the team’s new GM, Brian Cashman’s former assistant general manager in New York, could the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim join that list for the Yankees?

The bad news for New York, and the good news for Eppler, is that the Angels are a win now team that are unlikely to send some of their aging veterans or best players over to the East Coast in the type of trade that the Yankees like to make. New York hasn’t made a blockbuster trade probably since the Alex Rodriguez trade and don’t look like they will be putting together a deal for Mike Trout anytime soon but could a trade for an infielder or a fourth outfielder potentially be in the works?

Who knows, you may just have to stay tuned… 

Dave Dombrowski “Open to Trading w/ Yankees”

Dave Dombrowski has won everywhere he has gone in Major League Baseball and has swindled away some major Yankees prospects and players along the way, especially as the GM of the Florida Marlins and the Detroit Tigers. Remember when the Yankees traded Mike Lowell to the Marlins or Phil Coke, Austin Jackson and Ian Kennedy in that three team deal that brought back Curtis Granderson? Those were Dombrowski and those are just two of many examples we could have given of the Yankees getting the short end of the straw dealing with Dombrowski. When Dombrowski signed on to be the President of baseball operations in Boston many of us let out a sigh of relief finally figuring that the Yankees GM Brian Cashman was safe until this week when Dombrowski told the media he was open to trading with the Yankees as a member of the front office for the Boston Red Sox.

Ending the Cold War type standoff between the Yankees and Red Sox would be significant, and no I don’t consider the Stephen Drew (sucks) for Kelly Johnson trade from 2014 significant, in the way New York does business. Giving New York’s GM Brian Cashman a new trading partner could open up a whole new realm of possibilities for New York, for better or worse, and could really make things interesting in the American League East.

Just for fun here is what I believe to be a complete list of every significant trade between these two clubs in their history in Major League Baseball:

 Source: Boston Red Sox

August 13, 1997: 

The New York Yankees traded a player to be named later and Tony Armas to the Boston Red Sox for Randy Brown (minors) and Mike Stanley. The New York Yankees sent Jim Mecir (September 29, 1997) to the Boston Red Sox to complete the trade.

March 28, 1986: 

The New York Yankees traded Don Baylor to the Boston Red Sox for Mike Easler.

March 22, 1972: 

The Boston Red Sox traded Sparky Lyle to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later and Danny Cater. The New York Yankees sent Mario Guerrero (June 30, 1972) to the Boston Red Sox to complete the trade.

August 3, 1967: 

The New York Yankees traded Elston Howard to the Boston Red Sox for a player to be named later and Pete Magrini. The Boston Red Sox sent Ron Klimkowski (August 8, 1967) to the New York Yankees to complete the trade.

December 26, 1919: 

The New York Yankees purchased Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox for $100,000.

Twitter Poll: Does Dombrowski To Boston Scare You?

@GreedyStripes Not really.

— 0 and counting (@_EduVL) August 19, 2015

The New York Yankees GM seems to play favorites when it comes to which teams and opposing GM's he will trade with at any given time. One team Cashman has on speed dial is the Arizona Diamondbacks while another is the Seattle Mariners and Mr. Jack Z. Cashman's favorite GM to call and probably his "I.C.E" contact in his personal cellphone was former Detroit Tigers GM and current Boston Red Sox President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski. Should the Yankees and their fans be worried?

@GreedyStripes Yes. Good leadership made them the most successful team 04-13, no reason they can't do it again. Have the $$ & fans to do it.

— Chas (@chassIII) August 19, 2015

@GreedyStripes Hell no. Last time Tigers won the Series? 1984. Good luck Boston.

— Bywatergal (@Bywatergal) August 19, 2015

@GreedyStripes no

— Bryan Sibbitts (@BSIBBY11) August 19, 2015

@GreedyStripes not a chance. He turned Detroit's farm system into the worst in baseball

— Bryan McKnight (@bryan_mcknight) August 19, 2015

@GreedyStripes He's sort of hamstrung by the 400 million Sox have already spent the past calendar yr. Cant see them getting ANOTHER bailout

— AspiringCultLeader (@newkingofmedia) August 19, 2015

This is a hard question to answer personally. Dombrowski has won everywhere he has been but he has also fleeced Cashman, in my opinion, on more than one occasion. The three team trade that saw Curtis Granderson come to the Yankees, Ian Kennedy and others heading to the Diamondbacks and Max Scherzer, Phil Coke, Austin Jackson and others heading to Detroit. Sure 40 home run power hitters are hard to find and Granderson had his good years with the Yankees but Scherzer, Jackson and Coke led that Tigers team for years. That group almost led Detroit to a World Series victory in 2012 and did lead the team over the Yankees in a sweep in the ALCS.

To be involved in our next Twitter Poll head over to the app and give @GreedyStripes a follow. Once you're following us simply keep you eyes out for our next Twitter Poll tweet. We will not use your responses without letting you know first!

Dave Dombrowski May Have Done it Again to Brian Cashman

The Detroit Tigers seem to be making a habit of plucking players away from Yankees GM Brian Cashman and getting the better end of seemingly every single deal. It all started when Dave Dombrowski, then the Florida Marlins GM, stole Mike Lowell away from the Yankees for three busts in their pitching staff and it may end with Dombrowski, now the Tigers GM, getting Shane Greene in a three team trade for Didi Gregorius.

I know this article may be written a bit prematurely on both the Greene front and the Didi front but if history is any indicator of the future then New York may be in trouble. Greene has started two games and pitched 16 innings without allowing a run, something the Yankees would likely give up a ton more for right about now, while Gregorius has struggled not only with the bat but with the glove and on the base paths as well. Whether this is what Gregorius is when he is exposed as an everyday player or if the Derek Jeter chants are really starting to get to him I’m not sure we’ll ever know. One thing we do know is that Dombrowski has consistently gotten the better of Cashman over the years.

Remember when the Yankees traded for Jeff Weaver while Ted Lilly went to the Oakland Athletics and Jeremy Bonderman went to Detroit? Weaver was bombed in Detroit, Bonderman was more than solid in Detroit and Dombrowski won again. The same can be said for when the team traded Gary Sheffield to the Tigers for three more arms that turned out to be busts while Sheffield continued to hit the cover off the ball as a member of Detroit, another victory for Dombrowski. Even when the Yankees do well in these deals, like the deal that brought 40 home run and 200 strikeout power in Curtis Granderson to the Bronx, Dombrowski still finds a way to pull an Austin Jackson and Max Scherzer out of the deal and win the trade.

So the latest trade that sent the Yankees Greene to Detroit, Arizona’s Gregorius to New York and Detroit’s Robbie Ray and prospect to Arizona may be too premature to call but so far it’s not looking good for the Yankees and for Brian Cashman. 

Dave Dombrowski on Clubhouse Confidential

Warning: This isn't Yankee related, but I felt the need to write this...

I just watched a re-run of Clubhouse Confidential, where they had Dave Dombrowski (GM of the Tigers) on the phone. In the interview Dombrowski basically said that if it wasn't for Victor Martinez getting hurt, the team never would have looked into Prince Fielder.

So they thought the offense was good enough in 2012 before VMart got hurt (which I agree with), and they clearly had other ideas for the future (free agents, trades, etc.). So why sign Prince? He'll make the offense better than it would have been with Martinez, even though the team thought it was fine as is. That part is not a big deal to me, as there were no other players available that could do what Victor did for the team. But the part that has me baffled is that they obviously thought they were good in the future, and they will get VMart back in 2013, yet they went ahead and spent $191 million over the next 8 years anyway.

So either there is no logic coming out of the Tigers' organization, or there's something else going on that they're not telling us. My guess is that they figured they were covered for 2012 now, and they could make it work in the future. And I'm also guessing that they figure on trading some guys that they were going to count on in the future, as now they're not needed since the offense looks pretty good.