Turn the Page to December, Please...

Credit:  David Dermer, AP

The Yankees continue to search for their new manager and Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead...

I think my stance against Carlos Beltran and his lack of coaching experience is weakening. After his post-interview comments, I felt that he provided the best responses of the candidates interviewed to date. You can find his words on other sites but in my opinion, he gave very knowledgeable and insightful answers for a guy who has never managed or coached in the Major Leagues. I am still not crazy about handing the keys to the kingdom to a "green" manager but if he proves to be the one, I'll get behind the choice.  Beltran clearly has much to offer any MLB team and I feel that he'd be a wonderful addition to the coaching staff. As manager, there's no doubt he'd need a very strong and seasoned former manager to assist as his bench coach. Beltran has the support of his former teammates and the local media plus it's apparent he has a good working relationship with GM Brian Cashman. There really isn't any candidate that stands head and shoulders above him.

Jennifer Lopez apparently feels strongly that Alex Rodriguez should be the next Yankees manager. She tweeted today:  "It couldn't be clearer...#arodforyankees manager" while forwarding an article written by Merritt Rohlfing for BTBS entitled "The best and only choice for Yankees manager is obvious".  While I personally would not want to see the circus that would ensue if A-Rod was named as the new manager, good for him that he got his girlfriend's endorsement. Maybe she just wants to get him out of the house more often.

I felt bad for managerial candidate Aaron Boone when his brother Bret came out with the jokes about sexual misconduct after NBC's dismissal of TODAY host Matt Lauer. Aaron quickly distanced himself from his brother but unfortunately the unwanted attention is hard to ignore. Bret's timing could not have been any worse. Still, I think Aaron and Carlos Beltran will make the cut to the next round for a visit to Tampa, Florida to meet with the Steinbrenner family. I don't always share my brothers' opinions and I am sure that holds true for Aaron and his brother.

I keep seeing the name of David Ross thrown around as someone the Yankees should talk to. Nothing against Ross (I personally think that he is a very knowledgeable and professional guy) but I don't really want to see a former Red Sock as Yankees manager.

Speaking of Red Socks...

Former Yankees Kevin Youkilis, Derek Lowe and Mike Lowell have been elected to the 2018 Red Sox Hall of Fame, along with John Frank "Buck" Freeman. Congrats to all of them. Lowell is the Yankee who should have never gotten away.  The 1999 trade that sent him to the then Florida Marlins for the forgettable trio of Todd Noel, Mark Johnson and Ed Yarnall felt like a huge mistake at the time of the trade.  

Youkilis and Lowe obviously came to the Yankees after they had finished their successful runs in Boston. Buck Freeman played for the Red Sox when they were known as the Boston Americans from 1901 to 1907.

The Van Dusen Bandwagon...

I keep trying to dismiss Bryan Van Dusen's continued pitch for Giancarlo Stanton under the primary assumption that there's no room for him in Hal Steinbrenner's 2018 Yankees Team Budget. But then I see reports like today (unsubstantiated or not) that state the Miami Marlins would accept second baseman Joe Panik and two prospects for Stanton if the San Francisco Giants are willing to pay $250 million (of $295 million) left on his contract.  That's a trade the Yankees could easily beat.  

I agree with Van Dusen that I'd hate to see Stanton go to the Red Sox but I am resigned to the fact the Red Sox will acquire another slugger this winter. It may not be Stanton but it will be someone like Jose Abreu or Eric Hosmer. Plus, it wouldn't surprise me if Dave Dombrowski swings a deal that is completely out of the blue as Boston tries to hold off the hard-charging Yankees. On the bright side, Dombrowski is ravaging Boston's farm system.

For as fearful as we are to see Stanton playing home games at Fenway Park, I'd love to see the Red Sox Nation watch Stanton join the Baby Bombers on the verge of a dynasty run...

Go Yankees!

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. 

This Day In New York Yankees History 2/1: Hello Prospects Month & Hello Jim Leyritz

On this day in 2001 Yankees postseason hero Jim Leyritz signed a one year minor league deal with the New York Mets worth $500,000. The former Yankee has hit one home run every 7.6 postseason at bat making him the third best postseason home run hitting player with five or more home runs.

Also on this day in 1999 the New York Yankees traded highly touted third base prospect Mike Lowell to the Florida Marlins for pitchers Eddie Yarnall, Todd Noel, and Mark Johnson. Lowell went on to win multiple World Series, one with the Red Sox and one with the Marlins beating the Yankees, while none of the three prospects they received in returned turned out to do anything. Scott Brosious' 1998 campaign made Lowell expendable.


Finally on this day in 2013 the first ever Prospects Month was born.... On to season four!

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.

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. 

This Day In New York Yankees History 2/1: New York Welcomes Jim Leyritz Back

On this day in 2001 Yankees postseason hero Jim Leyritz signed a one year minor league deal with the New York Mets worth $500,000. The former Yankee has hit one home run every 7.6 postseason at bat making him the third best postseason home run hitting player with five or more home runs.

Also on this day in 1999 the New York Yankees traded highly touted third base prospect Mike Lowell to the Florida Marlins for pitchers Eddie Yarnall, Todd Noel, and Mark Johnson. Lowell went on to win multiple World Series, one with the Red Sox and one with the Marlins beating the Yankees, while none of the three prospects they received in returned turned out to do anything. Scott Brosious' 1998 campaign made Lowell expendable.

This Day In New York Yankees History 2/1

On this day in 1999 the New York Yankees traded highly touted third base prospect Mike Lowell to the Florida Marlins for pitchers Eddie Yarnall, Todd Noel, and Mark Johnson. Lowell went on to win multiple World Series, one with the Red Sox and one with the Marlins beating the Yankees, while none of the three prospects they received in returned turned out to do anything. Scott Brosious' 1998 campaign made Lowell expendable.

On this day in 2001 Yankees postseason hero Jim Leyritz signed a one year minor league deal with the New York Mets worth $500,000. The former Yankee has hit one home run every 7.6 postseason at bat making him the third best postseason home run hitting player with five or more home runs.

The Farm System & The Forgotten Yankees Draftees

It really grinds my gears when people talk about how terrible the Yankees farm system is and has been for the last 30 or so years. This could not be farther from the truth, the difference between us and say the St. Louis Cardinals is that we trade our talent away. Usually, unfortunately, we trade that talent away far too soon only to see them dominate elsewhere for years. Most recently we have seen Jose Quintana pitch quite well for the Chicago White Sox and Jose Veras establish himself as a dominant middle reliever for the Houston Astros while both spent time in the Yankees system. The Yankees lack of talent evaluation has gone way back, some of you may remember the name Doug Drabek that won a Cy Young for the Pittsburgh Pirates that started out in the Yankees system as well only to be traded away. Here is a list of some guys you may or may not have known were members of the Yankees farm system at one point and time.

Brad Ausmus, the current manager for the Detroit Tigers, was a member of the Yankees farm system before being selected out of the expansion draft by the Colorado Rockies.

Carl Everett, the guy who ended Mike Mussina's perfect game in Boston with a two out and two strike single to left field, was also a member of the New York Yankees. He was plucked away from the Yankees in the same draft as Ausmus when the Marlins took Everett.

Three time World Series Champion Mike Lowell was a member of the New York Yankees in 1998 before winning a title in 2003 with the Florida Marlins and 2007 with the Boston Red Sox. Lowell was a September call up in 1998 and obviously was left off the postseason roster before being traded to Florida that winter.

Mr. 493 home runs in his career Fred McGriff was a member of the Yankees farm system and was traded to Toronto in 1982. Could you imagine that swing in Yankee Stadium? If you can't go Youtube the 1996 World Series Game 1 home run he hit off the right field foul poll that is probably still ringing.

The Yankees drafted Otis Nixon third overall in the 1979 draft and spent a whole 13 games in Yankees pinstripes. Nixon batted .271 in his career with 620 steals in 17 seasons but most of those were with the Atlanta Braves and the Cleveland Indians, not the Yankees.

Deion Sanders. Need I say more?