Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - March 4, 2013

There are a lot of dumb baseball stories today. How dumb are they? The uproar over Mike Trout's contract is the SECOND dumbest story of the day.

The worst belongs to Brian Cashman breaking his ankle while skydiving.

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Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - March 4, 2013

From a Daily News article in 2011

While looking up some facts for a post I am writing about Brian Cashman, I stumbled across this gem in the New York Daily News from John Harper.

He wrote it on September 7th, 2011 after Jesus Montero homered for the Yankees.

I'll cut and paste the whole thing here.

It will always be fair to wonder if Brian Cashman was right or wrong not to give in to the Mariners' demands for Cliff Lee 14 months ago and include either Ivan Nova or Eduardo Nuez along with Jesus Montero, the centerpiece of the proposed deal.

But one thing for sure: After Montero flashed the opposite-field power that has had scouts comparing him to Mike Piazza for years, hitting his first two big-league home runs at Yankee Stadium on Monday, it's starting to look like the Mariners were the real losers in that rather famous near-deal.

 Oh what an ironic ending!
A player that scouts compared to Mike Piazza could have been dealt for Cliff Lee, who was the difference between the Yankees going to the 2010 World Series or the Rangers going to the 2010 World Series.

Instead of a Cy Young winning post season stud (up to that point) they traded him for a guy with one good first half and will miss all of 2012 and part of 2013 before he throws a single pitch for the Yankees.

Meanwhile the Mariners wound up getting him anyway AND was able to deal Lee for prospects. Yeah, Justin Smoak has been a disappointment. But pitcher Blake Beavan has shown promise.

In a way, Montero's production this season is almost irrelevant in evaluating this trade in the short term.
Listening to the Yankee broadcast yesterday, Suzyn Waldman stuck to the company talking points saying that Montero hasn't been tearing up Seattle, creating a false equivalency that the trade might be equally bad for both teams. (This was before Montero crushed a Piazza like homer last night.)

Even if Montero finishes with a .100 OPS and winds up vomiting into Ichiro's cap during a game, this trade is still disastrous in the short term. Montero's Yankee role and position was "Prime Trade Chip."

He was the bait to fill the inevitable pitching holes and needed to be spent wisely.

And he wasn't.

And I think the Mariners no longer feel like the loser of that deal.

Cashman... you better hope Pineda's injury isn't serious

First of all, let's not get crazy about Michael Pineda's injury.
It is shoulder tendinitis. It's not like he has a torn rotator cuff or needs Tommy John surgery or his season is in danger.

And there is no way to judge the Pineda for Montero trade even at the end of this year. It will take 2 or 3 years before we know who got the best of the deal.

That being said, if I were Brian Cashman I'd be smacking my head thinking "Are you f---ing kidding me?"

His grand plan to have the Yankees become a team of good solid young pitchers has been going on since 2007. Remember when the pitching staff was going to be built on the backs Hughes, Kennedy and Joba?

That was 5 years ago.
Hughes is still around. He wasn't much use last year but evidently looked good this spring.
Kennedy is a Cy Young contender... for Arizona.
And Joba Chamberlain's career has been derailed by the team's indecisions, Tommy John surgery and his addiction to jumping on trampolines.

So now it is Hughes, Nova and Michael Pineda.
Nova has looked like crap this spring. And now Pineda is starting the season on the D.L.

A lot is riding on this for Cashman.
He sent off the player who was being built up as the next Yankee star for Pineda to kickstart his 6th annual "No, THIS time we are building a young rotation" crusade.

And here it is starting with more uncertainty.
What's the Yankees infusion of Youth?
Andy Pettitte?

All the while the Rays are overflowing with young pitching.

You had better help Pineda heals fast, Cashman.
The best trade chip has already been used.

It's Lisa Swan vs. Brian Cashman on The Sully Baseball Show

Good friend of Sully Baseball, Lisa Swan co creator of Subway Squawkers, got on the phone with me last Friday to talk about one of her favorite Pinatas to whack: Yankees GM Brian Cashman.

Now we talked before we realized he was about to be in the middle of a lurid divorce.
We just talked about he whined to Yahoo Sports about how he didn't ever want to be the GM of the Yankees.

Waaaahhhhhhhh!

And as always the conversation went down some unusual paths.

The Sully Baseball Show starts at the second hour of the Seamheads National Podcasting Network's Monday block.


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Tip your cap to the Yankees... you ruined Joba Chamberlain's career

Hey! Where are all of the "Joba is going to be the ace of the Yankee staff as a starter" people now?

I am looking at YOU Chris DeLuca.

There is cause to fire Brian Cashman, the Yankees scouting and coaching department including Joe Girardi.

Why?

Because they were handed a pitcher with tremendous talent and a larger than life personality and was the clear heir apparent for Mariano Rivera. They turned him into a carefully handed middle reliever... then a mediocre starter... then an ineffective mop up man... and now is broken down and maybe be done.

I wonder if he could have been used as bait for Cliff Lee when Lee was traded three times between 2009 and 2010.

Try getting a Cliff BAR for him now.

This isn't hindsight being 20-20.

I've been saying this has been insane since the beginning of the 2008 season.

If George were still alive and he found out that the organization torpedoed the most talented pitcher the organization has developed in a generation, there would be many bodies to dump out.

And Cashman has the nerve to say he doesn't regret the Joba Rules.

He says the rules are common in the organization.

Even MORE reason to start firing people!

Think about it this way...

In 2007 the Yankees had Chein Ming Wang, who in his third year had developed into a 27 year old front line starter, winning 19 games in back to back seasons.

They had the talented Phil Hughes, a 21 year old with great stuff and of course 21 year old Joba Chamberlain who electrified the fan base and gave the bullpen unstoppable depth.

It's now 2011. All three are broken down.

The Red Sox have had young pitchers like Jon Lester and Jonathan Papelbon and Clay Buchholz who have had lots of injuries. (Lester had freaking CANCER!)

And somehow they were all able to not break down. And none of them are as big and strong as Joba.

Mission Accomplished, Yankees.

The Joba controversy has been solved.

Starter? Reliever?

How about neither.

Maybe the Yankees obsessing over 2005 wasn't so dumb

This off season I made fun of the Yankees and their obsession with players who were last good in 2005.

But with the way that Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia has pitched, maybe they were on to something.

If Andruw Jones becomes an elite slugger again, then I will declare Brian Cashman a genius.

Plan D for the Yankees... destroy Joba's career some more

Plan A for the Yankees this off season evidently was "Sign Cliff Lee."
Their plan to do that was to assume he would buckle to the amount of money thrown at him. Evidently nobody in the Yankees front office ever spelled "Assume."

Plan B was to alienate as many beloved Yankees as possible. Derek Jeter was told to find a better deal. Jorge Posada was told to turn in his catchers gear. Mariano Rivera was compelled to call the Red Sox. Andy Pettitte said "to hell with THIS!"

Plan C was to pretend it was still 2005. Andruw Jones, Mark Prior, Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon et al have all signed on. Now to build that Time Machine.

Now evidently there is Plan D... keep screwing around with Joba Chamberlain's already shaky psyche.

He's no longer a rookie. This is going to be his fifth season. You'd think 4 seasons would be enough to figure out his role. And according to reports he has shown up to camp looking heavy. Never a good sign.

So we enter the 4th annual "What will Joba's Role Be?" Spring Training extravaganza.
I've never understood this debate. He was a dominant reliever who the Yankees turned into a mediocre starter, an ineffective mop up man and in the 2010 postseason, an afterthought.

Good job!

I've been saying this for years. I've compared him the Matthew McConaughey... very good at one specific thing but out of his element when you try to expand him.

I said last spring that the Yankees out of mercy should trade him.

But now the Yankees bizarre off season has thrown his role back into the spotlight. They had a thin rotation last October and now it is even thinner. (Although it is hard to describe anything that added Bartolo Colon as "thinner!")

And because Joba was not allowed to develop into a reliable reliever, the Yankees had to spend for Rafael Soriano.

There are three (and possibly four) holes in the Yankees rotation and the richest and most glamorous franchise in baseball couldn't fill the 4 or 5 spots with a major leaguer.

Of course Brian Cashman said that Joba's role is secure and he is a reliever. Then again he ALSO said that they weren't going to lose their draft pick on any deal other than Cliff Lee... so we all see how much leverage HE has these days.

Don't put MORE weight on Joba. Don't punish him because the Yankees wet the bed this off season.

With Rivera and Soriano in the bullpen, the Yankees have to make a trade. Even if it is for a prospect or a role player. Joba is still young enough to have a decent career but not if he stays in New York.

Either that or just go all the way and never tell Joba what his role is.
Don't even tell him which days he is going to start.

How could that be any worse than how they've handled his career so far?

Pettitte to retire? Now Cashman's failure is complete

One of the most disastrous off season in recent Yankee history will reach its mindboggling conclusion.

The Yankees, in desperate need for pitching depth and starters who can eat innings, are going to enter spring training with a worse rotation than the one they had last year and a pitcher in Bartolo Colon who can evidently eat everything EXCEPT innings.

Andy Pettitte is going to retire.

And who can blame him? He doesn't have a lot to play for. He has his rings, his fortune, his adoration of New York fans and his integrity for actually saying "Yeah, I used the stuff."

And that admission will probably end whatever slim Hall of Fame hopes he had so why not stay home and retire the way Mike Mussina did? Still a good pitcher and not embarrassing himself.

But Cashman and company can not POSSIBLY spin this into a good winter.

With the Yankees you ASSUME your own stars will come back.

Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter returning doesn't make this a positive winter.

And now one of the key parts and links to the championship years are gone.

Pettitte was the middle square on the bingo card for the rotation. You ASSUMED he was going to be there. Add in Cliff Lee and you have CC Sabathia, Pettitte and Lee... BOOM! The A.L. Pennant is won.

Now, the Yankees will have A. J. Burnett as the #3 starter. Ivan Nova at #4. And the "Hey we were good in 2005" bunch for #5.

Plus a bullpen with Rivera, Rafael Soriano (with 2 elbow surgeries in the last few years) and the artist formerly known as Joba Chamberlain.

How the Yankees with their budget and prestige and near lock on a post season berth whiffed so badly in building up their rotation is nothing short of amazing.

And, as Subway Squawker Lisa Swan pointed out, Hal Steinbrenner has offered Brian Cashman a vote of confidence, which must be as reassuring as Michael's kiss of Fredo.

At this point I am not even sure a World Series victory will save Brian Cashman's job.
They don't have the prospects to trade for a big pitcher.
And there is nobody left on the market.

The music stopped and the Yankees are left without a seat.

Not that I am gloating.

The Yankees are turning back the clock to 2005

Seriously, is it 2005 again?
Is Brokeback Mountain playing in the theaters?
Is Hollaback Girl popular again?
Is Lost a new show?

Because if you looked at the moves the Yankees have been making, you’d think the clock was turned back 6 years.

I know losing the 2005 Division Series to the Angels must have been painful, but the Yankees look like they haven't gotten over it!

The Yankees need pitching depth and maybe some outfield help.

So bring in Mark Prior… who actually pitched 166 2/3 innings in 2005 and was still an ace.

Bring in Justin Duchscherer… who made the 2005 All Star team

Bring in Andruw Jones…who hit 51 homers, won a Gold Glove and was the MVP runner up in 2005.

And, most impressively, bring in Bartolo Colon… who won the AL Cy Young in 2005.

Seriously, 6 years ago these moves would have made people scream “It isn’t fair! The Yankees get ALL the superstars.”

In 2011, these moves look like what the Pirates would do followed by the phrase “They are hoping to catch lightning in a bottle.”

Let’s review how they’ve looked since 2005.

Prior threw just 43 2/3 innings for the Cubs in 2006. He hasn’t thrown a pitch in a Major League game since. The Yankees are hoping the last 4 years of not pitching will make him stronger.

Duchscherer made the All Star team again in 2008, but has appeared in only 5 games in the last two seasons.

Jones has seen his stats deteriorate since 2005, hitting the low of his dreadful ’08 season with the Dodgers where he was cut after being a sub .160 hitter. The Yankees will be his fifth team in the last 5 seasons.

Colon hasn’t thrown 100 innings in a season since the 2005 campaign. He left the 2008 Red Sox somewhat unexpectedly to handle “personal matters.” He resurfaced in 2009 with the White Sox but missed the entire 2010 season. Fat, broken down and having personal matters is a great combination for New York.

Also turning back to 2005 is Brian Cashman not having control of the team. The bizarre public contract negotiations with Derek Jeter. The conflicting stories about the Cliff Lee pursuit. (Did he meet with him or what?) His not wanting Soriano and publicly trashing the signing in the press conference.

It all seems like the Yankee brass is making moves over Cashman’s head. And what other kind of move seems more Steinbrenner like than bringing in big names people have heard of, even if the move doesn’t really make sense of help the team.

The team is old and has injury issues. Better bring in a bunch of guys who have combined to miss 6 entire seasons recently!

Ironically do you know who was ALSO good in 2005?
Cliff Lee.

I’m just saying.

Cue up Hollaback Girl!

(I still don’t know what a Hollaback Girl is.)


CORRECTION:
Justin Duchscherer has been courted by the Yankees but not signed yet.
The point still stands

15 other passive aggressive things Cashman could have said at the press conference

- The Yankees have had a history of having needlessly expensive contracts blow up in our face, and it is wonderful to add Rafael Soriano to that list.

- Soriano is the wrong fit for this team. It is a mistake. We shouldn’t have made this move. But hey! Welcome to the team.

- I feel it is best to point out a player’s shortcomings and show as little confidence in him as possible before introducing him to the New York media. It’s how I roll.

- How much did I not want him? I tried to bring in Carl Pavano instead. No seriously I did.

- I am going to copyright the headline “Who’s SORI-a-NOW?” so when the New York Post uses it, I can get a royalty. Notice I didn’t say “if.”

- Well evidently some people think the team isn’t old enough and doesn’t have enough players who have had multiple surgeries.

- With such a thin rotation, we decided to shore up the bullpen so we could run their arms into the ground. The good news is if Soriano gets two more surgeries, the next one will be free.

- We listened to the scouts who all agree that an injury prone player who let’s up fly balls in this stadium was the route to go.

- I am looking forward to next year when we can try to trade this crappy contract for one of the Mets crappy contracts.

- We had differing ideas on what to do with $35 million. They wanted a 30 year old middle reliever with elbow issues. I wanted to throw it into the Hudson River.

- I’d like to thank you all for coming here today. I’d LIKE to do that, but I am waiting for Hank and Hal to give me permission to do that too.

- We are breaking new ground in giving middle relievers huge contracts. Do you know why no team has done that before? Because it is f*cking moronic. But what do I know? I’m just the GM of the New York Yankees.

- I don’t like to think we’ve lost that first round pick. I like to think that the Rays will use that pick and when he is older and more expensive, we’ll just sign him as a free agent.

- Of course we wouldn’t have needed to sign Soriano if we had let Joba Chamberlain develop into a solid reliever. Who’s idea was it to put him in the rotation? (Coughing) * Hank! *

- I would like to announce that I am printing out “Soriano Sucks” t-shirts and will be selling them on line. I might as well profit from this whole thing.

The Yankees courted Carl Pavano? I am speechless

No... that isn't a headline from The Onion.
The Yankees actually considered bringing back Carl Pavano. Even typing that sentence made me laugh.

This off season for the Yankees, which is been bizarre at best and disastrous at worst, almost entered the realm of the unthinkable.

Imagine me saying this to a Yankee fan right after their team lost the 2010 ALCS:

You aren't going to get Cliff Lee...
nor Carl Crawford...
nor Zack Grienke...
you will bring back Derek Jeter but he will feel alienated...
you will bring back Mariano Rivera but only after HE called the Red Sox...
Andy Pettitte isn't signed...
the one big pick up is Rafael Soriano who has had 2 elbow surgeries in the last 5 seasons and is a fly ball pitcher in a home run park...
BUT the good news is they might bring back Carl Pavano.

You might start making a noose.


Brian Cashman might have made a move that even the offices of Bialystock and Bloom would consider to be too self destructive.

Carl Pavano, the man who took Ed Whitson off the hook for most disastrous Yankee free agent signing in George Steinbrenner's lifetime... the man who was openly mocked by not only the fans and media but HIS OWN TEAMMATES!... was on the Yankees radar.

And for $10 million?
Seriously?

I don't care if it was for $10 a year for the next million years, that is insane. Did they learn NOTHING from the Javier Vazquez fiasco?

Last season I jokingly egged on Carl Pavano's agent to call the Yankees and see if they were interested in having him come back.

In my tongue in cheek scenario, I had Brian Cashman hanging up the phone before Pavano's agent was done with the pitch. Little did I know that reality would be so much MORE absurd!

Lisa Swan at Subway Squawkers as usual hit it on the head by saying this has to do with Cashman "who so apparently so wants to prove that Pavano wasn't the worst free agent the Yankees ever signed that he's willing to sign him again."

This is insane.
What's next?
Are the Chargers going to reacquire Ryan Leaf?
Is NBC going to return Leno to 10PM?
Will Garth Brooks record another Chris Gaines album?
Battlefield Earth 2?
How about the Knicks keeping Isiah Thomas on the payroll?

Wait, that last one is real?

OK. That's messed up.

You NEVER want people to use Tony Danza titles to describe your situation

If things keep going this badly for Brian Cashman, they still have more possibilities.

If Cashman has a blow up at a reporter, the headline could be
CASHMAN GOING APE!

If Johnny Damon signs with the Angels, the headline could be
CASHMAN SEES ANOTHER ANGEL IN THE OUTFIELD

If Jennifer Swindal, George Steinbrenner's daughter, gets involved and trashes Cashman publicly, the headline could be
SHE'S OUT OF CONTROL

If the team just goes into a spiral, the headline could be
CRASH

(Remember, Tony Danza played the racist TV director in Crash? Didn't think so.)

And of course if he gets fired, the headline could be
CALL CASHMAN A TAXI!

And probably he will be replaced by Tony Danza.

Jeff Francis got away from the Yankees too?

Hey Jeff Francis... congrats on the new contract with the Royals...but...
You DO know that the Yankees current starting rotation goes as follows:

Terrific ace in CC Sabathia.
Guy who had a good first half and a shaky second half in Phil Hughes.
A super talented guy who is slowly turning into Crispin Glover in A. J. Burnett.
A nice arm who could very well be another overrated Yankee prospect in Ivan Nova.

And evidently the 16th caller on WFAN.

There is at least 1 or maybe as many as 4 holes in the Yankee rotation.
And as we now enter mid January (and soon after that February) it is looking more and more like Andy Pettitte will be sitting on his porch, whittling, this season.

Before signing onto a rebuilding project keep in mind four things going in your favor.

1) The Yankees are desperate for starting pitching.
2) You are a starting pitcher.
3) You throw with your left hand.
4) You have a pulse.

I am assuming the fourth one is true.

But that is a combination that should bring about the expression "CHA-CHING!"

Did you REALLY exhaust any conversations you had with the Yankees?
Yeah you are going to make $2 million his year and that is $2 million more than a lot of us will make this year.

But man alive you could have squeezed a few million more.
Oh, did Cashman say "No way"?

You fool. He would have reversed himself a week later. It is his M.O. these days!

Brian Cashman... stop making public statements

It's not been a good off season for Brian Cashman, but I already covered that.

But while it is humiliating to see plan A, B and C go up in smoke, there is only so much control he has over other people's decisions.

He can throw lots and lots of money at players. If they want to take less money, he has no control over that.

But do you know what he DOES have control over? Making public statements.

You know when you talk about having Jeter test the open market to see if their offer was fair?

Jeter didn't test the market... and the Yankees upped the ante anyway.

Or maybe remember Cashman talking about NOT surrendering his first round picks?

He was quoted as saying:
“I will not lose our No. 1 draft pick,” Cashman said. “I would have for Cliff Lee. I won’t lose our No. 1 draft pick for anyone else.”

That was all the way back on January 7th.
Less than one week later, the Yankees gave a 3 year deal to Rafael Soriano making him the richest set up man in the world... giving up their pick to Tampa in the process.

Look, I get this move. He's a good reliever and having a very deep bullpen could help the Yankees... especially since Andy Pettitte could be sitting on his porch whittling all summer and A. J. Burnett is the Yankees #3 starter!

(The fact that he is letting up flyballs in a hitter's ballpark isn't good, but I digress.)

Just don't make pronouncements like that, Brian. You are already experiencing an off season where people think you are a little bit rudderless. Don't put fuel on the fire of contradicting yourself and making your moves look desperate.

I know you WANT to patiently build a team from the ground up... but you didn't take a patient organization.

Learn the art of not making promises.
You break a lot fewer when they don't exist.

Brian Cashman is having a hell of an off season

On December 3rd of this year, Brian Cashman rappelled off of a 350 foot building in Stamford Connecticut. He did NOT fall to his death.

And that is probably the one positive thing that has happened to Cashman this off season.

As of this writing, Cashman's improvements to the team have been NOT losing two Yankee legends, signing a non tendered catcher from the Dodgers, an adequate lefty reliever from the Mets and a former ace in Mark Prior who, since 2006, is tied with ME for innings pitched in the major leagues.

The Yankees, the big bad Yankees who go and fill every need every off season with their deep pockets and make everyone scream how unfair it is, went into this winter with an obvious glaring need:

Pitching depth.
And the American League Cy Young Award winner for 2008 and the American League Cy Young Award winner for 2009 have both switched teams... yet neither will end up in the Bronx.

As of this writing, Andy Pettite is still unsigned, Phil Hughes is still questionable after a rotten second half, A. J. Burnett still stinks and C. C. Sabathia is still recovering from knee surgery.

Yeah yeah yeah, it is a minor surgery for Sabathia. But anytime a 300+ pound 30 year old man starts to have knee problems, it's hard to not at least be concerned.

Their bullpen depth is still questionable. And of course the stock of Joba Chamberlain has fallen to the point where he isn't considered to be a plus for the bullpen nor the rotation.

The pickings are slim in the free agent market (hey, they brought back Javy Vazquez last year. Why NOT Pavano?) And if they had the young talent to trade for a quality arm, that young talent would already be on the team.

Which brings us back to Cashman.
A few years ago, I wondered if his critics were wrong.

It turns out that picking on him that year was kind of foolish as the Yankees won it all in 2009. But some of my criticisms still seem valid.

Since taking more control of the team after the 2005 season, the Yankees have had the 2006 Division Series debacle against the Tigers where their lack of pitching depth was exposed... the 2007 Division Series midge infested ousting by the Indians where they relied on Chein Ming Wang as a #1 starter... the 2008 season where they missed the playoffs... the 2009 World Series Champs... and the 2010 ALCS where their lack of pitching depth was exposed badly.

Now for most GMs, a World Series title in a 5 year run would be enough.
But Cashman isn't in the situation that most GMs are in.
He never has to make a difficult rebuilding process decision.
He never has to consider moving a popular player because he is arbitration eligible.
He never has to ask "Which superstar can we afford to have?"

He can talk about setting a budget but then it will inevitably be blown up.
He can try to take a stance of not signing veterans to long term deals and going for youth, but then sign Derek Jeter to a 3 year deal when nobody else was offering 2.

So yeah, the standards are different.
And yes, I know that the Red Sox have a bottomless pit of money and since 2005, Theo has only bought one World Series himself.

But I don't see the Yankees having two homegrown aces like Lester and Buchholz, nor having the trade chips to pull the trigger on a deal for Adrian Gonzalez nor actually get someone to accept their money like Carl Crawford.

The Yankees are still a quality team, but it says a lot that when Cliff Lee wanted to go to the place where he is most likely to win a title, he chose Philadelphia.

There aren't any legit #1 or #2 starters left out on the market and Petitte might still decide to stay in Texas and count his millions and rings and play with his kids.

If this off season continues to go this badly for Cashman and it translates once again into a season where the lack of pitching bites the Yankees in the rear, he find himself hanging on by a much thinner rope than he was holding in Stamford.

I hope Carl Pavano's agent has a pair

Carl Pavano pitched a terrific game today against his former team, the Indians. He went 7 strong innings letting up only 2 earned runs. Along the way he won his 14th game (tied for most in the AL), lowered his ERA to a respectable 3.28 and his 1.08 WHIP is third in the league.

He is also in the top 5 in innings pitched and complete games.

And did tonight sporting a porn stache and wearing the uniform of the old Negro League St. Paul Black Gophers.

Carl Pavano will probably get a few points in the Cy Young vote this year.

And guess what? He's a free agent after this year.

Now I am not sure who his agent is right now. (Evidently he's changed representation a few times over the last few years.) But I remember one of his agents called him a 1 or 2 starter good for 200 innings a year as he was wrapping up his Yankee tenure where he made nine starts total over the final three years of the contract.

Well whoever is making calls for him now, I hope he has the stones to call the Yankees for a new contract after Pavano became the poster child for ill conceived gluttony by Steibrenner.

How amazing would that call to Brian Cashman be?

"I got a guy... he's a Cy Young caliber guy. He's a World Series winner. He's one of the top winners in the league and a HORSE. He's a perfect fit for the Yankees."

"Who is it?"

"Carl Pavano... hello?... HELLO?... I think we got cut off."

Getting TWO obscene contracts from the Yankees would have to be the agent's legacy.

How would it be any less likely than the Yankees trading to get BACK Javier Vazquez?

Does Brian Cashman realize that this is the SAME Javier Vazquez?

The other day the Yankees, showing their commitment to developing their own players, shipped off Melky Cabrera to Atlanta for Javier Vazquez.

Now this is undeniably positive for all of baseball because that means we will be spared hearing John Sterling say "The Melkman Delivers!" and THEN say "It's the Melky Way!"

That was too much to bear.

But the deal is unusual for another reason...

Vazquez was in the Bronx before. In fact his last game was kind of a big one in the history of the Yankees and of the Red Sox as well.

Do you think Cashman knows that this is the same guy?

Did Atlanta GM Frank Wren keep that little nugget of information from him?

CASHMAN: Man, I am really excited to get this great pitcher Javy Vazquez from you guys. The guy was a Cy Young candidate!

WREN: Yeah. He's great.

CASHMAN: Man, it is strange. We used to have a pitcher who had the same name.

WREN: You don't say.

CASHMAN: Yeah. He had a world of talent but he folded like a lawn chair when the pressure of New York got to him.

WREN: No kidding.

CASHMAN: Yeah, he was supposed to be our young ace. He started off OK but then by the time the playoffs came around he was in the bullpen.

WREN: That doesn't sound good.

CASHMAN: You don't know the half of it. In Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS, we brought him in to stop the bleeding because Kevin Brown was leaving a stain in the bed that matched his last name.

WREN: How did YOUR Vazquez do?

CASHMAN: First pitch he threw to Johnny Damon was a grand slam. And 2 innings later he let up ANOTHER homer to Johnny Damon... killed our pennant chances.

WREN: Wow. He sounds like he was a terrible fit in New York.

CASHMAN: Yeah. But your guy sounds like a bulldog.

WREN: Oh yeah. It's a totally different guy. He'll do fine in New York.


I've already equated Javier Vazquez with a comic who is coasting on a good early set.

But now he's going back to a comedy club where he bombed big time.

And the Yankees oddly are going back to the well of bringing in NL pitchers, because that worked so well with Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson, Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright... and oh yeah Javier Vazquez!

Of course this trade opens up left field and a chance to bring back Johnny Damon (you know... because they are trying to get younger and more athletic.)

If Damon comes back, do you think he'll chat much with Vazquez?

"Hey Javy? Remember when you served those two meatballs to me in the '04 ALCS? Thanks!"

Cashman would interrupt him.

"You are wrong Johnny... it's a totally different guy. Frank Wren told me so."

Big Picture: 101

After the (say it with me) third Red Sox sweep of the Yankees this season, all of the Yankees are talking about "the big picture."

They are saying "big picture" so often that you'd think they were a bunch of art history students who came back from the Sistine Chapel.

The big picture is it is only 3 games and that there are 102 games left in the schedule and its only a 2 game deficit... blah blah blah.

Well there are some other aspects to the big picture that can't just be swept under a bumpy rug.

Yes it is early, but it isn't THAT early. The season is more than 1/3 of the way through. This isn't April... it's mid June. And before you know it it will be July.

The Yankees pitching staff is still underwhelming.

CC Sabathia has been good, but not on anyone's short list for Cy Young contenders.

A. J. Burnett has gone back and forth between mediocre and terrible.
Andy Pettite has been underwhelming.
Joba Chamberlain has shown flashes of brilliance but is a #3 starter at best now.

And Chien-Ming Wang is so terrible this year that I am sure Brian Cashman is thinking of ways to get him injured again. It's interleague! Why not have him run the bases again?

(Remember how everyone said that Wang would be back no problem because his injury wasn't pitching related? Oh well.)

It's been a year since Wang last gave the Yankees 5 innings in a game and this year his 0-4 record and 14+ ERA doesn't lie.

Meanwhile Mariano Rivera is still great but that 3.20 ERA isn't as eye popping as it used to be. And the middle relief is causing Mike Francesa to scream about Joba in the bullpen even louder.

(Losing a game in the 8th inning to the Red Sox will do that.)

And now they have Phil Hughes doing the bullpen/rotation shuffle because that worked out so well for Joba.

But would you rather have Hughes doing that or count on Aceves, Veras and Robertson?

To be fair, before last night Aceves pitched well and Robertson has been effective as well... but are the late innings of a potential pennant contender really going to be protected by Aceves and Robertson?

The big picture for this Yankee team is their depth is still in question. Besides Sabathia, their rotation depth is an issue. Besides Rivera their bullpen depth is an issue. If there is another injury in the infield, their infield depth will be an issue. Etc etc etc.

As I wrote before, it is inexcusable that Brian Cashman has an extra $65 million to throw around and has depth as an issue, but I digress.

More than a third of the season has passed and the Yankees have given their chief rival an 8 game head start on the season series. Remember that is more than a psychological edge. In 2005 the two teams finished tied but both made the playoffs. The Yankees were declared division champs based on their 10-9 head to head record against the Red Sox.

And the Yankees had every reason to believe they would win this series. Yeah Beckett has been great, but wasn't he due for a let down?

Shouldn't Wakefield have been a pinata?

Isn't Penny vs. Sabathia a mismatch?

With A-Rod and Teixeira both healthy and smacking homers, shouldn't the Yankees have done better than 3 runs total off of those three starters?

Had the Red Sox won one more game, they would have played the Angels at home to start the playoffs instead of the eventual champion White Sox on the road.

And more than a 1/3 of the way through the season, the Yankees have played 16 games against teams currently in first place and lost 12 of them.

Granted, that 4-12 record is heavily skewed because of the 0-8 record against the Sox... but a stat like that shouldn't come up for a team thinking of winning it all.

Here's a big picture.

The pitching is shaky, the line up can be subdued by good (not even great) pitching, the roster is old and more at risk for injury as the season goes on and they are playing .250 ball against division leaders... and it isn't THAT early.

And oh yeah, here's another 101.

The Magic Number for the Red Sox 101!

And they need to go 2-8 against the Yankees the rest of the way to win the season series.

I don't know if that is art... but I like it

A possible case against Brian Cashman

Usually when I hear fans, especially Yankee fans, calling for the heads of the GM or manager in April, I give a little snicker.

"Crazy reactionary fans" I usually think.

But there are more and more Yankee fans calling for Brian Cashman's head. And do you know what? They could have a point.

I am not a fan of dumping a GM in mid season. It's a panic move and other GMs know that the replacement is either scared to make a big move or vulnerable.

But this Yankees team at least at this point has been horribly assembled.

Yes, he landed the big fish in Teixera, Sabathia and Burnett.

And no he can't be blamed for their slow starts. (Yes, today's shelling in Fenway puts Burnett in the bad start column. A 5.47 ERA is a 5.47 ERA.)

But what is mindboggling about this team is their complete lack of depth.

A-Rod goes down. Obviously there is no replacing A-Rod's prescience in the line up. But when a team is spending $65 million dollars more than the second highest payroll, they should have a utility infielder with some big league experience.

I'm not saying have another All Star. But with $200 million to throw around, shouldn't there be an infielder off the bench that people say "He'd start on any other team"?

Shouldn't that player be better than Cody Ransom?

And if the series in Boston has told us anything so far, it's that you can't blame ALL the pitching woes on the wind in the new Stadium.

There was no wind tunnel in Tampa Bay when Nick Swisher was the only guy who could throw a shutout inning. There was no wind tunnel today when the Yankees scored 11 runs and yet it wasn't a save situation for Papelbon.

17 games into the season... the pitching staff has let up 9 or more runs 5 times.

The bullpen is horrific. Veras can throw a good outing now and then, but his 6.30 ERA suggests what else he can do now and then.

Coke, Ramirez, Marte... all have ERAs that read like Social Security numbers.

And now there is talk of searching the waiver wire for other teams scraps to throw into the bullpen.

A bunch of relievers not good enough to make their team's 25 man roster are now going to be thrown into the Yankee pressure cooker? That should work out great.

Cashman has had control of the team since after the 2005 ALCS. Since then the pennants have run dry, the Division Title streak ended, the post season streak ended... and now... after spending $200 million on payroll when no other team topped $136 million... are looking for any live arm who can throw the ball 60 feet 6 inches.

Cashman rolled the dice to trust Hughes and Kennedy. So far that's been a disaster of Isringhausen/Wilson/Pulsipher proportions.

The Joba situation has been screwed up to the point where he doesn't go deep into starts and there is no depth in the bullpen when he comes out.

He took a team that was old and bloated and transformed them into a team that is disconnected.

All this while playing to empty seats in their new Coors Field in the Bronx.


I know I am a Red Sox fan and I am going to get a lot of hate e mails from Yankee fans for this post. But a lot of bad things have happened on Cashman's watch... and the biggest moves have come from the opening of the Steinbrenner wallet.

Honestly, can any Yankee fan look me in the eye and say they are better now than they were in 2005?

I'm not saying he should be fired.

I'm not saying that Joe Girardi is without blame.

All I am saying is for the first time in a long long time, I am not dismissive of people who think he should be gone.

Do you know who must be REALLY mad about A-Rod’s injury?

Joe Crede’s agent!

He signed his client to a deal with the Minnesota Twins this week. Now it is a nice fit for him and he’ll probably play in the playoffs…

But think about what he missed out on!
The Yankees money!

He missed out on a chance to come up to the aptly named Brian Cashman and say "Hey, I hear you need a third baseman. And it looks like there is only one left on the market. This must be very awkward for you... let's talk millions."

I guess Crede will have to settle for $2.5 million in the worst economy in generations and a chance to win his second World Series ring.