Once again, having made a trade, Cashman is toast of the town

First, this disclaimer: I like the Chapman trade. We had to deal him for somebody, and a 19-year-old shortstop offers us at least three years of hopeful minor league box scores, and he's less likely to visit Dr. Andrews. But this explosion of acclaim for Brian Cashman? I dunno. We can't say who "won the trade" for years. Anything can happen. Adam Warren could be done, the kids could turn out to be Ruben Riveras, and El Chapo could bring the Cubs multiple championships. Still, across the Yankiverse - where much of the media is either Yankee-owned or angling for jobs with the franchise - the chirping voices extolling Cashman sound like Putin talking about Trump.

Empire Writes Back: "It's called the art of the deal and Cashman managed it brilliantly."

River Ave: "... this deal is as good as it gets. The Yankees played this perfectly."

Pinstripe Alley: "... excellent work by the Yankees GM, and shows how truly under-appreciated he is."  

This, after one day. One day. And let's be honest: It's all predicated on prospect lists and Yankee bluster.

Listen: I'm not saying writers are cooking-up praise, looking to curry favor - (wait, "Curry" is an interesting word, since Jack Curry moved to YES from the Times) - but with newspapers collapsing, working for a team-owned Yankeeganda mill does offer security that no honest journalist with a family can overlook. (Also, I like Curry; don't mean to hit on him.) In this economy, I wouldn't blame anybody for jumping ship on Rupert Murdoch or Charles Foster Kane. And if you're a writer who now and then thinks about leaving the Daily Planet, the last thing you want to do - subliminally - is trash the people who might hire you.

Again, anybody can look at this trade and say Cashman did great. I just get suspicious when a choir of angels forms in the sky to give the Yankees an Oscar, or a Pulitzer, or the Nobel Peace Prize. The Yankees haven't won a goddam thing since 2009 - Boston has two rings - yet some writers actually think Cashman belongs in Cooperstown. (I'm not making this up; Sports Illustrated suggested it.) I know some fans think this web site is too negative about our chosen obsession. Well, that will change, folks... if we start winning.

If the two teams' situations were reversed, if the Yankees had traded - let's say, Jorge Mateo, Mason Williams, Jake Cave and Chad Green for Chapman - I can't help but think today we'd be hearing inside source whispering about Mateo's attitude, or some purple blemish on his butt, or a thicket of reasons why the others had no future with the Yankees. (In fact, the Yankees now have arguably a log-jam of young shortstops and outfielders, and it's worth asking how they will get playing time. I guess Mateo is now a 2B? And what about last year's first rounder, SS Kyle Holder? They drafted him for his glove, not his bat. Is he now irrelevant?) Most of the media looks at the Yankees in the way Fox News assesses Republicans.

Again, I'm not whining about this deal. It seems like a good move, and it beats sitting on our hands. Maybe much of the goody-goody stems from the Yankees being hot. (That will change soon.)  But unless Chapman tweaks a gonad and misses September, this trade simply cannot be assessed for a long, long time. Let's hold off on the Canyon of Heroes, okay? And what the hell is Ruben Rivera doing these days? Still stealing Jeter's gloves?