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Thursday, August 11, 2016

Cashman has the Yankiverse so well trained that it is proclaiming him winner in the Ivan Nova deal, merely based on his analysis

First off, I love Mike Axisa. He my fave Yankee blogger, and I read River Ave Blues every day. But with great power comes great responsibility, and sometimes, in my opinion, he drifts too far in praising the Yankee front office.

In recent weeks, he's not alone. Most of the Yankiverse has been drunkenly toasting the great Brian Cashman for his trades. The Yankees are being hailed as "winners" even though - and dammit, we all know this - it will take years to learn if we got anybody relevant, and meanwhile, some teams might win a World Series (or two) from the players we traded. Obviously, the 2016 Yankees were going nowhere, so any return beats nothing, right? That's the consensus, but it's a pretty low bar here for success. The fact is, we traded two more seasons of Andrew Miller, Carlos Beltran might have returned on a one-year qualifying offer, and Aroldis Chapman - who so much loved being a Yankee - might feel more inclined to stay a Cub, after we peddled his butt.

Still, Cashman is taking victory lap after victory lap. Here's Axisa yesterday, writing about two unnamed players supposedly coming from Pittsburgh for Ivan Nova. 

I’ll be happy with anyone with actual prospect value. That the Yankees are getting two players is just gravy... The Yankees were smart to trade Nova for whatever they could get rather than lose him for nothing after the season, and it sounds like they might actually get a pair of halfway decent prospects in return.

Axisa devoted a post to praising Cashman for receiving players who aren't named. It sounds like we might actually get somebody decent - according to Cashman. Basically, we're saying no chickens in the coop were harmed, according to the fox. Of course, Cashman will say we got a good deal. He made the deal. What's he going to say? We got snookered?

My beef is with normally critical bloggers who still basically accept whatever Cashman tells us. The Yankiverse is way too quick to cheer, and way to slow to analyze. We haven't played in an AL playoff since 2012, and Cashman is the man who got us here. We can't blame Hal for every bad trade, and cheer Cashman for every one that works.

The other day, for Pittsburgh, Nova threw seven innings and gave up three runs. That's a quality start. Of course, Nova is Nova, and I, too, was glad to see him go. But some pitchers flourish in the DH-less National League, and Nova could be one of them. Meanwhile, Yankee bloggers are praising Cashman, based on Cashman. He could have said, "We got five magic beans!" and the bloggers would go, "Wow! Five magic beans? Cashman is a genius!"

I know, I know, I know... I'm just being spiteful. But after tomorrow, when A-Rod makes his final appearance, the Yankee season will become an afterthought for all but extreme Yankee fans. Nobody else in baseball gives a whack about Tyler Austin, because practically ever team in baseball has their own version of him. We spent $200 million, and we're out of even the Wild Card race by mid-August. Seriously, folks, does Cashman deserve such unbridled faith?

12 comments:

Parson Tom said...

Hell, no! He does not deserve credit for anything except mediocrity.

JM said...

I love the way this whole trade deadline story is being spun as "this is what Cashman has been dying to do for years but mean old Hal wouldn't let him."

Cash may not be a genius as a GM, but he was smart enough to hire a fantastic PR firm.

13bit said...

I agree completely, Duque. I'd rather have some critical analysis than blindered cheerleading. We have too many years of the latter and not nearly enough of the former. They can no longer rest on the laurels of the last dynasty team which, AS WE ALL KNOW, was not assembled by Cashnificent.

Anonymous said...

John Cashman was a relatively good breeder and racer of standard bred horse in Ohio.
George Steinbrenner became associated with him. John had a useless son named Brian, who needed a job, so he asked George to find his son a position. George hired Brian as an intern, but never properly trained him. Attrition and time allowed young Brian to become the General Manager of the New York Yankees, a position for which he is unsuited.
Fortunately for Brian, he has an "Igor" named Joe Girardi, who does everything that Brian requests concerning the daily line up and the roster.

joe de pastry said...

I am sick of Aaron Hicks.

KD said...

Trade Hicks for Bag 'O Dicks!

The Ghost of Yankees Past said...

Often I am taken back by the negative comments and predisposition on this site. The day after a comeback 9-4 win over the Redsucks; where is the discussion about Sanchez going 4 for 5 with his first major league HR , or DiDi going 2 for 5 and hitting .287, or the nice job Joe did using the bullpen to get 8 innings covered ( I know that would actually require giving Joe credit) , or Warren pitching 2 shutout innings and continuing to pitch well since he returned to the Yankees. Why talk about that when you can bitch. I know bitching can be fun and is part of being a fan. But come on guys , day in and day out it can get old.
While critical review of situations is important, balance keeps people on their feet and makes for a more enjoyable site.

KD said...

We're totally beside ourselves with the total failure of our team's organizational philosophy. One title in 16 years is not acceptable but I actually have some hope now. I approve of the changes and look forward to next season. In fact, let's bring up our youngsters now. Next week! Let's make a run for the wild card and see what happens. Who knows?

I'm calling Shanchez The Kraken. What a monster this kid is!

Anonymous said...

I'M WITH YOU AGAIN EL DUQUE ON CASHMAN......HE HAS RECEIVED NOTHING BUT PRAISE AND KUDOS FROM THE MEDIA WORLD...... BUT DO WE REALLY KNOW WHAT WE HAVE YET?.... THE ANSWER IS NO.....AND OTHER BLOGGERS SHOULDN'T GET US WRONG, WE BOTH WANT CASHMAN TO MAKE MONKEYS OUT OF US, AND BE RIGHT ON EVERY SINGLE DEAL HE MAKES......BUT FOR THE LAST 5 TO 7 YEAR STRETCH, IT'S BEEN CASHMAN MAKING HIMSELF LOOK LIKE A MONKEY, AND WE HAVE HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO POINT IT OUT, SEEING THAT THE MEDIA NEVER IS CRITICAL OF HIM.

el duque said...

Ghost,

I appreciate your comment. You have a valid point: I, too, often worry that we've become too flat-out negative. But these are the Yankees, and this will be the fourth straight year that we won't play in the post-season. (I view the Wild Card game as a playoff to the post-season.) In a few weeks, when the kids are up, I expect to gush with unbridled hope over some phenom that offers a reason to believe. The truth is, I am a sucker for Yankee hope. But the franchise this season sucked me dry. I am a beaten fan. Somebody, please, come up from Scranton and save me...

Cowgirl-Up said...

If anyone has ever read a single sentence I have written in which the man named Cashman was referenced, you will know that
having him, ' drawn and quartered " is inadequate punishment for the useless and failed performance he has given the Yankee organization.

He sets the standard for the American tradition of, ' rewarding incompetence."

_ penned by Alphonso

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