Theoretically, nothing happened last week in the Yankiverse... but don't you believe it

A mysterious week...

The GM meetings flashed by like quarks in the Matrix, spawning one deal: Seattle & Oakland traded Bill McSoandso for Ernie McSuchandsuch. Lawyers piled billable hours onto delays over the Japanese Babe Ruth, and the Empire continued its ongoing Mr. Yankiverse managerial pageant. You'd think nothing happened, and yet...

1. Aaron Judge did NOT win the MVP. This is good. Had he won, besides the outcry over Li'l Jose Altuve being robbed, Judge's career would forever be compared to his rookie MVP season. Nobody needs that. Like they say in the video game ads: "Greatness awaits!" Maybe next year...

2. The Yankees kicked the tires on Jurickson Profar, the Rangers' thus-far-failed super-prospect. This is weird. We already have a gaggle of young and old players competing for 2B and 3B, and it doesn't immediately make sense to add Profar, a SS by trade. But Cooperstown Cashman loves former top prospects: Didi Gregorius, Aaron Hicks, Dustin Ackley, Michael Pineda, et al. Mixed results, you could say, but when one explodes into stardom, it obscures the duds. 

3. Apparently, Cashman talked with the Marlins about trading for Giancarlo Stanton. This is crazy, unless you are 14. Sure, it would be thrilling to have the two greatest sluggers of 2018 in our lineup - (I mean, Gary Sanchez and Greg Bird, badabadoom!) - but Stanton would quickly become the new A-Rod, and the lineup would become more homer-happy than ever. One other thing: Those big numbers he piled up last year? They came on a team that was done on Sept. 1, which finished 8 games below .500. No race. No pressure. Just numbers. Oh, to be 14 again! I can already feel the erection! But... no. Just, no.

One takeaway from the trade talks: They foreshadow a few inevitable dinky trades Cashman will make between now and the Rule 5 draft in early December. Because our farm system is popping, Cashman must deal two or three young players that we will almost surely lose in the draft. In recent years, Cashman has traded Triple A prospects (Jose Pirela, Ben Gamel) for 19-year-old arms. Could be, he's trying to bundle a bunch for one solid player. It'd be nice, but we should not get our hopes up. 

4. Hal Steinbrenner inexplicably - and somewhat ridiculously - said the Yankees would have fired Joe Girardi even if we had won the World Series. This is beyond crazy. Fire a guy after he wins a ring? In NYC, after the ticker tape parade? After the talk show tears and the made-for-TV movie? Nah. Ainta gonna hoppen. Worse, it almost intimates something sinister, something personal that we don't know about Joe. I believe this was just Hal trying to take pressure off Cashman over a move that is still being debated within the Yankiverse - and to exonerate Joe from people second-guessing moves in the ALCS. Still, it was a weird and - I believe - foolish thing to say.

5. The Yankees interviewed Bam Bam Meulens for manager. This is great, I think. The reason I equivocate: I hope this is not simply the franchise covering its tail by interviewing one black/Hispanic candidate before handing over the reins to another stock-issue white guy. There's no way to know, of course. But for the record, I think Bam Bam would make a great manager, and he would be immensely popular in NYC. I hope the Yankees take a chance on a guy, and somebody who speaks five languages certainly brings much to the table. Bam Bam has my vote - after, of course, The Master.

6. Cashman reflected on the potential 2018 line up. It has Headley at third, Castro at second, and Ellsbury on the bench. This was tantamount to debate on the GOP tax bill before its final mark-up. Changes are coming. I cannot believe Ellsbury will be with this team on March 1, and my suspicions are that Cashman would love to find a taker for Castro, as the Cubs were two winters ago. Clint Frazier, Glyber Torres, Justus Sheffield, Tyler Wade, Chance Adams and Miguel Andujar are either the Yankee future... or quarks in the Matrix. Right now, I don't think even Cashman knows.