Sources in the special prosecutor’s office say that the charges listed here show that even in the very first years of his career in crime, “The Brain” was already guilty of all the standard felonies that go into roster deconstruction: intentional devaluation of role players and bullpen arms, a willful misreading of analytics, reckless misuse of the free agent market, and a continuing abuse of the draft.
Perhaps most fascinating is how often one Cashman crime led directly to another.
Some highlights of the indictment:
1999—Perhaps the very worst of Cashman trades. Mike Lowell overcomes cancer to put up minor-leagues seasons of 30 HR, .315, and 26 HR, .304 in 1997-1998. Nonetheless, Cashman deals him to the Marlins in February for pitchers Todd Noel, Mark Johnson, and Ed Yarnall.
Only Yarnall wins a game in the majors (final record: 1-0). Lowell goes on to become an excellent hitter, Gold Glove fielder, and perennial all-star with the Marlins (leading them to a 2003 World Series victory over us) and Red Sox (MVP of 2007 Series).
2000—Manny Ramirez signs as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox. Yankees were reportedly too concerned that Ramirez would hang with his old friends from Washington Heights to sign him.
That same December, Jeff Nelson signs with the Mariners. Nelson has another excellent year in 2001, helping Seattle to 116 wins. Cashman…
2001—…desperately short of relievers by midseason, trades outstanding infield glove D’Angelo Jimenez for Jay “Rented Donkey” Witasick. Jimenez has a nine-year career as a valued utility man. Witasick surrenders 12 earned runs in 5 innings in the playoffs, and is never heard from again.
Yankees miss winning a fourth straight World Series by one inning.
2002—Signing with the Yankees before the 2002 season, slugger Jason Giambi strongly recommends the Yanks sign a teammate: free agent Johnny Damon. Cashman declines, and instead acquires outfielders Rondell White, Raoul Mondesi, and John Vander Wal to fill the corner outfield slots.
Yankees miss the ALCS for the first time since 1997.
2003—Yankees owner George Steinbrenner reportedly recommends that the Yanks sign first baseman/DH David Ortiz, released by the Twins in late 2002. Cashman declines.
Ortiz signs a non-guaranteed, one-year contract for $1.25 million—with the Boston Red Sox. It marks another refusal by The Brain to pay any attention to what the Yankees’ only real rival is doing.
During the season, Cashman trades serviceable, back-of-the-rotation starter Theodore Roosevelt Lilly, for massive head case, Jeff Weaver.
2004—Perhaps Cashman’s most notorious single season, a veritable spree of ugly crimes against baseball and common sense.
Before the 2004 campaign, Yankees sign 35-year-old juicer Gary Sheffield over 29-year-old, future Hall-of-Famer Vladimir Guerrero, the best all-around player in baseball. Sheffield lasts two seasons with the Yankees before breaking down. Guerrero wins the 2004 MVP, and is a star through his retirement after the 2011 season.
Cashman had already let over 700 wins, in the persons of pitchers Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, and David Wells, walk off the team.
To compensate, Cashman deals middle reliever Yhency Brazoban and Jeff Weaver to the Dodgers for violent idiot Kevin Brown. Brazoban has an excellent rookie season (6-2, 2.48), while Weaver will go on to win the clinching game of the 2006 World Series—for St. Louis. Brown…will hit a wall. Literally.
Cashman also trades first baseman Nick Johnson, loogy Randy Choate, and outfielder Juan Rivera, for dud Javier Vazquez. In the remaining nine years of his career, Rivera will hit as many as 25 homers, and bat as high as .310, while Nick Johnson will have his best seasons in Montreal and Washington.
Finally, Cashman trades Cuban acquisition Jose Contreras at the trade deadline for Esteban Loaiza. Contreras will help pitch the White Sox to a World Series win in 2005. Loaiza will compile an 8.50 regular-season ERA for the Yankees, and give up a game-losing homer to David Ortiz in the ALCS.
Yankees will suffer the worst playoff collapse in major-league history.
More details are to follow. Experts agree that we can expect four parts to the indictment in all. The prosecutor’s office added this information:
Yankees’ First-Round Draft Picks, 1998-2004:
1998: Andy Brown, OF; Mark Prior, RHP (signed with Cubs). (Cashman obsession Drew Henson signed in third round.)
1999: David Walling, RHP.
2000: Dave Parrish, C.
2001: John-Ford Griffin, OF; Bronson Sardinha, SS; Jon Skaggs, RHP.
2002: None. (Brandon Weeden, RHP, first pick by Yanks, in second round.)
2003: Eric Duncan, 3B.
2004: Phil Hughes, RHP; Jon Poterson, C; Jeff Marquez, RHP.
WoW - just wow, Sir Hoss.
ReplyDeleteIs it just me or does Jeff Weaver remind anyone else here of Jackie Donaldson?
Ewwww
Apparently, Cashman's inability to judge talent or read a medical report never improved. I look forward to the many parts to this indictment. Required reading for Hal!
ReplyDeleteAnd I now understand the roots of my traumatic reaction when anyone suggests Cashman make a trade! Thanks. You saved me oodles of money I would have had to spend on my therapist.
ReplyDeleteSlow, easy breaths. Inhale for 5 seconds. Exhale for 5 seconds. Okay, I'm better now. Ready for part 2.
Hoss, great job on putting all of these crazy mistakes on one page. This brings back many terrible memories. And many that I had forgotten, like King George wanting the Yanks to sign David Ortiz but getting talked out of it by Dumbass Cashman. When King George is smarter than Cashman, that tells you the colossal nature of the beast.
ReplyDeleteHad Dumbass done things right, we might have won another five or six World Series Championships over that span of years. The guy has basically been Yankee Enemy No. 1, and he still has a job. It's beyond astonishing.
Thanks, guys—and sorry to traumatize you all over.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, the sportswriter take—the game has passed Cashman by—is demonstrably false. He sucked at this from Day One, in a very different game. He sucks at it now.
Most amazing: he still makes almost THE EXACT SAME MISTAKES. Twenty-five years of being utterly unable to successfully evaluate minor-league talent, free agents, or above all, pitchers. And...will not hire anyone who can do so.
Oh, and AA: Jeff Weaver reminds me of pretty every white derelict guy hanging out in the parking lot of a suburban 7/11, reeking of cheap whiskey, asking everybody who passes if they have a light, then asking if they have a smoke, too.
ReplyDeleteHC: noted :)
ReplyDeleteGleyber Day ?
ReplyDeleteRodon needs to be brilliant today .
Gleyber Day!!
ReplyDeleteHuge thanks to Jose Ramirez!!! He did what many of wanted to do…after Jackie threw the one jab, he led with his face…
Not Brilliant - better get that breath freshener at the ready 'cause Carlos will be blowing some kisses today in the Bronx
ReplyDeleteRusty Rodón…
ReplyDeleteLOCK HIM UP!
ReplyDeleteLOCK HIM UP!
or at least fire him…
Rodon. Cripes.
ReplyDeleteand hey it’s great paying Rodon 25m a year to get his head beat in every 5 days.
ReplyDelete….and now he’s hurt again.
This guy doesn’t have Ed Whitson written all over him. We just don’t have Billy Martin around to knock him down
ReplyDeleteERA UPDATES
ReplyDeleteRodon 7.33
Severino 7.74
“May you live in interesting times”
Another fine pickup by our genius GM.
ReplyDeleteThank God for Becker reruns.
ReplyDeleteI’m off to see Barbie (required viewing)
ReplyDeleteSaw that Ramirez-Anderson bout.
ReplyDeleteSo Timmy squares up first, throws the first punches...and manages to get knocked out despite the fact that his teammates are trying to physically restrain Ramirez.
Heeheeheeheeheehee...
I just wish Tony La Russa had still been around to get into the action.
Curious, by the by, to see what Ramirez's punishment is. If Donaldson got a suspension for saying the forbidden word, "Jackie," I wonder what knocking out MLB's chosen child will lead to.
Bizarre inning…
ReplyDeleteback in it
ReplyDeleteI think Rodón has an injured ego…
ReplyDeleteSheffield over Vlad. I thought that Cashman was over-ruled by George. Regardless, what a gut punch. And of course, passing over Carlos Beltran.
ReplyDeleteManny and Papi were/are two totally insufferable 'holes...
We can't hit but we can walk just great.
ReplyDeleteWandy, Wandy, Wandy. Sucking.
ReplyDeletePathetic.
ReplyDeleteYankee pitchers give up a lot of HR’s.
ReplyDeleteA LOT.
SNY reports Rodon suffered a hamstring injury.
ReplyDeleteWe’re the ones suffering if you ask me (which you didn’t)
Astro pitchers are challenging Judge, and he’s missed every pitch.
ReplyDelete“Good cut!” Kay squealed, as the breeze blew back my hair.
ReplyDeleteSomeplace in the universe Frankie Montas is "imaging" himself giving up 3-run HRs.
Saw a tweet that Yankees security guards were ejecting people who had “Fire Cashman” signs.
ReplyDeleteI’m rewriting my sign to say “IREFAY ASHMANCAY”
This indictment is indicting! Sorry I can’t join you at your Yankees game, but I’m willing to fund photocopies of the full prosecutors case … to hand out to any and all real fans. Hope you can find some.
ReplyDeleteThey'll never catch on, Bern.
ReplyDeleteThis is going to be one of those losses where we score plenty of runs but not quite enough to win the game. A "Tantalus" situation.
15 runners left on base.
ReplyDeleteThis team is a shitshow.
But they score seven runs. Was this a 2023 loss? Is this supposed to be "progress"? I'm sure Boone is telling people that it is right now as I type.
ReplyDeleteif they ask Irefay Ashmancay is a SS prospect buried in the depth chart at SWB.
ReplyDeleteWell…you didn’t really think the Yanks would win the series did you?
Rodon could be headed back to the IL, the worst part of that is that means Severino stays in the rotation. On the other hand, one less dud in the rotation. He costs about $1M per start. Poor Hal…
Stanton 0-6. ‘nuff said.
Not sure if an injured toe somehow prevents a hitter from catching up to MLB fastballs, but maybe the AJA can do a study on it?
Shocker!! Boone thinks the Yanks has great at-bats!! Stanton had a great at-bat to finish the game!! We were just one swing away from double-digit runs!!
ReplyDelete“I like the way we’re trending now!”
Man, I would absolutely love for one of the reporters to ask him, “You realize you left 15 men on base and LOST the motherfucking game, right?”
This is infuriating.
The Yankees split a series with the defending World Series champions! That means they’re a championship-caliber team, just like $$$$man said. Can’t believe anyone ever doubted him.
ReplyDeleteMore gaslighting Bern…
ReplyDeleteAstro pitchers walked 12 guys and hit a batter. Also, Houston threw a wild pitch and made an error. And we couldn't score 8 runs.
ReplyDeleteAwful hitting by Judge, Volpe—and especially Cantrun, with that 0-6 and 6 guys left on. He's killing us. Again.
The best part? I didn't watch any of it, as I refused to chase after whatever special streaming beaming smoke-signal service the Yanks contracted this game out to.
Watched the Metsies instead. Talk about Boone—Buck now really starting to lose it.
ReplyDeleteAfter his team lost 2-0 to the Os'—on two foolish fielding plays—a lowly scribe dared to ask why a Met had not thrown home on a play in which the Baltimore runner would've been out by 10 feet.
Showalter's reply? "Well, people make mistakes. He didn't see it...But you saw it, right? You were watching the game."
Oooooh, bite! Sounds like it's time for Bucky to be moving on, from yet another failed experiment in winning now.
Oh, and Kevin: yeah, I heard that rumor, too, that George overrode everyone and insisted on Sheffield.
ReplyDeleteBut then, nearly every time Cashie made a bad move, sooner or later the rumor got passed around that it was really crazy George. I just don't believe it anymore.
And as for Beltran...well, courthouse rumors have it that that decision will play heavily in Part II of the indictment. But I can't comment any further!
I agree HC. The moves that have been made after The Boss passed on show who was inept
ReplyDeleteI feel sorry for Showalter. I really like him. He’s old baseball Pete Rose kinda guy. Just never made it all the way. He basically did it right all these years, you can give him that.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAs I may have mention before, I get all the O's games where I now live.
ReplyDeleteWhat a pleasure to listen to Jim Palmer discuss baseball.
I remember him earlier saying that he believes one of the issues with pitchers getting hurt is not merely the gyrations that they make while spinning pitches, but the guys don't run enough.
He posits that their legs are too weak to help them maintain the required number of pitches. They worry about "spin rates" and not fitness.
My son's pitching coach had been a regional scout back in the day and he always spoke about lower body fitness and make them do things for their legs. They groaned all the time. But only one arm injury during the 3 years that he worked with them before he retired. [He was just man an old part-timer, but he knew his stuff.]
I thought of that and Rodon's hammy today. He just doesn't seem to be in shape to me.
Maybe Rodon can borrow the hammy that Stanton isn't using.
I wish he just had some pride and took a buyout and retired. Stanton is so obvious cooked. All he can hit are pitches which mistakenly are placed in his swing path.
Agreed, Archie. A friend of mine took a look at Rodon when told he had "a core problem," and pronounced, "He doesn't have a core problem. He has a Coors problem."
ReplyDeleteIn general, I'd say someone needs to take a good, long look at baseball fitness. There is no point to being "the greatest ever" at some skill or two, when you can't stay on the field.
I've always liked Buck, too, Beauregard. But when you're snapping at the reporters just for asking what went wrong, it's time to retire. Press coverage is part of the game—and part of the reason why both Buck and the mediocre infielder in question are making many times what any reporter is.
ReplyDeleteSo, Boone's explanation for pitching Peralta two innings is that the Yanks were "really short" in pitching.
ReplyDeleteThis happens constantly with the Yankees—despite the fact that they almost always have 6-7 pitchers in the pen. I know in part it's the starters melting down...but then we're told that they're supposed to just throw as hard as they can, and preferably get out before facing a lineup for a third time.
And this is supposed to work how...?
It was definitely a mistake to sign Sheffield instead of Guerrero, and not merely in hindsight either, as Guerrero was obviously a monster talent who was much younger. But I was pleasantly surprised by how well Sheffield did. He put up good numbers for two years, and was having a good third year at age 37 before being injured by an on-field collision (it was not a tweaked oblique that knocked him out for four months).
ReplyDeleteAnd although he had a reputation as a troublemaker and bad apple, he didn't show it while with the Yankees, only badmouthing Joe Torre after he had already been traded. On the contrary, he seemed to set a good example while with the team. I remember prior to the 2004 season, a certain third baseman blew his knee out playing basketball prior to the 2004 season, leaving the Yankees with a massive hole on the left side because a certain GM had no backup plan. The longterm plan for 3B was to hope that Drew Henson would at some point be transformed into a great player. Sheffield volunteered to move to 3B to fill the gap. This might not have been a great solution, either, but I appreciated his attitude.
Those were the good old days, though - even at the end, Sheffield still produced some value for the Yankees, bringing back three Detroit prospects in the trade at age 37. I don't think any of them amounted to anything with the Yankees, but at least it was some value. Nowadays Cashman would have let Sheffield walk away for nothing.
Obviously it would have been better to sign Guerrero than Sheffield, again this was obvious at the time, and the indictment has merit as it stands. But during Sheffield's Yankees tenure I came around to the thought: why not sign both?
Agree on all counts, Kaiser.
ReplyDeleteYes, Sheffield did play well—for as long as he could play. And why NOT both?
The Yanks often have acted as though they couldn't sign two big free agents in the same year—such as Stanton and J.D. Martinez—but, the one time they did, signing C.C., Teix, and Burnett...they won it all.
Not all years are equal!
But...too late now!