Like Norman Bates - straightjacketed and with a fly camped on his nose - he's always thinking, always strategizing, always coldly calculating his next move.
Case in point, Billy McKinney, an OF/1B who last year for the Yankees bordered on an afterthought. He hit .227 with 6 HRs and 14 RBIs - in other words, not much.
That said, all six HRs came in tight games, and one beat the Rangers by a grand score of 1-0. A great night for a former first-round pick, then with his sixth organization in 10 years. You could close your eyes and imagine McKinney having a nice, journeyman career. And - hey - maybe he IS: Maybe this will be his big season, right? He's 29 and can still cover CF. That's not nothing.
So, anyway, last week, when the Yankees signed McKinney to a minor league deal, I figured, "Well, good for him! When Soto, Judge and Verdugo all tweak their gonads, he'll be our cleanup hitter once again." Among the Gammonites, the acquisition was characterized as "for organizational depth." Cashman - always thinking, always manipulating - brought him back to patrol the streets of Scranton.
For four days.
Yep. This week, the Puppet Master traded McKinney to Pittsburgh, the lost continent for ex-Yankees, for what is called "international money." In theory, this should allow Cashman to spend more on the next 16-year-old Latino stud who excites the Yankee scouts the way that cabana boy a few years ago did Jerry Falwell Jr. and his wife. It's all about money, I suppose.
So, here are my questions: By signing and then trading McKinney, was Cashman merely moving one pile of numbers - his minor league budget - into another column, this one for international spending? And was McKinney privy to all this strategizing, or simply used as a ping pong ball?
Either way, as far as Cashman is concerned, it's sorta brilliant, sorta malevolent, sorta nuts and sorta diabolical.
That's why we love him. That's why we hate him. I wonder how McKinney feels?
ReplyDeleteIf McKinney believes he'll get more playing time in Pittsburgh, he feels good.
If McKinney believes he'll get less playing time, he feels bad.
McKinney doesn't feel one way or the other about leaving the Yankees. There is no more cachet any more in being a Yankee.
Cashman and the most dangerous game:
ReplyDeletehttps://i.ytimg.com/vi/3wFQPSEPgWc/maxresdefault.jpg
I never knew that ballplayers had feelings.
ReplyDeleteIf this is true - - - well then, it changes everything.
I’m going to have to go think about this for a while.
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ReplyDeleteDuque -
ReplyDeleteThere's a pitcher in Japan who's name I don't recall who is "supposedly" as good as Yamamoto and is only twenty-two. He was the co-ace for their national team.
He wants to come to America.
My understanding is that, according to the rules and the agreement with MLB, as he is underage and doesn't have the requisite years in Japanese baseball he can leave but, he falls into the international free agent category as opposed to being a true free agent.
That means that instead of signing a nine figure contract he will have to sign for international bonus pool money.
So, what I suspect Brian is doing is trying to raise more IBP money so the Yankees can make the biggest offer.
Rōki Sasaki
ReplyDeleteGesundheit.
ReplyDeleteHinkey -
ReplyDeleteThanks.
If anyone wants to know more...
https://www.mlb.com/news/who-is-roki-sasaki
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/roki-sasaki-22-year-old-japanese-ace-requests-to-be-posted-to-mlb-as-amateur-free-agent-per-report/
Hearing the Yankees signed catcher Justin Capellan from the Dominican Republic for 450K. That’s the international signing pool money they secured in the deal that sent Billy McKinney to the Pirates.
ReplyDelete— JackCurryYES (@JackCurryYES)
Hey, according to that MLB report, Sasaki had a "dazzling debut" against the Czechs. You know what they say: if you can dominate the Czechs, the Slovaks are toast.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, it's hard to resist anyone known as "the Monster of the Reiwa Era." I say we sign him AND the Admiral. The Admiral, the Monster, and Flouncy Cole. We'll win 110 games.
Oh, wait. As ranger reported in the last post comments, the Yanks used that international money to sign Justin Capellan, a 6-foot, 160-pound catcher from the DR.
ReplyDeleteSigh.
Doug K. & Hoss, If that's what Dumbass Cashman was thinking, then we wouldn't call him "Dumbass" anymore. We can only hope because that guy ain't leaving until his hearse shows up.
ReplyDelete@ Hoss, At least that's another great sounding name "Justin Capellan". Should be a movie star in his next career.
ReplyDelete