Time to call up Ryan McBroom

What a better day than to introduce Buck and Baltimore to Ryan McBroom - "The Sweet Sweeper of Beat Street, (driven by Jeep)" - whom I hereby nominate as official psychic windsock of the 2018 Yankee farm system. 

Last time we called for the Bronx Broom - (we were facing Boston, on the verge) - the 26-year-old 1B/OF was playing regularly for Scranton. McBroom, who we obtained for Brigadoon Refsnyder, was hitting .269 with 5 home runs in Triple A, and while that wouldn't win him the key to Moosic, we'd seen worse. But he was exiled to Trenton by the Mother Ship's talent surplus - Clint Frazier, Billy McKinney, Tyler Wade, Brandon Drury, Ronald Torreyes, Greg Bird (on rehab) and even Kyle Higashioka (if you judge a catcher by defense.) Throughout the system, the talent overload meant that the normal upward movement of young position players suddenly was reversed. (By the way, I'm not complaining; just saying.)

For example, one of the quiet breakout Yankee prospects of 2018 has been a speedy, 23-year-old middle infielder named Abiatal Avelino. He was hitting .286 at Scranton before the wave crashed. He went to Trenton, where he's hitting .327 with 4 HRs. If not for Wade and Big Toe, Abi would be getting a full shot at Triple A. (That's not counting Thairo Estrada and Kyle Holder, young shortstops who would be playing at Scranton, if not for injuries.) 

The one problem here with all this talent at Scranton: 

They can't pitch. 

Our two best pitching prospects - Chance Adams and Justus Sheffield - can't seem to string together two dominant outings. Apparently, during the next stretch of double-headers, the Yankees will promote 30-year-old David Hale - as in "Hale Mary!" - to start a game. Veteran, no-name minor league starters have a nice modern tradition with the Yankees - usually, they shut us down - but for now, all that ripening talent in Scranton looks like chips for Brian Cashman's impending July deadline deals.

All I know is this:

1. In recent years, Cashman has righteously refused to trade youth for age. We still rage over Jay Buhner and Doug Drabek, but those debacles happened two generations ago. We can still call for Cashman to be boiled in oil - that's what being a fan is about - but he isn't a fool. He's not going to trade Frazier for a 36-year-old. (Right? Please, tell me I'm right.)

2. If Cashman has a blind spot in trades, it's in chasing the twenty-something "power arm," his equivalent to the hot blonde in the hotel lobby. Over the years, something happens when a team dangles that Michael Pineda, that Jeff Weaver, that Sonny Gray, that Javier Vaz- (DON'T MAKE ME GO DOWN THE LIST!) That's the fear. 

3. The three biggest potential atomic bombs on the Aug. 1 trade market - Manny Machado, Bryce Harper and Clayton Kershaw - shouldn't involve the Yankees. We have no legitimate position for Manny; the Nats surely will keep Harper, and Kershaw - even if the Dodgers somehow decided to trade him - is hurt. 

4. Cashman faces no urgency to make a deal. The Yankees are winning at a staggering pace - a 106-win season is now projected - with at least two big hitters (Stanton and Sanchez) in deep dark slumps. We have the firepower to win shootouts. Adam Warren is near returning, and there is one interesting bullpen lug nut - guy named Cody Carroll - who looks promising in Scranton. 

And today, looking at sad and sorry Buck Baltimore, I have a feeling McBroom is on the way.