The first Yankee domino just toppled, and a landslide could be coming

Well, it happened. Finally. Last night, the 2022 off-season arrived - not on cat feet, but with a thud. If you haven't heard, Cooperstown Cashman cut a deal with his buds in Minnesota: Gone are Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela - in exchange for the ancient 3B Josh Donaldson, SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa and little known catcher Ben Rortvedt.

This trade is a Rorschach Test: Everybody will see it differently. Let's go down the list: 

Goodbye, Gary. The Kraken is released. Finally. No matter how we view this deal, let's face it: The Sanchise HAD to go, and I suspect the line of takers wouldn't fill a phone booth - (if there were phone booths.) Sad, though, that in the end, Gary's game was so degraded that it requires adding Gio, just to find a suitor. 

In keeping with IIH's vaunted cynicism, let's agree to predict that Gary - with a change of scenery - will hit 30 HRs. Still, let me be first to say, "Good luck, Twins fans." They are about to experience one of the most frustrating human beings on the planet. Watching Gary swing his bat at balls low and in the dirt- and barely wave his glove at them... folks, I don't envy what's coming for you. 

The Rortvedt experimendt. Rortvedt is said to bring solid defense, though he can't hit a lick. No problem: Someone must bat ninth! At least he hits LH, so he can platoon with Higgy. He's 24 and cheap - (to Food Stamps Hal's delight) - and the Yanks, despite selecting catchers high in the last four drafts, have nobody high in the pipeline. They had to do something.   

The Hyphen. Kiner-Falefa is 26, speedy and won a Gold Glove at 3B during the Covid season, though it's not clear if he can hit a lick. No problem: Someone must bat ninth! (Wait, can two guys bat ninth?) He'll play SS - as Gio was going to. Jeez, I wonder about this. Light a candle for Anthony Volpe and Oswaldo Peraza, and- as a matter of policy - let's cheer every Cashman trade that doesn't involve them. (When I heard the Yanks had made a deal, theirs were the names I most feared seeing. And by tonight, they could be gone.) 

You must be joshing.  Getting Donaldson scares me. He's 36, a history of tweaked calves, and the Twins are jettisoning him after a decent season: 26 HRs and .247. The clock is ticking on a career that peaked in 2015 - seven years ago. Seven. Still, he's a tough old bird, a clubhouse grinder (replacement for Gardy?) He ripped Gerrit Cole last year over the stickum controversy. I'm fine with that, by the way. On a wild card one-and-out team, nobody - not even the "ace" - should be above catching shit. And you can never have too many DHs, right? (Mark my words, Luke Voit is outahere.)  

Gone Gary. It will take days, weeks, months of expensive liquid therapy to process my feelings. Gary's glorious first summer was one of the great breakouts of the modern era. Then he fell apart. No Yankee in the last six years brought so much hope - and frustration. Honestly, it's hard to imagine him really gone. Is this trade contingent on a physical?  

Goodbye Gio. One of our faves. Didn't see this coming. I had him holding 3B for the next three years. I'll never forget him diving into the Tampa dugout to snare that foul and - briefly - save our season. Or throwing out runners from his butt. Of course, last summer, his hitting started to degrade. Many years from now, he'll rouse a loud cheer at Old Timers Day. The Twins got a player. 

Of course, we cannot judge this deal until all of Cashman's remake is finished. Any of these guys might become "weekend Yankees" and be gone by Tuesday.  But it's worth noting that the Yankees traded a catcher and 3B-SS... for a catcher and a 3B-SS (and a salary dump.) Cashman must have feared finding himself in a position where he has no catcher, because nobody - nobody - ever wants to help the Yankees.

Martin Luther King famously said the arch of the universe bends towards Justice. Well, unfortunately, the arch of the Yankiverse has been bending toward Zolio Almonte. Stay at your posts, everybody... it's happening.