The inability to find, develop and acquire ace pitchers.
Cashman has called this his "white whale." (Insert laugh track.) The failures extend back to the era of Jeff Weaver and Javier Vasquez, a recurring theme of disappointments - a Pavano, an Igawa, a Pineada, a Joba, a Nova, et al - of future Yankee aces that Cashman brought to Gotham with the fanfare of Ed Sullivan welcoming the Beatles, only to have it turn into Howard Cosell unveiling the Bay City Rollers.
Again and again, Cashman brings his latest acquisitions to NYC, only to watch them wither and disappear.
Right now, if I were Max Fried, I'd be terrified. Does he fully realize that he's up against the Curse of Cashman?
Either way, the latest outgrowth of this curse will appear next week, on Opening Day.
Four ex-Yankees will start for their teams.
Sonny Gray for the Cardinals.
Clay Holmes for the Mets.
Luis Severino for the A's.
Michael King for the Padres.
Each name brings to Yank fans a grand itinerary of gut-punch memories.
Gray looked lost in his brief NY visit, was traded for Shed Long Jr., and soon was an all-star again. Holmes delivered some of the most harrowing closer meltdowns in the post-Mariano era. "Sisyphus Sevy" was always on the verge of returning, only to suffer a setback. Michael King went in the trade for Juan Soto, who will probably haunt us to our graves.
On Opening Day, the Yankees will start Carlos Rodon, unless he tweaks something. The way Yankee pitchers are dropping, we're a few barking gonads away from Carlos Carrasco. Rodon has been serviceable as a Yankee - just not the guy we wanted. Another Cashman Maybe. Or should I say, Moby.
Look... we kick around Cashman a lot on this blog. Frankly, it's one of the most enjoyable aspects of rooting for the Yankees. Whenever something goes wrong, Cashman will pop up, like a balding Alfred E. Neuman, to explain how nobody could have foreseen this, how these things happen, how it's not so bad, how there are no sure things in baseblah blah blah...
When the season starts next week, we'll be playing scoreboard on four other games. We should call it "Moby Dick Day." Call him Ishmael. Call him Cashmael. Or as old Shaughnessy at the Globe would say, call him a cab.
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11 comments:
I hope that Cabbie is Bernie X from National Lampoon. Then, we'd get the inside scoop on some of those questions about Cashman we've been pondering for 30 years.
How do I not remember Bernie X? Oh, right, it was the 70s.
One question: can he pitch?
Not only can Bernie X still pitch, but he was supposed to marry George's daughter Jessica before she hooked up with that groundskeeper. You see, it all started when....
Yanks Go Yard today reminded us today of another potential disaster: Carlos Rodan. He’s supposed to be the OD starter, but has only pitched 5 1/3 innings over 2 starts, getting hit hard both starts. According to boone, the shaved ape, he’s been busy throwing BP. Opening Day is a week away, what gives? Is he hurt too? Boone lies like a rug, in a manner that makes even a certain president orange with jealousy (I name no names).
To paraphrase the famous song, we were riding high In February, shot down in March.
Pretty funny, you guys—but Bitty's genealogy of "clowned" yesterday was hysterical. And I loved our Peerless Leader sticking up for the proper use of whatever grammar remains for us. Hee-haw!
The Yanks seem to be disintegrating, but I'm glad to see that our blog is primed and ready for the season.
And as to that list of starting pitchers elsewhere...I saw John Harper and the great John Jastremski debating what happened with Sonny Gray on SNY last night. J.J. thought it was the Yankees, Harper, NYC.
But the big point missed here was that, when Cashie traded Gray on...how come all he got was Shed Long, Jr.??? How was that possible? And then losing Michael King (and what became Dylan Cease) in the deal for Soto, who they never intended to keep?
This is Cashman's greatest, most constant failing: his inability to ever get fair value for guys he gets rid of.
Don’t forget all the innings Joey the dope Gallo’s gonna soak up after he masters pitching by May.
I'm sure happy that someone is taking note of Gallo's imminent return . . .
In the spirit of Carl J. Weitz, who reminded us that Jazz Chisolm has an alter identity of "Jizz Chasm," Joey Gallo cold also - with a little twist of the imagination - become Gooey Jello....
perfectO
Excellent!
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