While New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman’s trade deadline track record speaks for itself, his lack of action this year caused a bit of confusion.
With the Yankees coming off a devastating series against the Boston Red Sox and a good portion of the pitching rotation injured or playing with prolonged ailments, it was all but guaranteed they would trade for a pitcher. As the 4 PM cutoff rolled around and the Yanks were leading by a small amount against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Cashman elected to call off the dogs.
The pursuance of any relief was over, and once again, the Bombers’ GM stayed put. Maybe, this was the right move, ultimately, time will tell, however, the reason for this is quite simple.
“You fall back and look at the roster you have and feel like, ‘This is a damn good roster,’ and we can compete with anybody in the game,” said Yankees general manager Brian Cashman.
The New York Yankees can compete with anyone:
He trusts his players and knows what they’re capable. Having the ball in the hands of Masahiro Tanaka, J.A. Happ, Zach Britton, and James Paxton should be comforting, but the last few weeks have been concerning. So concerning that the fan-base was sure he would trade away offensive juggernaut Clint Frazier or young third baseman Miguel Andujar.
It seems as if the price was too high for a pitcher, and when the Mets came knocking to flip Marcus Stroman for Estevan Florial and Deivi Garcia, Cashman laughed the offer to the bank. Similar to what he did with Gio Urshela, Mike Tauchman, and Cameron Maybin, there’s hope for a struggling pitching rotation.
Extracting the value and quality can be difficult when pitchers go through a cold streak. The entire Yankees starting staff now have ERAs over 4.00, with Domingo German just barely over the threshold. Bringing in reinforcements might have been the ideal scenario, but there’s no doubt the talent on the roster should theoretically be enough to win games and reach the World Series.
Gaining back Luis Severino and Dellin Betances bt the end of the season will help significantly, but the Yankees will inevitably face their fair share of challenges when it comes to pitching until they eventually make their return.