Cashman: Don’t hold your breath

July 29, 2008 by Benjamin Kabak 56 Comments

Following last night’s loss at the hands of the Orioles, Brian Cashman addressed the ~~circling vultures~~ New York press corps eager for word on rumored Yankee moves. According to Pete Caldera, Cashman does not expect to make any more moves before Thursday’s 4 p.m. trade deadline, but that’s just Cashman being Cashman. A Major League GM can’t come out and admit that they’re interested in and close to acquiring another player for fear of giving a potential trading partner more leverage. The Jarrod Washburn talks appear to have cooled, but I wouldn’t be surprised either way.

A.D.

Marte to the Dodgers for Andy LaRoche would be brilliant. The Billy Beane buy & sell plan
- Jake
  
  I’ll pass
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Ben K.
  
  Think about it this way. If you were Ned Colletti, why in God’s name would you ever make that trade?
  - TurnTwo
    
    but, on the other hand, if you had a great 3B prospect, why wouldnt you at least give him a fair shot to win the 3B job?
    - Bo
      
      LaRoche would be fantastic for the Yanks!
      
      He can play the bench for the next 7 years while the games best 3b plays.
      
      Great thinking
      - steve (different one)
        
        you’re right, it would be impossible for a 24 year old 3Bman to learn how to play 1B.
        
        impossible.
        
        i mean, why would the Yankees want a RHed 1Bman who has hit .293/.379/.516 in the minors and under team control for the next six seasons??
        
        keep up the good ideas!
        
        ChrisS
        
        Or move ARod to first, depending on the defense of LaRoche. It wouldn’t be the first time that an offensive force was shifted around the diamond as he got older.
        
        r.w.g.
        
        ARod isn’t moving off 3B for Andy LaRoche. I lol’d.
        
        http://riveraveblues.com Mike A.
        
        LaRoche is pretty bad defensively, but passable there because of his offense.
        
        http://riveraveblues.com Mike A.
        
        Jason Giambi came up as a third baseman, as did Konerko.
        
        Bo
        
        LaRoche can’t even hit enough to beat out Blake Dewitt and Nomar.
        
        Stop being fooled by BA’s rankings from 2 yrs ago.
        
        Maybe we should just trade Hughes for Andy Marte while we are at it.
        
        And try to pry loose Homer Baily and Edwin jackson.
        
        http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/CRsmithT1.jpg tommiesmithjohncarlos
        
        Actually, LaRoche CAN hit enough to beat out Dewitt and Nomar. I have no clue why they haven’t handed him the job already.
        
        DeWitt and Nomar are atrocious.
        
        A.D.
        
        Potentially trading a veteran reliever we just got & some other minor leaguers is a lot different than trading a prized young arm.
        
        Andy Marte’s Minor league numbers are nowhere near LaRoche’s (LaRoche is still ranked as a top 35 prospect by BA)
        Marte:271/348/476
        LaRoche: 293/379/516
        
        LaRoche’s worst year was when he was 20 in A ball, and gotten better essentially every year, Marte has gotten worst every year
        
        LaRoche hasn’t been given a shot in LA, he was hurt to begin the season which led to DeWitt starting. Now Torre & Ned are now going with .262 career hitter Casey Blake
        
        You can disagree with the idea, but at least give some good reasons
        
        In reality Cash probably isn’t looking this direction, but who knows
        
        http://riveraveblues.com Mike A.
        
        Oh come on. LaRoche could out hit Nomar and DeWitt with his eyes closed. Dude’s career OPS is approaching .900. It’s just that Colletti doesn’t give him a freaking shot because DeWitt’s “gritty” and Nomar’s a “veteran” while LaRoche is just “talented.”
  - A.D.
    
    I thought the same thing about 2 decent prospects for Casey Blake, but hey it happened.
    
    The Dodgers are not giving LaRoche a chance
    
    On site such as MLBTR that have reported the Dodgers are interested in moving LaRoche for bullpen help
    
    I’m not pulling this out of no where, just matching what gets reported
    - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=594331910 Jamal G.
      
      I don’t understand the backlash on this idea, why in God’s name wouldn’t people want to make this deal. I would not offer Damaso Marte but I damn sure wouldn’t let him stand in the way of Andy LaRoche in pinstripes.
      - ChrisS
        
        Exactly. Maybe, Kellerman’s comparison of KRod and Edwar can gain some steam real quick, and the Dodgers could be talked into getting the next great closer. Relievers are a dime-a-dozen, and inconsistent, and the Yankees have plenty.
        
        Unfortunately, I don’t see any kind of deal like that happening, but hey, wishful thinking. It’d be nice to get some good young bats into the line-up. And Ned Colletti isn’t exactly the best talent evaluator out there.
        
        A.D.
        
        I don’t get the nearsightedness of him only being a 3b, we’re (generally) all fans of a baseball team that took the best SS in the game and moved him to 3rd without a 2nd thought.
        
        LaRoche is a high on base guy, he’s hit a poor .217 in the majors in his 2 short stints, and still put up a .348 OBP, that’s redic
    - Geno
      
      Well Hell, if Patterson, Cox and Britton gets us LaRoche, we should do it immediately. If they wanted Marte instead of any of those 3, go for it. A bat like LaRoche is easily worth it.
- TurnTwo
  
  Graziano has the Dodgers somewhat interested in Alberto Gonzalez as a fallback option to play SS should other SS not be available.
  
  he could be part of a LaRoche swap, no? throw in a bullpen arm or two, done deal.
  - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=594331910 Jamal G.
    
    That was my proposed deal. The Dodgers get to chose an infielder from the list of Alberto Gonzalez, Cody Ransom, and Wilson Betemit. The other part of the deal would be that they could have any reliever in the Yankees’ organization not named Mariano Rivera, Mark Melancon, and Humberto Sanchez. If they want two relievers then they can only have one reliever from the Major League level.
  - A.D.
    
    Beat me to typing it
    
    I’m suprised the Dodgers have no one in their system that can come be a glove man at SS, but who knows
MD

the problem with these trade ideas is that they usually assume the other GM is an idiot…..I doubt that many would have offered Tabata and the 3 pitchers for Nady and Marte…….reality is the other side wants to do just as well or better than the Yanks……otherwise, we’d have everyone…..
- A.D.
  
  Well the real reason the Yankees “won” in the deal is pitching depth. Years past McCutchen & Ohllie would have been bigger prospects for us, but with: IPK, Hughes. Horne (though having some issues), Marquez, Z-Macs emergence, and then Brackman, Bliech, and Cole all hopefully coming into the organization soon, the team and it’s fans don’t mind giving up the arms we did.
  
  I think this deal can work out for both teams, Pitt gets a high celing OF who will have less pressure not being a top Yankees prospect (and who has time behind Bay, McCutchen, and McClouth), a filler in Karstens, and 2 talented arms that can both start or relieve and be good set-up guys or probably #3 starters (3-5). Also both are very marketable down the line.
  
  Basically we’re happy as fans because it didn’t touch some of our better starting pitching, Pitt is happy because they got 4 players, 3 pretty good one, and hey Karstens in the NL maybe very productive
r.w.g.

The really great thing is that there is no deadline for signing Barry.

Just sign Barry.
- A.D.
  
  Sept 1st, gotta be eligible for the post-season
  - r.w.g.
    
    Yeah, you’re right. Cash should probably get on that.
- radnom
  
  To play where exactly. I can almost understand people supporting this before the Nady deal, you were desperate, its ok, but what do we have to gain from this now? Let Bonds take away at bats from Nady/Giambi/Damon? eh, I’ll pass for what that means.
  
  If Bonds was a viable option, don’t you think Cashman would have just picked him up for league minimum instead of trading away Tabata?
  
  Think.
  - http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/CRsmithT1.jpg tommiesmithjohncarlos
    
    DFA Sexson. Bonds is his replacement. He takes a game or two at DH while Damon takes LF (if he’s healthy enough to do it) on Nady’s days off. Again, the goal with Bonds is not to hand him the any permanent job, it’s to upgrade the bench and give us better offensive options (since we know we’re not getting any offense from CF or C).
    
    Sexson was brought in to be a righty bat off the bench, but Nady makes him superfluous since Nady is a righty bat in the everyday lineup. And he clearly isn’t going to give us much of anything, so we should move on and see if Barry can give us much of anything.
    
    In a side note, B-Ref (yeah, I said it) notes that the X-Man played 79 games at 1B and 30 games at CF back in 05 and 06 (combined). I’m hoping that if Damon’s body improves enough that he can take a few starts in left, Girardi considers trying Nady out in center or at first here and there to sit the no-hit kids or give Giambi a breather… roster flexibility rocks.
    - radnom
      
      Like I said, not really worth it. Is Sexson’s roster spot really that important that upgrading from him to Bonds is going to make much a difference? No, at least its not worth everything else he brings to the table.
      
      If Cashman wasn’t willing to sign him (thank god) when he actually needed a DH/middle-back of the lineup type guy, why would he give in just to bring Bonds in as a bench player?
      - http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/CRsmithT1.jpg tommiesmithjohncarlos
        
        Because it’s low, low risk, high, high reward.
        
        Worst case, he looks rusty, hits like Varitek, and he’s a dick who gets into a shoving match with Giambi, starts dating C-Rod, and steals money out of Derek Jeter’s locker. We DFA him faster than you can say Billy Martin and we all move forward amicably.
        
        Best case, Johnny Damon gets healthy enough to play LF, Nady slides over to CF, Bonds hits like his old self and becomes the everyday DH, and biggety-bam, Jose Molina is the only offensive hole left in our lineup.
        
        In a likely medium, Bonds hits somewhere in the .275/.390/.540 range and becomes a valuable bat occasionally starting at DH, occasionally pinch hitting off the bench, and takes a chunk of August and September AB’s away from the out-machines that are Richie Sexson, Wilson Betemit, Melky Cabrera, Brett Gardner, Justin Christian, Jose Molina, and Chad Moeller, and serves as valuable insurance against Damon hitting the DL again. Is that so horrible?
        
        radnom
        
        Because it’s low, low risk
        
        Again you are only thinking in terms of money. I’m not. Neither is Cashman, otherwise this would be a no brainer.
        
        http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/CRsmithT1.jpg tommiesmithjohncarlos
        
        No, I’m not only thinking in terms of money. Adding Bonds IS low risk. It’s low risk because he’s exceedingly easy to get rid of if it doesn’t work in any way, because he wouldn’t be signed to any type of a multi-year contract and he wouldn’t be counted on to serve a central role on the team. He’s the last guy in the clubhouse and the first one out; on the pecking order he’s the equivalent of a minor league callup. He’s freaking Brett Gardner – let’s give this kid a uniform number and run him out there for a week, see if he can hack it.
        
        What are all these nightmare scenarios that you forsee unfolding if we signed Bonds? You think he’s gonna run through Bobby Meacham’s stop sign? Urinate in the team whirlpool? Leap off the bench with a glove and cut off Bobby’s throw to the plate, Manny-style?
        
        Because, seriously, it can’t be a money or a production issue that stands in the way of you advocating for this, because they’re both non issues. The money will be short-term peanuts, and the production will be the determining factor – he’s good, he plays; he’s not, he’s cut.
        
        So what are the evil clubhouse cancers you’re afraid of? That he’ll have hordes of reporters circling around his locker? You think anybody on the team would give a crap about that? That fans in Anaheim and Kansas City would heckle us with asterisk signs, and ESPN will say we’re all that’s wrong with baseball? Most of the country already hates us, Barry’s not going to change that. That our results will be tainted and that he’s not a True Yankee? Only small-minded idiots dwell in the realms of those juvenile, reactionary, hackneyed ideas… I’m not going to be bullied into cutting off my nose to spite my face.
        
        For all his considerable faults, Barry is a talented baseball player. Most baseball players know this, and because of this and because they want to win, they want to have guys around them who are talented baseball players, even if they have faults. Sure, Kevin Youkillis probably hates Manny Ramirez’s guts, but he damn sure appreciates those two world series rings Manny gave him…
        
        I think the Yankee clubhouse will be fine. But again, even if I’m wrong and Barry becomes a feces-flinging sociopath, he’s cut faster than you can say CashMoney.
Ivan

Well Cashman probably feels that even if he doesn’t make a deal for a SP, he still has Kennedy, and Hughes who can give them something for a month.

Is there a chance Wang shuts it down for this year. His cast is being remove today but yet will be in crutches for a week or two and probably has to throw while seated.
- Bo
  
  If he thinks hes getting anything out of IPK and Hughes in 2008 he wasn’t watching those two pitch early.
  
  You cannot count on them. He shouldn’t have been counting on those 2 to begin with. One rookie pitcher doing great is enough. You can’t rely on 3.
  - A.D.
    
    So giving talent young players a spot down the stretch is a potentially worse idea than given proven average to below average vets a chance?
    
    Young players have been huge for WS teams lately:
    K-Rod dominant set-up guy as a rookie
    Wainwright, closed for St Louis for their title
    Lester & Dice-K were both big for the Sox last year (not to mention Pedrioa and Ellsbury’s contribution)
    Bobby Jenks, brought up as the close for Chicago when they won their WS
    Colorado lost the WS but they relied on a ton of young arms & Tulo
    
    This year looks similar for teams in the race right now:
    Brewers relying on Parra as thier #3
    Mets have Pelfry as their #4
    JA Happ just called up for the Phillies
    No one in the Marlins rotation is over 25 (Volstad & VandenHurk are rookies)
    TB considering bringing up Price as their power reliever & Longoria is a key bat
    
    Basically relying on talented young players is very much becoming part of the game. If the Yanks can get Washburn for little, yeah its a good pick-up, but going to Hughes or IPK, despite their struggles early is most likly still better than Ponson for the rest of the year
  - Ivan
    
    It’s easy to say that when Hughes and Kennedy were pitching that poorly in th beginning of the year.
    
    Again, do you really think Hughes gonna be this bad for the entire season? I don’t, neither was Kennedy who’s better than Ponson or Rasner. Hey they are rookies and what not but if your best alternatives are those two then why not use them unless you swing a deal.
    
    hey the Marlins in 06 counted on rookie pitchers albeit they had little choice but they pitch well.
    
    Kennedy can certainly do better than Ponson and Hughes is better than Washburn. Again, as bad as Hughes was, it was in April and to me he would pitch much better as the season went on in my opinion.
  - Geno
    
    How does a team develop young pitchers then? The way I’ve seen it work has been a team brings up rookie arms, lets them fail for a year or 2, and then the young arm either blossoms or flops. What’s your proposed strategy?
  - Matt G.
    
    Let’s not forget that Phil was pitching with a broken rib, which many have linked to his control issues. If he’s healthy (and he can see), no reason not to expect his ’07 playoff-level performance.
- TurnTwo
  
  problem is that under this plan, Rasner and Ponson are still in the rotation until these guys could be thought about to maybe contribute.
  
  you can not have Ponson and Rasner pitchin 2 out of every 5 games and think you’re going to continue to push to make the postseason. gotta upgrade, and better sooner than later.
  - Bo
    
    All well and good to say develop pitching but you’re in a pennant race. You have 60 games elft. Tryouts are over.
    
    And why does a below avg starter have to replace them? Why can’t they get a good starter? Why have a deep farm system loaded with talent right???
    
    Use it.
    - Ivan
      
      Didn’t they traded for Nady and Marte. Hey again, Kennedy is better than Ponson and unless your gonna trade for big time pitcher, guys like Washburn and etc sure are upgrades over ponson but Kennedy is probably better than Washburn and same with Hughes. It’s about who gives ya best chance to win. Hey Tb relies on young starters. Who gives ya a better chance to win Kennedy or Ponson/Rasner.
      - http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/CRsmithT1.jpg tommiesmithjohncarlos
        
        The question isn’t whether or not Kennedy or Hughes are better than Washburn. The question is, if we can get Washburn without giving up anything of considerable value, should we?
        
        My answer is yes. I see a club that is trying to fill five holes with two good starters (Joba and Pettitte), one crafty vet who’s having a great year but is far from a lock to maintain his pace (Moose), three reclamation projects/AAAA guys who compete well but just don’t have quality, consistently out-producing stuff (Ponson, Rasner, Giese), four guys who are on rehab assignments of varying length and success who could make a contribution to the club and pitch well sometime soon, but who could all just as easily not be physically or mentally ready to do much until next year (IPK, Hughes, Wang, Pavano), and one guy who is a wildcard and a total unknown (Aceves).
        
        We’ve got a lot of maybes and not that many definites, and that’s compounded by the fact that a lot of our guys are either old and injury concerns or young (and injury concerns). Washburn is a guy who can probably, if nothing else, give us some decent innings and fill some gaps (both this year and next) until some of these guys get back strong and ready to dominate. He’s not a savior, but he’s a better option over the next month than most of what we’ve got right now.
        
        Pitching depth is always good. If the price is reasonable, it’s a smart move.
        
        Ivan
        
        To be fair, I am not expecting much Pavano (as usual) and IPK was off the DL for weeks and was demoted by the yanks to step his game up. So really Hughes and Wang are your two rehab starters.
        
        Sure you love the depth and if the yanks can get Washburn for nothing that’s cool, but to me I feel that IPK can give me a better chance to win than Ponson, Rasner or maybe Washburn. Who knows maybe Washburn does better than my expectations.
        
        Sure we have some unknowns and maybes especially with Hughes and Kennedy but I know what Ponson is and Rasner(who I like) and Washburn is.
        
        Ivan
        
        I guess it’s the old throw something on the wall and see if it sticks plan.
        
        http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/CRsmithT1.jpg tommiesmithjohncarlos
        
        That’s all I’m saying. I’d rather have too many options than too few.
E-ROC

Does this mean Brian Bannister will be in Pinstripes before or at the deadline?
- http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/CRsmithT1.jpg tommiesmithjohncarlos
  
  Yes.
  
  I’m assuming you’re speaking of Minnesota Twins pinstripes, of course.
- A.D.
  
  I certainly hope not
  - radnom
    
    Ditto.
    
    Same for Washburn, for that matter.
Casper

My contribution to irresponsible rumor-mongering for the day:

“Nick Carfardo, of The Boston Globe, reports Seattle Mariners SP Erik Bedard (shoulder) is not fitting in with the team and could be traded this season. One Mariners official said Bedard ‘is a guy who just didn’t fit here. He needs to go somewhere where there’s another strong personality who can kick his butt.'” http://www.kffl.com/player/7739/mlb

Gotta have an eye on this situation, right? Wonder what the Yanks think of Bedard. Probably tough to ever buy-lower.

Also… So after seeing that Bedard blurb I was just checking out the Globe’s “Extra Bases” blog and came across an entry about the recently completed Yanks-Sox series, and Steve Silva wrote the following:

“The Yankees were in town. Big Papi returned. Youk got hit again. A-Rod got knocked down.” http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2008/07/manny_in_the_me.html

You got something a little backwards there, didn’t you, Steve?
- http://riveraveblues.com Mike A.
  
  Yeah no shit. For all the bitching and moaning that Youkilis has done, Joba’s never hit him.
http://knickerbockerchatter.blogspot.com Bruno

IPK for Salty!
- Bo
  
  Makes way too much sense for them to do it.
- http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/CRsmithT1.jpg tommiesmithjohncarlos
  
  Bruno: Thanks for your consistency. You banging your Kennedy-for-Saltalamacchia drum makes me beating my Reggie Stocker drum look sane by comparison.
  
  The Rangers have less than zero interest in moving Salty. Like, if it’s possible to have negative interest in moving him, that’s what they’ve got.
GoYankees

Where is Teixeira going???