Yanks: Cash and Trades

Before last night's game, Brian Cashman told reporters he expects to make some trades at the deadline.    This is a pretty mortifying concept.  First, unlike Glen Sather, Cash doesn't have a Gomez for McDonagh cut on his record.  In other words he's never dumped unwanted for value.   To wit, he got no useful parts when he auctioned off Sheffield and Randy Johnson, and seemed to overpay for Granderson and a few others.   Secondly, Cash will be a free agent after this year, what's to stop him from making a deal with the Phillies or the Mariners (two teams he's been linked with) and overpaying them for whatever they have?   He would then arrive next year with our top prospects on his new team?   Now, I don't really think he'd do that, because it would create a scandal (though he has attracted some scandals) and would probably end up in the new commissioner's office.   And, who's to say he doesn't want to stay with the Yanks or keep that option open.

The Philadelphia idea of getting Lee and Utley is particularly chilling.   When he made the deal with the Phillies for Abreu and the late Cory Lidle in 2006, he traded  CJ Henry, who was our first round pick in 2005 (he would end up being bad, but that was not really known at that time), they also traded three other prospects, C Jesus Sanchez, Reliever Matt Smith, and lower level electric arm Carlos Monasterios.

The equivalent trade today would include one of last year's three first rounders, Judge, Jags or Clarkin, plus Gary Sanchez or JR Murphy, plus Burawa or Pinder, plus a high end IFA arm.

Scary enough for you?


Anyway, and I'm screaming into the wind, they should only trade young for young, as they did conceptually for Weaver, who sucked, and Javy Vazquez, who sucked twice.  And of course there was the Mike Lowell trade, which netted us nothing and begat the ARod era.

I would actually argue that they are most consistent in their drafting, and the only reason why it hasn't been even better has been their surrendering of picks and Hal's shortsighted budgets.

They are also pretty darn good in both the amateur IFA market and the established IFA market.  I'm thinking of Mo, Bernie, Cano, El Duque, Matsui and Tanaka.   They were well worth the failures of Kats Maeda, Hideki Irabu (a trade not a signing) Jose Contreras and Kei Igawaa.

In general, they should stay out of the trade market until their prospect portfolio is so thick, they have extra guys who will be big leaguers, but won't have to trade any future core Yankees.  That's what it was like back from the thirties through the fifties.

I would say they should sell off some guys, but they've done a terrible job of that, as well.  In fact,  this little left, Miguel Sulbaran, whom they got for trading Nunez off waivers, may be the best young pitcher they've acquired by trade in this era!  And he may not make it, because his K rate might not support him.

Anyway, pray for no trades.