Yankees GM Brian Cashman has work to do at trade deadline as rotation collapses before him
Yankees starting pitcher James Paxton pitches during the first inning of the MLB baseball game between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in Boston on July 26, 2019. Credit: CJ GUNTHER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock/CJ GUNTHER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
BOSTON
Encircled by reporters, eyes shielded by dark sunglasses, Brian Cashman put on his best poker face before Friday night’s game at Fenway Park.
Despite the recent collapse of the Yankees’ rotation, and the bullpen sagging from the strain, Cashman refused to show the tiniest hint of desperation. With the trade deadline five days away, the general manager acknowledged that his pitching staff could use some help, but only on the Yankees’ terms, and he had yet to find a deal that fit those parameters.
“I wouldn’t say I feel any more pressure than we always do,” Cashman said before the Yankees’ 10-5 loss. “Every move we make is strategic and based on an effort to try and make us better. So that pressure, and that decision-making, whether it’s the winter or now, is the same.”
Nonsense. Cashman’s just reading from the script written for public consumption. Privately, he has to have a handful of proposals in his head, waiting for the right moment to strike.
It’s been a cruel week, as Cashman has watched his leverage crumble faster than his rotation, but he can’t be scared by sticker shock anymore. Not with the Yankees on course to claim baseball’s best record and make a deep run in October.
At the All-Star break, Cashman seemingly had locked up executive of the year, based primarily on the signing of DJ LeMahieu, the bullpen upgrades and the clever on-the-fly pickups used to navigate roughly two dozen injuries in the first half.
But his work isn’t over. The July 31 trade deadline is a hard deadline this year. The door slams shut. No more waiver-orchestrated swaps afterward. Cashman has to answer for coming up short in his winter efforts to improve the rotation. He spent $34 million on J.A. Happ, the group’s weak link with a 5.23 ERA, and the James Paxton trade is trending poorly.
We’ll say this about Paxton: He’s remarkably consistent at putting the Yankees in an early hole. The leadoff homer by Mookie Betts was his 10th allowed in the first inning (of 18 starts) and he’s given up 22 earned runs in those frames (11.00 ERA). But Paxton didn’t stop there. Betts took him deep twice more, and J.D. Martinez added another as the Red Sox surged to a 7-0 lead before Paxton’s exit after four innings.
This isn’t so much a rough spell for the Yankees’ rotation as it is a cry for help.
Going back to last Saturday, when Masahiro Tanaka allowed five runs in the sixth inning against the Rockies, the starters have combined for a 19.06 ERA with a 2.87 WHIP and teed up 17 home runs in only 22 2⁄3 innings. There’s no sugarcoating those numbers.
Cashman can’t ignore what has become painfully obvious to the rest of us, even behind the sunglasses.
“We’ve entered this process and the deadline with a pretty good feel of what we’d like to do,” Cashman said. “What we’re willing to pay for it and also having the built-in discipline of walking away if we don’t find the right matches under those circumstances. And that’s regardless of what’s happened the last week.”
But the circumstances have changed. Luis Severino isn’t walking through that door anytime soon, and the rotation — as currently composed — hasn’t even amounted to a speed bump for the league’s top offenses, such as the Twins and Red Sox.
During the offseason, Cashman shopped for what the Yankees needed and came away convinced that he did enough to build a World Series contender.
We thought so, too. And for the first half of this season, those moves appeared sufficient.
That’s no longer the case. Paxton and Happ have been liabilities, with Tanaka (4.79) and CC Sabathia (4.50) setting the bar at mostly adequate.
Cashman has watched these games, just like you. And he’s not the only general manager in the market for pitching, with American League threats like the Astros, Twins and yes, now even the Red Sox, hungry to enhance their staffs.
In a perfect world, Cashman could just reach across the RFK Bridge to pluck either Noah Syndergaard or Zack Wheeler from the Mets. He said he’s open to doing business with his Flushing pals (even though the Wilpons probably won’t).
“I’m fully engaged with every team,” Cashman said, “except for the Boston Red Sox.”
That we believe. And you can bet Cashman will swing a deal (or two) before Wednesday’s deadline passes.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
