tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Cashman: Make Some Deals Or Be Fired!

As many of you know, I have been extremely critical of Brian Cashman for the last year or so because of his failure to prepare for what has happened this year. Many will say, "how can you prepare for injuries?" But, what if Derek Jeter decided to call it quits, Andy Pettitte & Mariano Rivera didn't come back, and ARod couldn't play? The fact is the Yankees would be right where they are now: Nowhere Ville.

The lineup that the Yankees are throwing out there each day is a disgrace to the fans and the Pinstripes. Luis Cruz, Reid Brignac, Travis Ishikawa, and Alberto Gonzales. Really, Cashman??? And you want to know why YES TV ratings and attendance are down. The product stinks. Not too mention Travis Hafner, Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay: backups one and all who have all seen better days.

My outrage over this situation goes before and beyond this year. The Yankee organization has done nothing to prepare for the eventual retirement of the stars of the 96-00 Championship era. Moreover, this organization has done nothing to produce a legitimate home grown outfielder since Bernie Williams (don't give me Gardner because he nothing more than a Punch and Judy hitter who no longer uses his speed), third baseman (last one Mike Pagliarulo), first baseman (last one Don Mattingly), catcher (don't get me started here and I'm not buying Cervelli) and ace pitcher (Pettitte). Failure to build up the farm system is a bigger problem with skin flint Hal Steinbrenner issuing a self-imposed $189 million salary cap.

The Yankee hype machine wants us all to believe that when Jeter, Arod and Granderson come back that the team will reassert itself in the AL East. Give me a break. First of all, I love Derek Jeter. He is my favorite Yankee. But he is also 39 years old. He is better than any of the bums that they have had playing shortstop but is it reasonable to believe that he is going to carry this team having not played since last October? Next year, the Captain will turn 40 and is it reasonable to expect him to be your everyday shortstop next year?

The latest word on Granderson is that he might not be back until late July. How long will it take him to get his timing down. I like Grandy. He's a classy guy, a great ambassador for the Yankees and the game. But the truth be told is that with Skin Flint Hal's salary cap, he probably won't be back next year.

And then there is ARod. He got his second hit of his rehab assignment on Wednesday but is it realistic to expect the ARod of 2010? Undoubtedly, not. This is a guy who has had surgery on both hips. Power hitters generate power from the lower half of their bodies. Is he better than who the Yankees have had at third base?? Yes, but to expect him to put this team on his back and carry them is wishful thinking. By the way, we are talking about a 38 year old baseball player who is coming off two hip surgeries in the last 3 years. Next year he is 39. And we still don't know if Seligula will suspend him for 100 games.

It is being reported that the Yankees are actively shopping Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain. Both of them are 27 years old and were members of the 2007 Young Guns (Ian Kennedy being the other). Chamberlain has been ruined and the best thing that can happen to him and the Yankees is that he move on to another team. What they can get for him beats the hell out of me. One report indicated that the Braves are interested in him however I have no idea who the Yankees would get from Atlanta.

Hughes probably has the potential to bring back something more of value. It's been reported that the Angels may be interested but I have no idea who L.A. would be willing to part with. I'm a Phil Hughes fan but it is clear to me that the Yankees will not re-sign him next year so it is best that they get something for him. But it better not be a 30-something and it better be a positional player with some offensive ability.

Two guys who are on the market who may not require a lot to obtain is Alfonso Soriano and Kendrys Morales. Morales can play first base and is a switch hitter with power. He would be a definite upgrade over Hafner at DH and could platoon with Overbay at first when he is not the designated hitter. Soriano can play the outfield and can still hit for power as evidenced by the five home runs that he has hit in his last four games. He is a right handed hitter who could provide some protection for Robinson Cano. These two acquisitions would probably mean the end of Vernon Wells and Hafner in pinstripes. Both players would not cost a lot and the Cubs would probably be willing to take on some of Soriano's salary. Soriano is 37 so he would be a stop-gap move, better than Wells or Hafner. Morales is 30 and someone who the Yankees could use for the next few years.

I have stated on this post many times that we are entering a dark period of Yankee Baseball. Aging stars, a barren farm system and a self-imposed salary cap are the reasons. One can argue that for $189 million dollars you should be able to field a competitive team. But the problem is that the Yankees have $75 million dollars tied up next year in 3 players: ARod, Mark Teixiera and CC Sabathia. Cano is a free agent and many believe that he will get anywhere from $20-$25 million dollars a year. Let's say he gets $23 million. We are now up to $98 million dollars tied up in four players or 52% of the self-imposed $189 million dollar salary cap. With no kids worthy to come up what do we have to look forward to in 2014?? More of the same crap.

I am a big fan of Robinson Cano. In 2005 when the Yankees started off horribly with Tony Womack at second base, I was screaming for them to give Cano a shot and he hasn't looked back since. But unless they could get out from under one of ARod, Teixiera or Sabathia's contracts, it might be best for the Yankees to move Cano now. He could probably bring a boatload of talent back. They would have to be major league ready players along with an actual producing major league player. Who they acquired would need to be able to go right in the lineup immediately. Will this happen?? No way because they don't have the guts to tell the fan base that we need to tear it down to build it back up again.

The New York Yankees are the richest team in all of sports. Yet, their scouting throughout the world is terrible. How do the Cardinals, the Dodgers, the Royals, and the Rays all find young talent that are ready to play in the big leagues. The Yankees have always been able to cover their scouting mistakes by spending more to get established players. Well, with Skin Flint Hal's salary cap, this will no longer be the case.

So where does the blame lie?? It doesn't lie with Joe Girardi. It lies with the General Manager Brian Cashman. It was known last year that Hal was putting an end to the money machine yet Cashman continued believing that he was going to get by with has beens like he did in 2011 with Freddy Garcia, Andruw Jones, Eric Chavez and Bartolo Colon. He decided to let Russell Martin and Raul Ibanez go, along with Nick Swisher. Do you think things would be different if those three guys were still around??

When George Steinbrenner was alive and well, Cashman whined that his authority was compromised by the Tampa Group that had the Boss' ear. Well, since 2007 Cashman has had free rein to call all the shots. The $75 million dollars that he has tied up has bought him one championship. But it may be a long while before we see another parade down the Canyon of Heroes for the Yankees. This smells of the mid 60s. Years of mediocrity. The architect is the court jester GM Brian Cashman. Something needs to change. There needs to be some honesty coming from the Yankee brass instead of the crap that gets spewed daily by their tools in the New York media. Until there is some courage to blow this thing up, we will be stuck with pathetic baseball. Someone turn out the lights, I think the party is over!