Famously, we all watched Brian Cashman pass on a potential Hughes/Kennedy/Melky swap for Johan Santana because of the possibility of signing C.C. Sabathia the following year. They planned a strategy years in advance that included holding on to certain young players, but not all their young players. I think he’s up to something similar this year.
Cashman sent out the top 2 internal candidates for left field in Melky Cabrera and Austin Jackson in trades this season. He has been involved in no hard rumors concerning Matt Holliday or Jason Bay, and seems to have spent little time trying to bargain Johnny Damon down to a pretty reasonable 2-year deal. In fact, besides Granderson’s team-friendly contract, Cashman has been completely unwilling to add long term payroll this year, and doesn’t seem to really care much about a long-term solution in left field. Matt Holliday doesn’t seem to be that expensive.
Part of this may be Hal Steinbrenner reigning in the team’s finances. When we heard about the Steinbrenner brothers taking over for their father, most of the rumblings revolved around them potentially selling the team. They weren’t really baseball fans at heart like their father, and were really interested in making money. I think they are prepared to cash in for some time. But I don’t think that is behind Cashman’s off season strategy.
I think that Cashman has a plan for left field. Its not coming from the farm, unless Jesus Montero all of the sudden starts to shag fly balls. In the next off season the enticing free agent is Carl Crawford, but I’m not sure that Crawford is really all that worthy of such attention. He’s definitely a good player, but I can’t see Cashman considering him a really long term option at the position, considering that most of his value comes from defense.
To quote Spock, “When you rule out the impossible, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the answer.” I think that the Yankees are holding the position for Derek Jeter. Jeter will be 37 years old when his contract is up after next season. While his shortstop defense by all accounts dramatically improved this year, he’s probably an odds-on favorite to regress to below average or worse in the next year or two. Assuming that Brian Cashman has a long term plan for the position, then Derek Jeter is probably it.
Now, there are a lot of questions to be answered here. Who plays shortstop? I have no idea. Reegie Corona? Who knows. Will Derek Jeter go along with it? Lots of star players switch positions as they age. Jeter may be the biggest celebrity in the majors, but I don’t think its so inconceivable that he’ll be subject to the same realities as other aging players. A new contract is the perfect time for such a switch. Of course, if he still plays average or better defense next season, this whole plan might not work.
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8 Responses to What is Brian Cashman's Long Term Plan In Left Field?
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TIQ IQ
after next year posada is gone..dh will be wide open, paul molitor fit the position well..if jeter wants to get to 4k hits or close to it , full time dh is the only way. if i were jeter i would not play the outfield and possibly look foolish learning a new position. how old is crawford?
I really don’t think Jeter would look foolish in LF, he can still run and he has always been able to catch pop ups well and he has made a crowd dive or two in his years as SS as well.
Crawford is 28 years old.
hi Chris, jeter has a lot of pride, if the move was when he was 30, i agree with you , i am talking about him playing after 2011 season into his 40s, he is not a roid guy so his body won’t with stand like bonds..fenway park ok , but left field at the stadium is tough. yount went from ss to cf when it wasn’t too late.i think he will wear down much faster. why not just get an outfielder to play the outfield.as a fan i’m tiered of guys on that team that can’t catch or throw. we have had more guys that can;t than that that can. .grandy had a bad year with the glove. swisher is hard to watch..if damon comes back , boy..tough to watch again. jeter just as dh keeps him real fresh, and can get to 3500 hits and still steal bases.he won’t be a bobby abreu if put out there.he is like you said a full tilt guy and knows no other way. so my opinion is if we want jeter up in the clutch for the next 7 years keep him as fresh and as least prone to break down as possible. if you told him we need you to catch for a week him would try it. but at what price..sign crawford next year for 3 years at 13mil and sign lee at 4 years .then we need to find a RFer,
If he is DH what does he do when Alex and Tex need to DH?
Jeter won’t wear down any quicker in LF than SS and if anything LF may save him some injuries because he will have to make less quick dive plays sprawling for the ball.
Damon won’t be coming back I watched MLB Hot Stove on the MLB network and he was a guest on the phone and shot down Damon coming back even with Melky being traded.
Granderson didn’t have a bad year with the glove he had an improved year from his previous season and will now be a full 2 years removed from his last major injury that came at the same time as his defensive fall he had a 1.4 RngR and a 1.6 UZR but that shows he is on the rebound and should be poised to make a leap in his defensive metrics.
Nick Swisher isn’t bad in RF, he isn’t pretty in doing his job but he more than gets it done he had a 4.3 RngR in RF this year and to me that is the most important defensive metric when determining someone defense at the routine play and he makes those plays more than above average.
I don’t see the Crawford signing, 13 million is probably a little low I think he would get 14-15 million and I don’t know if I trust him on a long term deal (he won’t be signing a 3 year deal) and since he is one of the best on the market next year he will get at least 5 years. Most of his value is tied into his defense and base stealing and both of those are tied into his speed if age doesn’t treat him well or his legs start to go at 33 or 34 then you will see his defensive and offensive value take a huge drop! I would rather spend the money on Holliday this year rather than sign Crawford next year the talent level is really discernible.
Lee won’t take 4 years he will want 5 and probably get 6 and I don’t want to pay a 32 year old more money than Lackey and Burnett just because he is available… Le gets most of his outs by fly balls and in Yankee stadium this will translate to HRs and a higher ERA because of that there is some risk involved with signing him to a long term deal he will get from someone. Burnett and Lackey both made bank on 5 asnd 6 year deals at 32 and 31 respectively and neither one had the post season Lee just had and neither one owns a Cy Young.
If there is a long-term plan at work, I suspect it hinges on Joe Mauer becoming a free agent. Cashman drools over the 2010 free agent pool, but it is hard to imagine him salivating like that for Crawford. The Yankees would want Mauer to replace Posada, and then Montero and Romine become useful trade chips to acquire…you guessed it, a good, young outfielder (although Jeter is a possibility).
Where will the Yankees get the money for Mauer? Well, this is likely to be Pettitte’s final season, so they get his $12 million. Assuming they let Vasquez leave, that’s another $11 million. Of course, all this is also predicated on either Hughes or Chamberlain establishing himself this season as a quality starter.
You’ve got to be kidding me, Spock??…It was Sherlock Holmes’ famous quote as written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Touche :)
Spock did say it in the new Star Trek though.
I was ready to jump all over the line as well but someone beat me to it…all bow down to Sherlock Holmes…Spock was a character copied off of him. It is quoted in his first book, in fact, 100 years earlier.