Chad Jennings had an article chock full of quotes from Brian Cashman yesterday and those quotes furthered the patience mantra we’ve been hearing all season.
Though the Yankee general manager called the team “an unfinished product”, he didn’t indicate that he was going to make any hasty moves.
• Cashman’s quick, to-the-point evaluation of his current situation: “I need starting pitching,” he said. “That’s what I need.”
Snip
• Why hasn’t Cashman added a reliable starting pitcher? “If I could do business and fill my rotation, I’d do it right now” Cashman said. “I just don’t like the choices.”
I cannot stress how great it is to hear him say that. While we want the Yankees to get a starter, Cashman is indicating that the options just aren’t there in his eyes. We may think it simple to offer Justin Duchscherer a low base, incentive laden contract, but it’s clearly not that simple. The Yankees may not like his stuff. They may not like his medicals. They may think the move not worth it. At times like this, it is better to make no moves than to make hasty moves.
The prosaic cliche (is that repetitive?) “haste makes waste” definitely applies here. While the Yankees are a team that can absorb financial hits, that doesn’t mean they should throw money at potentially low upside players and risk setting the team back in the beginning of the season. It’s one thing to take a risk on an outfielder like Andruw Jones (or Randy Winn for that matter), but it’s another to do so for a pitcher who’s essentially guaranteed to appear on the field enough to impact the team.
Brian Cashman is right to be publicly patient. At the same time, I think highly enough of Brian Cashman to believe that behind the scenes, he is working with a controlled fury, searching for the right pieces to finish the product that is the 2011 New York Yankees roster.
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One Response to Patience Persists
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TIQ IQ
Very well said here Matt there is no reason to make a move just to make one and in our current situation every team in baseball knows we need a starter and since they all feel the need to try and hamstring us on trades anyway I know it won’t be cheap now at all!
The only deals Cash should be making are minor league deals like Colon, while I personally don’t think Colon with even make it out of ST (since he can opt once he dpesnt make the team) there is no risk to signings such as these. I know I have been critical of Freddy Garcia’s season last year being worse than Joba’s in 09 and emphatic in not wanting him signed to a major league deal, after hearing his quote yesterday about wanting to take on New York and pitch as a Yankee I would like to see him come in on a minor league deal as well.
I do not want Duchscherer, Garcia, Millwood or any of these other most likely over the hill vets on major league deals though, only minor league deals with invites to ST because we don’t want to be stuck carrying a bum not better than Mitre, make them prove there value first.