Brian Cashman made the most of what he was allowed to pursue this winter. Agree?

[drt1010]

YANKEES EDITORIALS & REACTIONS
Brian Cashman made the most of what he was allowed to pursue this winter
Cashman’s offseason dealings within his allotted budget constitute an impressive achievement.

By Peter Brody@PBrods7 Feb 25, 2021, 8:00am EST

With the Justin Wilson and Brett Gardner signings having been made official by the Yankees, it is fair to assume that the team’s winter business is complete. There likely will be no further major league signings, although adding a handful of guys on minor league deals with invites to camp is not out of the question. That being the case, it’s worth taking a step back to evaluate the job Brian Cashman has done in assembling his roster for the upcoming season.

https://www.pinstripealley.com/2021/...mahieu-gardner

What say the PSD faithful? Could he have done more given the constraints of the luxury tax induced budget? Are you satisfied with what he was able to accomplish? Did he extract max value from the deals made? Constructive criticism always welcome, Cashman bashing for the sake of bashing, save it for another thread!

DJ signing was big imo. Kluber and Tallion also note worthy. I have higher expectation of Tallion than Kluber. As mentioned elsewhere I am a bit concerned about Kluber's age and health. The boots on the ground (scouts and talent evaluators) liked what they saw. Cashman had $35M to work with, not exactly big money given the financial landscape in the MLB today. Imo he stretched it as far as possible and extracted max value. Time will tell.

[johnnyi]

Well, he was given two mandatory directives: re-sign DJ and stay under the $210 million. He did the first at a very affordable price. Then, he settled all the arbitration cases and didn't give away the store. He signed a starting pitcher, traded for another starting pitcher, traded an expensive reliever for salary relief, signed a decent reliever for small dollars. Paid a buyout of $2.5 million to prevent having to pay $10 million for one of his OFs and then re-signed that same OF for $2.85 million. He signed some catching depth, invited multiple arms to camp on minor league contracts, all while managing the 40 man roster and keeping the key prospects in the organization.

in addition, you could say he had only $35 million to spend, but he was always going to have to sign DJ and a starter and he also wouldn't have even had the $35 miilion without the trade for Ottavino or the successfully negotiated arbitration deals.

I could nitpick, but overall excellent performance.

[Webslinger]

If either Britton or Chapman have an off year this season, the yankees are going to be in serious trouble if no one in that bullpen steps up. O'Day and Wilson are simply not enough to provide what they need in the playoffs. That's how badly Cashman did in upgrading their relief this year. The rotation i would say, he made some good gambles based on potential. There weren't many options this year outside of Bauer. I honestly thought they would sign Morton and perhaps Garret Richards, which would have been the safer bets over Taillon and Kluber.

[johnnyi]

If either Britton or Chapman have an off year this season, the yankees are going to be in serious trouble if no one in that bullpen steps up. O'Day and Wilson are simply not enough to provide what they need in the playoffs. That's how badly Cashman did in upgrading their relief this year. The rotation i would say, he made some good gambles based on potential. There weren't many options this year outside of Bauer. I honestly thought they would sign Morton and perhaps Garret Richards, which would have been the safer bets over Taillon and Kluber.

You may be right or he may be right, but he went with his intel. He hired and committed the organization to these top pitching analytics experts and they worked with Kluber and Taillon, so they gave him the thumbs up. He went with his expert's recommendations. In the end, that's a reasonable way to go, no matter how it turns out.

Personally, I might have not signed Kluber and might have given Britton the opportunity to opt out and if he did, sign Tanaka and Hendricks.

Hopefully, his experts are right and hopefully, it's a moot point, because of the up and coming arms in the minors.

[Kinkotheclown]

Doc, under the constraints of cashflow, at least on the surface, he did ok.
What we don't know is if he tried for other moves , like finding a spot for Stanton to clear up space to sign a better option.
He did nothing to change the lineup. Yes he singed DJ but that was an absolute no brainer.
IMO this team needs a bat like Brantley and given the choice of him or Stanton? I think you know where I stand.
In the scenario presented, Cashman did ok but I still believe he is a poor GM and the cap is convenient excuse.


Is this lineup good enough to win a WS? Yes but only if the pitching is lights out from Cole to Chapman.and everyone in between. If it isn't, we are looking at the new Yankee norm, make the playoffs and hope the other teams pitching falters.

[Posada20]

All cashman did this past off season outside of dj and Gardner , was buy a handful of lottery tickets . And if some of them do indeed payoff , it still won’t change my opinion of him being a mediocre GM .

[RJYANKS12]

For me I think he did a good job. Not exceptional, but not as bad as others think. Personally I would have rather seen him trade for Lindor and sign Paxton for close to the same money as DJ, Kluber, and Gardner.

[runnermjr1296]

IMO I think he did,however on my "wishlist" was Molina. I doubt we would have been able to sign him for the money the Cards did,and that probably wasn't in our budget,but I really like a smart defensive man behind the plate. To me he's a field general and we have plenty of young arm's that would have gained a ton of knowledge from him. Like I said I'm sure it wasn't in our budget,but it was on my wishlist

[dayners81]

^ agreed about Yadi. Watching the difference in Medina start with Molina catching him vs an avg defensive catcher was huge. The difference in his comfort level with an elite receiver catching him was huge.

U also can go back to last yr and remember how much better Devi pitched to Kratz last yr as well.

I've been beating this particular horse for a while. I would love to see the Yanks bring a Kratz/olina type onto the coaching staff. We have a ton of young elite talent young arms and some high end catching specs coming in the next few yrs. Bringing a C around tha was still able to get a MLB C job into his late 30's would massively benefit both our young pitchers and Catchers. We haven't had that since they ley Pena go, which was a huge mistake

[drt1010]

^ You mean someone like Girardi?

[evilemplover]

It's no coincidence that Gary was a very good defensive catcher when we had Joe and Tony on the coaching staffs.... two very good defensive catchers in their day...

[Kinkotheclown]

It's no coincidence that Gary was a very good defensive catcher when we had Joe and Tony on the coaching staffs.... two very good defensive catchers in their day...

Yep. Those guys rode him and held him accountable Now they treat him like a delicate flower for fear they offend or hurt his fragility. Brian and Boone wants to understand him.
Joe and Tony let him have it.

[dayners81]

I'd Much rather still have Girardi vs Boone. IMO we would have won atleast 1 more WS Title if Girardi was still with us.

The type of guy I'm talking about is someone who's career ihas recently or close to the end of his career and would like to start coaching. .I would still want them young enough they could still catch a 25-35 pitch side session. I think Kratz would be perfect. He loves working with young pitchers and he had an MLB C job till he was 39. U know he has to have a ton of knowledge to pass along having kept a job till 39.

Just my opinion

[runnermjr1296]

I agree with everything you guys posted about a veteran defensive catcher/ we should have kept Giradi. I am not confident in Gary's ability's. And the, I don't know why they benched me comment makes me believe he does not hold himself accountable. A good backstop is huge for our pitchers for many reasons,one that comes to mind is maybe the pitcher isn't afraid to bounce one because he knows it's going to be blocked.I also don't think it would hurt our mgr. at all to have a veteran C who know's what he's doing back there, I'm not confident in Boones handling of our pitching staff,or his teaching our young players

[drt1010]

I agree with everything you guys posted about a veteran defensive catcher/ we should have kept Giradi. I am not confident in Gary's ability's. And the, I don't know why they benched me comment makes me believe he does not hold himself accountable. A good backstop is huge for our pitchers for many reasons,one that comes to mind is maybe the pitcher isn't afraid to bounce one because he knows it's going to be blocked.I also don't think it would hurt our mgr. at all to have a veteran C who know's what he's doing back there, I'm not confident in Boones handling of our pitching staff,or his teaching our young players

I agree. The irony is, Boone was brought in primarily because he could communicate with the younger players, unlike his predecessor. LOL How is that working out? Imo Boone is a yes man who takes direction from the front office and the anal dept. I don't see him relating well with players, I also don't believe he handles the pitching staff very well, particularly the BP. He does win despite the short comings.

Imo, Boone does one thing exceptionally well....he does what he's told to do. Yankees have a very talented young core. He has done well with them, however imo he hasn't extracted nearly enough from the ability. Can't blame him for the 2019 injury debacle, but there certainly are plenty of issues for which he is culpable of less than stellar performance.

Imo, no coincidence certain players, particularly Sanchez flourished under Girardi and Pena's tutelage. Strong leadership and experience.