This holiday, Brian Cashman is the regifter.
Because if you’re a fan of the Yankees, you better have liked the Yankees of 2020. Because plan A is to put a bow on it and give it back.
On consecutive days, Tuesday and Wednesday, Aaron Boone and Cashman made it clear that re-signing DJ LeMahieu is the priority. They said it in such a way that they suggest the Yankees will find a way to get back to their best player, so public with their desire that it would now be terrible if they don’t reunite.
But the way the Yankees are proceeding with the likely budget set by Hal Steinbrenner, which would essentially form the Yankees of 2021. Maybe it will be enough to fit Masahiro Tanaka (though probably not) and probably Brett Gardner as well. But that’s practically uniting the band that couldn’t beat the Rays of the AL East or Division series in 2020.
What Cashman is proposing is that last year’s Yankees were a championship-level squad that didn’t play up to that level. That he could recover basically with Luis Severino and Domingo German entering the gaps left by JA Happ, James Paxton and maybe Tanaka and that the end result could be a virus-free parade through the Cannon of Heroes next November.
As Cashman told reporters during a Zoom conference: “We are already entering this process with a strong group;” “There aren’t a lot of weaknesses;” and “I have a very strong core in place and an almost full list of which we are proud.”
Cashman admitted that the 2020 team did not play consistently, but that his two-game sweep against the Indians in the first round showed what those Yankees were capable of when they “fired on all cylinders.” But the Central Division teams in each league were exposed as frauds in the playoffs, as they got there mainly by coming out of the mediocrity fostered by a regionalized short-season calendar. Therefore, two games against the Indians are no problem.
In addition, Cashman again mentioned pitching injuries to Paxton, Severino and Tommy Kahnle, and admitted that he daydreamed that if the season were 100 games, what could have happened to Paxton back from injury and German from a suspension of domestic abuse. Except for what would probably have happened, is that there have been more Yankee injuries with these 40 additional games, being the team’s most serious injury in the last two years.
Also, the Yanks should stop talking about throwing injuries as an alibi. The Rays had more throwing injuries with a third of the Yankees ’payroll. Yonny Chirinos was as good as Paxton in 2019 and made two fewer outings (three) than Paxton in 2020. He adds Jose Alvarado, Jalen Beeks, Oliver Drake, Andrew Kittredge, Brendan McKay, Colin Poche and Chaz Roe and there are at least Severino and Kahnle.
“I thought last year’s team had a lot of talent and we didn’t maximize that talent,” Cashman said. “That’s about me.”
Cashman has not diminished his belief in this talent, keeping Gary Sanchez still projecting Gleyber Torres on the short and building a low season strategy to keep LeMahieu.
“Our intention is to find a way to make that a reality,” Cashman said.
Cashman wouldn’t reveal Steinbrenner’s budget, but it’s pretty obvious that the Yankees don’t exceed the $ 210 million luxury tax threshold. This left the GM conceding: “We are not submerging our toes in various waters until [the LeMahieu situation] The Yanks have about $ 30 million to $ 35 million to invest in what Cashman predicted will remain the largest payroll of the majors. So it’s hard to move on to other articles until the Yanks know certainty that they maintain LeMahieu and, if so, how much annually?
Cashman called it a “last resort” to create a deadline with LeMahieu for other alternatives not to disappear. It is a slow moving market. But, for example, Lance Lynn has already left the board in a trade. Japanese ace Tomoyuki Sugano will have to sign before January 7 before the end of his release period. Jake Odorizzi is likely to come close to a decision.
So Tanaka’s potentially less expensive options come and go and the rotation experience, depth and inputs are huge issues. Gerrit Cole gives an ace to the Yankees. And Cashman talks about how good the rotation could be with the health and rise of Severino, German, Deivi Garcia and Jordan Montgomery, with Michael King, Nick Nelson and Miguel Yajure in support.
There will be alternatives in January, February and even March. The Yanks will jump into the secondary market and try to find the next Chad Green or Gio Urshela. But the sooner the Yanks can resolve LeMahieu, the more considerations they will have to raise around him or replace him. For now, “the strong desire is for LeMahieu to come back and play second,” Cashman said.
The plan now is basically to go back to the future: the Yankees of 2020 will become the version of 2021. Is the regift a gift or a booby prize?