brian cashman, Yankees

Yankees Let Andrew Brackman Become a Free Agent

The Andrew Brackman Era is over. Yet another former Yankees No.1 Draft Pick will be filed into the footnote section in the Book of Obscurity. He’s been bouncing around since 2007 and had battled some injuries. You would have thought that Brian Cashman would have traded him at some point instead of just sitting on him all of those years. Brackman was hyped for a while, and as recently as this year was viewed by Stat Heads on Replacement Level Yankees Weblog as being a viable option to replace CC Sabathia in the starting rotation. Cashman poured around $8 million dollars in this investment. Cashman doesn’t promote players to the majors unless he feels the prospect has conquered the minor league he’s in. The Yanks still had an option left, but did not exercise it, so Brackman is a free agent.

brian cashman sucks

My beef is three-fold:

1- If Brackman pulls an Ian Kennedy, it would be very embarrassing and dumb. Brackman is now 25…why was he treated like a sunk cost?

2- Could the Yanks have gotten anything for Brackman via a trade? (yes)

3- Should Brackman have been used in 2010 or 2011 for a few months at the major league level to prove himself?

Technically, this is another failed Yankees prospect. And yes, Brackman did suck in the minors and logically he didn’t open people’s eyes. Still, the Yanks had NO RETURN on their investment. Will anyone take responsibility?

In other news,

Rafael Soriano exercised his option to return to the Yankees. [Duh].

Brian Cashman solemnly affirmed:

a) He wants to have Russell Martin catch for a few years, and sees Francisco Cervelli recovering from his concussion  to be his backup. This sounds like something Joe Girardi pitched. No mention of Jorge Posada or Austin Romine. More importantly, he sees JESUS Montero as a pinch hitter/DH. Huh? That’s like Muslims seeing that other JESUS as a prophet and not the Son of God. JESUS has returned but Cashman doesn’t believe it.

b) AJ Burnett will not be traded. I personally would CUT the 400 innings of 5.00 ERA baseball that he is due, and give the team more options.

c) Nick Swisher WILL be the starting right fielder, since he is one of the best RFs in baseball. Again, nothing against Swish, but he’s a choker when it counts. Can he have backup at least and be benched or demoted in the lineup when he sucks?

d) He said the offense is not the problem. This is exactly what WFAN said, which proves that they trade their integrity for access by pitching The Company Line. Anyone who watched the last two Yankees post-season failures could see that not hitting with RISP is the PROBLEM. Hitting with RISP is a function of offense (actually it’s more than a function- it IS the basis of scoring).

e) He wants another lefty to pair with Boone Logan. Pedro Feliciano is smiling.

f) Another starter is on the wish list to follow or to backup the rotation of CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Ivan Nova, and Phil Hughes. Uhm..why not just give the two remaining Killer Bees a chance? Nice knowing you, Freddy Garcia? Phil Hughes is FAR from certain in real life…the man gets injured all the time (or randomly loses MPH and confidence)- why not cut losses and package him in a deal?

Anyway, seems like Cashman’s SOS Plan [Same Old Shit] is going according to script. Remember, if you defend Cashman, you are defending the status quo. The other Yankees blogs kiss Cashman’s ass. WFAN and the New York newspapers kiss his ass. DailySkew Baseball calls it like it is, and will give him credit where credit is due (like re-signing CC), but will NOT apologize for him.

List of 2012 Yankees Moves So Far

Bye-Bye Damaso Marte

Welcome Back, Swish

Cano Back, Well Duh

Extend CC

Extend The Cash Man

Soriano’s Opts In [Duh]

Brackman Let Go

RELATED ARTICLES: