On the heels of saying he will not be pressured into making any moves to please anyone, and assuring us that Jesus Montero would be following Jorge Posada’s career track with the Yankees, Brian Cashman traded Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi for Mariners starting pitcher Michael Pineda. He signed starter Hiroki Kuroda.
WTF DOES ALL OF THIS MEAN?
1- Starting with WFAN’s first radio show after the Tigers beat the Yankees, the talking heads and Yankees fans have been demanding that Cashman get another starter. So it seems that Cashman wanted to please WFAN. Casual baseball fans would call me all season long in 2011 and ask me if I was okay with Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon in the post-season, and I would say YES. With CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova, the 2011 Yankees proved STARTING PITCHING was not the issue. I may sound like a broken record, but the ISSUE THAT HAS PLAGUED the Yankees in 2010 and 2011 is NOT HITTING WITH RUNNERS IN SCORING POSITION IN THE POST-SEASON. That problem could be remedied by 1) A sports psychologist; 2) A change in clubhouse chemistry; 3) A change in the lineup- no more entitlements; 4) Better bench players that could give Joe Girardi “options”. STARTING PITCHING WAS NOT THE ISSUE. These two moves are a joke.
2- The trade shows a complete lack of faith in the Yankees farm system, as no AAA pitchers are ready for 2012. Cashman lied, again.
3- The trade shows that Cashman never had faith in Jesus to become a catcher. Or perhaps he didn’t like his personality (Jorge Junior).
4- The trade shows that Cashman is skeptical about Ivan Nova repeating his 2011 performance, and Phil Hughes ever being healthy again.
As it stands now, the 2012 Yankees starting rotation looks like CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Hiroki Kuroda, Freddy Garcia, Michael Pineda, Ivan Nova, and Phil Hughes. WTF?
Is Cashman planning the unthinkable: cutting or trading AJ? Hughes to bullpen is a no-brainer with so many arms. Garcia just RE-SIGNED for another year.
Let’s go over Michael Pineda:
He is very young and cheap. He has maintained a great strike-out to walk ratio since he was 18 years old in the minors. He has great stuff. I question his high ERA in Seattle (3.74) and if he is “the real deal” or an overhyped Dominican who will flame out and be a trivia question by 2014. He started off strong last year but fizzled out. I mean, I’ll take him, BUT NOT FOR JESUS.
Hiroki Kuroda:
What is there to say? An old crafty Japanese guy who posted a 3.45 ERA in Los Angeles the last four years. Why did it take so long for him to sign with a team? Could it be because no one was buying that the 37-year old could perform well in another ballpark? Will Yankees fans be OK with his 4.50 ERA in the AL East? Cashman is betting $13 million+ that he will outperform any AAA pitcher (not to mention Hector Noesi) for one year.
We’ll see what happens in the next few days or weeks leading into Spring Training. Right now, I’d have to say these moves totally contradicted what Cashman said yesterday, and on paper they look like total FAILS. I reserve the right to change my mind before the season starts. The problem right now is that I’m a bit confused, and thus angry about Cashman’s hypocrisy.
2012 Yankees Moves
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
Freddy Returns
2012 Hideki Okajima (Minor Leagues)
Andruw Jones is BACK!
Trade JESUS and Noesi for Pineda
Sign Kuroda
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It was interesting to here Mike On defend the trade, and even go so far as to say that he liked the trade.
Of course, I hope the trade works out for the Yanks, but I’m more than a little leery of getting a young pitcher who ran out of gas last year and who pitched for a last place team. Will he be able to deal with the New York heat? Is he even prepared for that? I doubt it.
We know JESUS could handle it.
The mainstream media has universally praised this trade. My issue with the trade has to do with getting rid of Jesus Montero. We already had good pitching and allegedly a bunch of AA or AAA pitchers with a high ceiling.