Yankees Cashman: “He’s Never Played In Cold Weather” (Torres)

Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman explained something in just one sentence that makes good baseball sense and calms my nerves a bit after last night’s tirade about this year’s roster.

The Yankees continue to disappoint regarding the composition of their 25-man roster for the 2017 season as the team heads to Opening Day this Sunday in Tampa. But at the same time, it’s always good when you can discover a reason behind their thinking that demonstrates solid baseball thinking that gives the team their best chance to win.

This morning, I stumbled on one of those little nuggets that can explain a good portion of the organization’s thinking, at least in the case of the decision to cut 20-year old Gleyber Torres from the team that will begin the season.

See for yourself in this short clip that appeared on MLB.com:

So there, in one sentence, Cashman gives a plausible and straightforward explanation as to why he decided to eliminate Torres from consideration as the fill-in for injured Didi Gregorius. The kid has never played in cold weather. And he’s right.

Now, you could argue that the weather in Trenton New Jersey is not likely to be any better than it is in the Bronx during the month of April, but at least it shows that the Yankees are trying to think in the kid’s best interest.

And if you carry Cashman’s statement to its logical conclusion, it means that summer is coming and, therefore, so is Gleyber Torres. Or, at least the door is open to that possibility depending on where the team is in the standings as the season moves along, the performance of Gregorius when he returns, and the performance of his base-mate Starlin Castro.

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Which leads to the very real chance that there is a solid baseball decision behind every one of the cuts the Yankees have made that chooses a veteran instead of a young stud. Chance Adams, Justus Sheffield, Billy McKinney all gave good reasons for a second look before the final cuts were made.

And it could very well be that Cashman has a long range or even a short-range plan for each of them as well as a host of others in the team’s minor league system.

Now, does Cashman “owe” us answers that explain his thinking in each case? Maybe, maybe not. But it sure helps.

Having said that, there is (still) nothing more lame that Joe Girardi‘s statement yesterday when he spilled the beans about Aaron Judge needing “to play every day” as the reason for choosing Aaron Hicks as the team’s right fielder over Judge.

The Yankees will say that Hicks is more versatile in the outfield and therefore more valuable to the team. But not if Hicks is going to hit .217 again. More likely is the possibility that the Yankees decided long ago, even before Spring Training began, that Hicks was their man and Judge was not.

So, this one continues to test the veracity of anything the team says. Because, if anything is true about the events over the past six weeks, it’s that Aaron Judge has played his way onto the team this spring.

Ditto Jordan Montgomery.

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Hopefully, both Girardi and Cashman will be more reserved next spring in proclaiming that there is “serious competition for every spot on the roster.” Because that’s what started it all in the first place. Don’t say it if you don’t mean it.

We can only hope, though, that next year they’ll say it and they’ll also mean it.