Yankees Cashman Sets Record Straight On Acquiring a Pitcher

Earlier this week, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman spoke to WFAN about his take on the market for available starting pitchers. You may or may not be surprised by what Cashman had to say.

On Wednesday afternoon against the Rays, the Yankees send 24-year-old lefty Jordan Montgomery to the hill. Described by one AL scout as a “Poor man’s Steve Matz,” the fourth-round pick in the 2014 draft out of the University of South Carolina, get’s his fastball up around 94 mph, but is known more for his eclectic mixture of “junk.”

At 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds, Montgomery throws on a downwards plane, which is a bonus when pitching in the bandbox known as Yankee Stadium. He’s also never allowed more than a hit per inning in any of his three full seasons of minor league ball.

Though spring stats don’t always translate to regular season success, Monty (as I’m sure manager Joe Girardi has already referred to him as), compiled a 3.20 ERA and 17-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio in six Grapefruit League appearances.

As we wait with bated breath to see if the rookie shooter can stifle to Rays’ bats, some fans still hope that Yankees general manager Brian Cashman will pull the trigger on a deal for a tried-and-true pitcher such as Jose Quintana or Sonny Gray.

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Speaking to WFAN’s Joe Beningo and Evan Roberts on Monday, Cashman was asked if he would indeed trade for a starting pitcher. To which he replied:

“Yes. I’m willing to do that right now if the right deal’s in play. We’ve been very active for the last year trying to acquire starting pitching, but it’s not an easy thing to acquire. So that’s always of interest. It’s an area of weakness. You’re always trying to attack an area of weakness. But talking about it and doing it are two different things and we’re not in a position right now to recommend a significant overpay.“I think we’d step up and do things if it made sense. But we haven’t found that partner, so to speak. So in the meantime, we’re going to be giving a lot of opportunities to a lot of different people, whether it’s the current [veterans] that we have or the young guys who want to start and establish themselves as starters in the big leagues. We’re just waiting for people to take control and those who don’t for an extended period of time then we’ll have deviate, pivot and give somebody else a chance.”

The success of this current Yankees team will dictate whether or not Cashman makes any moves this calendar year. Trading away young assets for “veteran” arms only makes sense if this club is on the precipitous of Postseason play.

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If not, I say the Yanks stay the course — take their bumps, and gear up for the bright future ahead. One that will continue today with Montgomery on the rubber.