Yankees Cashman is slowly, but surely, making his presence felt

The Yankees and all teams for that matter can only be as good as the 25 players in the clubhouse at any given time. Brian Cashman is tasked with the job of providing those players, and it doesn’t look like he’s going to sit around letting this thing just fall apart at the seams.

Yankees General Manager, Brian Cashman, made quite a name for himself at last year’s trade deadline bringing in a haul of young talent that left other teams gawking in amazement. But as it is in all of baseball, that was then, and this is now, and what have you done for me lately?

In the space of three days? Quite a lot. Chris Carter has been jettisoned from the team, and Tyler Austin is the regular first baseman at least until (if ever) Greg Bird returns to the lineup. This was no small deal as the recently penny rich Yankees had to part with about $2 million of Carter’s salary, pro-rated from now to end of the season.

And just today, the Yankees called up Tyler Wade as a replacement for Starlin Castro who appears to have suffered a hamstring injury. The team is still waiting on the results of tests being performed on Castro today to learn how long he will be absent from the lineup.

Cashman, constructively, gives in

But again, this is a big move that Cashman made because it means that Wade must be added to the 40-man roster before he can don the Pinstripes in Chicago. Add one, and major league rules say you have to subtract one. As this is written, there is no word yet from the Yankees as to the player they’ll remove from a coveted roster position.

The Yankees, as we know, are built on a winning tradition and there is no way in hell that the organization will let this chance go by to steal a Pennant and possibly, even a World Series

A few days ago, I examined the pitchers currently on the 40-man roster, and I couldn’t uncover the problem in losing as many as three pitchers to a potential Rule 5 draft selection by another team. But as I’ve said many times, Cashman and Joe Girardi know better, and it’s likely that they’ll have a more difficult choice because they see the big picture.

And unless the Yankees decide to move headlong into the trade market, additional adjustments to the 40-man roster will be necessary, only because of players like Chance Adams, Dustin Fowler, and Clint Frazier, all potential callups, are not on the roster either.

Fowler (.291, 12 HR, 42 RBI) and Frazier (.250, 12, 41) both continue to impress at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and either could provide a stopgap solution in the outfield at least until Aaron Hicks returns in a month or so.

Adams continues to pitch lights out for the Railriders and could, depending on what Cashman does in the trade market, fit in nicely as a starter in the rotation. The caveat being, of course, that he be added to the roster moving the line down from there.

The Yankees are poised to show their fight and might

The Yankees, as we know, are built on a winning tradition and there is no way in hell that the organization will let this chance go by to steal a Pennant and possibly, even a World Series.

Take a stroll through the major leagues as we sit here today at almost the half-way point in the season, and what so you see?

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We see a Red Sox team that can’t get out of their own way except for every fifth day when Chris Sale is pitching. We see the Cleveland Indians who just lost three straight and first place to the Minnesota Twins on their home field.

We see the Colorado Rockies who, until a week ago reigned in first place in the NL West, are now sporting a six-game losing streak while the Dodgers are on fire.

Think that’s bad? How about the Rockies (video) giving up five runs on four wild pitches in the seventh inning against the Dodgers? Think we have problems?

Or, how about the Cubs and their fans who somehow believe that every position player on their team is worthy of a vote to the All-Star team, even though Kyle Schwarber now resides in the minor leagues and is currently listed as the eighth best outfielder in the league, according to a recent fan vote update. But that’s okay because they also think Jason Heyward is the third best outfielder and deserving of a trip to Miami.

Sorry for the digression, but it annoys me when fans insist on making a mockery of the game.

The point, though, is that all of these teams are struggling and each one joins the Yankees in the need to bolster their starting staff. Even the Dodgers can’t survive on four or five innings from Rich Hill, even though they knew what they were getting when they signed him.

And the Astros, everyone’s pick as the most stable team in the majors this season, have ongoing health issues with Dallas Keuchel, and even with him healthy still need another starter.

Brian, lead us on…….

So, it’s refreshing to see Cashman taking the gloves off and preparing to do battle with the deadline looming, four weeks away. And it’s even more refreshing to see that he’s willing to dip down into the talent that is brewing in the Yankees farm system, even if it means exposing players he once coveted.

Yankees and Mets: The stars are aligned to make them swap partners

The Yankees and Mets have rarely been involved in trades over the years. But this year, the stars are aligning in ways that could alter that dramatically.

This thing is very winnable, but it will take a ballsy effort by Cashman, much like last year, to nail it down. Or at the least, to give the Yankees a formidable chance, not only to recover from their recent rash of injuries but to put the 25 men in the clubhouse who will constitute the team down the all-important stretch run.

Because as many have said, it’s not important where you start, it’s where you finish that counts.