Yankees: Cashman struggling to keep the franchise on a steady course

Yankees GM, Brian Cashman, is playing a tug-of-war game all by himself. He pulls, and then he gives, all the while hoping he doesn’t end up in the muddy pond that creeps ever closer.

The Yankees are not helping their General Manager at all by their abysmal play on the field. Nor are they aiding his cause when they incur injuries that turn his planning upside down almost daily. Brian Cashman, to his credit, is determined to stay the course, at least until the end of this season.

This means that the 25 men wearing the Yankees uniform will determine the fate of the team in 2017, and Cashman will remain dogged in his belief that the Yankees can be buyers, but they will never be beggars under his watch.

In a 30-minute conference call yesterday in which he announced the team’s latest fatality, Cashman reiterated that he is engaged with all 29 teams all day, every day. But true to form, he also said not to expect a deal like the one the Cubs made with the White Sox for Jose Quintana.

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The Yankees, Dodgers, and Astros all could have made the same deal by drawing from a deep pool of talent in their minor league system. But if Cashman had done so, subtract Gleyber Torres or Clint Frazier plus Chance Adams and/or Justus Sheffield from the Yankees. Honestly, how would you feel if Cashman had pulled the trigger on that deal?

Everyone seems to be on the edge of their seat waiting for the Yankees to pull off the “big one.” The deal that’s going to tie up the talk-radio phone lines for days, the angel sent from heaven who’s going to do what 25 guys already on the team haven’t been able to do, which is to stop the bleeding.

The new mantra – give Chance a chance

Now, with the injury to Pineda that’s likely to mark the end of his ill-fated career with the Yankees, Cashman is besieged with, “What about Chance Adams” questions. Patiently, Cashman explained for the tenth time he doesn’t believe Adams is ready for prime time.

And until Adams develops an effective third pitch and gains better command of the stuff he already has, Adams will keep his 26-5 career minor league record pitching for the Railriders. Nevertheless, Cashman’s hand may be forced if Luis Cessa stumbles in his next start or two.

And that’s the way it’s been all season. Tyler Wade (.111 BA, .200 OBP), Rob Refsnyder (.135, .200), Tyler Austin (.154, .200), Ji-Man Choi (.182, .308), all have been picked before they fully ripened. And Refsnyder, more than anyone, shows the result when that happens by riding the bus back and forth to Scranton using a year-round ticket.

You can’t always get what you want

There is no way the Yankees will or should write the rest of the season off. That’s not what this is about. As they showed last night, they have what it takes to play with the best – up to a point. But the hard truth is that the Astros, Indians, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, and yes, even the Red Sox are better than the Yankees.

And based on the way they’ve been playing lately, so are the Brewers and Tampa Bay.

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None of this precludes Cashman from staying on the phone, and if the right deal comes along, he’ll make it. But he’s not going to pull a Theo Epstein who gave away two of what many say is considered Top Ten prospects in all of baseball.

Cashman is steering the boat and trying his best to hold the team on a steady course. And dare I say it – yes I will – we may not be able to thank him until this time next year.