Yankees six degrees of separation: Blake Rutherford to Yu Darvish

Yankees fans sometimes have to wait years to judge a trade. But not this time. The team will tell us all how to view this deal over the next six months.

The Yankees started a full rebuild effort just last year. First, they traded away two of their best players for prospects. Next, they cut A-Rod while still owing him almost 40 million Yankees Fun Bucks, through this year. And of course they brought up several young Yankees to face the heat of late season baseball in the Bronx.

All were unprecedented moves for the Yankees.

The plan is a familiar one in baseball, though: get rid of veterans and restock the farm with the best young talent you can acquire. When the team looks like it has enough talent to compete for the playoffs, you give it some support.

If the team does make the playoffs, two things happen. One, the team creates a revenue stream for years to come:

"Postseason dollars are mostly measured in future revenue, unlike win dollars, which are measurable for the current year. Once a team reaches the playoffs, it can count on an additional revenue stream over the next four to five years as a result."

A Reason to Push for the Playoffs

Two, the players are sending a signal that, with some key free agents, they might be ready for a championship run. With the extra revenue, the team feels more confident to invest in free agents and then it’s up to the gods. The Cubs and Red Sox serve as recent examples.

Many fans and observers have been predicting that 2019 would be the Yankees coming out party. That was supposed to give their great young players time to finish developing at the big league level. And it would coincide with the much anticipated free agent class after the 2018 season.

Observers assumed the Yankees brain trust felt the same way.

But the recent trade of Blake Rutherford reveals that Brian Cashman and the Boys see this as a win now team. Now it’s time to share that vision.