Yankees six degrees of separation: Blake Rutherford to Yu Darvish

The Plan Accelerates

Clearly Cashman looks out onto the field and sees enough talent already developed to plan an imminent run, a difficult point to argue against. And while Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez look like monsters in the middle of the order, it is the maturation of Luis Severino that most convinced the Yankees it was time to stop hoping to win and start planning to.

He is the already the ace of the staff and one of the best young pitchers in baseball.

That doesn’t mean Cash thinks the Yankees are going to win the World Series this year; that still seems unlikely. But Hal has stated that the Yankees financial structure is compromised when the Yankees miss the playoffs for more than one year.

That’s already happened. So the brain trust must believe this trade has at least made the 2017 Yankees wild card game talented. And that Severino can win that game. There is no other good reason to trade Rutherford this year. That alone would make this trade a financial win for the Steinbrenners.

That of itself, while good for Hal, would not justify trading the number thirty overall prospect in baseball, along with others. The Yankees must see 2018 as a year when they will contend for a championship; it’s the only way the trade makes sense.

It’s All About Control

Todd Frazier, he of the .206 BA, is a free agent at the end of this year. And David Robertson is a free agent after next year. That only leaves Tommy Kahnle under team control beyond 2018 (2020).

If Cashman didn’t think the team could win it all before 2019, they could have waited and gotten Robertson as a free agent and traded lesser pieces for Kahnle only. Todd Frazier is an upgrade but that says more about the Yankees players than Frazier. Acquiring him does not make the Yankees any more likely to win the World Series this year.

But he could help them reach the playoffs. Robertson is a better player but has the same impact: he elevates the bullpen but does not finish transforming the Yanks into a serious title contender this year or next.

And, if the Yankees are not serious about trying to win it all next year, it would mean they traded Blake Rutherford to field a playoff caliber team the next two years with no real chance to drive down the Canyon of Heroes. It also means they traded Rutherford’s future for Kahnle’s; that I could never believe.

No, this trade means the Yankees will be serious about chasing a championship next year, at the latest. Now we just need to see the 2018 team the way Cash, Hal, and Joe do.