Latest Yankees trade rumor proves Brian Cashman blew it at end of deadline
It simply could not be more obvious that New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman failed to complete his vision for the team during the trade deadline. The plan was never to trade Jordan Montgomery without finding a reputable replacement.
Just hours after the 6 p.m. ET deadline on Aug. 2, it was reported the Yankees whiffed on a Pablo Lopez trade with the Miami Marlins and also couldn’t sway the San Francisco Giants to move ace Carlos Rodón, which makes it clear there was a plan to add another starter.
Days after, fans learned the search was even more expansive. Cashman reportedly called the Detroit Tigers amid their fire sale (that never really happened) and expressed interested in left-hander Tarik Skubal.
You’ll never believe this, but the Yankees couldn’t get a deal done. Why even attempt to do business with the Tigers after they wanted Gleyber Torres for Matt Boyd a few years ago? It’s clear they’re not willing to reasonably negotiate.
So it is any surprise the talks for Skubal went nowhere? Detroit ended up selling nobody of note despite somebody leaking that GM Al Avila was willing to “listen on everybody.” The Tigers moved pitcher Michael Fulmer and outfielder Robbie Grossman. That’s it. Two impending free agents who weren’t moving the needle for them.
The Yankees reportedly expressed interest in Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal
Cashman did arguably the best he could possibly do before ruining everything with the Montgomery move when there was no subsequent move to address that big loss. Feels like another failed trade deadline.
Yankees fans are on board with more pitching … but why Skubal, other than the fact he’s controllable for quite some time? The 25-year-old has just 60 games of MLB experience and didn’t start to gain any sort of traction until this year. In 21 starts, he owns a 3.52 ERA, 2.96 FIP and 1.16 WHIP with 117 strikeouts across 117.2 innings. Even with that success, he’s only lowered his ERA to 4.15, his FIP to 4.32, and his WHIP to 1.21.
Would you look at that! Still not better than Montgomery! Purely an economic issue with the Yankees oddly looking ahead to 2024-2025 instead of going for the jugular right now.
According to reports, that’s three attempts to land another starter to replace Monty. All whiffs. Even though trading Monty still would’ve stung in the clubhouse, bringing in another arm would’ve gone a long way in helping the lost production.
Instead, Cashman jumped the gun, had no definitive backup plan, and now only prayers will keep the Yankees’ rotation propped up between now and November.