Old Hal Steinbrenner quote about trade deadline shows he pays no attention to Yankees

A lot of bad, old quotes are re-surfacing this postseason that make the New York Yankees look dumb and short-sighted. Brian Cashman's had the tetherball come flying around that pole to wack him in the face with Bryce Harper and Jordan Montgomery. He scoffed at Harper potentially playing first base for the Bombers (he's playing first base for the Philles) and said Montgomery wouldn't be part of their 2022 postseason rotation (he's currently the Rangers' No. 1 starter).

Throw in a few more, like how Gio Urshela is "no Josh Donaldson" and the countless others that make us want to Andy Bernard the nearest wall, and it's painfully obvious this game is passing the current regime by rather quickly.

It's gotten to the point where owner Hal Steinbrenner, who is reportedly famously uninvolved in the baseball operations side of things, has immersed himself in everything related to the on-field endeavors over the last few months in order to pinpoint what's gone wrong.

Want to know how far removed he's been from the decision making, though? Take this quote that somehow got lost in the other paperwork at our desk this year. Can you blame us? There's been enough chaos to sift through and weigh in on.

Back in late August after the Yankees' whole waiver deadline fiasco with Harrison Bader, the Associated Press caught up with Steinbrenner outside the team's minor league complex in Tampa to ask him about the prospect promotions when Austin Wells and Jasson Dominguez were added to the roster.

We’ll learn a lot in September and we’ll learn a lot in the spring. That’s why I didn’t want to trade these guys away at the trade deadline. We’ve traded away too many guys the last few years. So, I think it will be exciting.

Actually, what Steinbrenner said isn't false. The Yankees have traded away a lot of players over the last few years ... but almost none of them mattered, unless you want to nitpick and complain about Ezequiel Duran going to Texas for Joey Gallo or Kevin Alcantara going to the Cubs for Anthony Rizzo.

Otherwise, the Yankees have parted with prospects/young talent such as Nick Solak, Taylor Widener, Billy McKinney, Giovanny Gallegos, Chasen Shreve, Tyler Austin, Abiatal Avelino, Juan De Paula, Justus Sheffield, Erik Swanson, Dom Thompson-Williams, Shed Long, Phillip Diehl, Juan Then, Roansy Contreras, Maikol Escotto, Canaan Smith, Miguel Yajure, Frank German, Keegan Curtis, Trevor Hauver, Glenn Otto, Josh Smith, Kevin Alcantara, Alexander Vizcaino, Janson Junk, Elvis Peguero, Nick Nelson, Donny Sands, Chandler Champlain, TJ Sikkema, Beck Way, Hayden Wesneski, Cooper Bowman, Luis Medina, JP Sears and Ken Waldichuk. Are they missing any of those guys? Have another of those players crossed your mind in the last six months?

Steinbrenner's assertion that the Yankees have traded "too many guys" is off base. You can never trade "too many guys" if you're getting the right returns. You can never trade "too many guys" if those guys are nothing but roster fodder or replacement-level players.

Cashman is simply the master of trading nothing for nothing, and while at times it looks like he's done irreparable damage to the farm system, he just continues to scrape the excess off the top to make room for more promising up-and-coming players who typically flame out at the same stops as the previous crop of guys (Triple-A/MLB).

The real problem is that the Yankees have had this many guys to trade that either ended up not mattering whatsoever, or they had what were valuable assets at the time they were moved for absolutely nothing.

Keep digging, Hal. You're almost there.