Yankees Cashman On The Hot Seat

 

 

Thousands of construction projects are underway throughout the New York City Boroughs, but none compare to the work needed on 161st Street at the big ballpark in the Bronx. It’s not a new viewing porch or a kids play area, it’s the roster that needs some extensive making up, and Brian Cashman is on the clock.

 

In an all too familiar tale for the Bronx Bombers, the club failed to meet expectations and finished a mere 2 games over .500, landing themselves firmly in the AL East cellar. Clearly, the Yankees have work to do if they are going to catch up with the 101-win Orioles, 99-win Rays and the up and coming Blue Jays, who are looking to pursue many of the same free agents the Pinstripers are attempting to woo to the South Bronx. 

 

New York’s major problem last year was the lack of baserunners and putting the club in position to score runs and grab wins accordingly. The Yankees finished nearly dead last, ahead of only the Oakland Athletics in regard to team batting average. 

 

A lack of runs lead to immense pressure on the Yankee pitching staff to limit opponent scoring, to which only Gerrit Cole could overcome. Cole was named the AL Cy Young for those efforts after posting a 2.63 ERA, but the team needs another ace-type arm if they hope to compete in a loaded American League East Division.

 

Luckily, Brian Cashman and the front office have options available, and no it won’t take trying to land the big fish in Shohei Ohtani. For his tumultuous time in San Diego, one thing Juan Soto can say for sure is, he got on base. Soto led all of baseball in walks, and was third in on-base percentage. For reference on how important getting on base is for a club, the two players ahead of Soto in OBP were Ronald Acuña and Shohei Ohtani, the NL and AL MVP’s respectively. 

 

Besides assuming DJ LeMahieu bounces back from the worst batting average of his career, adding a bat-to-ball guy like Soto who shows discipline in the box would be a great relief to a lineup filled with strikeout leader candidates. Soto would be an instant fan favorite of the bleacher creatures, but will Yankee Brass part with the alleged pieces in the deal? 

MLB Network’s John Heyman reports, Clarke Schmidt, Michael King and top minor-league prospect Drew Thorpe have been rumored to be involved in the initial discussions. In this instance the Yankees need to give into the Padres request, the need for a talent like Juan Soto who can get on base and be a de facto playmaker is worth whatever the price tag may be from San Diego.

 

While Soto takes some creativity and effort to bring to the Big Apple, a free agent the Yankees could steal away with the Steinbrenner family checkbook would greatly help the ball club. With the struggles of Carlos Rodon and Luis Severino heading to Queens, Brian Cashman should set his eyes on courting the second biggest piece of the free agent class, Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Yamamoto in 7 seasons in Japan, racked up 922 strikeouts in 897 innings with a gaudy 1.82 ERA for the Orix Buffaloes of the NPB. 

 

It’s no secret the Yankees need offense and subsequently have set their eyes on Juan Soto, but the Japanese Star Yoshinobu Yamamoto needs to be right behind that to pair with the Cy Young winning Gerrit Cole. Yamamoto and Cole can go a long way to masking the Bronx Bombers strikeout numbers and lack of offense. It goes without saying, that sending such a formidable duo to the mound in a short series in October would certainly make the Yankees a tough out if they can get some of the under-performers in the clubhouse to shape back into form. The Yanks have not missed the playoffs in back-to-back years since 2013-2014, and will look to Brian Cashman and this offseason to help avoid that at all costs.