The Worst Team Money Can Buy: Brian Cashman has lost his touch
Updated Friday, April 23, 2021
No city is more demanding of superiority than New York. Its baseball teams are expected to outspend their competition as well as outplay them. The result of this duality is that occasionally you get The Worst Team Money Can Buy. That happened to the New York Mets in 1992.
It’s happening to the New York Yankees now. Fans hurled several baseballs and other projectiles onto the field last weekend as their team tumbled into the cellar of the American League East. Once again the most sophisticated city in America is its least civilized.
Gerry Hunsicker, MLB Executive of the Year in 1998, was assistant general manager of the Mess of ’92. He didn’t make the bonehead decisions, but he witnessed them. The problem began, he told me, when the team splurged in the free agency market and assembled a roster of talented but conflicted ballplayers.
“We had guys playing out of position. So the defense was bad, and the pitchers lost confidence. And players were so upset about their defensive lapses that it affected their hitting.”
So the Mets finished 72-90 in 1992.
The Yankees of today have a similar look: they’re much less than the sum of their parts because the parts don’t fit.
When have you seen a championship team that’s weak up the middle?
The Yankees have baseball’s worst defensive catcher, Gary Sanchez, and worst glove at shortstop, Gleyber Torres. DJ LeMahieu can play every infield position except short. Unfortunately his preferred position is second base, the one place where Torres is competent. Aaron Hicks was once solid in center field, but at 31 he’s lost a step. And his once mighty arm is not what it was before Tommy John surgery two years ago. He belongs in left field. Or on the bench.
The key error by GM Brian Cashman was in thinking Torres, now 24, could replace Didi Gregorius, who departed in free agency prior to last season. Gregorius signed with Philadelphia for $14 million annual salary on a two-year deal. For his time in Philly his OPS is over .800. Phils GM Dave Dombrowski concedes that Gregorius, 31, has little range, “but he catches what he gets to.” Cashman would gladly accept that from Torres, who FanGraphs calculates is -15 in career runs saved at the critical position.
This problem could have been prevented by outmaneuvering the cross-town Mets to acquire All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor. Colorado’s Trevor Story was and still is available. Cashman did not see the necessity. He realized Torres would cost his team a few games with his glove, but he expected a quick stick to compensate.
The problem with relying on analytics, as the Yankees and most teams do, is that you fail to consider psychology and chemistry. Gleyber’s flubs affect the mental composure of his team’s pitchers and indeed the entire team.
And I’m sure Gerry Hunsicker, now part of the world champion Dodgers’ massive front office, is not surprised that Torres is not hitting (.219 for the season) after being excoriated by Manhattan media for his fielding. What is surprising is that the outcry hasn’t pushed him to more effort. He was rebuked by manager Aaron Boone for jogging after hitting a check-swing groundball Wednesday night. “I can put a little more effort running to first base,” Torres conceded.
He might be the most glaring of Yankee flaws, but there are many others. The team OPS of .644 is below the MLB norm. Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, healthy so far, are the most brittle sluggers in the sport. And you worry about Luke Voit, who led the league in homers last year. Knee surgery will keep him out until June. Judge, Stanton and Voit account for $44 million of a $207 million team payroll that’s exceeded only by the Dodgers.
As you’d expect, a pitching staff betrayed by the bats and gloves is ineffective. Although Gerrit Cole has lived up to his $36 million salary, with an ERA of 1.82 this season, the rest of the rotation is unstable. Cashman’s signing of Corey Kluber (1 year, $11 million) is not panning out. At 35, Kluber is a shadow of the shell of his Cy Young self. In 15 innings he’s walked 11 and served 3 home runs. The Yankees might have been better re-signing Masahiro Tanaka, 32. And they could have had Carlos Rodon in free agency for half Kluber’s salary.
One-time ace Luis Severino is 13 months removed from Tommy John surgery and needs more time. Back-end reliever Zack Britton had elbow surgery and won’t return until May 31. The bullpen is still better than most (Jonathan Loaisiga emerging at 26), but like last year it’s overused because of persistent starter trouble. The Yankees enter play Friday night at 7-11, still in last place in the AL East. Fans are unleashing the Bronx cheer on the manager, chanting, “Fire Boone.”
Brian Cashman was brilliant for two decades, but his current product is poorly constructed. How could he not have a lefthanded power hitter in Yankee Stadium? Yes it’s early, and bats will mash when the weather turns warmer. But ballclubs that are rotten in late April seldom bloom in October. Imagine if this were the postseason. I can’t. The Yankees always have chips to throw into the July trade deadline, and that’s where Cashman has done some of his best work. But by then, they could be too far out to get back in.
