Cashman couldn’t lay off this pitch
Did the New York Yankees need Giancarlo Stanton? No, not really.
They were pretty much set in the outfield and already possessed a sufficient amount of game-wrecking power from the right side. But that’s the beauty of Saturday’s agreed-upon-yet-not-official trade for Stanton, obliterator of baseballs and the reigning National League MVP.
Regardless of what off-season boxes they had to check, the Yankees recognized the unique opportunity that stood before them, how the stars were aligning perfectly to pluck a generational talent, a six-footsix, 245-pound engine of destruction, from the smouldering ruins of the Miami Marlins’ franchise.
Brian Cashman easily could have passed, said “thanks but no thanks” to old pal Derek Jeter and proceeded to the winter meetings in Orlando with an eye toward bolstering the rotation. That would have been the prudent thing to do.
A year ago, Cashman dismissed a trade for the very gettable Chris Sale, basically stepping aside for the Boston Red Sox, of all teams, to complete the deal without agitation from their ancient rival.
This Stanton gambit, however, was a no-brainer, and played so perfectly into the Yankees’ hands that Cashman couldn’t rationalize walking away. It was a GM’s dream scenario, a situation leveraged so heavily against the other team that Cashman was able to wrap up a deal for a $325million player in short order, as well as trade another piece (Starlin Castro) that he already was prepared to move.
Once Stanton vetoed the Marlins’ two carefully crafted escape plans to San Francisco and St. Louis — he has a blanket no-trade clause, courtesy of outgoing Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria — and then stated his preference to join the Yankees or Dodgers, that’s all Cashman had to hear. Because the Marlins couldn’t shop around for the best deal and were handcuffed by decaying finances, Stanton was an assetin-distress, a slugger in foreclosure.
Not only was Stanton there for the taking, but Cashman was able to shed the $24 million left on Castro’s contract while ponying up the minimal cost of two lowerlevel prospects from his deep farm system. Oh, and pocket another $30 million from the Marlins, leaving the Yankees on the hook for roughly $265 million over the next 10 years for a 28-year-old player who can opt out after three if he prefers.
When this trade went down early Saturday, the haters immediately launched into the familiar Evil Empire refrain. Darth Vader gifs, dancing storm troopers. The whole spiel. The Bronx Baddies were back.
But there was nothing sinister about this. It was smart business. And whether the Yankees had a hole to fill or not, the Marlins were auctioning off a superstar to one bidder, giving Cashman the chance to create the most formidable pinstriped tandem since 1961, the year Roger Maris drilled 61 homers and Mickey Mantle hit 54.
Let’s not forget the bottom line here. This is entertainment. The Yankees’ mission is to sell tickets and attract eyeballs to YES.
Was it possible to win a World Series without Stanton flexing alongside Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Greg Bird? Most would say yes. The Yankees came within a win of reaching the 2017 Fall Classic, and they had the roster — backed up by the next crop of Baby Bombers waiting down below — to push deep into the playoffs again.
As we’ve come to learn, however, the only thing better than home runs is more of them. Greater distance, rocketing exit velos, the number of flat-screens shattered in bleacher bars.
Remember the pure spectacle of Judge’s every turn at the plate, beginning with each day’s batting practice? Adding Stanton multiplies the must-see TV factor times two. Now every BP session will be like a rematch of last July’s riveting home run derby, when Stanton and Judge threatened to drill holes through the retractable roof of Marlins Park.
Despite his fixation on the luxury-tax threshold, Hal Steinbrenner realizes the importance of that. He’s still a Steinbrenner, after all, and the Stanton trade conjured up A-Rod echoes from 2004, when his dad couldn’t resist trading for Alex Rodriguez while taking on $113 million of his $252-million contract (that was a lot of money back then).
The Boss would be proud of this Stanton swap, aside from maybe feeling a slight twinge of emotion caused by taking advantage of Jeter, one of his favourites.
While the conspiracy theorists inevitably will shout that Jeter did the Yankees a huge favour by shipping Stanton up north, we’d argue that it was just the opposite.
The Yankees did Jeter a solid by throwing him a $265-million life raft for his sinking Miami franchise, a franchise reportedly drowning in $400 million of debt. And if his former team didn’t float him the cash, where was it going to come from?
Stanton expressed a preference for the Dodgers, too, but L.A. didn’t want to significantly add to its payroll after spending $244 million in 2017.
The Houston Astros? No shot. The Chicago Cubs? Doubtful.
Just this past week, during new manager Aaron Boone’s introduction at Yankee Stadium, Steinbrenner pledged to pump more money into the team, even after shedding roughly $50 million in the expiring long-term contracts of A-Rod and CC Sabathia alone.
“One thing my family has always done, when money is coming off payroll, wherever humanly possible, we’re going to put it back into the club — not into our pockets,” Steinbrenner said. “We will leave no stone unturned.”
The Yankees didn’t have to do much searching for Stanton. He basically dropped into their lap. But credit Cashman & Co. for seizing the moment of the off-season, if not the year.
And also doing what the Yankees have always done better than anyone else: stir up equal measures of fear, respect and revulsion throughout the league.