Yank GM Brian Cashman calls Red Sox MLB’s version of Golden State Warriors with addition of Chris Sale (r.) to David Price (l.) & Mookie Betts.
Cash frets: With Sale, they are Warriors of MLB
OXON HILL, Md. – When Brian Cashman heard about Boston’s trade for Chris Sale, one name came to mind: Kevin Durant. “That’s a big one,” Cashman said of the deal, which the Red Sox send four prospects to the White Sox for the lefthanded ace. “That’s a blockbuster. It was a ‘Wow.’ Obviously they gave up a lot and they got a lot. Boston’s like the Golden State Warriors now in baseball; they’ve got their Durant, their Green, Thompson and Curry. It’s a big one.”
Sale – who is under contract for three more seasons and $38 million – joins David Price and Cy Young winner Rick Porcello atop the Boston rotation, making the Red Sox prohibitive favorites in the AL East next season.
Chicago received infielder Yoan Moncada and righthander Michael Kopech, two of Boston’s top five prospects. Also headed to the White Sox are righty Victor Diaz and outfielder Luis Basabe, a package that helped the Red Sox complete the deal only a day after it looked like Sale was heading to the Nationals.
Cashman had suggested for the past two months that he was not in position to acquire a player such as Sale, who would have cost the Yankees a number of the top-level prospects they have worked so hard to collect.
“I’ve talked to the Chicago White Sox about a number of their different players, but the Sale price tag, you were going to have to ring a bell,” Cashman said. “We’re not prepared to back the truck up and get the one player left that you might need. We’re going in the right direction and building toward something, but it will take a little time.”
Under the watch of George Steinbrenner, the Yankees would have responded to Boston’s huge move with a counter of their own, but Cashman noted that “those days haven’t been around for a long time.”
“I don’t think we react, I don’t think we’re emotional,” Cashman said. “I think we have a game plan that we’re going to continue to stay diligent and determined with and I think it will serve us well over time. I think where Boston certainly is sitting currently and where we’re currently sitting, we’re on different time frames. Our efforts are to be the best we can possibly be, but with a strong mind for the future.”
The Yankees are in the midst of a youth movement, counting on players such as Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird and Aaron Judge in 2017 with others including Clint Frazier, Gleyber Torres, James Kaprielian and Justus Sheffield coming down the pike.
With that in mind, dealing a package of top prospects for a player – even one of Sale’s caliber – didn’t fit with the Yankees’ long-term goals.
“From the chair I sit in, you make sure you have to honestly evaluate yourself, what your strengths are, what your areas of deficiency are, and how long it’s going to take to
address all of then in a proper way,” Cashman said. “Certainly we look to speed up that process at all times, but it’s not something that one move is going to wipe away all our needs.
“Backing the truck up and unloading the best of what you’ve got, when the dust settles, you still would have other areas of need to fill potentially in the short or longer term,” Cashman said. “You’ve been depleted by doing that. I just don’t think you’re in as good a position. We’re trying to get back to the point where we are formidable and set up for both short- and long-term. We’re getting there and I’m proud of the work we’re doing, proud of the progress we’re making.”
So if the Red Sox are baseball’s equivalent of the Warriors, what does that make the Yankees?
“If we’re the NBA, we’re in the pack of contenders looking to take Golden State down,” Cashman said.
HOLLIDAY SEASON
The Yankees’ signing of Matt Holliday will give them a veteran bat to insert into the middle of the lineup, but Cardinals manager Mike Matheny thinks the addition will be valuable for the Bombers on a number of fronts. “Matt has done a great job for a number of years now, not just producing on the field, but the kind of leader that we needed in our clubhouse, Matheny said.
Holliday, who is scheduled to undergo his physical Wednesday morning in New York, is expected to be the Yankees’ primary designated hitter while also providing depth in right field and at first base. Holliday has played only 10 games at first base in his career, all of them last season, but Matheny was impressed with what he saw from the soonto-be 37-year-old.