SALE WON’T MAKE BOMBERS BUY
Cash: We won’t react to move by baseball’s ultimate ‘Warriors’
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Brian Cashman didn’t dance around the significance of Chris Sale going to the Red Sox in a deal Tuesday that increased the amount of pressure on the defending AL East champions.
“That was a big one, that’s a blockbuster, that’s a wow,’’ the Yankees’ general manager said of the Sale deal that sent top prospects Yoan Moncada and Michael Kopech and two other minor leaguers to the White Sox for the dominant left-hander. “Obviously they got a lot and gave up a lot. Boston is like the Golden State Warriors now of baseball. They got their [Kevin] Durant, their [Draymond] Green, [Klay] Thompson and [Steph] Curry. It was a big one.’’
And one Cashman refuses to try to match as he sticks with the plan to contend and rebuild with a bevy of prospects other clubs drool over.
“I talked to the White Sox about a number of their players, but the Sale price tag was that you had to ring a bell and we are not prepared to back the truck up and get the one player left you might need,’’ Cashman said. “We are going in the right direction and building toward something.’’
Sale went 17-10 with a 3. 34 ERA in 32 starts last season, fanning 233 and walking 45 in 226 2/3 innings. Against the Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays and Orioles — his new AL East rivals — he was 6-0 with a 1.55 ERA.
There was a time when the Yankees would have done somet hi ng to counter t hei r blood rivals.
“Thos e d ays h ave n’ t been around for a long time,’’ said Cashman, who was the only GM not to sign a major league free agent last offseason when the Red Sox added David Price and Craig Kimbrel. “I don’t think we react off emotion. We have a game plan and we are going to stay diligent and determined with that it will serve us well over time. I think where Boston is sitting and where we are currently sitting, right now we are on different time frames. Our efforts are for us to be the best we possibly can be but with a strong mind for the future.
“In the chair I sit, 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 them in the proper way. We certainly look to speed up the process at all times. But it’s not something that one move is going to wipe away all our needs. It’s a great move for the Red Sox and a great move for the White Sox, and we are still working our angles and see where it takes us. We may be leaving here with some things and we may not, but I am OK with it either way because as long as we stick with the plan we will be better off in the long run.’’
Since the Yankees lost Moncada to the Red Sox, who landed the Cuban prospect for a $63 million investment in spring training of 2015 because the Yankees believed the price was too high or the negotiations were flawed, Cash man was asked about having regrets the Red Sox used the 21-year-old to land Sale.
“We put our best foot forward and that was it ,’’ Cash man said. “That was a decision that involved a lot of personnel and what our comfort level was and you have no regrets. At the end of the day, their bid was higher.’’
If the Red Sox are the Warriors, who are the Yankees?
“We are in the pack of contenders looking to take Golden State down,’’ Cashman said.
But not at the expense of dealing high-end prospects at this time.