STAR POWER
Mlb-best Yanks roll, hot-hitting Cano takes lead in 2B fan voting
Even earlier in the year, before the Yankees could be viewed through the rosy prism that is their remarkable run out of May mediocrity, GM Brian Cashman didn’t believe his team needed a shakeup during baseball’s annual swap season.
And nothing that has happened as the Yanks have ascended to baseball’s best record (44-28, percentage points better than Texas after Monday night’s 7-1 win over the visiting Indians) has changed Cashman’s mind.
Cashman says he would prefer not to make any splashy moves before the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline, though he knows the Yankees’ reputation will make them one of the stars of the next month.
“I’d rather not do anything, if possible,” Cashman said Monday. “I’d rather keep our prospects, keep our payroll down. That’s what I’d always like to do. But at the same time, I want to get better.”
But, Cashman said, there are no glaring areas of need. The course of the season, of course, will be the ultimate judge of that. But, barring another injury like the one that has kept Brett Gardner out since April, the GM is probably right.
Besides, making a spectacular move “usually calls for adding a lot of money,” Cashman said, which would require ownership approval. While there may be doubters, the Yankees say they’re committed to paring the payroll to $189 million by 2014.
And despite their well-documented woes hitting with runners in scoring position, the Yankees are sixth in the majors in runs. They have hit more home runs than anyone and seem to have accepted their identity as a homer-heavy club, so maybe everyone else should, too. Plus, they are third in team on-base percentage.
Yankee pitchers are 11th in team ERA, but second in bullpen ERA and fifth overall i n strikeouts per nine innings. It all should be enough to get them to October baseball and perhaps win the division, vital in this new era of an extra wild card.
Of course, if Cashman sees a need developing in the five weeks leading up to the deadline, there’s no way he would turn, ahem, chicken when it comes to improving the Yanks.
Other teams have already called to discuss trades, Cashman said, and while he added that he had not sent his scouts to watch any specific player, Yanks’ scouts are evaluating anyone who may become available.
“I like the players we have, the depth we have and I think it’s a championshipcaliber type club,” Cashman said. “Right now, I’m not really motivated to mess with it, but my job is to always entertain concepts and ideas and we’ll go through that.”
There are some who will complain that the Yankees need another hitter or grumble that their rotation requires an upgrade. But Cashman feels the Yanks have subbed quite capably for Gardner with players such as Raul Ibanez, “who’s been a huge part of this team,” Cashman says.
“Surprisingly, no,” Cashman added when asked if the Yanks have missed Gardner badly. “It doesn’t diminish what he brings to the table, but, thankfully, I can say our record shows we’ve withstood his loss. But he’s a huge asset and I think he’s a very important piece.”
Still, the Yankees may not be able to count on Triple-A reinforcements, at least from their big-name pitching prospects there. While a pitcher such as David Phelps, who is building up his pitch count at Class-A Tampa, D.J. Mitchell or Adam Warren might see big-league innings this season, Cashman does not anticipate contributions from Manny Banuelos, who is
out w ith an elbow issue, or Dellin Betances, who has a walk rate of 8.16 per nine innings.
So Cashman & Co. will watch how the trade season unfolds. Some believe it won’t fully form until fringy teams decided if they’re contenders. “I don’t get the impression that there are teams out there ready to gut themselves,” Cashman said.
He knows the Yankees will be part of the chatter, whether they are active are not. They always are.
“It’s the reputation the Yankees have had forever, but I think over the last number of years, we’re not the team doing the big deal,” Cashman said. “(Ubaldo) Jimenez last year went to Cleveland and we weren’t ever really in there. People linked us to (Albert) Pujols and C.J. Wilson this winter. Time have changed, circumstances are different, but our reputation has been something for a long time, so it’s hard to shake.”