Brian cashes in with Chapman
Ageneral manager’s job is often a thankless one. When a team wins, it’s the performance of the players and the moves made by its manager that often receive the lion’s share of credit. In a bad season, a GM is often criticized for making all the wrong moves.
The story of the 2016 Yankees has yet to be written, but regardless of how the year turns out, let’s give Brian Cashman credit for his handling of the Aroldis Chapman situation over the past seven months.
In late-December, Cashman convinced Hal Steinbrenner to green-light the trade for the hard-throwing closer despite the fact that Chapman was facing a suspension for an alleged domestic violence incident.
It was unknown just how much time Chapman — baseball’s test case for its new joint domestic violence policy with the players union — would miss due to suspension, not to mention the potential blowback the Yankees would face for taking on a player facing some pretty serious charges.
But with Chapman’s price falling fast as a result of the charges, Cashman decided to send four marginal minor-leaguers — Rookie Davis, Eric Jagielo, Tony Renda and Caleb Cotham — to the Reds for the controversial closer.
The penalty wound up being 30 games, and while the Yankees went 11-18 without Chapman (the suspension turned out to be 29 games thanks to a rainout), the back end of the bullpen was hardly to blame for the sluggish start.
Chapman was superb during his two-and-ahalf months in pinstripes as he, Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller formed a virtually unbeatable trio, resulting in a 19-2 record when all three appeared in the same game.
Yet even with the Yankees on the cusp of contention, Cashman convinced Steinbrenner it was time to send Chapman packing — for now, anyway — in a trade.
With Chapman headed for free agency — more on that later — Cashman saw an opportunity to turn the closer into a package of players that would help fortify the Yankees’ minor-league system.
The fact that Betances and Miller were still here to anchor the back end of the bullpen meant the Yankees could survive the loss of Chapman, allowing them to continue their climb up the wildcard (and possibly AL East) standings.
Besides, part of Cashman’s initial pitch to Steinbrenner when it came to acquiring Chapman was that trading him this summer would likely bring back a far more attractive package of players than the one he gave up. That’s exactly what happened. “We executed a strategy this winter with the acquisition of Aroldis Chapman as an asset that was in distress with an effort toward building the Big Three,” Cashman said. “If it played out well enough with all aspects of the club, then we’d see where it would take us.
“If it did not, we knew we would be in a situation like we are today where, as long as he stayed healthy and performed to his norms, there would be potential upside on someone that obviously was going to be a free agent in almost two months. We decided to maximize that value.”
Let’s recap: Cashman dealt Adam Warren and Brendan Ryan to the Cubs for Starlin Castro, then sent the four aforementioned minor-leaguers to the Reds for Chapman.
Following Monday’s deal that brought Warren back to New York along with top prospect Gleyber Torres and two other minor-leaguers, Cashman essentially turned Ryan and four nondescript prospects into about a half-season of Chapman, a Top 30 shortstop prospect and two outfield prospects with upside. Not too shabby. “This is an easy call, and this was the right call,” Cashman said. “Easy because we traded from an area of strength, and we are excited about the players that we received for someone that obviously was only under control for two more months.”
Here’s what might make this one of the best deals in recent memory: Chapman didn’t hide his love for New York or the Yankees, so it’s entirely possible that Cashman winds up signing him as a free agent this winter, reuniting the “No Runs DMC” trio only months after acquiring a stud package for a rental player.
said all the right things this spring, then again after the suspension was handed down. He was a model citizen during his time with the Yankees, and while the allegations levied against him are obviously quite serious, he’s made the most of his second chance to this point. It’s hard to imagine the Yankees wouldn’t want to bring him back this winter.
“He did all the right things while he was here in New York and in that clubhouse and on that field,” Cashman said. “We appreciated all his efforts.”
Yankees fans will wind up appreciating Cashman’s efforts on this one.