Cashman be shopping at Dollar General too cotdamn much.
It’s funny that the A’s came up in here because that’s exactly what Cashman always does. He’s spent the 15 years since Steinbrenner died trying to moneyball his way to a title but failed to notice that the A’s never even reached the ALCS that way because you still need to spend.
I was ok with not spending for Judge because they're not gonna win with him doing what they're doing, not because I wanna save Hal money.
As for the Yankees, they have proven that they don't care about playing guys in their natural positions. Ex-players have been saying this. We've seen them pull this crap even with Jazz and for who? For washed ass DJ. They wanna get younger and more athletic and the fans want a "real leadoff hitter" yet anytime someone gets on base in front of Judge, they never want them to run. That's why with Grisham they think they've even solved the leadoff spot. The Yankees don't practice what they preach.
We want them to develop players for 2 reasons:
1. They're not gonna boost their payrolls to the levels we want them to.
2. Cashman having an inability and unwillingness to go that route while also not wanting to spend a premium for the upgrade is grounds for termination alone. So he doesn't wanna spend, doesn't wanna develop, so he takes the half measure of spending a little more to still wish on a star. And then he wonders why it always craps out on him.
I can’t overemphasize the leadoff issue or point 2 enough. Not getting a pair of table setter types for the 1-2 spots makes Judge easy to pitch around (especially when he bats 2nd). Refusal to play young guys or pay for stars automatically puts the team with a low ceiling that they’ll have to address shortly so the year is almost a waste out the gate and the bandaid fixes that come with bad contracts are always used as an excuse to not fix it entirely. Look at any given year since 2019 and how much money is being wasted on mediocre players on short to medium length contracts.
2019: CC ($8 million), Hicks ($10 million), Ottavino ($8 million), Britton ($13 million), Happ ($17 million)
2022: DJ ($16-18 million), Rizzo ($18 million), Hicks ($10 million), Gallo ($10 million), Chapman (It’s more their fault he fell apart but $17 million is too much for a closer), Britton ($13 million), IKF ($6 million), Donaldson ($25 million)
2024: DJ ($18 million), Stroman $16 million), Verdugo (whatever he was being paid was too much), Rizzo ($18 million), Grisham ($6 million), lasagna ($3 million), Hicks ($10 million)
2025: Rizzo ($6 million), DJ ($16 million), Hicks ($10 million), Stroman ($14 million), Goldschmidt ($12 million for a .650 ops after the break), lasagna ($3 million)
That’s usually $50 million being set on fire any given year and in 2022 it was basically $120 million so anywhere from 22-45% of the payroll is essentially dead money. Then the same GM won’t play the young guys in favor of said stiffs everyone knows won’t be around for more than 2-3 seasons max? I don’t think we’re being unreasonable here.
