Brian Cashman talks about New York Yankees’ pitching problem
The General Manager of the New York Yankees was recently involved with a fundraising event in midtown, New York. The event held to raise funds for prostate cancer drew a lot of New York Yankee fans to the venue as the Manager of the club was playing the
role of bartender. Brian Cashman was serving drinks and in the process received a number of chants along his day.
Many people interacted with the General Manager, as they went over to him requesting for a pitcher. The top brass man in the Yankees management board is looking at a tough time in the regular league, this season. There are numerous reasons for that statement
and one in particular deals with the lack of fire power in the rotation. There are only four known players who can give the Yankees a boost in the upcoming season.
Apart from Carsten Charles Sabathia, Allan James Burnett, Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova, there is no one in the team with ample experience to head the rotation. The club had made most of their luck count when they went in for Cliff Lee during the season. They
ended up dropping Dustin Moseley and Javier Vazquez from the squad, to free finances up. The move, however, was a hasty one as the club lost Lee to the Philadelphia Phillies and went on to look for a replacement again.
The situation hasn’t been better than the time Cliff Lee made his decision. There was word of an inquiry being made for Zack Greinke and Carl Pavano. The two premier pitchers, however, were not up for the patience to wait as they made their way to other
clubs in the following months.
One option remains now and that seems the most plausible one that Cashman sees. It entails moving on and searching around for other players. Andy Pettitte, 38, is one man who the club would love to see back on a one-year deal worth $12 million, but the veteran
pitcher is still deciding whether he wants to return to the club or not.
"He's not delaying anything, he's not pushing us back, he's not hurting us," Cashman said. "He was honest up front from the very beginning. Of course we'd like him to play. He cares deeply about this franchise, whether it's in 2011 or 2020. He wants us
to always win and be successful. He knows he'll always be a Yankee, but whether he decides to pitch again is what's at issue. He has, at this stage, decided not to pitch."
The Boston Red Sox are providing the toughest competition in the American League this season. That comes as no surprise as their acquisition of Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez makes them a formidable side to go up against. Brian Cashman knows the club’s
competition well and he happens to understand their strengths as well. Yet in baseball, anything can happen. That is exactly what the General Manager is hoping for.
"They have a deeper starting rotation right now," Cashman said. "Pitching is the key to the kingdom. I'm not saying they're going to beat us - we're not conceding anything. But if somebody asked me right now, they might be a finished product, we're an unfinished
product. You don't win championships in the winter, you win them in the summer. We're looking forward to going head-to-head with everybody and anybody. I'm not taking a back seat to anybody, but at the same time, if somebody wants to ask me about right now
- hey, they've gotten some things accomplished and finished off ahead of us. That's true, but the season hasn't started yet."
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