Yankees must take trade risk Cashman loathes the most

Change the word from discipline to practical.

Because Brian Cashman’s discipline has generally served the Yankees well in the years in which they transitioned from the impetuousness of George Steinbrenner to the deliberateness of son Hal. The Yankees operate by a reason and process that has netted them oodles of depth, a strong present and a positive near future.

There is a moment, though, when discipline needs a holiday. At this trade deadline measured action is not going to net the Yankees one of the better starters. Supply is low, demand is high. Capitalism is working against the team blessed with money. If the Yankees hold fast to a logic to pay $1 in return for $1 worth of a starter, they are not going to upgrade a pitching staff that needs impact. Even $1.10 might not get it done.

So practicality is needed. Or call it pragmatism. It is a step away from theory, from process.

The Yankees, Astros and Dodgers have stood above the sport this year. It does not guarantee a World Series title will come from any of the three. But if you had to bet one of that trio or the field, which way would you go?

The Yankees are set up to have other chances in the near future. But this is the one in front of them. And they have only won once in the past two decades. And, really, if not now, then when?

So if it takes a package headed by Deivi Garcia to get Cleveland’s Trevor Bauer or one with Clint Frazier to get Arizona’s Robbie Ray, then Cashman needs to ignore the cold calculus of the printouts that say this is an overpay and secure the starter. And I get that this is made harder by the flaws in Bauer and Ray. Neither is an unquestioned ace such as Max Scherzer or Justin Verlander. And Bauer comes with lots of makeup questions and Ray with lots of concerns about command.

Yet both have the kind of stuff to shut down any lineup when they are locked in and the Yankees need that possibility. The Yanks also just need the arm to deepen the current group to avoid burnout of the best of the pen before the postseason.

In the recent past Cashman has not budged for Scherzer, Verlander, Chris Sale, Gerrit Cole, Patrick Corbin and Dallas Keuchel because his assessment was the Yankees were not in the right place to make the big strike and/or he did not think requests fair in trades or free agency. There should be regret with this. Perhaps the best prospect they would have had to give up was Miguel Andujar to garner Cole. And that would have been painful. Andujar was brilliant last year.

But in unearthing Gio Urshela and signing DJ LeMahieu the Yankees showed how expert they have become in finding value in position players (see also Didi Gregorius, Aaron Hicks and Luke Voit). So if Frazier has to go to improve the chance at a championship, then he has to go. When is he playing on this team? Where is he playing on a team so overflowing with righty power bats? It is possible the Yanks bought low and are going to get huge results from another player in Mike Tauchman, who is on the major league roster while Frazier is at Triple-A.

Garcia is the Yankees’ top prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. And he is obviously talented. But how many starting pitchers have the Yankees developed in the last, say, decade? How many quality righty starters are there under 6 feet? Maybe the 5-foot-9 Garcia breaks the mold. The Dodgers once traded a 5-11 prospect named Pedro Martinez, concerned he did not have the physicality to withstand 30-start major league rigors.

So, yes, of course there is risk. But the Yankees are blessed with hard throwers up and down their farm system. They are not emptying future hope by moving him. And with how the Yankees are stacked in the majors with positional firepower a rival executive said, “Their position players at the upper levels have no value to them except to be traded.”

It is part of the practicality. The Yankees would not be dooming their near future by trading Frazier or Garcia or Andujar if a team valued him as he recovers from shoulder surgery.

I understand Cashman’s hesitance. It took him a long time to convince his bosses to stop building rosters by star hunting and being overly emotional and throwing their wallets at problems. He has constructed a system with scouts and analytics and sports science and psychological and financial breakdowns to make the most logical decisions, to avoid the overheated overpay.

But this starting pitching market is not going to honor discipline. And the Yankees need a starter.

So in this particular case, it is better to be practical and land what is needed rather than disciplined and empty-handed.

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