And Still, Cashman Has a Job

July 25, 2016, 8 years ago: With the Major League Baseball trading deadline 7 days away, Brian Cashman, the general manager of the New York Yankees, traded his main relief pitcher, Aroldis Chapman, to the Chicago Cubs for infielder Gleyber Torres, outfielders Rashad Crawford and Billy McKinney, and pitcher Adam Warren.

It is true that Cashman got Chapman back before the start of the 2017 season. In the interim, he had helped the Cubs win the World Series.

It's been 8 years, exactly. What have those 4 acquirees done for the Yankees? Warren was a horrible reliever. McKinney got to the major leagues in 2018, played 2 games for the Yankees, was traded, was reacquired in 2023, played 48 games, batted .227, and was let go again.

The key, of course, was Torres. The much-hyped Venezuelan reached the Yankees on April 22, 2018. Since then, he has helped the Yankees reach the Playoffs 5 times, but coming no closer to an American League Pennant than Game 6 of the 2019 AL Championship Series. In 2018 and 2019, his hitting was such that he was named to the All-Star Game; in 2022 and 2023, he should have been. In 2020 and 2021, he was lousy. In 2024 so far, he has been weak, although he has perked up lately.

He's not a great baserunner. His fielding was atrocious at shortstop, and is only a little better at 2nd base. What's more, he's lazy, often not running grounders out, making it look like he doesn't care. He's 27. We may already have seen as good as it's ever going to get with him.

It was one of the worst trades in Yankee history. And it was just 1 of 4 awful trades that Cashman made that week.

And still, Brian Cashman has a job.

The Yankees have continued to acquire big boppers who are injury-prone, players whose greatest talent is for hitting the ball right at infielders,  players who can play multiple positions but none of them well, injury-prone pitchers, and relievers who can't be trusted any further than they can throw the ball.

Since winning the World Series in 2009, the Yankees have not won a Pennant; gotten to the ALCS in 2010, 2012, 2017, 2019 and 2022; gotten to the AL Division Series in 2011, 2018, 2020; lost in the Wild Card round in 2015 and 2021; and missed the Playoffs completely in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2023.

Fourteen seasons. Fourteen failures.

And still, Cashman has a job.

*

From March 28 to June 14, the Yankees were 50-22. Then, the annual injury crisis kicked in, and, through July 14, the start of the All-Star Break, they went 8-18. That was unacceptable.

The Tampa Bay Rays came to Yankee Stadium for a 4-game series. Time to step up. On Friday night, Juan Soto went 4-for-4 with a walk, and Anthony Volpe went 2-for-4 with 3 RBIs. The Yankees got 6 strong innings from Gerrit Cole, and won, 6-1.

But on Saturday afternoon, Nestor Cortés had nothing, allowing 6 runs in 4 innings. Until the 9th inning, when Soto led off with a triple and Jahmai Jones brought him home with a groundout, the Yankees had no runs on 4 hits and 2 walks. The Rays won, 9-1.

Marcus Stroman had a weak start on Sunday, and the bullpen made it worse. Aaron Judge hit his 35th home run of the year, and the Yanks brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the 9th, to no avail: Rays 6, Yankees 4.

Fortunately, Carlos Rodón pitched his best game of the season in a Monday matinée: 7 innings, 1 run on 2 hits and 2 walks, striking out 10. DJ LeMahieu finally hit his 1st home run of the season, Volpe and Austin Wells each hit his 7th, and Soto hit his 24th and his 25th. Yankees 9, Rays 1, gaining a split.

*

A few weeks ago, the Yankees lost 2 games to the Mets at Citi Field. Now, The Other Team came into Yankee Stadium II. Since June 14, the Yankees have had the worst record in baseball; the Mets, the best.

The Tuesday night game was a good game, with a bad result. Luis Gil of the Yankees and Jose Quintana of the Mets each pitched well for 5 innings. But Michael Tomkin blew it in the top of the 6th, giving up a double to Pete Alonso and a home run to Jeff McNeil. The Yankees tried to come back in the bottom of the 6th, but could only get 1 run on former Yankee Adam Ottavino. That made it 3-2 Mets.

Here's what the Mets did with Judge in that game: Walked him in the 1st inning, walked him in the 3rd, walked him in the 5th, and intentionally walked him in the 7th. That's 4 walks. With 1 out in the bottom of the 9th, and the score 3-2 Mets, Jake Dikeman unintentionally walked Soto, bringing Judge up with the chance to hit a game-winning home run. Diekman struck him out looking. It was close, but it was a strike, not a hose-job by home plate umpire John Bacon. And then Ben Rice, who has hardly had a hit at all since his 3-homer game, grounded to 2nd to end it, 3-2.

And then, last night was the Yankees' worst game of the season. It wasn't so bad at first, because the Yanks led, 2-1 after 3 innings. But Cole, whose one flaw is the gopher ball, gave up a home run to Alonso in the 2nd, one to Travis Taylor in the 4th, and another to Francisco Lindor in the 5th. And the bullpen dissolved in the top of the 8th, allowing 6 runs.

Torres and Soto each got 2 hits, while the rest of the team combined only got 2. The Mets won, 12-3, and when it was over, out of a crowd listed at 48,760, pretty much everybody still there in the 9th inning was one of the Flushing Heathen, who enjoyed a 4-game sweep of the season series with the Yankees.

*

The regular season is 64 percent over -- nearly 2/3rds. The Yankees are 60-44. From March 28 to June 14, they were 50-22. Then, the annual injury crisis kicked in, and, since then, they've gone 10-22.

When they Yankees score at least 5 runs, they are 45-6. When they don't, they are 15-38. Not having Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Rizzo and Jasson Domínguez available has really hurt. Having Gleyber Torres (mostly) available, but not getting the job done, has compounded things. Without that kind of lineup protection, Alex Verdugo and Anthony Volpe have gone into slumps. Really, it's been just Judge and Soto doing the business. Everybody else has been failing.

The one saving grace for the Yankees is that the Baltimore Orioles are also not exactly playing great, and thus have been unable to pull away. They only lead the Yankees by a game and a half, although it's 3 games in the all-important loss column. The Boston Red Sox are 6 games back, the Tampa Bay Rays 9 1/2, and the Toronto Blue Jays 14. If the current standings hold to the end of the season, the Yankees would have the 4th seed in the AL Playoffs.

Here's the latest on the significant players out due to injury, in descending order of believed availability:

* Giancarlo Stanton: Asked if Stanton could return for this weekend's series against the Red Sox, Boone said, "I don't want to say no, but I don't know. I'm not necessarily expecting it." Sounds like he's "day-to-day." Cliché Alert: We're all day-to-day.

* Clarke Schmidt: He has resumed throwing bullpen sessions. He might be back in the 1st week of August.

* Cody Poteet: Of course, the pitcher meant to take the place of the injured Schmidt gave us a little taste of talent, and then got hurt himself. He may be available in the 1st week of August.

* Jasson Domínguez: He was mere days away from returning from his last injury when he was stricken with a new one. He will begin playing Triple-A games in the 1st week of August. He might be back in the majors a week after that.

* Anthony Rizzo: He "went through agility drills on Tuesday," which is a good sign. He might be back in mid-August after all.

* Ian Hamilton: The reliever "has begun a throwing program." Sounds like mid-August.

* Jose Trevino: He's "doing some running." Sounds to me like, "Good luck on getting him back before September call-ups."

* Jonathan Loáisiga: He had Tommy John surgery. Hopefully, see you in 2025.

The Yankees have today off. Tomorrow night, they begin a series against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Cliché Alert: You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. And while it might continue the downward spiral, it might also be just what the doctor ordered.

Of course, for years, the doctor has also been ordering the firing of Brian Cashman.

And still, Cashman has a job.