This Is the Team That Brian Cashman Built

Today, the New York Yankees held a press conference, announcing that infielder DJ LeMahieu has been signed to a new contract, and that pitcher Corey Kluber has been signed.

Keeping DJLM -- or "LeMachine," if you prefer -- was vital. Signing Kluber appears to be a big help: He was a 2-time Cy Young Award winner with the Cleveland Indians, a 3-time All-Star.

But looks can be deceiving. Injuries limited him to only 1 inning last season, and 7 starts lasting less than 36 innings the year before that. He'll be 35 years old shortly after Opening Day.

What's more, general manager Brian Cashman refused to sign pitcher Masahiro Tanaka to a new contract. After 7 seasons, including 78 wins, Tanaka has been signed by his former team in Japan. And he is 2 1/2 years younger than Kluber.

So, essentially, Cashman has traded Tanaka for Kluber. A very good, dependable starter for an older starter who was once great, but is now a big question mark. (He has not yet been assigned a uniform number, but has worn 28 for most of his career, and that number is currently available.)

Cashman also signed former Pittsburgh Pirates starter Jameson Taillon. He was 14-10 in 2018, but, like Kluber, was limited to 7 starts in 2019, totaling 37 innings. Unlike Kluber and his one inning, Taillon didn't pitch at all in 2020. He's younger, 29, so he stands a better chance of bouncing back. (He wore Number 50, currently worn by 1st base coach Reggie Willits.)

Indeed, this is the Yankees' starting rotation as it currently stands, presuming it is fully healthy, in descending order of past effectiveness: Gerrit Cole, Corey Kluber, Luis Severino, Domingo German and Jameson Taillon. If anybody goes down, or is ineffective, the next men up are, in order: Jordan Montgomery, Jonathan Loaisiga, Deivi Garcia, Clarke Schmidt and Michael King.

In the 1960s, there was a rock band named Question Mark & The Mysterians. The Yankees' rotation could be called Gerrit Cole & The Question Marks.

The bullpen has Aroldis Chapman as the closer, Zack Britton as the 8th (and possibly also 7th) inning man, Luis Cessa, Ben Heller, Nick Nelson and Brooks Kriske. With Chad Green and Loaisiga as "long men." Do any of these pitchers, even Chapman, fill you with confidence?

What about the lineup? The catchers are Gary Sanchez, who has a lot of power but has struggled the last 2 years, both at and behind the plate; and Kyle Higashioka, a competent fielder with some pop, but not a good hitter overall. The infield will probably be Luke Voit at 1st base, DJ LeMahieu at 2nd base, Gleyber Torres at shortstop, and Gio Urshela at 3rd base.

Torres has previously played 2nd, and is a better fielder there than at shortstop, but, you know, he's Cashman's golden boy, the man for whom he threw away Chapman (sending him to the Chicago Cubs before bringing him back as a free agent), Starlin Castro (an All-Star 2nd baseman that he sent to the Miami Marlins to get Giancarlo Stanton) and Didi Gregorius (an All-Star shortstop whom he refused to give a new contract).

LeMahieu can also play 1st and 3rd. Miguel Andujar can fill in at 3rd, possibly also at 1st. Mike Ford can fill in at 1st. And Tyler Wade and Thairo Estrada, theoretically, can play anywhere.

The starting outfield is likely to be Clint Frazier in left, Aaron Hicks in center and Aaron Judge in right. Giancarlo Stanton will be the designated hitter: Frazier, who had been a terrible fielder no matter what position he played, improved tremendously last season, making Stanton a nearly full-time DH. Mike Tauchman can also play the outfield and 1st base.

The only lefthanded hitters among those are Hicks, Tauchman, Ford and Wade. In other words, presuming no injuries -- something that cannot be presumed, as the Yankees seem to have an injury crisis every year -- and no disciplinary issues, the only lefthanded batter in the starting lineup is going to be Hicks.

If Sanchez can hit for the same averages he did in 2016 (.299) and 2017 (.278), and keep up his power when he does hit the ball, there will be no weak spots in this lineup, if it's fully healthy. But 8 righthanders and only 1 lefty is not a recommended way to make out a lineup card.

Cashman has built a squad reminiscent of the 1950s and 1960s Boston Red Sox squad: Heavy on righthanded sluggers aiming for the Green Monster, short on good lefthanded hitting, weak on reliable pitching, inconsistent on defense. And while either Judge or Stanton can hit the ball as far as Ted Williams, neither does so with the same frequency. And there's no clutch hero like Carl Yastrzemski. And this team only plays 9 games a season in Fenway Park.

This is the team that Brian Cashman built. If everything falls into place, it will be a threat to make the postseason, and to go far in it.

If not everything falls into place, the team as a whole will fall.

Again.

12 years for the Yankees is like 86 years for any other team.