May 2010

“Cashman Three” Not Paying Dividends

There’s not a lot to take issue with when you’re 20-8 and coming off a 10-3 drubbing of Josh Beckett and your archrivals, but there is one major cause for concern: all three of Cashman’s off-season acquisitions have conspicuously come up snake eyes so far.  Curtis Granderson struggled mightily at the plate (.225, 2 HR, 7 RBI), then proceeded to strain his groin last weekend and is expected to spend a month on the disabled list.  Nick Johnson has been downright awful when he’s actually been on the field (.167, 2 HR, 8 RBI) and, after missing a few games in April with back stiffness, is now–SURPRISE–headed to the DL with an undisclosed right wrist injury.  Then, of course, there’s the enigmatic Javier Vazquez, who has been so dreadful that the fact he has been the only one of the three to stay healthy could actually be considered unfortunate.

Yankee fans need no reminder, but for these three the front office jettisoned the popular Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, and Melky Cabrera, and traded away one of their top positional prospects in Austin Jackson.  Time will tell whether these were wise moves.  Right now, though, the Yankees have gotten no return, and that’s obviously not a positive development for a team that’s built and expected to win now.
In spite of the disappointing performances of Granderson, Johnson, and Vazquez, the Yankees are off to a fantastic start, largely on the strength of their starting pitching.  As good as guys like Sabathia, Burnett, Pettitte, and Hughes are, it’s unrealistic to expect them all to continue to pitch as consistently dominantly as they have, so in addition to needing A-Rod and Teixeira to come around, the Yanks will also need the Cashman Three to get healthy and start bearing fruit if 2010 is to end like 2009.

Hughes Control

Has there been a more positive development for the Yankees over the first month of the season than the emergence of Phil Hughes, who pitched seven innings of scoreless ball today to move to 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA?  Hughes is finally starting to realize his immense promise as a starting pitcher now that the Yankees are done putting him on the Scranton shuttle and moving him in-and-out of the rotation.  His strikeouts are up, his walks are down, and he’s been all but unhittable-almost literally, in the case of his start in Oakland. This is the phenom who dominated the minors and skyrocketed through the farm system.

Coming into the season Hughes was considered the big question mark in the rotation, but it’s quickly become apparent that Javy Vazquez is the one to worry about, not Hughes.  It appears Phil is in the process of making the proverbial “jump.”
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